For this week’s installation of The Seasonal Bouquet Project, I was channeling the old Dutch master’s floral paintings. I love those beautiful old pictures, full of dark moody texture and large flouncy flowers. But, to be honest, my personality and style are a bit cheerier than all those dark shadows (thankfully, I left my depressed artist/goth phase in high school). So I adopted the Dutch masters’ lush style, but put in lots and lots of bright color to make it feel more like “me”. After all, it is beautiful bright spring right now!

The tulips are just spectacular this year. They are certainly the stars of this arrangement with their long slender curving stems. The three varieties featured are ‘Menton’, ‘Black Hero’ and ‘Renown Unique’. Keep an eye out for a separate blog post sometime soon on the tulips at the farm this season and why I love them so much.
And making the first, but surely not last, appearance this week were the dramatic arching branches of blackberry. This is by far one of my favorite foliages to use in large designs, both for its pretty looks and its very long vase life.