It continues to be incredibly cold and gray here in Philadelphia. By my notes, at this point we’re five weeks behind in blooms from what we were last season at this time. Granted, last year was also a freak year that was entirely too warm, and we were three weeks ahead of schedule for most blooms then. So, when you do the math, we’re now two weeks behind the “norm” with spring flowers. Whatever “norm” is anymore.

When Erin and I dreamed up the Seasonal Bouquet Project and set a start date, I felt confident that it would be easy to put together luscious designs in March with bright ranunculus, ruffled narcissus, budding branches, fresh spring greenery, and maybe even some early tulips. Well, all I can say is thank god for the anemones. They’re the only bloom that came through as expected because they’re tough as nails in the cold.

But as much as I love them, there’s only so many ways you can get creative with just anemones and a few bits of this and that. I was hitting a bit of a wall this week with the SBP post. I first designed a big silver bowl full of anemones. It was really pretty (and might be what you see next week if this weather doesn’t change), but not terribly imaginative. Frankly, it looked a lot like the last design I did. So I started over with the express idea in mind of finding a way to make something completely different.

I have stacks and stacks of old hard-bound books in my prop shop that get used a lot at weddings. I thought it would be fun to turn some into the “vase” for a more wild spring design. It was easy and fun, so much so that I’m thinking of putting together several sets so I have them at the ready for wedding centerpieces. What do you think?