Bridal Bouquet

The bridal bouquet and boutonniere were the final items created for last Saturday's wedding.

The stems on each received the same treatment– a binding of floral tape

covered with satin ribbon. Leaving the stem ends unwrapped allowed them to drink water until the last minute.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Bridal bouquets are awkward to style for a shoot, they always need propping somehow. A nearby lemon came in handy. The shot was an accident, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

The bright pink rose is Hermosa.

When it was time to clean up, my fleur laden floor required a photo too !



http://www.rosenotes.com/arranging-rose-bouquets/
  

Rose Posey Filler

Ritual is necessary for us to know anything.
~ Ken Kesey
Gathering garden treasures to pass on in poseys or small bouquets has become a rather glorious ritual for me. A well-stocked garden has much to offer-- surprises included.

Roses display especially well when laced and frilled with greenery-- the more herbaceous the better.
1 Do you recognize these leaves? Yes, they belong to aquilegia (columbine)-- a shearing of fresh new leaves only makes the plant stronger, and they are long lasting in a vase.
2 Peppermint-scented and fuzzy-leafed, Pelargonium tomentosum is definitely a favorite. I have two plants that I've been harvesting all through the season. These do best in partial shade.
3 Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis', is a surprise filler from Annie's Annuals. The perfectly round leaves on long stems are ideal, and striking with roses.
4 White strawberry leaves have served me well all through the season too. Fall has brought a new crop of berries, which are a particular delight to bouquet recipients.
5 Sweet pea leaves and tendrils are wonderful curling through the roses. In the garden, these have reseeded in unwanted places-- a free October harvest that will probably result in ultra-strong plants.

The featured greens join multi-colored roses in six bouquets. I originally thought to show both images, because the sun played hide and seek while shooting. The different effects don't really show up here though. I'm including both anyway.

I usually end up doing a color story with the available roses. There were just enough for one all white bouquet.
Note for Sacramento Arranging Seminar Participants

I'm looking very forward to our fun with roses this coming Saturday. I'm hoping you might be able to harvest roses from your gardens so we will have lots to work with. Rose stems from 5 to 8-inches would be perfect. (And it would also be fun to see your wares.) If you have interesting greens please bring us a sampling. Oh yes, and be sure and bring your cilppers.
The roses shown in this post were picked in the morning on both Thursday and Friday. I then put them in the fridge (super cold is not good) and arranged them on Saturday.
PS The vases are stuffed green olive jars from Trader Joes.   http://www.rosenotes.com/arranging-rose-bouquets/

Indian Themed Wedding

 

Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
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The golden bloomers, above, were first created to camouflage large glass vases for an Indian themed wedding. Susan and I made them when we teamed up to create the decor for the daughter of dear friends.

Since I've been digging into the archives lately, and bloomers were on my mind, I thought it would be fun to scan up these pictures from the wedding.
Surprisingly, I've used the versatile (fun) silk vase coverings a number of times on different containers. It's basically a shower cap construction– an elastic casing around a big circle, with an added silk band (sari border) hiding the elastic.
Besides the umpteen red roses, the big arrangements at the entrance of the wedding tent include, bells of Ireland, euphorbia, papyrus, rudbeckia, dahlias, various berries, pistache branches etc . . .
Susan and I arranged the pair of bouquets in tandem at her house. I think she did the one on the left. It's enjoyable, and sweetly intimate, to work with another arranger in such a way.

For the round dining tables, we cut saris in half to top long white cloths. Sari trim wrapped the round cylinder vases. Brass bells were favors at each place setting, and napkins were wrapped in Indian bangle bracelets.
Draping the flower stands with magenta silk saris was deja vu for this former fashion designer.
A curtain of white dendrobium orchids hung behind the bride and groom during the ceremony.
*
A how-to for the arrangement up at the top is shown here.
   http://www.rosenotes.com/decorating/

Transporting Roses

Take your garden with you

 

An Indian oil can makes a perfect container-on-the-go.

