SUMMER ROSES FOR YOUR FRENCH INSPIRED HOME

Summer is the season of gorgeous abundant flowers. I can’t quite choose a favorite, but our Eden roses come close.

If you came here via my friends Shirley, Pam or Mary from Floral Friday, WELCOME! I am so happy to have you visit, and I hope you will stay awhile.

 

 

Today, for our Floral Friday, I’ll be using my Eden roses together with some other pink roses for an easy arrangement in a box, together with my friends Shirley, Pam and Mary.

I’ll be sharing their links at the bottom of the post so be sure to visit them later on.

 

 

Let’s talk about the Eden roses first.  In our back garden, our Eden looks like this. Sorry for the marginal photo, I quickly took it with my phone. My ever present assistant, Bentley, is in the background. {Probably wondering if it’s worth his while to come outside with me, because usually when there is photo taking going on outside, there is some kind of table setting and food involved. Sorry Bentley. Not this time.}

 

 

A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT THE EDEN ROSE.

The Eden Rose – Rosa Eden- is a light pink and white climbing rose, it was created by Marie-Louise Meilland and introduced in France.  Marie-Louise Meilland introduced over 120 varieties of roses in her career. She was born in 1920 in Antibes, a beautiful resort town between Cannes and Nice on the Côte d’Azur. As a little girl Marie-Louise was called “Louisette”, her mother came from Grasse {perfume!} and her father immigrated from Calabria, Italy.  Her parents had a rose school on the peninsula of Cap d’Antibes.

By the time Louisette was 15, she had bred her first rose hybrids together with her papa.  She met and married Francis Meilland, the son of one of France’s most famed rose breeders, and began working in his family’s flower business. When Francis died early, at 46, Marie-Louise ran the business until her own son was old enough to take over.  She created new varieties of tea hybrids, floribundas and climbing roses, and won numerous awards. When she named some of them after famous personalities such as Maria Callas, and the princess of Monaco, Marie-Louise was photographed with them and got plenty of press coverage.

I love knowing my favorite rose was created by a woman!

 

 

To make this FLORAL FRIDAY arrangement for our guest bedroom mantel, I gathered some of the lush, ruffly soft pink Eden roses from the garden, a few snippets of bright green maidenhair fern, and some dark green lemon leaf and pink roses I still had left over from last week’s living room bouquet.

 

 

For FLORAL FRIDAYS, the four of us enjoy having somewhat of a theme. This week, we’re all thinking outside the box, or rather IN the box… to create an arrangement using a box of some sort.

 

I chose this intriguing antique metal deed box, painted black and decorated with the graceful initials V R. To make an arrangement in this type of container, I just insert two small glass jars filled with water to hold the flowers safely inside.

 

Antique Black Hand Painted Document Box

 

Flowers play such an important role in my life, they add such freshness and beauty to our home.

In Europe, there are flower stands on almost every corner in the cities, which makes it so easy to allow flowers and plants to be a part of every day life.  I think every Friday shopping trip there includes at least one bouquet of flowers, so that an enchanting floral arrangement can add beauty to our home!  Even if that home is temporary vacation one.

Fortunately, our markets carry a range of flowers here in the states, so we can enjoy the delicate beauty of flowers in our homes too!  Because nothing adds life to a home like flowers, don’t you agree?

 

 

In the summertime, if you are lucky enough to have a garden or patio, flowers are our reward for planting, watering and nurturing our favorite plants, and we can go out and clip a few.  Sometimes, I don’t really want to cut many flowers from the garden, depending on the plant.  But since our Eden is covered with fluffy pink blooms, I cut as many as I want need.

 

 

This lush arrangement is the most uncomplicated way to arrange flowers. I clipped the roses short, and inserted them into the two glass containers hidden in the box.  The lemon leaf and few fern fronds are tucked in to frame the roses.  {That sweet little white flower is what bloomed on the end of the lemon leaf! I’ve never seen that before, it looks like a sweet little bell flower.}

I didn’t have a plan, I just arranged the flowers “by sight” – these roses are so gorgeous, they really don’t need an elaborately designed arrangement!

