365 Days of Flowers...Day 4, Book Giveaway

 June 7, 2011....Congratulations FloraBella Flowers!  You've won the Design School Book!  I sent you a confirmation email this morning.  I sent a follow up message to you, but have not heard back from you.  Please email your mailing address to Theresa@bloomingflowers.net

Thanks all for taking the time to read my blog.  I hope to offer more cool things and interesting blogs in the future.

Thanks!
Theresa








A great book for learning about floral design principles...and it can be yours free!   Just follow this blog, and a winner will be selected randomly next Tuesday, June 7th, 2011.

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365 Days of Flowers...Day 3, Clematis and Calla Lily

About 5 years ago I planted a clematis vine under my lilac bush as a companion plant.  When the lilac bush is finished flowering, these beautiful large clematis flowers appear like magic on the north side of the lilac bush.  They seem to make very happy partners in my garden.

Clematis can be used in your floral arrangements as a single flower or you can use a portion of the vine with several flowers for an English Garden look.

Today's Memorial Day inspiration comes from the vase pictured.  It was given to me by my mother-in-law years ago, and I thought it was the ugliest vase ever, so I hid it in my basement. I am guessing the vase is from the 1970's and is at least 40 years old.  Now that her health is failing, I suddenly was made aware of how beautiful the vase really was.  Today's challenge, was to take a retro vase and make something equally beautiful, but new with it.

Here are the materials I used for today's project.  The vase, clematis, day lily leaves and calla lily.  The calla are from Dill's Greenhouse, and didn't quite make it into my flower bed yet.

I placed day lily leaves in the vase and fanned them out.

The clematis is a little floppy headed, so I reinforced it with a loop of 26 ga. wire.  The loop goes over the top of the center of the clematis, down between the side petals, then wrapped around the stem on the back side of the flower.

Next I used some floral tape to conceal the wire.

I placed the clematis next.  Biggest flower on the bottom, then the medium sized one, then the smallest, in a zig-zag pattern.  The size of the clematis flowers and their bold color lend alot of visual weight to the arrangement, which makes them act as the focal area.

The clematis and lily leaves were a pretty arrangement by themselves, but I felt it could be a bit more, so I placed calla lily in a radial pattern in the vase, then folded the right side of the lily leaves into loops, (tucked them in).  On the left side I let the lily leaves stick out and trimmed them with scissors to their current length.

If you look closely, this is a study of the repetition of three's...three clematis, three calla lily, and three lily leaves on each side.  A perfect number, representing the holy trinity, and a perfect tribute to loved ones.

365 Days of Flowers, Day 2...Moss

In my backyard and between the wild plum trees, this lovely, luscious moss grows on the ground.  It gets trampled, and sometimes driven over, but still maintains my path with a beautiful green living carpet.

I peeled up a layer of moss for today's project.  I suppose some kind of sharp edged, flat tool, like a drywall spackling knife would have been helpful to loosen the moss, but I was in such a big-fat hurry, that I dug under the edge of the moss with my fingers and pulled.  The moss lifted in sheets...big ones if you are lucky.

Here are the materials I used for today's project.  A bucket of warm water with floral preservative added, moss, a block of maxlife OASIS foam, 22 gauge florist wire, floral cutting shears, and wire cutters.  Not pictured is the knife I used to cut the foam.

First, I soaked my OASIS foam in warm water, with the lettering face up, until fully saturated.  Be careful not to push down on the foam, because then it will not saturate properly resulting in dry pockets in the foam.  I have been kind of anxious to try out the new maxlife foam....so here goes.

I cut my saturated foam in half, then used one of the wires to impress a diagonal on top of the two foam halfs that were next to each other.  This is an easy measuring technique to make a square of foam.

I think I enjoyed the next part a bit too much, kind of like soap carving when I was little, except easier because the foam just melts away.  I placed two rubber bands around my foam block, and carved the edges off to form a sphere of foam.  OASIS makes pre-made wet soak spheres, but I didn't have any on hand, so I decided to make my own.  The pre-made spheres can come with netting on it, to help retain your stem insertions.

