Seen at the Boston Flower Show : A fantasy treehouse & garden

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the press preview of the Boston Flower Show. It was certainly the time to go because no only was it not crowded, giving me a chance to photograph the different displays, but we also got better access to the displays as well. The biggest and most prominent display this year was this garden eerie by Miskovsky Landscaping of Falmouth, MA  with Allen C. Haskell & Son Nursery of  Bridgewater, MA. Their display was an amazing fairy land that included an adorable - and fully decked out - tree house that I was allowed to see.

I loved the little pair of doves that were in residence - if you look closely, you'll see one below. I was literally "coo-ing" to get their attention for the photo. Almost worked!

 

The tree house was built on stilts, allowing for a covered seating area below: 

A feature of the garden was this amazing bronze Porter Garden Telescope by Telescopes of Vermont.

 

And up the stairs to the tree house eerie: 

 

 

I could live there. What's amazing is that most attendees wouldn't have been able to see this. I'm guess just press and those who attended the opening gala.

And this beautiful flower was "growing"on the base of the tree house. Not sure of the name.

We're expecting a snow storm this week - yes, seriously - so this is hopefully a respite and promise that Spring will, in fact, be here some day!

Meanwhile, I am headed off to High Point on Sunday with several other design bloggers, courtesy of Hickory Chair, Theodore Alexander, Sligh, Hooker Furniture and Century. I'm very excited and have been told to bring a selection of comfy shoes. If you're going to be there, or have any advice, let me know!

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Sneak attack

It really feels like Christmas has crept up on me this year. One minute it was October, somehow I completely missed November, and then Christmas was looming out of the blue. I blame it partly on this weather - it definitely does not feel like summer here at all. It's rained on and off for the past few months, so the usual blistering hot days which herald the start of the holidays just haven't arrived.

To make matters worse, we still haven't put our tree up. You see, each year, we decide on a different colour theme. We decided on a turquoise and silver theme this year - but of course, when I went to buy new decorations, there was nothing to be found! Ah well, we'll manage somehow, and the tree will go up today one way or another. But then I saw this image over at the lovely Oliveaux:

...and was instantly smitten! How lovely is this, and what a nice change from the traditional wreath. I am officially in love, and think this would be just perfect for an 'Aussie' Christmas. But there's just one problem...now I need to add this to my list of impossible to find decorations! 

Ah, the joys of the silly season....

Inspiration 8.6

Rough meets Delicate.

Evolution of a floral arrangement

Last week, I wrote about the big gala for the New England Design Hall of Fame. I was lucky enough to snag one of the gorgeous floral arrangements which were done by Winston Flowers.

My camera got a workout with this arrangement! I love the combination of deep red roses, burgandy calla lilies, deep rosy orange lilies, deep red brain flower (is that really the name?? icky), the drapey red flower (don't know the name) and purple/blue/green hydrangea.

So, it's been a week and while most of the flowers in the arrangement are still glorious, there is a kind of tiring out of the arrangement.  So, I was thinking that it was time to disassemble the large arrangement into some smaller ones to kind of freshen things up.

Meanwhile, I popped into a local Salvation army store yesterday and came across this small silverplate flower bowl/candle holder piece that's maybe 8" wide by 6" high. For $4.99 and a little elbow grease (very tarnish) I have a sweet little addition to my silver/floral display collection. 

It also has a handy flower frog set inside.

I'll also be using my silverplate tea pot purchased last year at the Hell's Kitchen Flea market, made famous by Eddie Ross.

And, so I started taking apart the arrangement. It's quite a feat of construction!! Most of the flowers were held in place by a webbing of chicken wire set inside the bowl. Some of the lilies were too short, so they used the little water viles attached to the stems and tucked inside this amazingly dense arrangement.

And, the empty bowl with chicken wire, which I'm going to hold onto for the future.

And here are the results - from one large arrangement has come three smaller ones. And very flowers were actually thrown away.

 

(And for those of you following my kitchen reno, what do you think of the new painted cabinet interiors? I still need to get the shelves painted, but this is a sneak peak of the paint color etc!)




 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Peonies - at last!

Happy Pink Saturday - inspired by Between Naps on the Porch

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

DIY Designer floral arrangement

It's still pretty chilly and flower-less here in New England - oh, the crocuses have come up, but otherwise, tree branches are just barely budding. With Easter this week, I started to think about floral arrangements.

One of my favorite local florists, Winston, is known for their spectacular arrangements made with the freshest flowers. I was wandering through their site looking for a little Spring goodness and came across this pretty arrangement, appropriately called Spring Garden.

One thing I really like is that this $325 arrangement would be very easy to recreate - especially for those who don't have a talent for arranging flowers. All you need are 9-4" square glass cube vases (available at any craft or floral shop). This one is only $2.75 each.


Or you can use these multi-colored vases, which sell for $40/dozen, here.
Using florist wire and wrap each vase, dividing the opening into quarters, which will help the flowers sit up straight!

And then fill with nine of your favorite spring blossoms such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, calla lilies, carnations and green trachelium.

You can then group as seen above into a 9 vase grid, or run lengthwise down a table. So many possibilities! And, all for considerably less than $325.00!



Do you do flowers for Easter?

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Just a pretty picture

[Click the pic for closeup view]

A friend recently brought me a bouquet of mixed flowers. I think they were bought in the grocery store - but they certainly were beautiful! Roses, sunflowers and other pretty pink and purple blooms (okay - I'll admit it - I do not know flower names) - it was a lovely grouping of flowers that lasted for three weeks! It also included unopened white lilies. Unfortunately, I am terribly allergic and when they opened I had to banish them - but they were so beautiful that I couldn't throw them out. I ended up cutting them off short and putting them in the tiny vases I keep on my kitchen windowsill. They were just the thing and worked perfectly with the snowy scene going on outside the window.

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::