 

 

I think the result is lovely, don’t you?  Roses are the most feminine, ruffly and delicate looking flowers, but as a cut flower, they are actually quite sturdy, you can expect them to last almost a week if you cut them when they have not opened yet.

 

 

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.”

 

Vintage Hand Painted Enameled Candy Jar

 

 

“Let the beauty and fragrance of a rose touch your soul.”

 

 

I hope you are able to create a spot of floral beauty for your own home today, to enjoy for the weekend.  Thank you so much for joining me today, I love when you visit!  Will you let me know what flower is YOUR very favorite in the comments below?

 

 

Please go see my talented friends and their floral creations by clicking on the links below.

 

MARY- Home Is Where The Boat Is


 SHIRLEY- Housepitality Designs

PAM- Everyday Living

LIDY- FrenchGardenHouse
 

à bientôt

Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com

27 thoughts on “SUMMER ROSES FOR YOUR FRENCH INSPIRED HOME”

  1. Julie Carriere

    I liked hearing the history on the Eden Rose and Louisette. As always, we enjoy your posts Lidy but the Flower Fridays combine the your beautiful antiques with FLOWERS! I think roses are my favourites but then peonies can be lovely oh.. and fushias look like little fairy dresses, then I couldn’t leave begonias off the list. Oh Ican’t name just one! I am glad I don’t really have to choose, do I?

    Julie

    1. Julie, oh, I know, I can’t really choose a favorite either. Our fuchsias are doing so well this year, and you are right, they DO look like fairy dresses. Hope your Friday is beautiful!

  2. Oh the roses and that metal deed box….be still my heart! You and Mary have blown me away with your breathtaking roses today…Your California weather is so great for growing spectacular roses and everything for that matter….You wonderful ladies have truly filled my heart with happy today! Have a beautiful day and fun weekend Lidy!

  3. Be Still My Heart Lidy…your Eden rose! What a glorious sight to see outside your door. Gracie is just like Bentley, ever hopeful that a treat is waiting for her if I have the camera in my hand. 🙂 Thank you for sharing the history (and woman!) behind the rose. Your antique metal deed box is a wonderful container for your arrangement…I love the initials on it and your roses paired with maidenhair fern and lemon leaf. I’m hard pressed to pick a favorite flower, it’s a toss up between the peony and hydrangea, depending on the season. I keep hoping some botanist or nursery will create a hybrid peony with a longer bloom time! Thanks so much for the beautiful start to my day. It’s always a pleasure to join you for Floral Friday. xo

    1. Mary, thank you for always joining me and being so sweet on our Floral Fridays! I too wish a longer lasting peony would be out soon! They are so gorgeous, but they do tend to shatter quickly.

      Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful Friday flower treat with me.

  4. Like Julie, I can’t name just one favorite flower. It all depends on, not only the time of year, but where I am. If I’m hiking in the N. Georgia mountains right now, my favorite is the gorgeous flame azalea. If I’m at home, it’s the gardenia with it’s wonderful fragrance. Your Eden roses are just lovely and I love the story that goes with them. Thanks for such a lovely post this morning!

    1. That is so true, when we see a flower in all its beauty, it’s our favorite! All of them are everything beauty should be. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Vicky.

  5. Lidy, the Eden roses are breathtaking in their color and frills! The metal document box is the perfect container to showcase your roses, maidenhair fern, and lemon leaf with its delicate little bloom! Thank you for sharing the history of the Eden rose, it was so interesting and informative to read the back story! You have created a stunning vignette to enjoy while drinking my coffee! Happy weekend dear friend!

  6. Claire

    I love this post…but how do you name just one flower you love or that’s your favorite. Queen Anne’s lace, chamomile are simple flowers, but look so lovely with roses or peonies or hydrangea…cosmos isn’t too bad either. Sorry, I’m like my Nana – totally in love with flowers and gardening.
    Thank you for sharing your lovely antiques and the history of the Eden roses.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

    1. Claire, I agree!! All flowers are beautiful, my favorites do change often, although roses and peonies, hydrangeas and pansies stay near the top of the list. I wish you a gorgeous weekend, too!