By Carolyn Parker

AS BUSY ROSE GARDENERS, we need quick, no-fuss formulas for turning out impressive bouquets. Not everyone can come and see the garden–sometimes we have to take it with us.
At a celebration or meeting, it’s a thrill to watch people linger over and appreciate a good size, exuberant bouquet that includes many different roses. A varied display inspires curiosity and burning questions. “What rose is that?”
I made this bouquet out in the garden, this morning. As I write, it’s June 25 th and our roses are well into their second bloom. The container is a hand wrought oilcan from India, which measures 14 inches high. The opening’s diameter is only 2.5 inches, yet it’s holding more than 25 rose stems! The can’s wide bottom makes it almost impossible to tip over and it’s especially easy to transport.
With the oilcan sitting on a table and my trusty dethorners nearby (see them in the picture), I go amongst the roses and pick a few long stems hoping for a nice display of leaves. Then I walk back to the table, remove the bottom leaves and insert the stems into the can. KATHLEEN (on the right) was the first contribution. Back and forth, from garden to container, I go until the oilcan overflows with roses. All colors are welcome. Displayed with KATHLLEN are R. RUGOSA, MRS. OAKLEY FISHER, IRISH ELEGANCE, KATHERINA ZEIMET, SNOWBIRD, OTHELLO, JUST JOEY, PINK GRUSS AN ACHEN, CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, HERMOSA, NEVADA, REDCOAT, an unknown pink (at the top), and leaves of R. GLAUCA.
For a rose bouquet with a natural look, leaves play an important part. If the leaves are pretty, like the stem of ESCAPADE (shown outside the oilcan) make the most of them. The leaves also help tie in the varied colors and rose shapes.
You might think, well, I don’t have a container like that. I have seen metal cans with a similar shape in garden shops. Old watering cans can also be fun and the narrow, cylindrical French flower buckets are especially great. I have a big collection, only three are from France–knock-offs are readily available. They come in many different materials too, copper, glass, stainless steel, tin.
Though it doesn’t have the nice wide bottom, the flower bucket is an essential container for a rose arranger, because its narrow circumference holds stems in place making it easy to visualize bouquet possibilities. I take one or more into the garden at a time. I usually strip the lower leaves and thorns and then fill those buckets to overflowing. I often style the bucket a little as I go, but very casually, no stress allowed. When the buckets are full they often look so gorgeous, the roses need no further fussing with.
I keep two bricks in my car, ever ready to keep a flower bucket in place. The oilcan is fun and different–the flower bucket is classic and will hold many more roses. Keep an eye out for rustic containers to show off your garden’s roses. You might come across something you already have that displays roses better than you thought possible. Have fun!
Click here for an article on hand-tied bouquets.    http://rosesfromatoz.com/transporting.html

Gifts for Rose Lovers

Enough ideas to fill a vase

 

Oversize ornament looks at home in the garden.

By Carolyn Parker

I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT Christmas ornaments make lovely gifts. Several years ago, I purchased an aqua tinted hand-blown glass ornament for a friend. It was so beautiful; I couldn’t part with it. However, it was a bit too heavy for our Christmas tree, and remained tucked away in a cupboard. I’d take it out and admire it from time to time, and then last holiday season I finally put it on display. Not on the tree, but in the garden.
I hung it in one of the open squares at the top of our lattice gate. It became an ethereal globe catching sunlight throughout the day. When the holidays were over, I left it hanging–it seemed to belong in the garden. As time passed, the beautiful bauble reminded me of bigger, heavy glass ornaments I’d seen for sale from India. It occurred to me how pretty they’d look hanging in strategic spots amongst the roses. Unlike the more stationery gazing balls sold in nurseries, hanging spheres add an intriguing new design element, and they’re less expensive. But to buy more, I had to wait until stores were stocked with ornaments again. In November, I finally was able to search Walnut Creek and Lafayette for possibilities. And there are many.
The silver Indian globe, hanging from our fence in the picture, has a 19–inch circumference and comes from Pottery Barn. Similar ornaments from India are at Cost Plus. At Macy’s, I purchased thin glass globe ornaments, in three sizes, that look exactly like the bubbles children blow through plastic wands. I saw similar ornaments at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette. For the garden, these large, spherical glass ornaments make an unusual and exciting gift, but purchase one for yourself too!
If you want more traditional gift ideas for the rose enthusiast in your life, there are numerous possibilities. How about vases? Rose gardeners need many. They like having interesting choices for displaying their treasured roses. The vase you give might become a treasure as well. The vases I’ve been given remind me of love and friendship.

Rose Vases

Vases can be categorized as small, medium, and large. Small sizes for a single bloom or just a few stems are especially fun and intimate. They come in so many different forms. You might buy one style in multiples. Votive holders, decorative and antique drinking glasses, and demitasse cups make wonderful small vases too. Florali in Walnut Creek, and Tail of the Yak and The Gardener, both in Berkeley, have appealing containers in all sizes. If your rose lover has numerous shrubs, consider buying one of the gorgeous, large clear glass vases that Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and Cost Plus carry. If you want to give an extra special piece, fine craft galleries and museums carry beautiful ceramics and hand-blown glass.

