hellebore flowers and sacred lily berries in new red bowl

This started evolving when I removed some green hellebore flowers from other arrangements and dropped them into a tin measuring cup that happened to be sitting on the counter. Then I started shuffling some red sacred lily berries around, and they wound up in the tin cup, too. Then I decided they would both look better in my new red bowl ($2.99 at Tuesday Mornings). The tin cup is actually embedded in the red bowl, which helps keep all the stems in place.

 

December daffodils!

Weird weather, to be sure, but the daffodils blooming are wonderful! This is a particularly early variety, Rijnvelds's Early Sensation, from Brent & Becky's Bulbs, and, believe it or not, it has bloomed in late December before.

window open--with geraniums on the windowsill!

Dec. 26 and the kitchen window is WIDE open. What crazy weather. Crazy, too, to have an abundance of geranium flowers to be using in windowsill arrangements. These are part of the windfall of geranium blossoms I scavenged from The Greenhouse on Mountain Road, where they had been pruned from hanging baskets.

recycled ranunculus

These red ranunculus have been recycled so many times they're getting whiplash! Here they are with green kerria twigs, nandina, and one white snapdragon (also leftover from a workshop and two previous arrangements).

red geraniums

Day before yesterday, I happened upon a windfall of geranium blossoms. I was visiting The Greenhouse on Mountain Road and noticed a bucket full of blossoms that a nursery worker had pruned from hanging baskets. I asked for the bucket of flowers and got them! Now I have cups-full of short-stemmed geranium blossoms of all colors recuperating in the shed. Here's the way I used a couple of them. Such a wonderful red they are!

new vase, leftover flowers

This vase was a gift from the Women's Batteau Guild, and, oh, how I love it. They know me too well! And, although I'm guessing there's not much that looks bad in it, it's hard to imagine anything prettier in it than these red ranunculus. To my total surprise, these, which I'd thought would be the first flowers used, were leftover from an arranging workshop Kate and I led last night. Thank you batteau crew for the vase and flower arrangers for not using all the red ranunculus!

Bill's Amaryllis

Yesterday, when I walked into Bill Horner's room at The Hermitage, this is what I encountered--early morning light, like a spotlight, on this Amaryllis. And the Amaryllis (so huge and top-heavy) supported by a gorgeous branch of Harry Lauder's walking stick. Thanks to Martha Ann Ellis for all!

birthday leftovers + sacred lily berries

Rosanne Shalf gave me a wonderful arrangement of things blooming in her garden for my birthday. It was an amazing mix of materials---roses, camellias, hellebores, campanulas, among other things. By yesterday, though, much of it was weary so I pulled out the still-happy materials, added a hunk of orange sacred lily berries, and this was the result. Love the mix of colors, esp. in December when everything else in the house is green and red. And that light coming in the window...beautiful!

great gift

I'm going to have to go some to give any gifts my friends like as much as I liked this one from Marty Ross--a beautiful little butternut squash tied up with red twine.

bring on the bling

Believe it or not, those sweet little arrangements from my last post (Cryptomeria and rose hips in small pyramid vases) are in here somewhere. I just dropped them, vase and all, into these contemporary planters and then added yellowed parsley foliage from another old arrangement, some aucuba, a big ivy leaf, and bling-y ornaments. WAY over the top, but then so is the rest of the room, so I had to pump the windowsill energy up, too! Once you bring out the bling-y stuff, everything else looks pale in comparison.