Peonies are native to North America as well as Asia and Southern Europe.  They are perennial plants which only bloom in the late Spring and early Summer but are beloved by gardeners for their deep green foliage. Revered in Asian cultures, you can see peonies year round in Asian art. If you’re in DC or headed this way, go on a peony scavenger hunt at the Freer and the Sackler and let me know how many you spot!

You may notice ants crawling on peony buds. The buds produce nectar to attract ants to help open the dense buds. Don’t worry the ants move on after the flower has opened, but if you cut a few stems before they’re fully opened definitely check for ants so you don’t get any surprise guests in your house.

There are many varieties of peonies distinguished by their petal count and color.  I spotted a these ones in my neighborhood and on a lovely visit to Dumbarton Oaks garden in Georgetown.  Scarlet O’Hara (yes that’s the name!) pictured above has just a few hot pink petals and a ton of pollen barring stamen in then center. Coral and Gold (pictured to the right) has a similar shape and texture but is more lavender in color (not coral as the name suggests) with even more petals.

Sorbet (love this name) is a peony which has just a few beautiful light pink outer petals and a fluffy white center which reminds me of a pom pom. To the left is a picture I snapped on a walk with Theo.

The varieties of peonies with the most densely packed petals are called doubles.  Below is a beautiful hot pink double named Big Ben.

I love using peonies in designs!  I typically choose doubles because they last the longest.  You’ll notice other florists do the same.

Below is a picture of a centerpiece design I created for an event using a light pink double peony named Sarah Bernhardt.

I started with a tape grid on my vase (more on this technique and floral tape can be found in any of our kits). I then added flowers- white hydrangea, pink Apple Blossom stock, hot pink Ravel roses, light pink Sorbonne lilies, pink Dogwood blossoms, and one of my all time favorites -white lily of the valley. And the peonies of course! I wish this picture were scratch and sniff – the combination of the peonies and lily of the valley was incredible.

For a simpler design with just a few peonies and other farmer’s market finds see my post here.  And to see how I combined peonies with asparagus (it’s cool I promise) see my post here.

Enjoy these beautiful flowers while they’re in season!

I brought a bunch of arrangements and plants with me to the studio to show the incredible host, Mindy Thomas, exactly what I was talking about. Kids called in to ask questions and were excited to get started using my tips to create their own unique Mother’s Day arrangements plus make friends with a houseplant.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I shared along with photos of what I brought to the studio.

1) Make a homemade arrangement for Mom for Mother’s Day! Like a homemade card, mom would rather have something you made than bought! It’s easier than you think to create a beautiful arrangement and something kids, novices, anyone can do! Read more here.

2) Think outside the vase and floral department! Instead of spending money on new containers, I used recycled cans when I potted these violets. A brightly colored sand pail became my “vase” for an arrangement I made with just a few flowers, greens, and lemons. Almost anything works- if it isn’t water tight, just place a vase or plastic container inside the object.  You’ll have a blast looking for new containers and won’t have to spend any money.

Open your eyes and think outside of the floral department when shopping for supplies for your arrangement as well.

Herbs can be used in place of traditional greenery- they’ll look and smell great. Consider fruit, veggies, and even candy for a burst of color and flair in your arrangement.   Just spear them with floral picks (like I did for the sand pail arrangement) or floral wire and you’re good to go.  These tools, step by step instructions on adding non floral items to arrangements, and how-to videos are included in all of our kits.

3)  Houseplants make great friends! They purify the air in your home, serve as a living source for arranging material, and are easy to maintain. For your first plant friend, I reccomend a tropical variety.  Tropical plants thrive in almost any indoor environment, are inexpensive, and can be found anywhere where plants are sold.

I brought two tropical plants with me to the studio.   A brightly colored Croton plant, which I clipped leaves from for the sand pail arrangement, and a Silver Bay Aglao plant (in the turquoise pot). Instead of a pot, I used a drawing to decorate the basic plastic container the holding the Croton plant.

I used the Aglao leaves to create a simple arrangement with just three white mums.  The addition of just a few variegated leaves made the mum arrangement much more sophisticated for pennies. And by clipping leaves from your plant, you’re encouraging new growth. Win-win! For another example of how a houseplant (and outdoor plant) dressed up basic flowers check out this post here.

The most important thing I told the kids though was to HAVE FUN and just go for it. Skies the limit if you open your mind and start trying!