Rose tools

For working in the garden, it’s always nice to receive a few pairs of fresh, new rubberized cotton gloves. And with pruning season just around the corner, if your rose lover doesn’t have a pair of high quality Felco shears–they make a great gift. Both items are available at local nurseries.

Mini Roses

If you feel adventurous, consider ordering a couple of miniature rosebushes from Ralph Moore. Moore, who approaches his 100 th birthday in January, has hybridized over 500 roses, mostly miniatures. Log on to http://www.sequoianursery.biz/ for a dazzling array of possibilities.
Micro miniatures are particularly good for growing in pots. Sequoia carries three of my favorite pink micro minis.
HI is a single rose about the size of a dime with dense shiny leaves forming a shrub that’s as nice as well-pruned boxwood.
SI, which must have the smallest rose blooms in creation, is completely charming.
STACEY SUE has bigger blooms that are sweet and feminine. All three are fast growing lush shrubs, disease resistant, in constant bloom, and do very well in pots.
The minis I mentioned above are small, but at my house they fill good-sized pots. After growing for only two years, Hi is in a handsome burnished green Chinese pot that’s twelve inches high and 17 inches across. I also like to grow minis by the pair in matching pots, because it’s nice to have flexibility for display. A wonderful source for great pots is AW Pottery in Oakland. They have an enticing inventory of house and garden items and always have great bargain two-for-one sales.
The Bay Area has many fabulous gift sources for all gardeners. I hope the above ideas and sources inspire new discoveries and Happy Holidays.    http://www.rosesfromatoz.com/gift-ideas.html

Hand-tied Rose Bouquet

Gather, arrange bouquet by hand

 

Hand-tied bouquet.

By Carolyn Parker

THE MEMORY of an awkward experience arranging roses sometimes pops into my head while I'm in the process of making an arrangement. It was one of my first rose-arranging adventures, and always fuels my wish to impart how rose arranging really can be easy, fun, and very rewarding.
As I remember, an interior decorator called me and asked if I'd fill two of her client's containers with roses as a finishing touch to her design project. My mistake was in saying yes without discussing the containers she had in mind.
She brought me a shallow, clear glass bowl that had about an 8-inch diameter and a short crystal vase with a wide neck. The roses wouldn't stay put in either container, and both the water and the roses sloshed out of the bowl when we tried to transport it!
If faced with the same scenario today, I'd provide just a few roses for the bowl and suggest that she float them in place. The bowl was graceful filled with water and really didn't require many blooms. For the short vase, I would have made a hand-gathered bouquet -- one of the quickest and easiest ways to arrange roses.
Three weeks ago, I had the ultimate hand-gathering experience. I was a guest in the Willits rose garden of Pamela and Michael Temple. The Temples have carved a hillside into an enchanting realm of pathways, retaining walls and structures that support more than a thousand glorious roses. Ramblers, climbers, teas, hybrid teas and antique roses of every kind and color interweave, bubble, cascade, and spill in a celebration of beauty unique in the world. For two days, I had the privilege of photographing the Temples' paradise.

Choose the right vase

Just before a dinner party on the second evening, Pamela asked me to make arrangements for the table. I was thrilled and began to look for two suitable containers. Most of her vases were too tall for a dining table, so I searched for alternatives. Pamela loves frogs and has them in all forms. I spotted a frog teapot and a frog pitcher that would be charming on the table and a snap to arrange roses in.

Gather your roses

I filled both frogs with water, grabbed my clippers and went out into the fading light of dusk. With the frogs waiting on the deck, I plunged into the garden with the height of the pitcher in mind. I cut one rose stem the appropriate length and placed it in my hand. Then I raced around the garden, up and down the steps, from one gorgeous rosebush to another, stuffing my hand with rose stems until I could hold no more. As I went, I'd remove unwanted leaves and thorns. My frothy handful filled the pitcher with ease, and required no arranging.

