Golden pitcher flower with deep red veins; purple lisianthus and red roses

 Could this be because the pitcher plant  gobbles up tiny insects for dinner? Yet who would deny its beauty? Frame it with red roses for passionate love; purple lisianthus for appreciation and a hint of ivy for fidelity.

Refined beauty

You may want to avoid the carnivores and go for the refined beauty of white orchids, the modesty of pale peach roses and  the radiance of the rununculus.

If you must have the passion of the red rose but no carnivores, pair it with  secrets  of  purple irises,  mokara orchids,  stocks that say, you will always be beautiful to me and the peony that says happy marriage.

Amarylis bud, roses, dendrobium orchids

Three hundred guests waded into Kay Meeks’ lobby to bid adieu to their beloved mayor and share some eats and champagne. The walls were lined with an exhibition of fibre art in rich greens and browns and the mayor likes white flowers - So winter white amarylis they were.

As the holidays  approach, you may want to enjoy the glamour of white blooms in your home , or at your special event. Step out of the red.

Roses, orchids, parrot tulips

Meet my new son-in-law

When Kristin called for a wedding consultation and said she wanted to use some milk jugs that she bought through Craig’s List for her centerpiece bouquets, I was certain this would not be a go. After all, florists provide vases as part of their normal business. As for wedding centerpieces we want to ensure that the vases are appropriate for the flowers and the venue.

Re-cyled jug with “fresh from the garden” flowers

 Well, ever tasteful Kristin chose perfectly. Her wedding at Seasons In The Park was just the setting for the celedon ceramic jugs filled with  a variety of garden flowers. And the yellow accent (check out the shoes) was oh so right!

Kristin at Queen Elizabeth Park

 Thinking green,

Lois.

Photos  by http://jarushabrown.com

Single Sorbonne lilly -Photograph credit, Skot Nelson

The flowers said PINK                                                                                                                                       

Topiary centrepieces

 HOT JAZZ

Lobby at Kay Meek Centre

IN THE MOOD

Soulmate roses, Sorbonne lillies

THEY SET THE STAGE for the crowds who would sip champagne and mingle at Kay Meek Centre waiting for the music to take them away.

Lois

I am often asked by brides, “What flowers come in red?” There is a long list starting with roses and including orchids, tulips, anemones, calla lilies, gerberas, poppies, carnations, amaranthus and many, many more.  Another popular question is “What goes with red?” This is where the fun begins!

Red mixes happily with the other two primary colours, yellow and blue. Think of spring bulbs: red tulips, yellow daffodils, blue irises arranged together in a clear vase of fresh water.  They put a smile on people’s faces.

On Valentine’s Day we celebrate the simplicity and perfection of the red rose with its green leaves.

Red Ginger lillies, Magenta Jaffa orchids

My favorite way of using red is to combine it with the colours closest to it on the colour wheel- violets, magentas, hot pinks; or reds, oranges and yellows. These combinations create a warm harmonious mood, while still saying RED.

Red Heliconia, Orange Mokara orchids, Yellow Cymbidium orchids

If what you are after is a truly sophisticated look, go for an all red bouquet in deep dark shades with luscious textures.

Black Bacarra roses, Calla lillies, Mokara orchids. Photograph courtesy of Randal Kurt Photography

Place your red order by February 4, before noon and receive our Valentine’s gift of  10%  off your total!

-Lois

Italian Terra Cottae Wall Sconce-red roses and leucadendra

For may of us there is something deeply satisfying about playing with mud. As children we remember creating clay figures and putting them in the sun to dry, in so doing, participating in a custom practiced by cultures throughout the world and over time.

It’s no wonder that flowers and terra cottae are such good companions. Both have a deep and lasting  relationship to the earth  and together they evoke the comfort of home .

The Warmth of Terra Cottae in Winter

Winter White Floral in Terra Cottae-white cymbidium orchids and casa blanca lillies

Receive a complimentary head table arrangement when you book your wedding flowers with me by December 31, 2010.

The Lovestruck Wedding Show took place on November 7th in the newly renovated Vancouver Club, a location with old-world elegance starting at the stately front entrance and continuing through the grand rooms and hallways, all the way up to the Members’ Lounge on the 3^rd floor where I had my booth.

