I love flowers. In fact, before launching my interior design career, I spent a few years working in the floral design industry. The thing about floral design is you’re really just transforming beauty into beauty, giving form and structure to something whose natural form and structure are already spectacular. It’s always a delicate balance between design and overdoing it while showing respect for Nature’s splendour.

For this year’s Harvest gathering, I really wanted the flowers to have a slightly wild and natural feel to them. My inspiration was the concept of a fallen tree that had become a nest into which some of the beautiful flora and fauna of the forest would be nestled.

Next, the flowers. I purchased everything but these Dahlias from my wholesalers, but the Dahlias were in short supply and in bad condition there and I thought I was going to have to go without. Dahlias are my favourite Fall flower, so I was rather heartbroken about it, but the harvest wasn’t good this year and that’s the reality of dealing with nature. It often reminds us that we are not in control, and that really is a good thing, even when it means not getting what we want.

Well, you can imagine my surprise when I went to St. Lawrence Market that Saturday and met a huge and charmingly gruff Amish farmer who was exclusively selling fresh cut Dahlias. This was the only bunch left in a colour that would work with the rest of my flowers, and what a colour! Radiant, mouth-watering blood-orange Dahlias, ready to take centre stage in my arrangements. As his massive, work-worn hands offered me these delicate blooms, my heart swelled with gratitude at the sight of beauty coming from an unsuspecting source. It was a good reminder to always be on the look out for it, even when I don’t expect beauty to be there, it’s probably waiting to surprise me. It’s a constant exercise in transforming the way I think, this search for beauty in everyday life. So good for the soul.

Paired with some Bittersweet Orange, orange thistles and some Ecuadorian roses as big as cabbages, these gorgeous and unexpected gifts made my floral palette complete.

Starting with this kind of gorgeousness, how could I go wrong? Right? Seriously. Nature is amazing.

I must admit that once I’m into the arranging of things, I get into a bit of a zone and inevitably forget to take process photos. You will have to use your imaginations and I will use my words to the best of my ability to describe how I got from the raw materials to the finished product. I started with the thistles and used them as I would typically use greens to create the “frame” for the arrangement, creating a base and an organic shape as a starting point. This step is VERY important, as your base of greens {or thistles, in this case} are usually what hide your mechanics. I don’t like to use the word “hate” much, but I HATE it when people can see my mechanics {i.e. the oasis and whatever else I used to craft the arrangement beyond the featured elements themselves}. Needless to say, this step is important.

Next I added a layer of the bittersweet orange, carefully leaving spaces for the roses and dahlias to nest. The roses were next and I used them to create a beautiful line through the arrangement, finishing with a glorious “centrepiece to the centrepiece” of the precious and prized Dahlia’s from my lovely Amish farmer friend.

I then went back to the bittersweet orange and created a few more carefree lines arching away from the arrangement to offer a delicate, organic flourish. Here’s how the finished product looked.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

I’ll show you more photos of the arrangement tomorrow when I show you the table setting, the napkins I made and the gorgeous menus designed by my friend Melody!

In the meantime, have a cozy, happy Tuesday, and keep your eyes peeled for beauty in unexpected places! You never know what gorgeous surprises might await you around every corner.

xo
s.