Monday, April 22, 2013

FLOWERS A-Z: S IS FOR SNAPDRAGON



Greetings from sunny Mumbai! I am lucky enough to stumble upon  and  be posting about my very favorite flower shop, Green Fresh Florals.  Carlos Franco owns this magical place and (along with his trusted head designer, Travis Rogers) has been creating fabulous works of art on the cutting edge of floral and event design since 2004. From the unique Green studio, I present the letter “s” for snapdragon!

At the Green studio, you will find fresh florals and chic giftware along with two of the best designers anywhere. The design style at Green is sleek and modern, often using saturated colors and interesting textures. I was greatly inspired and influenced by Carlos when we worked together at another shop years ago. And leave it to Carlos to have an unusual hue of snapdragon on hand at the studio.

These snapdragons are incredible. I was so awed by the “sunset” spectrum of the blossoms. The most common snapdragon colors are white, yellow, red, pink and burgundy. Snapdragons are grown primarily in Mediterranean climates and in California (Southern and Central California climates closely mimic the Mediterranean). Although the formal name for this flower is antirrhinum, the colloquial name “snapdragon” is descriptive; the blossoms resemble the head of a dragon, and when pinched open and closed, they appear to “snap,” like the mouth of a beast. Follow along with me after the break as I show you a fun trick for decorating the inside of a clear, glass vase and create an arrangement inspired by a Bombai sunset. 

The Green studio has such an eclectic mix of elements, many of which center around a desert garden theme.
With this array of beautiful blooms at my disposal, I decided to work in the desert theme using the fresh sunset colors of pink and orange snapdragons.
The succulents, air plants and tropicals section of the shop evoke the native Southern California landscape — hot and dry!
For a quick way to jeuje up a clear, glass vase, begin with a variegated tropical ti leaf (or any waxy leaf available that can be submerged in water).
Simply dunk the leaf into the vase and form it around the edge of the glass. This works best with a rounded vase, although it can be done with an angular vase, as well. Repeat until the entire glass becomes opaque with leaves.
Voila! Your newly “wallpapered” vessel awaits. Designing in this vase requires a bit more focus. Be sure to place greens and blooms carefully inside the leaves, so as not to disturb your pattern.
First add a network of greens. Here, I went with a protea green to conjure that desert feel.
Add the happy snapdragons. Because they are a lean “tubular flower” (as opposed to a “face flower”), you can add them at the beginning of your arrangement. They help provide structure along with the greens.
Nestle in other blooms along the “sunset” spectrum: “desert” roses, dahlia, fuzzy celosia and mini green hydrangea.
Wild and free! There is a lot to take in visually here — DIY container, lanky snapdragons, blooming roses and a desert palette.
Just love these ti leaves! Please make your arrangement some version of your own sunny vacation fantasy. Most important (as always), experiment with textures, shapes and hues. Join me back here when  “t” will be for . . .

20 comments:

  1. I adore flower shops and flowers and these arrangements are just gorgeous! thanks for sharing.

    Pauleen at Tropical Territory
    A to Z 2013


    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful flowers and arrangements. What an excellent way of fancying up a vase.

    By the way, your link doesn't work.

    JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks pauleen and jo for stopping by.. !! your support means the world to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Disha! What a beautiful site you have here. This dragon likes flowers very much and you have a very nice taste. And Jo is right, the link you left on my site leads back to my site. Anyway is great I could find you. I look forward to keep hearing from you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What beautiful pictures! You are so talented--I want to go get some flowers right now and make an arrangement like yours! I'm in Nebraska and it's been so cold and brown--it brightened my day to see your pictures!

    Shelly on A to Z

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love snap dragons. I love the clever way to pretty up the vase an o the floral arrangements. WOW! I love flowers and love bringing them in the house. I actually need to go get some. I think I may try the vase arrangement. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I really love yours.
    Blessings Beth

    ReplyDelete
  7. How lovely! The photos are great. What a fun project!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous! I love flowers and plants, they make everything colorful and smell alive. Thank you so much for following and leaving your wonderful comment on my blog. Definitely a new follower here, too. Your blog looks terrific and I look forward to return visits.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pretty flowers. I appreciate your demo on how to fancy up the vase.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Snaps remind me of Great Aunt Carrie. She grew them in her back yard and filled her house with them. So love them.

    KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, wow! Such beautiful flowers and arrangements!

    A to Z Participant
    Cherie Reich - Author and Surrounded by Books Reviews

    ReplyDelete
  12. so lovely, you are talented with the flowers and the photos, so pleasing - my eyes drink them in :-) snap dragons are what popped to mind as I searched for an "s" (still searching, lol) isn't this A to Z fun?

    ReplyDelete
  13. With spring taking its own sweet time coming to the northeast US, your beautiful pictures of flowers was just what I needed tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That shop looks amazing!

    When I was a kid Snapdragons where my favourite flower. I still enjoy snapping them open and closed. Such an amazing piece of nature!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love snapdragons! We had some along our front walk growing up. My wife gardens and last year, I was allowed two requests. I chose snapdragons and honeysuckle.

    ReplyDelete
  16. If you are going for finest contents like myself, simply pay a
    visit this web site daily because it gives quality contents, thanks

    my webpage: Air Max

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely flower arrangements I'm seeing on this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for your support. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine this to be such an heart warming experience reading all your comments etc especially through the A to Z Challenge . Do feel free to enjoy reading and commenting on Wilderness on http://disha-doshi.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a beautiful blog. Snapdragons are one of my faves.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails