“. . . an impassioned advocate for a more sustainable flower industry.”
— Bellamy Pailthorp, KPLU-FM (NPR affiliate)
“The mother of the ‘Slow Flower’ movement, Prinzing is making a personal crusade to encourage people to think about floral purchases the same way they may approach what they eat: Buy locally grown flowers or grow them yourself.”
— Debbie Arrington, The Sacramento Bee
"Debra Prinzing . . . has done more to celebrate and explain ethical + eco-friendly flowers than I could ever hope to."
-- Grace Bonney, founder of Design*Sponge
Debra Prinzing is a Seattle and Los Angeles-based Outdoor Living Expert. As a writer and lecturer, she specializes in interiors, architecture and landscapes.
Debra is author of seven books, including
Slow Flowers: Four Seasons of Locally Grown Bouquets from the Garden, Meadow and Farm (St. Lynn's Press, 2013);
The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers (St. Lynn's Press, 2012) and
Stylish Sheds And Elegant Hideaways (Random House/Clarkson Potter, 2008).
Her articles have appeared in the
Los Angeles Times, the
San Diego Union-Tribune, Country Gardens, Garden Design, Metropolitan Home, Sunset, Better Homes & Gardens and many other fine publications.
April 7th, 2013
Chocolate-and-Vanilla
A graphic, fresh combination: dark-chocolate-colored Anthriscus sylvestris foliage with creamy white Viburnum tinus flowers.
The white square dish, elevated on a pedestal, makes this simple grouping of flowers all the more special.
Ingredients:
8-11 Viburnum tinus blooms, harvested from Charlotte Behnke’s Seattle garden
6 stems Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, grown by Jello Mold Farm
6 stems bridal wreath spirea (Spiraea cantoniensis ‘Flore Pleno’), grown by Charles Little & Co.
3 stems green dogwood (Cornus sp.), harvested by Oregon Coastal Flowers
Vase:
6-inch square x 3-inch deep white ceramic nut dish (overall height is 8 inches)
Design 101
Elevate for importance: There’s something appealing about lifting a floral arrangement with a footed vase or dish. It’s like giving your bouquet a little stage or platform to help it rise above its environment. This is especially noticeable with an arrangement designed to be viewed on all sides, such as a centerpiece. If you don’t have a footed dish or urn, you can use a cake plate to elevate your flowers!
NOTE: Each Sunday of this year, I post my photographs, a how-to “recipe” and tip for that week’s floral arrangement, created for my new book, Slow Flowers.
Enjoy the floral journey through 52 weeks of the year~
Posted in Book reviews, Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | 1 Comment »
April 5th, 2013
Two types of Vivian’s delicious anemones
With the arrival of spring here in Seattle, we flower lovers have lots to celebrate! That’s because the wistful beauty coming from our local flower fields, meadows and farms are simply sublime.
When I stepped inside the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market two days ago, I was stopped in my tracks. The botanical abundance in each stall made me catch my breath with happiness~ A new season is upon us – hurrah!!!
I brought home arm-loads of goodies, enough to make three lovely arrangements of three different sizes. The common threads are these blooms, including some clipped from my own garden. and the style of vase. I cannot resist a footed urn!
- Three bunches of anemones, including 2 clusers of a luscious, velvety maroon variety and one bunch of the coveted black-centered/white petaled variety, grown by Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers in Stanwood, Washington.
- One bunch of the *first-of-the-season* snowball viburnum, grown by Patrick Zweifel of Oregon Coastal Flowers in Tillamook, Oregon
- One bunch of the *first-of-the-season* bridal wreath spirea, grown by Charles and Bethany Little of Charles Little & Co. in Eugene, Oregon
- One bunch of Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ and one bunch of garden hellebores, grown by Dennis Westphall and Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm in Mt. Vernon, Washington
- From my garden: salmon pink tulips, grape hyacinths, delicate and pale-yellow flowers from epimedium (a ground-cover) and camellia foliage.
Hellebores play so nicely with snowball viburnums, anemones and more.
As noted above, my vase(s) of choice are footed urns or bowls. All three used here are vintage and quite dear to me.
I hope that seeing how I used them inspires you to snatch up a footed vase or bowl, an urn or anything with a pedestal base – they are indeed the superior vessels for showcasing flowers. If you frequent vintage sites online, flea markets or garage sales . . . maybe you’ll be just as lucky as I have been. I’ve used vintage metal flower frogs inside each. The frogs are like half-dome cages and because they are metal, they’re heavy enough to just sink to the bottom of the vessel (no tape or stickum required).
Constance Spry wrote about one of her favorite vases – a footed marble bowl – in her 1933 book Flower Decoration. I can only imagine how pricey one of these vases would be today! Here’s what she had to say:
“This vase is beautiful to look at whether empty or filled with flowers. It is so heavy that it is not disturbed by the heaviest branches of fruit or blossom, and its soft, pale-brown colour enhances whatever one chooses to put in it.”
Here are the designs that gave me so much pleasure:
Bouquet One
A Green Floraline Pedestal Bowl, featuring snowball viburnum, hellebores, anemones, Anthriscus foliage and bridal wreath spirea.
After I created and photographed this arrangement, I decided to see how it looked WITHOUT those spikey branches. So here’s version 2 of the same bouquet:
The spirea moved into the teal blue Haegar (vintage) bud vase, while the green Floraline footed bowl contains the remaining blooms.
Bouquet Two
With hellebores, white and burgundy anemones, salmon pink tulips, Anthriscus foliage, camellia foliage and bridal wreath spirea.