Tie the stems to keep them in the vase

The teapot needed shorter stems and something to tie them together, since its shallow depth and wide neck would force the roses to pop out. Again, I went into the bounty of roses and filled my hand to overflowing. Rather than bother Pamela for string, I searched the garden for a tie. Lank daffodil leaves looked like a possibility. I tried tying one around the stems and it worked -- another frog sported a pouf of blissful roses. In less than a half-hour, the rose-laden table entertained guests. Throughout the evening, we oohed and aahed, touched, smelled, and turned the bouquets for views of each rose.
A thousand roses to choose from is definitely over-the-top; however, you can hand-gather a bouquet from only one or two rosebushes. Cylinders, like the frog pitcher, are the easiest vase shape to work with. Keep in mind how deep your container is so you can cut your stems accordingly. And you can easily recut them if they're too long. Try adding other summer flowers if you have them. Be generous and experiment!

Click here for more rose arranging articles.   http://www.rosesfromatoz.com/hand-tied-bouquet.html

Great Gifts for Rose Lovers

Containers to have and hold

 

An apricot shaped demitasse cup is a charming complement to ROSA CREPESCULE.

By Carolyn Parker

"OH, HOW GORGEOUS roses would look in that" spins through my mind each time I see a great container.
Mankind has offered up many to admire. The world's eminent museums become luminous shrines as their display cases sparkle with vessels of Roman glass, Mayan gold, African bronze, Etruscan stone, Chinese jade, Viennese porcelain.
I loved vases long before I had flowers to put in them. In my early 20s, I had two Persian vessels with openings too small for even the narrowest stem. I think I liked them because they were a beautiful encasement that seemed filled from within. Not unlike ourselves.
Maybe that's why artisans down through the ages have ingeniously applied their creativity to making vessels beautiful, for both peasants and queens. Expertly wrought volumes to contain water, wine, grain, herbs, medicine, perfume, rose oil. Most all such antiquities are stunning containers for roses.
Empty or full of roses, vessels and vases make great gifts. At least 30 years ago -- again, before I was a gardener -- a friend gave me a little 3-inch-high glass vase that came in a pretty box. Today I treasure it with the sweetest memories, not to mention the countless single roses it's displayed.
If you want to go vase shopping, Tiffany and Nordstrom, as well as Ross and Target, are good retail sources. At my favorite florist, Florali in Walnut Creek, Susan Donley has the ultimate rose bowls for sale: signed Louis Comfort Tiffany, they start at $900. She also carries Henry Dean's colorful blown glass vases from only $25.
Antique shops, flea markets and bazaars in exotic foreign countries are also sources for fabulous containers. You could find a rustic brass bucket, a collection of old bottles, a zinc oil can (a 40-rupee purchase I once made in India) or any number of vases from all the decades of the last century, before and beyond.
Don't forget to look for containers at garden shops, museum gift shops, crafts sales and art galleries. And last but not least, how about your own cupboards? You might have pitchers, vases, charming demitasse or teacups that would be fun to pass on to a dear friend or daughter. The apricot demitasse cups shown above came to me from my friend Beth's mother. They were the perfect complement for Rosa Crepuscule.
If you gave someone a vase last year, that person might like another one this year to add to the collection. One can never have too many vases. Remember, even empty, vases are often a stunning decorative element in a beautiful home.   

Rose Bouquets

Rose Bouquets

Hand-gathered bouquet.