Next, I added more rubber bands to hold my two pieces of foam together.  I used rubber bands because they are durable and can shrink and expand with the wetness of the foam.  Like the netting of the pre-made spheres, the rubber bands will also aid in retaining insertions.

I made my own greening pins with 2 - 3 inch pieces of 22 gauge florist wire that I bent in half, making a hairpin.

The piece of leftover OASIS foam came in handy for catching the wires as I cut them. 

I laid the moss on my prepared foam sphere then pinned it in place, pushing my homemade pins in as far as possible.

The picture below shows the pin insertion, then I pushed it down all the way, so it was no longer visible.

The pieces went together easily, kind of like a puzzle, then I added more pins to make sure the moss fit snuggly on the foam.

I gave the sphere to my neighbor as a hostess gift for having us over for a block picnic today.  Don't you think the moss sphere looks terrific in her garden?

365 Days of Flowers, Day 1...Wild Roses

Studying for my National Certified Florist Exam inspired me to start this series of flower arrangements from my garden.  I have been reading about the Victorian Age where flowers were arranged for the home each week, using flowers they grew in their garden.  The Victorian period was named for Queen Victoria, who ruled in England from 1837 to 1901. 

Day 1 is tough, because I'm thinking where do I begin?

Looking outside my window, I see this huge, overgrown monstrosity of a wild rose bush.  I am not even sure where it came from, but I suspect it is a reincarnation of a wild rose bush that I planted nearby, and thought was dead...only to sprout up a few feet away from the original plant.

 This plant has very small thorns that can be pokey, so wear gloves to avoid the sharps.  I used my cutting shears to clip off a few blooms directly into this water filled bowl.

 Next I prepared my container by laying a grid on top of it with clear floral tape.  Here are the tools I used, plus a picture of the vase with tape.  You can use clear tape, if you do not have clear floral tape. 

The vase is a yard sale find, and I think it's original purpose was to be used as a serving dish for ice cream or fruit.  It is best not to use scissors to cut your flowers because they can crush the stem cells of the flower, which would inhibit water intake.  The scissors pictured here were used to cut the tape. Some florists use knives only to cut their flowers, so that also would be a good option for you to cut your flowers.

Next, I trimmed about half of the foilage off of the flowers and placed them into the vase.  I started with a layer of low flowers, and then added a few taller ones for interest, and so the arrangement did not look quite so flat.

Finished!  Now who can I give this too?  Maybe I'll keep it on my table for dinner, wouldn't these look lovely with three in a row on a long table set for an informal outdoor dinner or party.  A beautifully dainty and lovely arrangement from that huge overgrown bush...who would have guessed!

Enjoy!  Try this arrangement, with any small flower you have growing at home, and let me know how it turned out, I would love to hear from you!

Growing Stephanotis

Stephanotis is a vine that flowers with beautiful, 1 inch, scentilicious blooms.  The blooms smell heavenly.  Use of stephanotis as a wedding flower stretches back to Victorian times, and was known to represent marital happiness.

The stephanotis pictured above is growing inside in Ohio and flowers in May or June.  I purchased two plants from Logee's Greenhouse, and the vines flowered the first year.

I followed the directions on how to care for the stephanotis vines that came with it from the grower.  My small plants required a small container, so I opted for a 4 inch size clay pot for each vine.  Unglazed clay is recommended because the moisture wicks away from the plant and makes it easy to see when the plant needs to be watered.  To be successful with this plant, you have to be careful not to over water it.  When it is time to water, a good thorough watering is best, until the water runs out of the bottom.  Your vine might exhibit drooping leaves if it is dry.  If the leaves are browning from the bottom up and falling off, it is a good indication that you are over watering.

I over watered this plant when I first got it, and it looked terrible.  So, after some hopeless neglect, it started to grow!

Temperature and light are also important for any plant.  The stephanotis vine likes bright sunlight and moderate temperatures.  It can tolerate a minimum temperature of 50 degrees F and a dry atmosphere. 

