FLOWERS A-Z: Q IS FOR QUEEN ANNE’S LACE

Welcome back, summer flower lovers! As you might imagine, some letters of the floral alphabet are easier than others. Like so many Scrabble players, when faced with a “q,” things can get a little dicey. Lucky for us, the gorgeous Queen Anne’s Lace is right in the pocket of the season and happens to be rather lovely. So today, “q” is for Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota, if we are getting Latin and technical).

Queen Anne’s Lace is essentially grown all over the world, although it is native to temperate regions in Europe and Asia. In the United States, you might be as likely to find it cheerfully growing on the side of a freeway as you are in a formal English garden. A perennial favorite with flower consumers who feel it epitomizes the “wildflower” look, Queen Anne’s Lace is actually a form of wild carrot root (and if you cut the stem, you may notice that it has an earthy, carrot-like smell). As with so many flowers and plants, Queen Anne’s Lace was used by ancient Greeks and in Chinese culture for medicinal purposes. The crushed seeds from the flower were thought to be an effective form of birth control. Modern studies have indicated that the seeds do appear to interfere with both progesterone synthesis and ovum implantation. The use of Queen Anne’s Lace comes with heavy warnings for practitioners — the flower looks almost identical to a highly toxic little flower called hemlock!

Queen Anne’s Lace is ideal for casual summer decorating. As seen above, you can simply gather a few stems into wine bottles and have yourself a darling element to accompany dinner, a bedside table or a window sill. But here at Flowers A–Z, we like to kick it up a notch. 

Ah, the classic Ball jar (also known as a mason jar). What farm table would be complete without a Ball jar stuffed with blooms that look “just gathered” from a field? Whether you have a summer home in Lonavala or a studio apartment in Mumbai where you have to vault over the bed to get to the kitchenette, Queen Anne’s Lace in a mason jar should be your go-to.

And, there it is. Be sure to clean the stems of the blooms that will fall below the water line. Especially in a clear vase, you want to make sure the water is fresh and transparent and that there is no floating foliage. A gorgeous spray of Queen Anne’s Lace looks simply perfect when paired with a bright wildflower like cosmos. I like to cluster the cosmos throughout the sea of Queen Anne’s Lace.

Now for an arrangement with a little more heft. I selected a mustard ceramic bowl with a wide mouth; I just love the happy color of this container and will choose other vivid colors to play off the yellow. The plan is to include a variety of blooms to fill the generous space in the vessel.

I began here with some soft dusty miller. I love the gray color with the yellow and feel the stiff nature of the stems will create a nice grid structure for our arrangement. I believe the key to easy floral design is establishing a solid structure into which you can place any flower.

Once you have established your dusty miller structure, you can add any other wildflowers that appeal to you. Here, I used cosmos, zinnia, veronica, and some button-like echinacea pods. The great thing about working with Queen Anne’s Lace is that it fills in quite nicely. You can be very budget conscious and only use a select few “face” flowers, while the Queen Anne’s Lace does the remaining royal work.

Experiment by starting with masses of Queen Anne’s Lace only and then adding the other flowers as accents versus adding it at the end. You may find it easier to place blooms inside the framework of lace!

The fragile snowflake look of the Queen Anne’s Lace softens the sharp lines of the zinnia and veronica.

Whether you choose a carefree approach of simply plunking your flowers in a glass jar or spend a little time crafting a masterpiece, enjoy the summer floral season. Wildflowers are especially fabulous this time of year. Join me back here  when “r” will be for . . .

FLOWERS A-Z: P IS FOR PEONY

If you know anything about me at this point, it’s that I like to give the people what they want. And typically, what the people want is exactly what I want. That’s why this week, “p” is for peony! I had so many requests to feature this bloom — and clearly it is one of my favorites — so here we are, off to the races. I find that peonies never fail to evoke “ooh” and “aah” responses from even the most indifferent flower consumer. The fluffy, layered petals, the intergalactic centers, the divine fragrance and the saturated colors all pack a powerful wallop. Today I will be using just a few of the many hundreds of peony varieties: Glowing Candles (white), Coral Charm (peach), Le Charme (dark pink), Jules Elie (light pink) and Garden Treasure (yellow).

I think my absolute most-beloved peony variety is the Coral Charm (pictured above), but honestly, this is like determining which one of your children you love most :) Peonies are native to Asia, Southern Europe and Western North America and range in hue from deep red and light pink to peach, yellow and white. They have a relatively short blooming season, peaking from late spring through early summer, which makes them all the more sought after. Peonies fall into three basic categories: bush peonies, tree peonies and intersectional peonies. The types of flowers within those categories refer to the shape of the blossom, arrangement of the petals, country of origin, etc. — single, double, semi-double, bomb double, Japanese, anemone. Growers in various regions form new hybrids each season, and it is always a thrill to see what’s new at the market every year.

The peony root has long been used in traditional medicine in Korea, China and Japan for general concerns with the central nervous system and cardiovascular system and to address convulsions, allergic reactions and many other more specific ailments. As always, please consult with a professional before deciding to mash up the plants in your backyard and have a go at concocting your own serum :)

Peonies can be very fickle flowers, indeed. First of all, they seem to come into and go out of season in a flash. Once it starts to get legitimately warm in spring, they appear, but the minute it gets too hot, they shy away again until the following year. On the East Coast of the US, by July 4th, they are generally no more, particularly as a cut flower. Second, once they are cut and you bring them home (or bring them inside, you lucky ducks with a garden), if the buds are too tight, they might not open quickly enough for your taste or even at all! Finally, once they open, they are grand and gorgeous for only a few days before they explode into a pile of petals. But alas, our love affair with the gentle peony endures.