Thanks to Mindy and her producer Catherine for hosting me!

My dear friend Sak Pollert of Rice Restaurant let us transform his fabulous Thai restaurant into a floral studio.
We filled every seat with ingredients for a lovely arrangement suitable for a morning affair. Coffee Break roses, Cream stock, Monte Cassino aster, Green Tricks dianthus, filled the vases along a mixture of a greens – salal, eucalyptus, bear grass, and aspidistra leaves.

Our Floral Design Toolkit accompanied each setting as well – you gotta have tools to get started arranging! We also included a small vase for any leftovers along with one red Big Fun rose – had to choose that one for the name as well!

Once everyone had drinks in hand (who says you can’t have champagne before noon!), I conducted a mini lesson on the hand tied technique.  After the lesson the real fun began. Mini works of art were created as friends began making their own designs.

After creating their hand tied designs and mastering the technique, we provided a second set of flowers for guests to arrange for victims of domestic violence.

I purposely chose brightly colored flowers which I hoped would brighten the lives of the recipients- pink Intuition roses, purple Amazon dianthus, and yellow Solidago.

Later in the day we donated these beautiful arrangements to women and children at the Prince George’s County Family Crisis Center’s shelter.  See photos of the donation and how we lead a therapeutic flower arranging workshop when we arrived here.

As I always say, flowers (like time spent with friends) nourish your soul- to be able to spend the day with old and new friends arranging flowers was truly a gift.   Showing people how fun and easy it is to arrange flowers and giving them to those who otherwise could not afford them is what we love to do.

To tackle a basic arrangement, imagine you’re building a salad. It’s as easy as 1-2-3

I created the arrangement pictured left with my greens – salal leaves- and multiple toppings- roses, spray roses, and stock. You can do the same!

1) Select a container – just like you need a plate or a bowl to hold your salad, you need something to hold your flowers.  A traditional vase works well (which you can use as is or dress up a bit – read more here). Or you can turn almost any container into a vase – read more here!

I used a vintage ice bucket  as a vase (pictured to the right) while teaching at Whole Foods recently.

2) Fill your vase with water and add greens! Just like salad greens, you can use just one type or combine multiple varieties for added texture and color- depends on your taste! In the photo to the left you’ll see I used two types of greenery.

If you have a small or narrow necked vase, just clip the ends of your greens and put them right in. If you have a tall or wide open vase, make a tape grid across the top with floral tape to hold your greens (and flowers) in place.  More examples, step by step instructions,  and video on the tape grid technique can be found in our Kit Club – access comes with any of our kits which also contain the necessary floral tape.

3) Add flowers and possibly more to your arrangement!  With a base of greens to frame the flowers, almost any type of flower(s) look great. Like combining red tomatoes, orange peppers, and purple cabbage your salad can be colorful. Or go with just one color for a more subdued look.  You can use one type of flower or multiple varieties in the same color. Just add what you like!

Can’t find flowers in the color you want or want to kick it up a notch? Consider adding fruits, veggies or even candy by spearing the item with floral picks or floral wire. I speared lemons with floral picks and added them centerpieces for an event at the Kennedy Center (see photo above).

With a pick or wire base, almost anything can be added to your arrangement! See how I added candy to a Valentine’s Day arrangement using floral wire here.  Floral picks and floral wire are included in all of our kits along with access to  step by step instructions and how-to videos in the Kit Club.

Bonus – you can eat the fruits, veggies, or candies later and get double duty from them!

See it’s easy and the most important step- have fun! Check out the rest of our site for more recipes to keep your eyes (and heart) full.

Happy Arranging!

Father’s take note- enlist your children to help you create the arrangement and it will be an even better surprise! You can read more about involving children in flower arranging here.

Mini Arrangement

How to get started? For a quick primer on creating an arrangement in three simple steps read here.  Then for more inspiration, choose from my recent posts based on the mother’s style. Consider the traditional arrangement from our Valentine’s Day series pictured above for a mother with a classic style (think J. Crew vs. Armani Exchange).

The series also contains a modern look, one with just roses, and some mini arrangements which you could create and place all over the house as a surprise. Read more here.

Source flowers at the supermarket (Whole Foods is my choice for their quality, selection, and Whole Trade brand), a farmer’s market, or head out to the garden and start clipping.  Read more on hunting for garden goodies here.  And the good news – mom is going to like almost anything you create because it comes from YOU!

