Janu-wary

Wary. That is how January makes me feel sometimes. It is hard not to fall into a post-festive-season slump! Although it is touted as a fresh start and a clean slate, the first month of the year just makes me feel blah (even though, or maybe because, it is my birthday month)! I concentrate more on what hasn't happened (yet) and less on the exciting things to come! And 2016 should be very exciting! To break out of this slump i'm in I brought home some pretty white and pink two-tone carnations. Cheap and cheerful. The combination of milk glass and soft pastel flowers is to-die-for!

There's not much that some $9 carnations, a scented candle and a cup of tea can't fix. But really, I have no good reason to be blah, and remembering how fortunate I am is really all the tonic that I need. It is just another month on the calendar after all.

This too shall pass.

Happy New Year.

Kate  x

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Links to love: September edition

Why are there pink magnolias on bare branches in winter, and white magnolias on glossy green trees in summer? This is the question I asked my Mum recently. HERE is the answer for all you readers who don't have a green-fingered parent close to hand.

My Dad gave me a sweet, mossy birds nest on the weekend. It makes me want to start a COLLECTION. (Only nests that have been blown out of trees, of course).

I am sharing this just for the CUTE FACTOR!

FIONA has given me a supreme case of wanderlust.

Aesthetic perfection HERE, HERE & HERE.

This is the SWEETEST idea, and perfect keepsake.

This was the INSPIRATION for seeking out my own milk glass vase. Success! If you are ever in the Snowy Mountains, stop by Stone Cottage, Berridale where I found the above milk glass vase that I promptly filled with white ranunculus.

I mean, seriously, RANUNCULUS make me stupidly happy.

THE MRS BOX just launched a new collection. Yes, I had to buy another one to join the one I was given for my BIRTHDAY. They are hard to resist.

A simple, fresh, spring MEAL I am itching to make/eat.

THIS new-born shoot incorporating flowers is beautiful.

This would be a DREAM COME TRUE to attend.

Wishing you happy spring days.

Kate  x

Styling and Photographs by M o s s & V i n e

Nice weather for ducks...

...Not so much for country races.

We went home to Cooma yesterday for the 'social event of the year'.

Boy, oh boy, did it rain. It was a wash out. I've got mud on my patent leather heels to prove it.

As mountain kids, we expect four seasons in one day, but I was not prepared for quite so much rain.

I was prepared with the flowers though!

Boutonnière and flower crown.

I ended up wearing a rose fascinator rather than the flower crown, but I enjoyed wiring up this combo none-the-less.

Until next race day,

K xx

Flowers, Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Wild carrot

I spied Queen Anne's Lace in my local market! 

A sure sign that Summer is on her way.

Queen Anne's Lace is one of my favourite ever flowers. Strangely enough, most of my favourite flowers are Summer flowers. I don't enjoy Summer very much. But I adore Summer's bounty. Dahlias, Lavender, Hydrangea, I love them all.

 Q A Lace is just the most delicate and pretty flower.

More about Queen Anne's Lace.

Queen Anne's Lace is a true taste of Summer, because it is also edible. A herb of yesteryear.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Sláinte

Parfait? Fondue?

Terrariums are very much in vogue at the moment.

Why not? They are pretty darn cool.

Terrariums

It is easy to DIY a terrarium if you have a little know-how and the right 'ingredients'. My favourite terrarium plant is the ever versatile succulent. Let's face it, it is incredibly hard to kill a succulent, making it perfect terrarium material. 

In my cocktail tumbler terrarium I put a bed of moss (ask your local florist) and three succulents. Easy as!

Succulents don't need much water at all. But it's a good idea to give your moss a mist every so often to keep it looking lush and green and alive. Add any whimsical touches you like.  Toadstools, plastic soldiers,  seas shells, acorns. Inspiration is endless. Raid the toy box.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Drawing by Gareth Hipwell

Bows and pearl pins

You are not a florist unless you have a large stash of ribbons and pearl pins. 

Ribbons are fundamental to floristry.

I have just spent some time organising my own ribbon station. Colour coded, of course.

Cream, pale blue, lavender and twine, these colours are must haves. 

But you never know when a bride is going to ask for neon orange and sky blue. Together.

Some weddings are all about colour!

My current ribbon crush is this ebony + ivory striped ribbon.

It's a classic look.

