Tillandsia xerographica is a slow-growing epiphyte. Just like orchids they grow on the surface of trees and derive their moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water. They are super easy to take care of as a house plant: submerge them in water for 30 minutes once a week, and you will enjoy them for a long time. These beauties are great for larger designs but I like to deconstruct them and use the silvery gray leaves individually. Each one creates beautiful movement in any design. And they pair up so well with these bright phalaenopsis.

For the headpiece I also mixed many succulents, small pieces of paper thin bark, sedums, seedpods, kangaroo paws and some delicate ferns.

Many thanks to photographer Ted Mishima and model Kari Pero .

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Muscari  is another favorite spring flower! Here in Portland,OR these small  bulbs bloom in  late winter/early spring. The last few years, as the temperatures are a lot milder than they used to be, the foliage starts sprouting in December; today I already noticed some tiny flower heads!

They grow well in average soil with good drainage and can be planted in partial shade or full sun. Muscari are very frost tolerant; most varieties are hardy to -25 F (-32C), but cold tolerance varies with species. The colors vary from pale to deep blue; some varieties are white or pale pink. They grow 6-9″ tall and the bulbs multiply readily. They look best planted en masse or you can plant them in pots, combined with other delicate flowers or by themselves. Another bonus is that deer and rodents rarely bother them.

Muscari in the garden a couple of years ago.

Photo: Theresa Bear

Like other spring bulbs, muscari use their foliage to produce energy for next year’s flowers. Once the flowers have passed their prime, allow the foliage to continue growing until it yellows. In most cases, the foliage will just fade away. If not, yellowed foliage can usually be removed with a gentle tug.

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When I found dried lotus leaves, I wondered how to use them to create a delicately layered structure for a headpiece. As always, it involved some trial and error, but in the end, I loved the way it worked out. The gorgeous phalaenopsis orchids, along with some textures were the perfect ingredients to decorate the fragile sage green foliage.

Thank you Ted Mishima for the great pictures and Ava Lanches for modeling!

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It was about 25 years ago that a friend introduced me to hellebores – and I became obsessed!

And what is there not to love about them? Here in Portland,OR  they start blooming late December and we enjoy the flowers until mid May. The flowers are frost-resistant; if the frost hits, the flowers droop, but as soon as the temperatures are above 32, they perk immediately back up. So trust me, there are a lot of hellebores in my small garden…

Photos: Theresa Bear and  Ted Mishima

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Usually I design the base of the headpieces with wire mesh; for this one I used an old hat that I had not worn in years, manipulated the shape a bit and covered it with palm net before decorating it with a variety of textures as well as with cymbidium orchids, ranunculus, strawflowers and leucodendron.

The base of the scarf was made with felt  and similar botanicals were used to embellish it.

I drilled a hole in eucalyptus seedpods and strung them on 12 gauge aluminum wire to create the base of a necklace;  a variety of seedpods, succulents and berries were perfect to design a botanical pendant.

Thank you Ted Mishima for the stunning pictures and Marie Dysart-Hill for the fabulous modeling!

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Artichokes are a favorite vegetable to design beautiful arrangements in! Follow this step-by-step to create your own.

Photos by Joni Shimabukuro, Theresa Bear, Rebekah Johnson and Ron Weeks

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These autumnal woodland centerpieces and wreath are tapestries of a plethora of textures. Striking pieces of wood and bark are decorated with a variety of colorful fall foliage, lots of seedpods and berries, mushrooms and a handful of seasonal flowers.

Beautiful photography by Theresa Bear

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Last month we ventured over to a fabulous goat farm in Hillsboro for a photo shoot with  Chelsea and dozens of goats and baby goats. What a fun party it was!

Thank you Theresa for the fun and beautiful pictures!

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What a fun surprise it was to be invited by NW Flower Fanatics to make a few masks for a segment of a tv show here in Portland! It was so much fun to design these!

Thank you Gwen for modeling and Theresa for the fabulous pictures!

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It had been on my mind for a while to do ‘covid’ masks – I altered the masks that I bought at the Mill End Store to get the right shape and had a lot of fun designing these. Two masks have a woodland theme – ziptying the piece of bark or wood to the frame did the trick. The pale yellow mask did not follow the criteria for a covid mask, but it was a fun shape to develop and you get to see Isis’s beautiful smile!

Thank you Ted Mishima for the great pictures.

And thank you Isis Morton for modeling the masks!

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