A friend remarked days before the show, “So you have your tag line, Just say I Do, but what’s your design theme?” And for all the gauzy romance and white froth of this year’s Lovestruck theme, I felt drawn to blood-black bacarra roses with their luscious velvet petals. I wanted dense undergrowth of leucadendra and knarly vines heavy with tiny privet berries, turgid ropes of limey cymbidium orchids and large-headed calla lillies with their tubular bodies protruding like wild green exhibitionists, their wide-open throats blaring white light.

Black bacarra roses, green cymbidium orchids, green calla lillies

The day before the show, as I prepared for a consultation with a bride whose wishes were for the pale apricots and milk whites of spring blooms, I was enticed by the white tulips that spring out of our greenhouses around this time of year as we anticipate Christmas and perhaps some snow.

And for some of the guests at my booth there is nothing that says wedding like white.

Tulips, white & green cymbidium orchids

As a part of the Lovestruck Wedding Show, I offered brides who signed with me before December 31, 2010, a complimentary head table arrangement. I’m extending that offer to you! Check out my website for more information.

-Lois

English lavender

In the world of flowers “blue” is often used to describe blooms in a range of hues including mauve, periwinkle, sky, royal and even some purples. Blue symbolizes peace, calm, purity, cleanliness, wide open spaces in many cultures and everywhere blue is associated with water and the sky.

Summer in Vancouver is rife with blue flowers.  The scabiosa with its pale, translucent petals is popular with brides.  Towering delphinium and larkspur, perfect for large florals are abundant in shades from softest ice blue through periwinkle and into the deepest electric, royal blues and purples. Hydrangea bushes produce their large blooms in the same range of colour. For scent there is phlox in mauve and purple, and in these same shades is the delicate lisianthus.

Ocean song roses, Scabiosa, Agapanthus, Hydrangea, Lavender

Mother and daughter with Calla Lilly bouquet. Photograph courtesy of Simon Kirby & Christine Grabig

And there are more. If blue is your colour come and explore the possibilities and even if your wedding is not till fall, there will still be blue and a few springs of late lavender can go a long way.

-Lois

Maiden Hair Fern

 The maiden hair fern (Adiantum pedatum) is a plant that many will know, as it is grown both as a houseplant and a garden perennial. Its delicate plumes occupy the secret shade of the garden with access to constant moisture. It layers its leaves like crisp lace handkerchiefs tucked away in a grandmother’s trousseau.

Honeysuckle: Lonicera nitida Baggesens gold

The honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida Baggesens gold) prefers to be where the sun beats down all day. Here its golden tracery cascades over a hot bank keeping company with swollen poppy buds as they wait for the sun’s signal.

And close by in part sun the jasmine (Jasminum officinale) has sprouted new green tendrils. They will offer their own delicate beauty, long after the masses of scented white lace which arrive in early summer have bloomed and gone.                                

Jasminum officinale

Clematis

 I like to use these wisps of jasmine, the ruffles of peonies and poppies and the stunning loops of clematis to create the romance of lace in my floral designs. Many of these garden treasures like the hardy jasmine are not available commercially but have great cultural significance to us.

bridal bouquet

Let me know which ones have personal meaning for you and I will be honoured to design your Indie wedding bouquet using these flowers and foliages with your sentiments at the heart of it.

In nature, there will always be lace.

-Lois

Papaver orientale 'Cedric Morris'

Each first thing in the garden is precious: the first strawberry you pop into your mouth, the sweetness of your own first cherry tomato.

Today my delight is the very first Oriental poppy (Cedric Morris).

I love the subtlety of its coloration as if it wanted so badly to be a cream poppy but couldn’t resist the silvery tone of the dusty miller and the appeal of a pale pink dawn. So this poppy is the blend of all three elements and is nature’s perfection. It evokes all of the loveliness of spring: mildness, pale newness, soft delicacy. And it combines beautifully with the spring blooms which are its companions- the peonies, the anemones, the irises.

It’s the uniqueness of stunning garden gems such as this poppy that I seek out to help make your bouquet truly the only one you will find.

Long Low Centrepiece

Garden Gem

–Lois