Welcome to our beloved Monday Morning Blooms. Our design inspiration this time is g r e e n. I know you will be excited to visit Shirley, Pam and Mary through the links at the bottom of this post...because they are all sharing that luscious happy color green!
We're looking towards spring, and celebrate every single little pop of green in the garden here at FrenchGardenHouse. You, too?
It's always fun to design a little area in your living room that has a seasonal touch, and it doesn't take much.
At our house, I usually combine a bouquet of flowers with a few decorative accessories and call it done.
This antique commode in the living room here at home is the softest, prettiest shade of green. Sometimes in the photos it looks grey, but it's a pale green, with gilt accents and hand painted flowers on each drawer. I keep my napkins and candles in it. {True confession: the bottom drawer is a bit of a mess. It has a jumble of little antique pieces in it that I took out of a glass fronted vitrine when I bought the big French marriage armoire that you can see in the mirror's reflection. I know, I need to go through it, but it never seems to get a turn.}
For this spring arrangement, I wanted to play off one of my favorite choices for bouquets, the cabbage. I love how these look with white hydrangeas and other white flowers! With so many different intensities, green is a naturally rich choice for bouquets, but usually they are kept in the background as filler. In this arrangement I wanted cabbage to go BIG!
You can often buy a few stems of cabbage like this at the flower market. You will want to add some bleach to your water because this is the one thing I don't like about them, after a while they smell a little. But the bleach in the water totally takes care of that! It just takes a few drops. Relax the leaves of the cabbages by carefully turning them downward to expose the rosette at the center more.
I love everything about these cabbages! They add bright color, great texture, and a little something un-expected to any flower arrangement. My little rabbit, who is a little worse for wear, makes the perfect accent. Because rabbits love cabbage! He {and I} don't mind if one or two of the cabbage leaves looks like it came straight out of Mr. McGregor's garden.
It couldn't be easier to make a flower arrangement like this, just cut all the flowers the same length. I began by crossing the stems of about 2/3 of my bunch of alstroemeria in the vase, then added the 3 hydrangeas and the 3 cabbage stalks. Turning the vase around a few time, I filled up the "gaps" with the rest of the alstroemeria stems.
Green with Envy Flowers
I ordered many different colors, but for this seasonal {Spring!} display I selected a few of the green ones, and these gorgeous spring flower jacquard ribboned ones. Two art deco glass vases and a metal green cherub stand on an antique stool to add height. The antique ironstone pitcher with its green monogram and that tiny French glass bottle complete this little scene. The French candlesticks were already there.
Green is a little magical, don't you agree? According to color experts, green inspires and vitalizes us in all hues. It symbolizes growth, and connects us to Mother Nature. Relaxing and soothing, just stepping into a green garden can soothe your soul and relax your mind.
In the last few years, green has become more than a color, it's also become a verb. To be green is to think about the future by recycling and re-using. {It's also one of the meanings of this color.} Antiques are green!
I hope this green arrangement for spring sparks your imagination for a flourishing season.
One last thing: The reason I called this flower arrangement Green with Envy Flowers is because Mr. FrenchGardenHouse and I {well, him really, since you know he is the gardener!} have been trying to grow our own ornamental cabbages for a few years. Darn if those squirrels don't wait until they are finally looking like something and then yank them out of the ground and eat them! So rude.
We've tried putting netting, growing in a raised bed, adding screened cages around them, but they are smarter than we are. So there you have it, I'm just a little envious {read-jealous} of people who can grow these. They are so pretty!
Also this: I would be remiss if I didn't mention how heartbroken I am for the people of Ukraine. Please pray for them. Your prayers are needed, so meaningful and felt. If you feel moved, I humbly ask that you pray with me for a peaceful way out of this invasion and war. If you’re looking to support the people of Ukraine, please donate to Unicef .
Other green floral inspiration:
French Country Luncheon for Friends >
VISIT OUR BLOOMS TEAM FOR SOME FLOWER THERAPY:
Shirley at Housepitality Designs
and me, Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse
Green floral arrangements, YES? or NON?
I'd love to hear what you think about bringing some fresh green in the house at this time of year?A BIENTOT
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 above all uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com
29 comments
Thank you so much Dolly!
Thank you Jackie!We seem to have the same weather here in Southern California, hot one day, cold the next. Our garden flowers are very confused. Hope you will have a beautifully blessed week ahead! xo
Jo, we sell them on our shopsite frenchgardenhouse.com. Thank you!
Just beautiful! Where did you get the woven wands? Truly unique.
Thanks for sharing this lovely arrangement.
Lidy, this post is just beautiful! I always look so forward to your post! A great way to start the day. We in Natchez, MS are trying to enjoy Spring Days, although one day is in the 80’s and that night it went down to the 20’s! Crazy, my tulips and daffodils are blooming and the azaleas are beginning to bloom great for our Spring Pilgrimage! Have a great day and thanks so much for all your beautiful post.
Jackie
Love your shades of green, Lidy! Using cabbage in an arrangement is one of my favorite fillers. Thanks for the tip about the bleach added to the water. Sorry to be late this week. I adore Monday Morning Blooms and am off to visit the others. Definitely yes to green floral arrangements!
Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you Renae, the cabbages are beautiful, aren’t they? When they are sold in the floral department, they have long skinny stems (really their roots) making them perfect to add to flowers.
It’s hard to not feel disheartened for the lovely people of Ukraine, isn’t it? They have had freedom for 30 years as a country, and now are being invaded. My heart is so sad too, Nancy.
Thank you Nancy. I found the cabbages at our local Trader Joe’s. Hope you are having a lovely day!