I keep my stephanotis in an East facing window and water occassionaly...once a week, or once every two or three weeks, depending on the season.  I repotted both vines into a 10 inch ceramic pot, and they seem to be doing fine.  They are twining and growing on a homemade bamboo trellis.

Blooming Flowers Featured on Mayesh Website

Thank you Mayesh it was fun seeing our Blooming Flowers wedding work featured on your website.  Thanks also for your kind words...."We are so lucky to work with and be associated with the best in the floral business!"

It means so much to us at Blooming Flowers to be recognized for all of our hard work.

Pink Urban Art for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Columbus, Ohio 2011

We at Blooming Flowers were both excited and humbled by participating as a decorator in the Columbus, Ohio, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, 2011.

At 4:00 in the morning on the day of the race, my dear hubby drove me downtown and helped me place pink pinwheels in our designated planter by the finish line of the race.  I do not have a picture of the pinwheels, but here is a picture of downtown that day at about 5:00am. (No cars!)

  


Our pink pinwheels were dwarfed by the enormity of the event and especially the many special people involved as survivors, walkers, runners, organizers and volunteers....whew!

Although the pinwheels were small, we know they at least brought a few smiles.  When we stopped for a quick breakfast, right there before us on the restaurant television, on channel 10...were the little pink spinning pinwheels.

Prom Flowers

Blooming Flowers specializes in one of a kind prom, homecoming, wedding and event floral art, made especially for you.

To order flowers for prom or your special event, contact us by phone 1-888-401-7363 or through our website, Blooming Flowers.  You can also FB us, at www.facebook.com/bloomingflowers

We love photo's...tag us on Facebook!

2012 prom photo's, love these!

Lizz and Barry, photographer Photos By Dixon

 

Jessica and Nick

Some Photo's from 2011 prom:

Facebook photo from Lizz, we love it!

Facebook photo from Lydia, we love this too!

Here are just a few of our Blooming Flowers prom flowers taken with my cell phone camera.

"Texas Roadhouse" Sweet Yeast Roll Recipe to Mix in a Bread Machine

 

Yay!  My recipe was selected as a finalist in the Bread Contest at Instructables.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hey! This recipe has become so popular, I've started a new food blog, Family Favorite Recipes.  I also have a smaller batch version of this recipe on my new blog.  Thanks for visiting!

This is one of those eccentric posts I warned you about! I have been working on this recipe for "Texas Roadhouse" Sweet Yeast Rolls using the dough cycle on my bread machine for awhile, and thought I would share it here....not flowers...you say...it's yummy though, and would love to hear about your adventures making them.  Note: Make sure your bread machine can handle 5 cups of flour.


Start proofing your yeast, in a small glass measuring cup by mixing:
1 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup warm water

While your yeast is proofing:
Scald 1 cup milk and cool to lukewarm
add 1 1/2 Tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey (2/3 cup honey if you like a sweeter roll, we do!)
(I use the cold butter to help cool down the milk)

To bread machine add:
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups of flour (may need to add more, see note below)
1 egg
add the milk mixture
add the yeast mixture

I then set my bread machine for the dough cycle.  Check the dough mixture to see if you need to add more flour and add some if the dough seems runny. A good dough will resemble a smooth ball. Remove dough when the dough cycle is complete.  Divide the dough into 1/4's and roll each one into a long tube and cut into roll size.  Allow to double then cook in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 12 minutes. (longer if you like them browner). Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Notes: You can also make this recipe without a bread machine, by hand kneading, which is how I started making it. 

I have read that the amount of flour needed for a bread machine varies on the atmospheric pressure and the age of the flour.  Also, it will vary by the amount of honey you use.  So, keep an eye on your dough, and add more as needed.  

I have also stashed this dough in the refrigerator and cooked the next day, not quite as good, but still tasty. 

I like to cook my rolls cut side up, but if you put the cut sides facing out, they will look more like Texas Roadhouse rolls.

And...if you like them even sweeter...add honey to the butter you are brushing the tops with after baking or serve with a butter + honey + cinnamon mixture :)

p.s. I use honey that we get from a retired pastor beekeeper, who keeps a few bee colonies at our house, but any honey should work.