By Carolyn Parker

'Carolyn, would you like to redo that gladiola arrangement on the dining table?" asked Allie Corneal.
"Oh yes," was my reply. I was 9 years old and on a visit to our cheerful neighbor who lived five houses away on Edgewood Street in Beaverton, Ore.
I can still feel my exhilaration, not only because an adult trusted me with her home decor. It was just so much fun to revive the bowl of pale yellow gladiolus. Removing the lower dead flowers, clipping stems, placing the glads back in the frog to suit my youthful aesthetics, filled me with joy — and it felt natural.
My second shot at arranging came 18 years later. I wanted to decorate a buffet table with a large bountiful bouquet for a baby shower I was hosting. My references were bouquets in Impressionist paintings. I'd never actually seen the type of arrangement I had in mind, and I certainly didn't have a big vase. However, a heavy glass flour canister on my kitchen counter made a wonderful stand-in.
A garden full of flowers surrounding our little rented El Cerrito cottage provided a profusion of nasturtiums, roses, hydrangeas, fuchsias and some lush grasses. They filled the container in a burst of color and exuberance, and were a hit at the party.
You might find it strange that I regard these simple acts so highly — they were little epiphanies that seemed magical at the time, and paved the way for numerous freestyle arranging experiences in the future. But wait, there's more.
In 1980, I was asked to provide floral decorations for a big outdoor luncheon. Five large Chinese baskets holding fabric scraps in my fashion design studio came to mind. I thought, if they had 5-gallon bucket inserts, they'd make fantastic containers for a wealth of fresh material from the roadside. I wanted to use wild roses and Queen Anne's lace. I also thought I'd have to clip a few shrubs since the containers were so big.
As luck would have it, a florist friend who purchased regularly from the San Francisco flower market let me tag along early one morning to see if I could find inexpensive flowers that might help fulfill my vision. Huge bunches of pink strawflowers beckoned and were purchased.
I planned to harvest Queen Anne's lace in a Berkeley canyon, only to find that once in my car, the blooms released a swarm of insects, and it all had to be thrown out. A day later, I received a call from a friend in Santa Rosa who noticed it along the roadside there. She asked me if I wanted her to harvest some for the party. I said "Yes." She knew nothing about my thwarted attempt. Santa Rosa was cooler and the flowers had just opened.
On the morning of the party, I gathered all my materials and set up the bucket-lined baskets in a friend's garage. Once I started, the containers filled quickly, and that exhilarating "creator-for-the-moment" feeling flooded me with happiness. The big bouquets, placed on the ground near dining tables, added lush atmosphere to the event.
These three experiences were really all I had done in arranging until my garden overflowed with roses. Then the fun really began, and it's still happening. With a garden of roses and other plant material geared toward arranging, I discovered and learned ways to make stunning, high-impact but easy bouquets. Innumerable ideas for small- and medium-sized bouquets also came my way.
On May 25, I'll be demonstrating arranging ideas at Garden Valley Ranch during an all-day seminar. I hope you'll come. Also, the photo blog on my Web site has many pictures of bouquets to inspire rose-arranging fun. The home page has more seminar info.   http://www.rosesfromatoz.com/rose-bouquets.html

Wedding Centerpiece of Roses and Hydrangeas

 

The love we have in our youth is superficial compared to the love that an old man has for his old wife. ~ Will Durant (American writer, historian, and collaborator of his wife, Ariel Durant. 1885-1981)
*
While thinking about this post I thought, yes, if I were getting married today all the fleurs would be white. Then mind wandered back to my wedding-- the flowers were white-- and very special.
I was only nineteen when I married artist husband, and the ceremony was in his mom's living room, performed by her minister. Our guests, besides mom, were two friends who were also our 'best men'. It was kind of an elopement, considering my parents didn't know about it. No, I won't go into details- this is a flower story.
I wore a black and white wool checked dress, made by my mom when I was a junior in high school, with a white lace mantilla on my head. I did not even consider flowers.
Late afternoon, on the day of the wedding, I walked home from work, and up the stairs to our flat, and there on the porch was a great swath of white roses, with a wide white satin bow, wrapped in lovely, crinkly cellophane.

Can you image how stunned and thrilled I was?
Who would give me such a gift?
I didn't know the dear person-- he was a friend of our best men, who worked in a florist shop, and he thought I should have a bouquet.

My bouquet roses looked like these.

* * *

In the picture with Annabelle hydrangeas, at the top of the page, are Snowbird roses.
     http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/07/wedding-centerpiece-of-roses-and-hydrangeas.html

Garden Wedding Rose Harvest

 

To harvest pink and lavender wedding flowers from my late summer rose garden required three days of careful gleaning, in the cool of the morning. The short-stemmed lovelies went in my fridge. The long and lanky were guests in the walk-in fridge at Florali. Thanks so much Susan!

Annabelle was also required for duty for the wedding bouquets. Two weeks ago, when I noticed her flopping to the ground, I thought that girl needs propping up if she's going to look good at the wedding. This little garden seat came to the rescue.

Tomorrow-- the bouquets   http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/08/garden-wedding-rose-harvest.html 

Garden Roses Wedding Bouquets

 

An amply laden wedding buffet table allowed little space for a large bouquet. Height was needed, and a vase with a small footprint. A trusty cylinder does the job, and a collar of Annabelle hydrangea allowed a good base to build from. Only about three stems actually reach the bottom of the tall cylinder, but Annabelle, and sheer numbers, keep the other stems up with their perky blooms shining.