I am also lusting over the stunningly beautiful plant dyed silk ribbon from 

Silk & Willow.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

The foraged bouquet, long weekend x2

The 'foraged' and 'I just picked these' look in floristry remains ever-popular. You know something is truly fashionable when you can find Pinterest boards dedicated to its existence. The foraged bouquet is no exception. And why wouldn't it be an admired and imitated look? It's beautiful. So delicate, so textured, so interesting.

But don't be deceived, it is not always an easy look to recreate. It can often be easier to construct a perfectly uniform and domed bouquet like this one. The foraged look is ambiguous, open to interpretation. After all,  beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It's not easy to photograph either. So many elements. So much to capture.

Here are some examples of foraged done right.

A wild foraged bouquet

10 foraged foliage bouquets

Modern, eco-friendly wedding inspiration

Wedding decor with foraged greenery

DIY foraged bouquet

Just-picked wedding flowers

Wedding flowers: wildflowers

Summer daisies and peach roses

I spent this past (long) weekend foraging. On the beach. And in the garden. With some of my finds I threw together my own foraged arrangement. I really love the emerald tones from the foliage. I'm a foliage devotee.

K xx

Flowers, Styling and Photography by Moss & Vine

Farm

When I was a teenager, I lived on a small lavender farm. Of course, being a teenager, I didn't much appreciate my surroundings. Now that I'm a florist I can only imagine the fun I would have if my backyard was once again hundreds of flowering rows of lavender.

Mostly we distilled the lavender to make pure essential lavender oil. If you know anything about aromatherapy, then you'll know that lavender is a magical plant. Its oil is powerful. The oil we produced was award winning!

I still have bottles of oil from this farm. The scent is beautiful and very familiar. I have madeleine-esque moments every time I hold a bottle beneath my nose. Today I use the oil in my washing, to freshen up my mattress, on my kitchen floor when I mop, in baths, on my temples for headaches, on my skin to dry out blemishes, and I regularly burn it in my oil burner. You can read more about the powerful properties of lavender oil here.

Of course, this versatile flower is very pretty in wedding arrangements too. The wonderful thing about choosing a lavender wedding bouquet is being able to hang it upside down and dry it afterwards. A keepsake for all time. 

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Spring long weekend x1

We've been doubly blessed in the Australian Capital Territory, we have two long weekends back-to-back. Awesome. The snow has melted on the mountains, more or less, so there was no early morning drive up to Perisher for a day of snowboarding. Instead, I used my time wisely. Kind of. 

I went to Floriade Nightfest with a couple of friends. Floriade is a bit like a flower theme-park. A lolly shop for florists, if you like.

I got a haircut. And had my 'brows done.

I went shopping. A few times. Cabin fever set in about 36 hours into the weekend.

I watched/listened to much of the 2014 Last Night of the Proms.
S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R.

I re-watched Outlander from the beginning in preparation for the mid-season final. 

I bought the (first) Outlander book and am half-way through it.

I went to wander through the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

I've caught up on the laundry.

And I've still got the rest of today to...

read, probably, if i'm being honest.

Also this month:

The annual Bride-to-Be spin off mag Flowers and Wedding Styling was released in September, making me one happy, happy, happy florist. It is a long wait for this beautiful magazine to grace the shelves each year.

I've been obsessing over Lovestar. These vases are genius. So, so effortlessly cool.

My current flower crush is the exceedingly humble chamomile daisy. It must be a Spring thing. These sweet little daisies are the essence of this season.

I've been lusting after beautiful and unusual ribbon.

And thinking about cake styling.

Oh, and of course there was a flower crown for a wedding in there somewhere too. Here is a sneak peek. More to come (hopefully).

K xx

Flowers, styling and photography by Moss & Vine

Travels, tulips and time zones

I have recently returned from a trip to New York and Washington DC. I was in the US just long enough to make my body believe it was time to wake up for the Northern Hemisphere morning when it was actually night time back home.

Then I came back, and had to reverse the process. All part and parcel of travelling.

What was special about travelling in April and May was getting to enjoy some of Americas best known tourist hot spots when they were (arguably) at their prettiest. Central Park in Spring? Yes, please. With cherry blossom on top.

We arrived to unexpected chilly temperatures. But below zero wind chill became a blessing to us. We headed in to Central Park to make the most of the dry, albeit cold, weather. We almost had the park to ourselves. No other tourists seemed keen enough to pop on a coat and get out and about. There seemed to be just locals, running and dog walking. And many Spring flowers.