  7. Ginger Valdes

    Your photo and rose bush are breathtaking,Lidy! My favorite flower changes from photo to photo. I’m fickle. My father told me I was the most fickle girl as I was growing up. He was spot on. When I look at your photos today, my favorite flower is roses. This afternoon it will probably be peonies…etc. All of your vignettes are so beautiful, and if you used your phone app on them all, there’d be no room in your home to put them! But maybe you could sell them online because they would be soo beautiful!

    1. I’m fickle too, Ginger. But Roses, Peonies and Hydrangeas stay on the top five, always. Wishing you a gorgeous weekend!

  8. Lidy, I have been following all of you on Floral Friday’s. Your Eden roses in this black box is simply breathtaking. Loved hearing the history. I agree that flowers give life to our homes. I have to admit that this is one way I indulge myself. There are some trade offs but I love arranging them and enjoying them. Thanks for sharing your extraordinary talent.

    1. Dianne, from one fellow flower lover to the other, we are so blessed that there are flowers in our world, aren’t we? Thank you for your kindest compliments, friend. It’s a joy to meet you here. Hope you weekend is beautiful!

  9. Hi Lidy, I enjoy Floral Friday’s so much! Thank you for all of the work and then sharing it. Flowers in the home is a staple for me when my pocket book is empty I clip limps from trees or bushes. It’s like someone is smiling at you when you walk by them. They certainly make me smile.

    1. Happy Summer, Jo! What a beautiful sentence “it’s like someone is smiling at your when you walk by them” about flowers and greens. Love that friend!

  10. Donna Milazzo

    Oh those Eden roses!! Is that a single bush in your garden? I must know what your feeding/care secrets are. I grow lots of roses too, including this one, but I have no aspirations that my Eden will ever be this magnificent!

    1. Donna, yes, it is one Eden climber. I’m sad to admit it, but I’m not actually THE gardener in our garden, that would be Mr. FrenchGardenHouse. But with the Eden, it’s more about the location and the sun, than the feeding. This is our Eden’s fifth or sixth year, in the first few years, it was nothing like this. I used to envy my friend’s Eden, because hers was gorgeous, and she said to wait a few years. She was right!!

  11. Penny at Enjoying The Simple Things

    Your arrangement is beautiful. What a lovely climbing rose!

    1. Thanks so much Penny. Eden really is beautiful, and she has so many roses over a long period of time!

  12. Dear Lidy: I clicked on your post yesterday and when I saw the Eden roses, I clicked off because I knew I had to come back when I had time to really read and enjoy. Eden has been a favorite of mine for I can’t tell you how many years. I had her when we lived in Virginia traveling along a fence and she was spectacular. She loved the heat and humidity of coastal Virginia. When we moved to West Virginia I immediately planted my friend and couldn’t wait for her blooms. This is her 2nd year and we had a dreadfully cold winter. She did survive, but I am afraid she is not as happy here with the cold winters.

    Your Eden is glorious and your arrangement in the beautiful black is stunning. Thank you for this most wonderful post and for memories you brought back to life.

    Have a lovely weekend !

  13. Oh Lidy, I love the casual elegance of this arrangement! Those fat fluffy pink Eden roses are gorgeous! Roses are my very favorite flower and I so enjoyed reading the history of this rose and seeing them blooming abundantly in your garden~ I love to have fresh flowers in my home, they make such an impact. I also love to paint flowers and have pinned some of your beautiful photos to paint from. Just gorgeous!

  14. Lidy, I love pink, and your Eden roses are stunning in your garden! Your indoor arrangement is so pretty in the lovely box. We have been working feverishly in our gardens, but it may be awhile before everything takes off. We had a record cold spring and then jumped into a record high May. We have already had triple digit days! Take care, and I hope that you have a wonderful Sunday!!!

    1. Thank you so much Shannon! So exciting for you to be able to plant a garden and watch it grow, I’m sure it will be beautiful. Happy Sunday to you too.

  15. Connie Rice Allen

    Your flower arrangement is as beautiful as ever! You truly have a talent that I wish I had! I agree with a lot of these posts in that it’s hard to choose just one flower as a favorite but at the top of my list is the tulip. They are such a good cut flower that lasts a very long time. Roses, hydrangeas and peonies are on my favorites list too. Oh, too many to name…..

    1. Thanks so much, Connie! I agree, there are so many flowers that are our favorites!

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