June Bliss

We all love the laid-back days of June. The sounds, smells, textures and sights of the onset of summer fill the days and nights with feelings of delight and excitement.

If you are lucky enough to have a garden, potential flower arrangements to boost those 'blissful feelings' are just footsteps from your door. Otherwise, roadside stands and farmers' markets are brimming with seasonal flowers to take home and enjoy.

Selecting and gathering your own flowers not only allows you to express your creative style, but they also bring the freshness and beauty of nature into your home. When you decorate with fresh flowers and foliage that reflect your unique personality, it makes for unforgettable gatherings that your friends and family will reminisce about for weeks.

To show how I've expressed my floral creativity during these early summer days, I created several arrangemnts with seasonal flowers and foliage that will hopefully inspire you to create your own. Cheers to June… California Grown Flowers Month!

Home for the Holidays

To me, a room is never finished without fresh flowers and greens.  When getting the house ready for holidays, there's nothing better than bringing the freshness of the outdoors in.   Whether it's a festive handmade wreath to decorate the door or a beautiful garland to garnish the table or mantle, flowers add life to a home and make it welcoming!

Debra Prinzing, outdoor living expert, author and lecturer specializing in interiors, architecture and landscapes recently shared with readers how to stay local and sustainable when creating holiday wreaths and garlands.

From harvest to holiday

It’s easy to stay local when you make a wreath from homegrown San Diego greenery and blooms. 

Subtropical plants are enjoying a huge surge in popularity in the global cut flower market, which is why it’s so satisfying to know that San Diego County has many family farms, large and small, that are producing Protea, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Banksia, Leptospermum, Chamelaucium (Wax flowers), Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) and other Mediterranean specimens.

DIY holiday garland made with foliage, flowers from California's backyard

For millennia, garlands created from intertwined foliage, flowers and fruit stems have symbolized home, hearth - and hospitality.

During the holidays, we expect to see evergreen garlands, often made with cedar boughs.  But according to floral designers who want to "go local", you don't have to rely on the Pacific Northwest's forests to decorate doorways, mantels or tabletops.

May your holidays be filled with fresh flowers and greens that bring you a bounty of joy and happiness!

Festive Flowers for the Holidays

The holiday season is in full swing, which means your schedule is starting to fill up with parties and family gatherings.  If you're hosting your own special get-together, you'll need decorations to create a festive ambiance.  However, finding the right decor can sometimes be difficult because options are often limited to the typical colors and styles.  One way you can combine your personal style with seasonal decor is with flowers.

Not only do flowers allow you to express your unique style, but they also bring the freshness and beauty of nature to your gathering.  Your family and friends may admire your holiday decorations, but nothing compares to a gorgeous bouquet.  When you decorate with fresh flowers and foliage that reflect your personal style, it makes for a unforgettable event your guests will reminisce about for weeks.

To show how we expressed our personal style using Protea we created six holiday designs that will hopefully inspire you to create your own.

Fun with Flowers & J – Holiday Favorites

As another holiday season draws near, it's often second nature to open up those boxes of decorations in the garage and place the decor in the usual spots.  Some of us just need a muse to get our creative decorating juices flowing.  Here are two of our favorite Fun with Flowers & J videos you should checkout for holiday decorating inspiration.

Link to Video: How to arrange flowers:Elegant Christmas Centerpiece

J creates an elegant Christmas Centerpiece - quickly and easily with the Wm F Puckett Majesty Collection.  Using Protea, Lilies, Tulips and a Satin Mist® Chimney, J shows you the tricks to making your Holidays Happy and Bright!

Link to Video: Decorating with Protea Wreaths and SNOW for Christmas!

J uses a Protea Wreath as a Christmas Centerpiece and shows how Protea Wreaths and Bouquets can be dried for continued enjoyment.

Enjoy - Happy Holidays!

Persimmon - A Divine Fruit

Did you know America's Native Americans, the Algonquin are responsible for the word "persimmon"?  The Algonquin were quite fond of the fruit, collecting it totally ripe after it fell to the ground and enjoying it immediately.  They also dried the ripe fruit into bricks to create vitamin rich nutrition for the long winter.

Persimmon or also called 'kaki' is part of the Diospyros genus of over 700 species of trees and shrubs.  The name Diospyros literally translates to "divine fruit" or "divine food" and is an appropriate description for the wonderful persimmon.

Persimmon season is in full swing, which brings a wonderful opportunity to explore all the decorative possibilities of this vibrant fruit, and that's exactly what we decided to do!  First, we created two stunning fall arrangements which included a mixture of protea, pincushions, banksia, leucadendron, grevillea and agonis.  And, of course we couldn't leave out one of our favorite autumn accessories - the Wreath!  Persimmon, banksia integrifolia, olive and seeded eucalyptus branches were all weaved into that seasonal symbol of 'welcome'.

Then, we took our exploration of persimmon possibilities one step further and discovered more creative ways to use them.

Garden Fresh Centerpieces - The Gardenist

How to Make a Gorgeous Herb and Olive-Leaf Table Garland

Autumn Fruit Centerpiece 

Finally, when it's time to replace that fall creation with a Christmas decoration take those soft squishy persimmons and make Spiced Persimmon Cakes - Enjoy!