A few weeks ago, I had the honor of leading a floral workshop for Cradle of Hope, an organization that supports mothers and mothers- to-be who are facing crisis. While I provided a little demonstration, the real magic happened when the flowers entered the hands of these incredible women. Many of them told me the experience was therapeutic. If therapy is a time and space that further affirms one’s value and worth than I certainly believe that the flowers have the power to do just that.

Almost all of the flowers we worked with can be purchased at Trader Joes, Produce Junction or another grocery store. While I normally like to use only American grown blooms, I weighed the value of teaching a workshop knowing what flowers might be more accessible, with my value for keeping my carbon footprint as low as possible. For this gathering, I chose the former in case the women were at the grocery store and felt the flowers were telling them important truths about themselves, “you are worthy, you have purpose, you have strength in midst of hardship.”

Below, I am going to share the recipe for the arrangements we put together. Whether you are celebrating a loved one, facing difficult circumstances or simply having an ordinary day, my hope is that flowers might uplift you

Ingredients:

3 plumosus stems
1 hydrangea
3 delphinium
3 garden roses
3 tulips
3 snap dragons
3 stock
5 ranunculus stems
3 scabiosa pods

Instructions:

Fill up a 5-7'“glass vase with water.
Clean your flower stems of leaves so that no foliage floats in the water when placed in the arrangement.
Your vase should take-up 1/3 of the overall height or width of your arrangement. So if your vase is 6 inches high, the tallest stem in your arrangement should be no less than 18” in height or width. Assess the height of your vase and with an invisible marker, note the height of the highest or widest stem in your arrangement.
Place the greenery in your vase first by taking three green plumosus, selecting a papa (large), mamma (medium), baby bear (small) stem removing at least 6 inches worth of greenery depending on the height of your vase. If the tallest stem is 18, “ then the second one should be around 13-15” and third one 9-`12.” This does not have to be exact.
Imagine the points of a triangle resting on top of your vase and place each stem of plumosus at the corner of each of these points.
Then take your delphinium and follow the lines of each stem of greenery, cutting them at only slightly shorter lengths to draw out the color.
In the space between your 3 points, place your roses so that they are evenly dispersed and very visible. They are the stars of the show.
Following the lines of the delphinium, place the tulips, snap dragon at a slightly shorter length, followed by the stock at a slightly shorter length than the snap dragons.
Then take the Ranunculus, cut and place throughout the arrangement in an imaginary zig zag line. Ranunculus are beautiful so make sure they are also visible, seen and not hidden by other flowers or foliage.
Finally cut the scabies pods so that they are at three different heights and place them popping out of the arrangement.

*note: If your arrangement is placed somewhere where you will not see the back then focus all your florals on the visible side of the arrangement and work in elements of 3.

If you would like to support Cradle of Hope, please do so HERE.

Reflection: Flowers For Our Quotidian Days…

The occasions that call for flowers are often either celebratory or comforting in nature. When those who are in love finally decide to have a wedding, they plan to say their vows in front of friends and family amidst roses, peonies and dahlias. They do this to communicate that the reason for gathering is more excellent than an ordinary day. When we grieve the loss of a loved one, we all know that words fall short and there is something about the beauty and temporal nature of these blooming beings that remind us just how fragile yet miraculous life is. While I love creating florals for these important markers in the lives of my community, I wonder if flowers have a place in quotidian life too.

No one leaves this world having experienced only joy and prosperity, completely free from hardship and toil. Even when we are gathered among strangers with different life circumstances and varied degrees of stresses and challenges, we can commune in some small way as those who have all experienced suffering. While I certainly acknowledge that someone unsure about how they are going to feed their family is in a higher predicament than those merely wondering how they are going to get all their work done in a day, they are both sources of anxiety albeit, different extremes. We may not be able to relate to our fellow human in communal flourishing (at least in this life), but we can walk alongside anyone knowing that they have experienced or will experience loss. The wordless blooms that we see growing along curbs or in bouquets at the grocery store remind us that we too are created precious and unique yet here only for a moment.

We need flowers in ordinary life to speak to us in a universal language that all can understand and recognize. The collective dignity poured over us through these living and colourful creatures speaks truth to the profound nature of our existence and being. Elizabeth Barrett Browning seems to understand the offering that these plant materials offer to the world,

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I love Brownings words as they embody what I feel plants can give. When I have the opportunity to bring people together around flowers, it is my hope that they will begin to see the bits of heaven offered to them everywhere, receiving the worth proclaimed by each crocus popping out of the sidewalk crack and daffodil returning.