Here she is, an elegant Le Charme peony sealed up tight. I have already removed all the foliage up to the bud, cut her at a sharp angle and placed her in a generous amount of warm water to encourage her to pop. But I need this bloom to open immediately, as my  readers enjoy a lush, full arrangement, and they need to see her glorious center. SO . . .

I fill up a vase with clean, warm water and submerge her head for a few seconds, up to a few minutes. Sometimes, if the situation is more critical (“I need to make this bridal bouquet NOW!”), I will let the head soak for up to a half hour or so. As you hold the head underwater, gently swish it around, and you will see air bubbles coming up as the water seeps into the bud.

And just like that, she awakens.

A few minutes later, she was happy to join the rest of her colleagues in a mercury glass urn (here, I used the Jules Elie peonies combined with a green accent of “p” for pistachio greens!). There are so many spectacular ways to design with peonies. Today I have chosen two designs that layer the blooms in a riot of color and texture. I think both have a very baroque feel, appropriate to the fancy peony.

Above, I used a basic, cylindrical glass vase. I filled the vase with modern, variegated hosta leaves, which I think are an amazing complement to the sorbet hues of the peonies in this arrangement (Coral Charm, Garden Treasure and Glowing Candles).

Look at these two beauties paired up . . . almost too much. Almost.

How about that fried-egg-looking Glowing Candle peony?

Please go find some peonies at the local market, in a neighbor’s yard, in a public garden or wherever before they leave us again. Lean in close and inhale the sweet aroma, but be careful you don’t get an ant on your nose — they love the peony nectar. Join me back here when I struggle to top “p” with “q”!

FLOWERS A-Z: O IS FOR ORCHID

Welcome back, readers!  Although typically I struggle to decide which beautiful treasure to feature in the “a-z” posts, this week there was simply no dithering.  ”O” is for orchid (in this case, the cymbidium orchid).  This flower has many wonderful, versatile properties – it can appear feminine or masculine, fragile or sturdy.  Designing with orchids is great fun, particularly because you can utilize the glorious long stem in a tall and dramatic arrangement, or snip the individual buds and create something compact and chic (as I will demonstrate in this post).

Here is a perfect cymbidium specimen in white.  Cymbidium orchids come in a variety of colors – white, yellow, magenta, brown and ice green.  Sometimes cymbidium are referred to as “boat orchids.”  They were first formally described in the botany world in 1799 by Olof Swartz (a Swedish botanist whose sub-specialty was the orchid family).  Cymbidium (and most other orchid species) are native to tropical and subtropical Asia, as well as Northern Australia.  They prefer warm, moist climates (although they can survive for limited periods of time at freezing temps) and the large cymbidium do best in more mountainous regions with some altitude.  At home, they do best in a cozy, steamy bathroom, which can provide the humidity and indirect light they require.

As with so many things, orchids were cultivated in China for thousands of years before the European world got hip to them.  They became very fashionable (especially for corsages and boutonnieres) in Europe during the Victorian Era.  Meanwhile, in Bhutan, cymbidium orchids are considered a delicacy and cooked into a spicy curry.  We will NOT be cooking them today, but I will be showing you a simple arrangement using only one, gorgeous cymbidium. 

Today, we will be clipping individual blooms of a single orchid stem and using water tubes or “water piks” to keep them fresh and easy to plunk into an arrangement.  Water piks can be found at any local craft or floral supply store.  They generally come in a bag of 100 and are anywhere from $6-8.  They come in clear or green and in round ended or pointed.  I tend to prefer the green (they camouflage best this way) and the pointed end (easier to prop in with other stems). They are a wonderful trade secret of great florists.  Any time you have a bloom that doesn’t quite match the height of the others in your group, you can simply make a clean, angle cut, fill the water pik with fresh water and squeeze the stem into the opening.

Note the water pik cap is thick rubber.  It creates a tight seal so that the water cannot leak out the top, even when the stem is placed inside.  Ideally, the water pik-ed flower should remain upright, in any case.

The stem should be kept long enough to be submerged well in the water, but not too long so that it hits the bottom of the pik.  Continue snipping each bloom off the orchid and water pik-ing.  Generally, you can get between 10-12 great blooms on one cymbidium orchid stem!  If you start snipping from the bottom you may be able to use the top 2-3 blooms on the original stem…simply cut short and place in the arrangement with the other blooms.

Now, on to the arrangement!  I selected a sleek, silver metal square container for this modern design.  I filled the container with foliage – scented geranium and pittosporum – in a low, tight grouping.  The structure of this arrangement will be compact, so the greens will create the first layer for this look.

I added some vibrant heirloom carnations and peonies in clusters.  Already, you can start to see a framework or roadmap for the eventual orchid placement – all the green space you leave is a potential home for orchids.

Fill in with black scabiosa (love the surprise of dark color in with the brighter pinks) and some garden-y trifollium (in the clover family).  Most of the blooms in this arrangement are “face” flowers (round heads) but the trifollium has a tubular shape.  Despite its’ lean profile, I am using it low and tight in with the other flowers, a technique that is consistent with this modern style.

OH and THERE THEY ARE!  Those lovely cymbidium orchid blossoms are easily placed in and around the arrangement – you can literally simply balance them between stems in some places.  You might also find that tucking and re-tucking them is much easier than when you design with a full stem of a flower down in the arrangement.  A “do-over” is facilitated when using water piks.  I also added some fabulous “O”rnithogalum (the yellow, asparagus-looking things) just to bolster our “o” theme (and to match the yellow of the peony centers :)

While marveling at your amazing design skills and wowing friends and relatives with your sophisticated taste, remember to lean in and smell the orchids…most have a very subtle, fresh, sweet scent.  Please join me back here when “p” will be for…