photos from a rainy sunday

Today we went to visit the Lake Shrine Temple in the Pacific Palisades. It was a cold and wet day for a walk, but still beautiful! The mix of architecture was a little unusual, but the grounds were beautifully kept and full of lush foliage and lovely flora. Well worth a quick stop if you're ever by the Pacific Coast Highway in southern California.

The rain actually made some of the flowers look too too picture perfect, what with the raindrops on roses and all that! Many of our leaves actually are turning color now that it's fall (though of course it's nothing like the spectacular color on the east coast), but it's still nice to see life in bloom no matter what season it is.

                

pressed flowers

In our many flower-gazing jaunts this year, I've brought home quite a few blooms. I put them between sheets of paper and closed them in a heavy book, and put that underneath more heavy books.

I finally pulled them out today and arranged them into a botanical wall hanging, using an inexpensive frame, textured cardstock, and just a bit of glue.

Included are cherry blossoms, poppies, gingko leaves (from a trip I haven't posted yet), and other wildflowers. Many of the blooms have faded in color, but some are still surprisingly vibrant.

I have plenty of pressed flowers left over to put onto cards and onto gift wrap, tags, and other projects. The card shown here had to be glittered because I was overly enthusiastic with the glue, but I rather like the slightly fancified version, too.

I've always liked seeing botanical prints hung as decor, but this particular hanging will also remind me of our many trips to see flowers this year--some close to home, some further afield. Quite nice.

flowers chic & cheap

There are few things that brighten up the house more than fresh flowers. I remember first getting the bug when I helped my sister put together arrangements for our other sister’s wedding reception years and years ago. When we first moved to L.A., I spent a happy summer helping a woman design and construct flowers for weddings and events as well, where I found how soothing it was to handle cool, fragrant blooms and coax them into more orderly shapes.

So when Clarkson-Potter contacted me about reviewing the new book Flowers Chic & Cheap, I was pretty jazzed about the possibility. Flower arranging can be a slightly mystifying activity, since just looking at a bouquet won’t always reveal how it’s put together. But just as in sewing, it helps to be armed with confidence and basic knowledge of construction.

The book is a fun read, and really helpful for anyone who’s ever wanted to tackle flower arranging at home. I’ve included my review of the book below.

Flowers Chic & Cheap by Carlos Mota

Americans spend more than 20 billion dollars on flowers each year. With floral supplies now readily available in every craft store and with more professionals willing to share their trade secrets, however, DIY-ers are finding that it’s surprisingly easy—and easier on your pocketbook—to create lovely bouquets at home.

Flowers Chic & Cheap: Arrangements with Flowers Picked From the Market or Backyard advocates tossing out fussy bouquets and expensive vases in favor of “quick methods for making beautiful yet uncomplicated arrangements.” Dozens of techniques and suggestions for putting together bouquets are offered, ranging from centerpieces to bouquets. Many basic tricks are showcased, such as playing with scale, using all of one color, using unusual containers, or creating a “dome” effect with a tightly gathered short bouquet. Author Carlos Mota also showcases more unusual arrangements, most notably with orchids presented in a thrifted bird cage, as well as a lovely “Narnia”-style nature centerpiece with moss, tree trunks, and pines.

Some especially great flower arranging tips in the book include:

* Deconstruct less attractive mixed bouquets for more sophisticated arrangements

* Use herbs and branches for fragrance and variety

* Add Sprite to water as flower food in a pinch

* Vary heights in grouped arrangements to achieve “highs and lows” for visual interest

The author’s background as a stylist for Elle Décor magazine is apparent in the magazine-style layout of the book, with some inspiration taken from designers such as Ralph Lauren and Bill Blass, as well as in the usage of some pull quote-style layout. The author’s exuberant personality comes through in his verbiage as well as in the confident, perhaps slightly scattered way in which he presents his ideas. (Contributor Rita Konig does a great job of keeping Mota's voice in her text.) The information included is creative and sound, however, and includes the usage of just a few basic floral supplies—that is, any reader who picks up the book should be able to get started on flower arranging with just a few dollars’ investment.

Not all of the arrangements are entirely convincing, however, as suggestions for putting a containered bouquet inside a decorative paper bag or for putting flowers inside a ceramic tourist mug are a little reminiscent of large online flower retailers. They certainly aren’t quite as “chic” as Mota’s readers might hope. The supplies and resource section is also heavy on New York-centric recommendations, whereas it would be helpful to include more universal vendor names and perhaps more description of what each vendor’s specialty is.