You can choose contrasting colors like I did, or try two shades of the same color (hot pink and light pink for example).

You can also add greenery to the mix for a more tradtional look.

Not a rose fan? Use the same technique with a different flower for the same look.

I chose pink Hot Princess and orange High and Magic roses (don’t you love the names!) along with Bear grass which I looped for my quick and easy arrangement.

Step 1) Condition the roses – roses love warm water so if you have the time, cut them and place them in a bucket of warm water for an hour or longer before you arrange.

Step 2) Create Bear grass loops – using the binding technique and wire from my toolkit, I looped the Bear grass in my hands an secured the ends with wire.  No Bear Grass, no problem! Any sort of grass which is long enough to bind will work. Or try another type of greenery. Like it super simple? Skip this step all together and go without greens.

Step 3) Create the rose dome – using the hand tied technique and floral secure bands from my toolkit, I created a random pattern of pink and orange roses with a bear grass loop “frame.”

Step by step instructions and how to videos on the techniques can be found in our Kit Club – access comes with any of our kits which also contain the tools used here and more. Purchase a kit in our shop or at DC area Whole Foods Markets.

Happy Arranging!

The Family Crisis Center of Prince George’s County MD was established in 1981 to provide safe, emergency shelter to battered women and their children.
They are the only safe house for victims of abuse and the primary service provider to families experiencing domestic violence in Prince George’s County. Their mission is to promote and facilitate the elimination of violence in intimate relationships by providing counseling, education and support services to women, children, and men.
Before visiting the Crisis Center, we held a flower party where friends learned how to make arrangements with our Floral Design Toolkits. Each guest at our party made an arrangement for the women at the Crisis Center. We took those beautiful arrangements and hundreds of flowers to the shelter where we held a flower party for the staff and the residents.  To protect the safety of the residents, the women pictured fully are staff but all of the shelter residents jumped at the chance to learn the basics of floral design and get their hands on the flowers.

I chose deeply colored pink intuition roses, yellow solidago, and amazon purple dianthus for the arrangements to be certain they brightened the space and the faces of those who received them.

While arranging flowers, Executive Director Melinda Miles (pictured below) expressed that giving flowers to women was an extremely important part of the healing process, but is something they cannot afford. She was overjoyed to have us there!

When the flower party concluded, the staff and residents placed arrangements throughout the shelter (every bedroom, common room, and office had flowers) and packed up the rest to be distributed to women who do not live in the shelter but receive services.

As I always say, flowers (like time spent with friends) nourish your soul- to be able to spend the day with old and new friends arranging flowers was truly a gift.   Showing people how fun and easy it is to arrange flowers and giving them to those who otherwise could not afford them is what we love to do.

To begin, I submerged aspidistra leaves and a few small pieces of curly willow branch in the vase. I then used the binding technique to create a curly willow structure to hold the branches, flowers, and greens in place as I added them.

I chose a mixture of greens to bring in a natural, foresty feel- salal (aka lemon leaves), plumosa (aka asparagus fern), and aspidistra leaves (which I curled also using the binding technique).  In depth instruction and how-to videos on techniques can be found in the Kit Club – access comes with any of our kits.

After I had a nice mixture of greens (yes this is like the base of salad!), I added hydrangea, larkspur, snapdragons, leucadendron, and green goddess calla lilies. Thanks to the bound curly willow structure, they stayed put!

We placed the arrangements on tables throughout the top floor of the Kennedy Center.  The following day we donated the flowers to  City Blossoms a nonprofit providing environmental education to children to keep with our Earth Day theme.  Read more in Brighten Lives here.

City Blossoms is a non profit dedicated to developing and managing robust green spaces where children and youth are engaged as the main cultivators.

Their year-round program provides consulting, curriculum development, and regular on-site workshops for children and youth with an art-based, hands on approach. To date, City Blossoms has worked with over 3000 children and youth in various gardening projects.

We broke down the large arrangements we created for the event (see pictures here), and brought buckets of stems to City Blossoms so that the hardworking staff could make bundles of flowers to take home with them.  While we were there we admired their garden filled with seedlings as well as thriving plants.  I particularly  loved the use of old tires as planters!   Look closely at the  picture to the left and you’ll see a flowering onion plant (aka allium) growing in the bright blue tire.

We’ll definitely be back and can’t wait to see the garden grow!