Today's post is from expert florist Gerard Toh, AIFD.
In addition to being Teleflora’s Educational Specialist/Industry Relations, Mr. Toh serves as:
*Creative Director, Sherman Oaks Florist, http://www.shermanoaksflorist.com/;
*Creative Director, Human Resources, Century City Flower Mart, http://www.centurycityflowermart.com/;
*Special Projects Art Director, Bride and Bloom magazine, http://www.thebrideandbloom.com/.
Weeds!! I see the rascals poke their thin green spikes up from the ground. Peeking up from cracks in the pavement, pushing sideways from under a rock or just filling the still-dormant flowerbeds.
Spring has come early to my California home and, I am sure, to the envy of my many friends who live in regions still either shrouded in snow or blown by bone-chilling wind and rain. When I first bought my home, I used to love the look of these weeds. There were so many varieties that they covered my humble patch of yard. It is fascinating to get down close and really look at them.
Their placement in relation to each other really is an arrangement designed by the great visionary and Creator. In our hurried times, fraught with issues of economic uncertainty and climate threatened to global proportions, we are turning to the earth, looking for the comfort of a less troubled past.
Weeds indeed are such an extension of our longing for this simpler time. I have seen this developed in all facets of design, like Lalique’s bucolic collection. In the floral design field, wild flowers are making a comeback.
After all, what are weeds but wild flowers before the advent of the overly cultivated garden? Instead of that compact cluster of monochromatic, mono-botanical humdrum, the look is now an exuberant mix of colors and textures.
The tight geometric form is giving way to a dimensional and casual arrangement of an exotic assortment of flowers and greenery. Yes, greenery. I love the look of some leaves peeking out of a cluster or some errant vines trailing out from the bunch. It is such a natural look. I see it more and more in magazines as designers take the eco hint and pour on the innocence of the flower-child hippy era.
Grandma’s vintage flowers are also making a comeback. Clover, pansies, even bachelor buttons, are appearing in the mix as bridal bouquets loosen up and even open up more with spike flowers like belladonna delphinium/larkspur.
The greenery is homier too, continuing with the vintage garden look of geraniums and herbs like rosemary, thyme and mint all mixed in with that just-picked-from-the- garden look. Stores like anthropologie and urban outfitters are capitalizing on that look. Indeed, we could do with something that invokes the comfort of trouble-free memories.
Ordering flowers from local growers and designing with a “local” style so to speak will support a neighborhood economy and also lessen the carbon footprint on transportation. Finally, we are home sweet home.
