Illustration, Writing, Children's Books, Plantique

Glass vessels for summer flowers

Some wonderful artwork in the form of an EBook by French artist, Herve Denis.

Roses for Roses

Beautiful roses - why not display them in vintage rose patterned containers?

There were roses everywhere in late '50's- early 60's interiors - curtains, tablecloths,etc. The realm of ceramics was no different.

I have mostly used vintage rose-motif vessels from that era, this month. Some are a bit full-on but then roses are full-on so they probably don't mind.

I photographed inside but I have placed the arrangements on a naive style tablecloth to give the flavour of a simple looking table, adorned with flowers that you could use for an outdoors party or barbecue.

Whereas with the blue jug, I have echoed the red rose motif with the dark red roses.

The white ribbed planter with rose-motif is a completely different shape to fill and how to make the stems stand is a consideration.

I placed the jam jar, slightly shorter than the pot, inside to contain water and stems. This provides  a central stability from which the roses can naturally splay out,

hiding the fact that there is a container inside a container.I poured water into the planter on the outside of the glass jar also and poked some more stems in there.

but the tradition I have followed with the tall glass vintage bottle, is to remove most of the leaves to accentuate the tall pale green stem.

Taking a stand outside

Potted plants look great when grouped, using a variety of sizes, textures and shapes.

This month I have re-purposed objects that generally live outside or in the shed as well as employing some vintage trivets and wok stands.

The milk churn is wearing the pot of pinks like a hat and with it's intermediary flat piece of wood, 

This grouping also  includes the actual wok.

If you can't find the right sized potted plant, you can again use an intermediary, for example the reflective tray.  

I used the work bench and the step ladder, both made of aluminium.

Their cool, hard lined functionality offsetting the colourful and flamboyant beauty of the pelagoniums, dianthus (pinks) and 'Angel hair' ornamental grass (stipa tenuifolia)

and complementing the warm terracotta cluster of pots with the lively herbs.