Pumpkin...

Yeah, I guess I'm a little late for this one...

What are these?

I remember these from when I was a kid and expeditions through the forest were a daily thing...

Sexy birthday flowers...

Pretty Sexy Thirty was the theme for my birthday this year... I asked everyone to dress up, so the house had to look amazing also! My old boss gave me a bunch of flowers for the occasion, and I sat at the dining room table mixing them up before the guests arrived... I can't think of anything I'd rather spend my birthday doing. The fuchsia renuncules with the green center were just outrageously perfect. The celosia's colour was so subtle, peachy beige from one angle, then glowing pink from another... Stuff like that makes me believe in some sort of higher power, whatever you want to call it. Also, my DVD box set about insects has that effect...

The crab apple is from a neighbour's tree, before the berries got all mushy, and the cosmos leaves and black eyed susan centers are from an alley nearby... Cabbage leaves from an old dying specimen in our yard, geranium leaves from the living room... Oh, and hiding in there are some beautiful lycopods brought back from our last day trip up north.

Holiday workshops... The fun begins!

Fancy yourself a florist? Or maybe you would just like to impress your guests this holiday season with amazing, made-by-you works of floral art... Come join us for an evening of unbridled creativity and learn how to make it all happen.

In this workshop, you will learn the basics:

Basics of flower arranging

Green floral design

Local gleaning & harvesting

PRICES

Flower diva: 75$

Get a florist’s knife and clippers

as well as 25$ worth of flowers

Lazy enthusiast: 45$

Let us do the picking for you

Includes 25$ worth of flowers

Do-it-yourselfer: 20$

Bring your own favorite flowers

We’ll take care of tips & tools

Everyone must bring their own container:

vase, mason jar, teapot, cup, bowl...

We encourage you to think outside the box!

Evergreens, branches, accessories and basic materials

will be provided for everyone.

RESERVATIONS

Contact Carmel...

ateliercarmel@gmail.com

514.993.0041

Slim pickings...

I pride myself on being inventive and resourceful when it comes to harvesting local greens and branches... But recently, even I can't find a thing. The alleys are a sad sight, my friends. I found these nice crab apple berries about a week ago... When I went to get some more yesterday, they were all brown and mushy. The wood was pink on the inside... I have to find a way to let clients appreciate tiny details like that... Can't wait for January so I can start forcing buds.

Just some little Halloween things...

I know, pumpkins and green apples are not the most original addition to arrangements, especially for Halloween week. Still, every single year I use them. I just like it too much to stop. I tried to redeem myself the following week by placing my flowers around the most intense purple eggplant...

Fuschia is the best place to make arrangements for... No matter what I create, they always look perfectly dainty next to a plate of rosehip jam cookies.

Hosta lace

There is such overlooked beauty in nature. I think this is gonna be one of those hippy-dippy posts, but so what?

Being a florist is rewarding in so many ways, but as in absolutely everything, there is a few frustrations that come along with all the fun (it's just strange how people assume that ours is a magical job with no drawbacks, no?). One of my biggest annoyances is that clients expect flowers and foliage to be impeccable. Like out of a machine, mold, factory impeccable. They want every single centerpiece to be the same, and all the blooms to be at that oh-so-perfect not-too-closed-yet-not-too-opened stage. They come for a demo in January and expect the bouquet they hold at their July wedding to be exactly identical. And it goes on... No matter that this is only possible if you treat the plant with more crap than you can find on Fox News.

So I took these pictures for my ideal client, wherever you may be... You are a client that would appreciate bug-eaten hosta leaves. Because they would remind you that your flowers were shared with innumerable insects and other organisms before they landed on your table, between the olives and the champagne. You are a client that understands that this is the hallmark of leaves that are entirely free of gross chemicals and pesticides, waxes and dyes. You are a client that sees not holes but a finely spun lace. Because that's what I see. And because like me you like to make bugs happy.

There, you can't say I didn't warn you... Hippy-dippy.

3 patches of light green moss...

The only thing more inspiring than lichens? Moss...

I'm usually all for collecting specimens, in fact I can't really help myself, but sometimes they're just so perfect the way they are that I just have to let them be.

One day...

So, to continue in the same vein, here is a book I picked up at the library this summer...

One day I will have a copy of my own!

Until then, I'll continue paying fines for bringing it back late... Yesterday's post would've been even more interesting if it had included scientific names, don't you think?

You can get it for yourself here, or for me, as my birthday is only a few days away...

Lichen, part 1

NORTHERN ONTARIO

Anyone who knows me knows: I love lichens. Unapologetically. I ambush strangers at parties to tell them about it, because my friends and neighbours know better than to stick around when the subject arises... Peoples' eyes gently glaze over as they politely try to pay attention...

Here are a few specimens from Northern Ontario. Some of them grow so slowly it can take decades to form a patch the size of a quarter! Can you imagine, then, how old some of these are...

Yellow, more yellow...

When you grow up in Canada, you start hearing pretty young about how boring the prairies are... Well, I hope this picture will help dispel this myth. As soon as we came out of Ontario into Manitoba, everything turned yellow. I mean, 360 degrees of pure yellow, as far as the eye could see. The environmentalist in me was appalled at this manifestation of monoculture, but the aesthete in me was thinking: canola, more canola! I suppose we were quite lucky to be there while it was flowering... So I can't pronounce myself on how the prairies look during other times of the year. If you have to go there, make sure you plan you trip mid-August... As for where to find the canola, believe me, you'll realize what a dumb question that is when you get there...