I'm not sure I've seen so many daffodils in one
place before.

Or grape hyacinths.

Tulips.

And jonquils.

Conservatory Garden on the upper East side of the Park was particularly stunning. Every pathway seemed to be lined with cherry trees in blossom.

We busied ourselves taking what seemed like hundreds of photographs. None of which truly capture the incredible size and hidden treasures of Central Park. There is so much held within the park.

You could spends hours in there every day for months and still not experience everything the space has to offer.


It is such a sanctuary in the middle of a loud, bustling, forceful city.

The care taken over keeping the park beautiful, is in itself, a beautiful thing. On this particular morning, I'm beyond any doubt, the number of caretakers in the park exceeded leisure seekers. Possibly 2:1.

And the floral wonderland continued outside the park on the busy sidewalks. This (second bottom pic) street scape is 5th Avenue. Every garden bed, on every street, around every tree on the kerb was filled with tulips, daffodils, jonquils, hyacinth, and/or hydrangea. Not. Even. Exaggerating. The beautifying of the city for the Spring months was incredible.

Washington DC was similarly beautiful. All wide spaces, lush lawn, and warm sun.

I feel a little like I have brought a touch of Spring home with us. We have some stunning tulips in the bedroom this week. Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere feels a lot like Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The flower growers know this means it can be easy to trick Spring bulbs into flowering early. So, we lucky flower lovers get an early taste of Spring to keep us cheery as the weather becomes chilly.


I'll leave this post with some tulip tid bits.

Tulips continue to grow once cut.

And they grow in the direction of light, towards the sun if possible.

Tulips are not native to the Netherlands, tulips have their origin in what was Persia, now collectively the Middle East.

'Tulip' is derived from the Persian word 'tulban' which translates as turban.

Tulips have many meanings, including: True love, passionate love, innocence, forgiveness, perfect happiness, friendship, and desire. The colour of the tulip can alter meanings in subtle ways. As can how they are arranged.

The colour pink means perfect happiness. I'm very happy to have increased the levels of perfect happiness that already exists in our bedroom.

K xx

Flowers, and all the trimmings

 I have recently been doing some work experience, some days in a shop, some days delivering corporate vases, and some days setting up weddings. Amazing! 

On one Monday morning corporate delivery run I actually walked into Gayle Kelly's office to place a couple of vases of hydrangeas on her desk. Her desk! Amazing!

One Saturday morning I squelched through some serious mud in my wellies to deliver flowers to a tent at a polo match. Slightly pretentious, but amazing!

The places that floristry might take you are seemingly endless.

One thing I have discovered about floristry that I hadn't anticipated was the extent to which florists are actually stylists. Wedding work is a perfect example of this. A florist's job doesn't end when the bouquets and buttonholes are made, that's exactly when the real detailed work begins. Florists are generally required to 'bump in'. This involves taking the flowers to the venue. The church, reception, or both. Then they style the set up. It seems to me that the decor the bride and groom have asked for is realised by the florist, not the venue. So table cloths are smoothed, table runners rolled out, centrepieces arranged, vases put in place. Then attention turns to the ceiling. Yes, the ceiling. So far I have been involved in hanging hessian drapes, paper lanterns, glass baubles, tea light candles, and trees! Well, branches to be exact.

That's right. I climbed inside a scissor lift and attached branches to a venue ceiling. Let me tell you, styling is labour intensive. It takes hours to attach things to a ceiling. The flowers are all arranged and made ahead of time, they are the thing that requires the least attention on the day. It is really very surprising how much of the budget goes to flowers and how much is directed to the sourcing + labour involved with the decor. The flowers are not the costly element when you (the bride) want your reception to involve trees on the ceiling above your merry guests.

When we're done, we snap a few quick photos on our phones and high-tail it out of the venue. Sometimes there is a wait time applied to the proceedings, meaning the florist needs to return to the church to remove the flowers from there once the ceremony is complete. And of course the next day brings with it the 'bump out'. The florist will return to undo all of the hard styling work from the previous day. All of this adds up. Like I said, it's labour intensive, and accounts for some of the reason why the wedding industry is a lucrative one.

The talented team behind the above weddings push creativity and hard work out of the stratosphere! They are Pod Floral Design. I'm feeling very grateful and brimming with inspiration from my time learning from them. Here's to many more weddings in 2014.

K xx