Show Off Summer’s Bounty – Blooms to Love at Home
It may be too hot to go outside, but bringing the best of summer’s floral bounty indoors is blooming easy and beautiful! Flowers, vase and inspiration are all that’s needed to add to your luxury home’s décor this summer.
Three top florists tell us their favorites and how it’s done:
Fresh Urban Flowers
http://shopboerne.freshurbanflowers.com
(830) 816-5778
Fresh Urban Flowers in Boerne lives up to its name by offering artisanal, fresh and inventive design with a unique and completely different style for special events, gifts and weddings. Named in San Antonio Magazine as the Best Florist in the City in 2015, their emphasis is the most unique and quality blooms in their anything but ordinary designs. Housed in a fully refurbished 1800’s farmhouse, they deliver seasonal fresh arrangements and curated gift boxes throughout Boerne and San Antonio. Sister shops are located in San Antonio and Kerrville.
Tricia Hamil, President and Creative Director for Viridian Design Studio, the parent company of the shop, enjoys the season’s choices. “In the early summer, my all-time favorite is the peony in all of its colors and varieties.” Hamill likes to mix them with hydrangeas, roses, spray roses, tulips and other romantic blooms in simple, compact pave arrangements that aren’t just pretty but last a long time as well. Hamil offers some display choices, “Depending on the decor of the home, I might put them in an industrial metal vessel, a faceted gold vase, or even classic blue and white Chinese porcelain.”
As calendar pages flip, she has other choices, “As summer progresses, my favorites are dahlias. I love the huge dinner plate size. Dahlias like to be the star of their own show so I usually either just display them alone or I put them in a looser sort of just-gathered-from-the-garden arrangement with lots of greenery and a few other seasonal blooms.” Something more rustic works best for a display she says, “These are great in a vintage stoneware pitcher, a mason jar, or other simple homey vessel.“
Alamo Plants & Petals
http://www.alamoplantsandpetals.net
(210) 828-2628
For 30 years Alamo Plants & Petals has served Alamo Heights, where they are located, as well as Terrell Hills, Olmos Park and San Antonio, with their elegant signature style of floral arrangements. The award-winning American Institute of Floral Design (AIFD) designers bring beauty to all sorts of occasions with same-day delivery of their gorgeous one-of-a-kind arrangements.
Owner Sue Paciocco tells us what her clients love when the heat is on outside, “Many of our clients especially appreciate the freshness of flowers, everything from a vase of loosely designed sunflowers to a lush mounded arrangement of all white clean crisp elegant flowers.” To keep them looking their best, Paciocco shares a hint, “It is especially important this time of year to design in water, not floral foam, to extend the life of the flowers to their maximum.”
There are many options, “Because flower growing seasons have been extended so much in recent years, almost all flowers are available most of the year including these warm summer months. We are still bringing in tulips from Holland, which was unheard of just a few short years ago. While their beauty can be fleeting, who doesn't think of spring when looking at their delicate blossoms?”
Some of Alamo Plants & Petals’ favorite summer staples are commercially available garden roses and oriental lilies. “Both can be used in their budded form and enjoyed through their development into big beautiful blossoms. Our favorite summer color trend just might be the cool colors in lavender, purple, fuchsia and blue tones- a stark contrast from the summer reds, oranges, and golds that we jokingly refer to as hot fire colors.”
Uptown Flowers
(210) 224-9888
Located in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Uptown Flowers has, for 20 years, created lavish floral designs to transform weddings, holidays and corporate events. They are also known for their creative everyday and special occasion arrangements. Their work is often garden or European style, but they also do artistic mono-botanical and tropical styles.
Owner and floral designer, William Garza, with 20-years of experience, tells us about his favorite way to celebrate summer with flowers at home, “My most favorite is the peony in colors: coral, pinks and shades of white.” Garza uses them throughout his home bunched in various numbers of stems, grouping 2 – 3 stems or 3-6 stems, cut short and displayed in small, short potbelly vases with narrow mouths.
Additionally, Garza is partial to hydrangeas, a flower he became known for using in all his arrangements when he got started in the business. “I like to keep them in my home always.” Garza often includes green hydrangeas that dry beautifully and can be used later in other arrangements.
Succulents are another choice Garza says works well, especially in the summer months. “We do them for Texas-themed weddings, and lately in a lot of weddings done at home.” He likes to mix in cacti and pincushion protea native to South America and Zimbabwe.
Here are some additional tips on how to brighten your home with fresh flower arrangements.
Fresh Flower Prep, Display and Care
- If cutting from your own garden, do so in the early morning when flowers are most hydrated. Place in a bucket of water after you cut them.
- Tidy stems with a sharp knife. Diagonal 45 degree angled cuts will allow the maximum uptake of water. Don’t use scissors, which can crush tender stems. Heavy-duty clippers may be necessary for woody stems.
- Remove any foliage that will be below the water level as it will deteriorate contaminating the water with bacteria and creating an odor.
- Use a floral preservative provided by the florist such as Floralife or mix a capful of bleach and two teaspoons of sugar to a gallon of lukewarm water to open blooms more quickly. Let flowers rest in water several hours or overnight.
- Arrange flowers in a clean vase filled with conditioned water. Angle stems in the vase in different ways, add a centerpiece bloom straight in the center, then fill in the remaining space for easy arrangements.
- Eliminate any dead buds or closed buds that don’t open allowing healthy blooms to last longer.
- Avoid displaying in direct sunlight, which can cause blooms to wilt.
- Every two days, change and recondition the water.
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