For many years I have been interested in designing woodlands on welded structures. The problem was that I did not know a welder – until I found out last summer that the husband of my friend Heather did it as a hobby. I asked if he would teach me – he enthusiastically invited me over to teach the basics and offered the could use his equipment any time I wanted to. It seemed like a fabulous deal, until I tried it out… After a half hour I mentioned to Andre that I would be happy to hire his services – learning this new skill was not in the cards:-)

It has been a fantastic collaboration. Andre has designed many simple, yet interesting structures and this has opened a whole new world of woodland design for me . Do I ever love exploring the endless new options!

This is one of the designs I made last month – the vertical piece of the structure was perfect to secure the spiraling piece of wood that I brought home from North Carolina last summer – thank you Morgan Moylan for this treasure! I glued moss to cover the metal base. Lots of varieties of seedpods and other textures embellish the structure. The curly dried seaweed and the devil’s claw from Grand Prismatic Seed add more movement to the design and the birch branches with catkins divide the emptiness of the circle well.

Many thanks to Jason Hill for the gorgeous images!

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‘Tête-à-tête’ is one of the most popular dwarf daffodil varieties available.  Tête-à-tête means “head to head” in French; often these miniature daffodils look as if they are nodding at each other, with two or more blooms per stalk. They grow 6-8″and are ideal for planting in patio containers. I have lots of clusters all over the garden and love that they spread so readily. The deep golden yellow flowers appear in the garden late January and start blooming 2 to 3 weeks later.

They do well in zone 8 and colder, they are deer resistant and always brighten the garden in the cold and grey winter months. It is a good idea to deadhead flowers once they are faded, but do not remove foliage until it has died down.The reason why the foliage cannot be cut back earlier, is that the nutrients of the leaves get stored in the bulb. I like to plant them amongst perennials that start growing around the time that the daffodils are done blooming, so the foliage of the perennials easily hides the yellowing leaves of the tête-à-tête.

There are many other varieties of mini daffodils and of course the selection of larger daffodils is extensive. Many of the specialty daffodils tend to bloom quite a bit later. All of them tell us that spring time is around the corner!

Photos: Gwen Severson, Lincoln Barbour, Joni Shimabukuro

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Hyacinths evoke so many childhood memories. Mom used to force these bulbs every year and their fragrance would permeate in the living room and dining room for weeks. She would plant some in a few shallow ceramic containers and several weeks later we would all enjoy these beautiful flowers for quite a while.

It is a good idea to place the bulbs about 1″ apart on 2-3″ of loose and well drained soil. The flower stocks can get heavy, so sometimes it is a good idea to stake them.

Hyacinths can also be grown without any soil. Forcing vases are designed especially for this purpose. They have a wide base to contain the water and roots, and a narrow neck to hold the bulb, so it does not touch the water.

I grow a lot of hyacinths in the garden. I like to group them using 1 color only. My favorites are the blue and purple ones. Once they are done blooming, it takes a few weeks for the foliage to turn yellow; at that time the foliage can be cut off, as all the nutrients will have returned to the bulb.

I love using the blossoms in flower crows, jewelry or other accessories. They will hold up fine for up to 3 days without a water source – and for several more days when the designs are stored in a hydration chamber. (You can read about it in this blog post: https://francoiseweeks.com/blog/page/4/)

The stems are very short, thick and fleshy. Hyacinths look beautiful by themselves in a shallow vase, or combined with other spring flowers.

Photo: Theresa Bear

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Last month Frankie Tresser, who studies photography, contacted me asking if I could make a headpiece for her final project of the semester. I was more than happy to have an opportunity to design a new headpiece. I had kept the bases of 3 fascinators that I designed last September and decided to combine them   (https://francoiseweeks.com/2021/10/botanical-fascinators/) .

Except for a few mini cymbidium orchids, I used a selection of textures: many varieties of seedpods, bark shavings, moss, lichen and bark.

Many thanks to model Naomi Lang, assistant Abigail and Jason Hill for letting us use Cobalt Studios.

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Nacre Magazine is an exquisite French magazine that features designers from France and around the world. It is beautifully curated and is published quarterly online in French/English. It always is an honor to be invited to send in photos for an article. The last issue focused on holiday designs.

Many thanks to Theresa Bear for the beautiful pictures!

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In October I taught a 4 day workshop at Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield,WI. It was a memorable experience! This modern retreat destination is located on Lake Superior in the middle of the woods. The Scandinavian modern lodging accommodations were stellar and every day we savored healthy locally sourced meals.

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I love decorating evergreen wreaths with a plethora of small fruits, nuts, berries, barks, etc…here is a step by step on how to create your own.

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A few weeks ago, Ted Mishima and I collaborated again on a very fun photo shoot. I wanted to experiment with a different mechanic to make fascinators and had a lot of fun designing them. At the flower market I found a magnificent tropical leaf, alocasia sting ray. As usual, I had no idea how the design would evolve; it turned out to be a striking choice for this project!

A few weeks ago a friend gave me some wood shavings that she had collected as her husband was working on a wood project. I honestly had no idea how I would use it, but they turned out to be the perfect element to create curly hair for the second fascinator!

For the third design I braided some midollino sticks to extend the small base.

Many thanks to @anoushanou for modeling!

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Last month Morgan Moylan hosted a fabulous workshop at her studio West Queen Studio in Hillsborough,NC. The weather was perfect and we were able to hold the class outside. All the students were super talented, as the pictures tell.

The first day we made botanical jewelry. That evening Morgan hosted a garden party and also invited many local growers from the area. The students showcased their beautiful creations, which were admired by all! Many thanks to Jennifer Wood for designing the gorgeous centerpieces for the garden party!

The second day the focus was on woodland centerpieces and bouquets. Morgan had saved beautiful pieces of bark and wood and we were able to forage a lot of mushrooms on her property in addition to the treasures that we had gathered  at a friend’s garden the day before the workshop.

Many thanks to Mina von Feilitzsch for the magnificent images!

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Last month, Lauren Hampton, one of the organizers of Sneaker Week in Portland, OR contacted me, asking if I would decorate a pair of sneakers that she would wear during her presentations at this week long event.

“Sneaker Week bridges the footwear industry, surrounding industries and professionals to creative and engaging experiences that educate and excite”

Of course I said yes and mulled over which materials to use that would hold up for a whole week without a water source. I decorated the sneakers with paper thin bark, foliage of bromeliad, succulents, acorns, pine cones, lichen, snail shells, tillandsia, amaranthus, dried straw flowers and fiddleheads, rattlesnake grass, ripsalis, seedpods of poppies, nigella, pokeweed, eucalyptus, peonies, baptista,…

Thank you Jason Hill for the fabulous photos!

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