The book is nevertheless full of great design ideas and helpful tips for anyone who would like to consult a basic primer, or just for use as inspiration. The author’s easy-breezy approach to demystifying flower arranging is encouraging, and his style reflects a modern, refreshing departure from the more formal or cluttered bouquets popular in years past. This book would make a great gift for any nester, especially packaged together with some basic floral tools and, of course, an extravagant armful of blooms.

Flowers Chic & Cheap by Carlos Mota

ISBN: 978-0-307-58798-5

288 pages, softcover

Price: $25.00

Color photographs

Skill Level: All

Usability: Very Good


Photographs courtesy of Clarkson-Potter Books.

I've been yearning to revisit the L.A. Flower District downtown again, and after reading this book, I just might have to do it sooner rather than later.

summer tulips

Isn't it nice when dinner guests bring hostess gifts? It's not necessary, of course, but it's always very much appreciated. Our friend Susan brought us a bright bunch of tulips yesterday, and they look beautiful by our sunny picture window. I arranged most of them in a heavy rectangular vase with river rocks at the bottom, and snipped off a couple of pale yellow blooms for the bedroom, too.

PS--the carrot cake cookies were a big success. If you're a fan of carrot cake, I'd highly recommend them!

cheer

No matter how good-humored you are, moving is an exhausting experience. We started physically transferring our belongs to our new place last weekend and are still in the middle of the process, so between boxes and dust and delays and disarray, it's been a little nutty around this particular household. 

It helps, though, to have a partner who, after 3 days of sore muscles and while carrying several large boxes, takes the time to stoop and pick a tiny posy of flowers for his wife. Thank heaven for nice husbands!

antelope valley poppy reserve

We've been on quite the wildflower kick this year. After our little jaunt to Anzo-Borrego, we couldn't wait to pounce on the California poppy season, which is supposed to be spectacular. We'd heard the blooming season is just a few weeks, and the flowers aren't always consistently bountiful, so we tried not to get our hopes up too much. But after seeing so many photos, we couldn't wait to see them for ourselves.

We drove about an hour north of Los Angeles near Palmdale, to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. And oh my stars...it was everything I dreamed it would be! Carpets and carpets of poppy fields set against snow-capped mountains (or mountains covered with yet more wildflowers) and blue blue skies...it was ridiculously, perfectly beautiful.

We walked through about six miles of hilly terrain, covering just a small part of the 1200 acres dedicated to poppy preservation. We didn't see any rattlesnakes, antelope, or owls, but we did spy a coyote, many lizards, and the occasional song bird. Being there felt like we were miles and miles away from civilization.

I took literally hundreds of photos, but am enclosing just a few below for your viewing pleasure. (Click on the images to enlarge.) I have to confess that, although I'm generally very careful about only taking petals and flowers that have naturally separated when we go on these excursions (more on that in a later post), this time around I did pluck some flowers that I'd smashed when we sat down. Okay, when we lay down on the grass...I just couldn't resist. I mean, it's a poppy field! I got sleepy. Or just drunk with beauty.

a lovely cherry blossom afternoon

More signs of spring: the cherry blossoms are in bloom!

Here in LA, the flowers aren't quite as lush and plentiful as they are at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, but it's still nice to be able to see them, especially in a place that's a little less crowded and tourist-y.

There are apparently over 2000 cherry trees at Lake Balboa in Encino, and on days when the weather is fine it's a pleasant walk around the man-made lake. This year, we saw songbirds and squirrels and swans and geese and ducks making themselves at home among the strolling visitors and picnic-ing couples.

It'd be nice if the park service could do something to spruce up the grounds a little, as well as to get rid of the insistent gnats that swarm around the water. I'm also a little surprised that there aren't more fully flowering trees, and that many of them are planted away from the main part of the park.

But hopefully something's being done to make the overall experience as wonderful as it should be, as well as to preserve the overall health and flourishing of the trees. PS--this is my favorite squirrel photo ever.

wildflowers blooming in the desert

What does spring look like in your part of the world? Here in southern California, our days are warm and sunny, and the wildflowers are blooming in the desert.

We set off on a road trip this weekend to Anzo-Borrego State Park, located about 3 hours away from Los Angeles near San Diego. We drove through miles and miles of dusty terrain covered in huge boulders and rocks, so unearthly it looked as if it could have been another planet.

Eventually, we stopped at the visitor's center, where we got a map and drove out to several different trails.  Most of the flowers were scattered in patches in the parched earth, but we also found sunny meadows and hilltops covered in beautiful spring flowers, as well as giant caterpillars, quick-darting lizards, and even a roadrunner running across the path.

I'm constantly in awe of how beautiful it is here in California. We're marking four years here today, and we're happy and grateful to be living in such a inspiring place.

Hope it's beautiful where you are, too.