I am excited to announce that this coming Thursday we will launch a new set of tutorials on Structural Woodlands.

Last year I started a wonderful collaboration with André who has been welding smaller and larger structures for some of my woodland designs. It has opened a whole new world of design and I have enjoyed so much exploring it all!

Aware that not everyone knows a welder who can create structures, I decided to figure out how to design similar stands with tools that we all have available: dowels, wood glue, pieces of wood etc… If you are interested in designing on a larger scale or vertically, you will find lots of information in this new set of tutorials.

These designs can be made with textures only, so that no water source is required; for the first and third designs I camouflaged a few water tubes to provide a water source for the flowers and foliage.

Thank you Theresa Bear for the gorgeous pictures!

(more…)

A couple of weeks ago Annette Gomez hosted a 2 day workshop in her wonderful studio in Carlsbad. We harvested a bunch of treasures in her parents garden and her own and bought some beautiful flowers and textures at Mayesh. Earlier that week I had shipped a box of bark and mosses, foraged on the property of my friend Linda here in Portland.

A very enthusiastic group of students attended and created beautiful woodland centerpiece, framed woodlands, jewelry and small hairpieces.

We all appreciated the wonderful food that had been prepared by Lauren: delicious breakfast treats, lunch and the best cookies for an afternoon snack.

Many thanks to Suzanne, who documented the workshop perfectly during the 2 days that she spent with us all.

And much gratitude to Annette, who took care of every possible detail to make the workshop a memorable experience for everyone!

(more…)

A while back, I came up with a different way to design the framed woodlands. A layer of moss is hot glued on and a variety of textures (seedpods, tillandsias, succulents, dehydrated mushrooms,…) create a small landscape. The flowers, maidenhair ferns and other botanicals that require a water source are inserted in small water tubes, which are covered with moss or paper thin bark. It is important to use flowers with thin stems to avoid much water displacement. The flowers can be replaced when needed. I like to design these frames, so that they look great with or without the flowers. Sometimes (in the first and last picture) I incorporate 2″ plants; the plastic pot is covered with moss. These little orchids are a great choice as they will bloom for several weeks.

The frames can be hung outdoors or inside and you will be able to enjoy them for a long time.

(more…)

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!

(more…)

‘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

(more…)

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

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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!

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)