PHOTOGRAPHERS & ARRANGERS

This bouquet might look simple– actually once everything is at hand the arranging process is nothing but fun, but the entire process from harvesting, to buckets ready-and-waiting is a pretty big deal. So this photographer, when not arranging "just-for-photos," is too harried to really do justice to a shoot. I did manage to clear the counter and prop up an easy background though. Foamcore (4x4) propped on a stool masks the kitchen chaos. Wonderful side light from a Northern window modeled the fleurs just right.

At the event, the bouquet, was perfect for the space allowed, and I was not happy my camera was at home. Maybe next time.
I should clarify that I'm not in the floral business (I have been). However, I do seize the opportunity, when possible, to play with fleurs at fab events for friends and nonprofits.

http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/08/garden-roses-wedding-bouquets.html
 

Rose Behavior in the Vase

 

But Elizabeth's real love was and would always be her roses. Sometimes she came out and set up a folding chair, just to sit with them. She experienced a tremendous feeling of force from them, like a low hum or silent white noise––almost a sense of sitting in the middle of waves of rhythm and color.
~ Anne Lamott in Crooked Little Heart


Before and After
The big bouquet holds a sampling of great shrubs that are more than their pretty flowers. The display came with me for show-and-tell at a recent talk I gave. When back at home, I watched and photographed its blooms on day-one and day-four. The results were spectacular.

The Phyllis Bide cluster opened fully,

as did the elegant bud of Climbing Lady Hillingdon.

My wonderful 'Unknown' old Hybrid Tea hardly changed.

A pale Joseph's Coat (growing in shade) looked better after four days!

Happenstance, lost its petals, but so beautifully.

Did you detect that the vase is a gigantic Mason jar? I can't get enough of them, and when I saw this canister I thought––great vase––wonderful decor for an outdoor party! At my house, it's definitely good indoors too.

This Monsieur Tillier bloom lost energy opening, but had no problem posing.

   http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/09/rose-behavior-in-the-vase.html

Rose Basket

 

Poetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into and make something of that.

~ Mary Oliver

The basket has two faces–– red roses on one side and pale roses on the other. They're ready and waiting for a trip to the Moraga Garden Club.
I gave a talk there last Thursday, and what better way to introduce myself, as well as my garden. It's always fun to show the basket, turning it around, hopefully too ooohs and aaahs. Yes, they liked it.

This baby was heavy though–– one and a half layers of oasis–– three blocks altogether. The handle definitely comes in handy, and a basket always travels well.
I shot this near the garbage can on Sunday morning, after removing the spent blooms. When making the bouquet, I taped a plastic garbage liner to the basket to keep water from the oasis leaking through.

  http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/09/rose-basket.html

September Roses

September looks pretty good in our garden––lots of color––and all those magical hips. The four roses in the grid are Oklahoma, Belle Story, Escapade, and R. multiflora. The hips are Schneezwerg, R. multiflora, R. roxburghii normalis, R. rugosa, and Kathleen.
I'll be taking such bounty to the rose arranging seminar in Sacramento on October 16. 'Dirt du Jour' gave the seminar a nice mention--take a look.
Did you know that 'Dirt du Jour' now has a Northern California edition? I'm definitely a fan of this fab daily gardening website. Check it out, you might want to subscribe.
http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/09/september-roses.html
  

Rose Arranging with Carolyn Parker

 

On October 16, we are going to party with roses-- all day long!

We will admire them, giggle and gossip about them-- and most of all

play with them.

Join me at the beautiful Sacramento Marina for a rose arranging seminar !
The day begins with scones, coffee and tea at 9:00 a.m. We'll have demos in the morning, and then a fab lunch at noon. After lunch, there will be hands-on play with roses and pretty vases, then more demos until we can no longer lift another rose stem.


All the photos in this post were taken last fall at the Sacramento Old City Cemetery. I'm donating my time for this seminar to benefit the Cemetery and its world-renown collection of old garden roses.
Seminar attendees are invited to join us on Friday, the day before the seminar, to harvest roses from the cemetery. Oh, I can't wait, we'll be working with the best possible roses.
Click here to register.
Here I am at the end of the day, ready to head back to the Bay Area. Notice those roses in the back seat? They're the bouquet roses shown above. The next day, they regrouped and appeared in a blog. Click here for a look.
Two days later, cuttings of those roses ended up in the ground, and now, almost a year later, I have plants of the treasured roses.
You will go home with a rose bouquet of your own making-- and just think of the possibilities . . .
My darling blog friends, from all over the world, how I wish you could join us. If you can come, please do !http://www.rosenotes.com/2010/08/rose-arranging-with-carolyn-parker.html