The end of an era, the beginning of a new one...

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Ranunculus, before and after...

Ahhh...

I yak about being seasonaly relevant, buying local and organic, minimizing my (and my clients') footprint... And don't get me wrong, I care about those issues greatly. But. But sometimes, you're walking around a giant fridge at the wholesalers', and you see out of the corner of your eye... Something that makes you forget ALL THAT.

In this case...

Ranunculus are one of my all time favorite flowers. When I started out in this business, it seems no one new about these, now they're all over the blogs. The season is relatively short, like tulips and hyacinths, and usually limited to spring. By June, I already miss them.

So, not only did I stumble upon these at the end on July, but look at this colour... So subtle. So fresh. So creamy. I hate to say this, but so feminine...

In fact they were so beautiful, they made me happy for weeks, all dried up.

Made me forget they came from halfway around the world on a giant refrigerated plane...

Looks like August, tastes like August...

From Jean-Talon market last week-end... Hard to believe it's already fall.

Working on the Concordia Sustainable Foods Festival this week, then one more wedding, and THIS at the end of the month... Finnegan's first birthday squeezed into that, and maybe our income taxes...

Then maybe a little break?

The zinnia season is reaching it's end, this week will probably be the last batch... These miniature ones were sooo, I don't want to use the word cute because they were so much more than that, you get the point. The freckeled ones are always my favorite. Since next summer I'll have a bit of room in the yard to experiment, I'll be able to grow my own. These will be at the top of my list when I order seeds. I ordered a catalogue this week, with seeds for just about everything that grows it seems. I love catalogues. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Tiniest flowers of all...

I looked outside my window this morning (OK, it was more like noon) to find a few inches of snow covering the ground.

All of a sudden, I had visions of trying to push Finn in his stroller over six feet tall snowbanks. Having to put one of those horrible clear plastic covers over his ride to protect him from the Montreal winter winds, the kind that freeze your eyelashes together if you blink for two long... Or just the simple prospect of not leaving the house at all for 4 months.

These pictures eased my panic. Just for a few minutes, though.

The smaller things...

Sometimes it's overwhelming, sorting through hundreds of pictures of flowers... They start to all look the same. To me at least. And most of the time, there isn't an interesting story to go with them.

Still, some of them are worth sharing. So I lumped together a few pictures that are great examples of smaller arrangements...

You don't need to spend tons of your hard-earned money to get charming centerpieces.

When I worked at the flowershop, all the clients with more modest budgets got sent my way... My colleagues preferred concentrating on big spenders! And while it's obvious that bigger budgets mean more flowers to work with, it doesn't necessarily mean you have more liberty and opportunities as a designer.

When you are working with very few elements, the concept has to be strong and the execution has to be perfect. It's challenging and exciting. You have to be inventive with containers. Willing to experiment with different branches, foliage or fruits, all of which can stretch you budget more efficiently than actual flowers.

So small wedding have always been some of my favorite projects. I still remember a couple I worked with almost 10 years ago... Their budget was 15$ per table, which we finally upgraded to 16$ per table. In a shop where most centerpieces went for 75$ to 125$, this was considered pretty much impossible. The result was simple and elegant, and the couple was maybe to most satisfied and happy I've ever helped out.

These arrangements are all made with 3 flowers or less, coupled with inexpensive, locally harvested greens and branches.

First bouquet as a mum...

After Finn was born, my friend I used to work with at the flower shop sent me some flowers... She new I like to do things my way, so instead of making me a bouquet, she filled up a box with a bunch of the stuff I love. She called it the Ikea bouquet, because I'd have to assemble it myself... It took me a few days to find the energy to do anything with them, but when I finally did, it felt really good to take a moment for myself doing something I love. Before I started I went for a stroll in the alley to pick up a few "weeds"... The hairy looking vines are a species of Clematis, one I think is native to Eastern Canada. A couple other things too, polygonum and some stuff I can't identify...

It's interesting because it's not colours I would've picked out spontaneously, but the resulting mix was just fabulous. I naturally gravitate towards deep, saturated hues. These were far more subtle and varied. Just goes to show, I really have to expand from my usual choices of reds, pinks and purples...

I can imagine a wedding with a long harvest table filled with these. So perfect for a fall celebration. The place mats would be a dirty shade of purple, like the hydrangeas. Place cards would be light peach and olive, and maybe a few mustard coloured candles?

I'm already looking forward to the 2011 wedding season...

Long time no blog...

Well, I haven't posted anything for a while, but I think I have a pretty good excuse, no?

If not a good one, at least a gorgeous one.

Name's Finnegan...