Snow Days!

While some people like to make snow angels, go sledding or play in the snow after a snowfall, I like to use the downtime to play with flowers. (I know, I know. I'm hopelessly addicted.)

We had a beautiful snowfall on Saturday - almost 8 inches when the weathermen reported 1 to 2 - and it blanketed our lovely little village without damage. There's something so enchanting about snow. It seems so cleansing and purifying. All the unnecessary clutter even looks lovely when covered in snow. Hiding what we don't want to see, the snow highlighted the evergreens, magnolias and bones of my garden. Even the birds stand out more colorfully against the white backdrop.

I should amend the damage statement above. There was some damage, minor but hugely upsetting for me. While trying to keep a path clear in our driveway, I inadvertently backed into one of my prized Franklin's Gem box woods, ripping off about one third of the shrub. Ugh! My heart sank when I saw the damage and have no one to blame but myself! I picked up the broken branches, apologizing to the boxwood for carelessness.

Both of my kids have runny noses-turning-into-colds so we opted not to go outside to play in the snow. They happily hunkered down to the Tinkerbell movie and I set about to play. I made about five different arrangements, clipping, cutting, editing, examining. All the while trying to create beauty with a few random materials at hand.

Of the five I did, the smallest was by far my favorite. It's the one with the two Gerber daisies in a rectangle shaped glass vase. The Gerber's are a sultry raspberry red with off white brushstrokes of cream and pink on the petals. Anyway, I took two branches of Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, bent them and crisscrossed them to form a structure. The Gerber's were placed on either side, bridge by a stem of buplureum. Not sure why but I really like it.

I used one of Sekho Behr's sculptural ceramic vases that I just got at her recent floral design demo in Oxford for three agapanthus, some asparagus fern and a few yellow mums. Sekho makes her arrangements look so effortless and I know I have a long way to go til I get her intuitive sense of artistry.

Influenced by a class I recently took with my floral design guru, Jane Godshalk, I made another arrangement in glass using a circle of curly willow under water as structural support for the goldenrod, asters and gerbera daisy. Designs in glass are so clean looking and of course much better for the environment because there's no oasis to toss in the landfill after the arrangement has died. Jane, who is a floral design teacher at Longwood Gardens, is a very accomplished and experienced designer. Much of her work is influenced by the hot European designers of today like Gregor Lersch. Anyway, she says it's a more European look - and natural - to show the flowers and stems in their entirety, hiding nothing.

Lastly, I made a traditional mass arrangement featuring blues, purples and white. The silver-plated Revere bowl I used was a recent "find" while treasure hunting in an antiques store last week. I love the serendipity of how things come together, especially when I don't have a clear intention of use when I buy something for a design. In other words, I stock up for future designs and inspiration.

I felt like I was getting away with something, having this unexpected break in the daily routine. Playing with flowers always makes me happy and I feel so grounded and uplifted at the same time. Now I await our next snow!