Bouquet Three
With Anthriscus foliage, hellebores, epimedium flowers, grape hyacinth, anemones and bridal wreath spirea.
Posted in Creativity, Entertainment, floral design, Gardening, General, interior design, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | 2 Comments »
April 5th, 2013
Posted in Book reviews, Creativity, Entertainment, floral design, Gardening, General, interior design, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | No Comments »
March 31st, 2013
Beauty from Branches
A wistful combination of two spring-flowering branches, captured in the morning light. Aaah!
Ingredients:
Kerria japonica ‘Variegata’, which has white-edge leaves
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles x superba), available in coral, red, pink or white
Vase:
17-inch tall x 7-inch diameter cream urn. This is my go-to vase for last-minute arrangements and it is tall enough to handle the branches, which are nearly three feet long.
If you add cut branches to the vase when the flowers haven’t yet opened, the warmth of your home will coax them into flowering indoors. . . for up to two weeks.
From the Farmer
Jump-start spring: Many flowering shrubs and trees are suitable for indoor forcing. In addition to Kerria and quince, you can cut the bare branches of forsythia, witch hazel and numerous fruit trees. Harvest branches when their buds begin to swell, taking care to use proper pruning techniques. Re-cut the stems on a 45-degree angle and place them in a vase of clean water. Over time, the buds will respond to your home’s warmer temperature and begin to flower. Be sure to change the water as you would with any floral arrangement.
NOTE: Each Sunday of this year, I will post my photographs, “recipe” and tip for that week’s floral arrangement, created for my new book, Slow Flowers.
Enjoy the floral journey through 52 weeks of the year~
Posted in Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | No Comments »
March 24th, 2013
Zen in Bloom
Showcasing a single type of flower – here, it’s spring daffodils – this technique is easy and carefree.
Ingredients:
15 stems common daffodils, from my garden
Multiple lengths of coral-pink twig dogwood, cut approximately 2 inches wider than the vase opening. Any straight, woody branch will work, including vine maple, pussy willow or the colorful twig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea or C. sericea)
Vase:
6-inch tall x 6-inch square glass vase (this design adapts to any square or rectangular glass vase)
The daffodil stems are stabilized by a “raft” of twigs, lashed to cover the opening of the vase.
Other supplies:
Decorative pebbles
Twine-wrapped wire (available at craft stores in natural or green)
Design 101
Borrow inspiration: The idea for this bouquet came from a project featured in Design, a publication of The Flower Arranging Study Group of the Garden Club of America. Whenever you’re inspired by another designer’s technique, it’s important to give it your own twist rather than make a direct copy. For example, the original creation used florist’s foam inside the container, but I found it unnecessary, especially since the pebbles and twigs are enough to hold the daffodil stems in place.
NOTE: Each Sunday of this year, I will post my photographs, “recipe” and tip for that week’s floral arrangement, created for my new book, Slow Flowers.
Enjoy the floral journey through 52 weeks of the year~
Posted in Book reviews, Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Playfulness, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | No Comments »
March 15th, 2013
MAGNOLIAS AND MORE
Evergreen magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), parrot tulips, rosemary, Japanese fantail willow and bare magnolia branches in bud fill one of my favorite white vases.
A sweet detail of those luscious tulips – don’t they play nicely with the rusty side of the magnolia foliage?
Ingredients:
5 stems southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), harvested from my neighbors’ garden
12 stems apricot-hued parrot tulips, grown by Alm Hill Gardens
5 stems evergreen rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), harvested from my garden
3 stems Japanese fantail willow (Salix udensis ‘Sekka’), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers
3 stems deciduous magnolia in bud, harvested by Oregon Coastal
Flowers
Vase: 17-inch tall x 7-inch diameter cream urn
Design 101
Proportion and Scale: These two related principles are among the most challenging to pull off correctly – in interiors and garden design, as well as in a vase. Proportion usually refers to size relationships within a composition, such as how each of the botanicals in this tall vessel is visually powerful. There are no wispy ingredients and the height of the arrangement is equal to the height of the vase. Scale indicates size in comparison to some constant, such as the human body. That’s where the terms “small scale” or “large scale” come in, since they refer to the out-of-the-ordinary size of things. With that in mind, think about the ideal interior setting for this vase. I think it would look stunning as the welcoming urn in a grand foyer or at the center of a large buffet table.
TULIPS & TWIGS
My cover shot, a perfect way to kick off springtime! Tulips, willows and camellia branches – all contained in a brilliant, matte green urn.
Ingredients:
12 stems red tulips and 10 stems yellow tulips, grown by Alm Hill Gardens
6 stems curly willow (Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’), grown by Oregon Coastal Flowers
8 stems Camellia japonica, from my garden
Vase:
5-inch tall x 6-inch diameter matte green urn with handles
From the Farmer
Water lovers: Unlike most floral design ingredients, tulips and willow branches seem to keep growing in a vase of water. You’ll notice that the tulip stems elongate a little each day. Some designers prefer to take the arrangement apart and re-cut the lengthened stems, but I like to observe the changes that occur. Willow is a water-loving plant, so you may discover that it sprouts tiny white roots under water and that small green leaves will push open, as if it is growing in soil. Enjoy a few days of this ever-changing dynamic.
A detail of the colors and textures of springtime.
NOTE: Each Sunday of this year, I will post my photographs, “recipe” and tip for that week’s floral arrangement, created for my new book, Slow Flowers. Enjoy the floral journey through 52 weeks of the year~
Posted in Book reviews, Creativity, Entertainment, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Writing | No Comments »
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