Winter’s Blooms

STORY BY KELLIE GORMLY // DIRECTION AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA AHEDO // FLORAL STYLING BY CATALINA GORENA

During the winter blahs, there’s nothing like indoor floral displays – a year-round treat when there are no flowers outside. “I live it here every day,” says Abby Anderson, an outdoor grower for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. “I think it just lifts your spirits. It makes the winter doldrums brighter to have something that is alive in your space with you.”

Indoor floral displays and arrangements provide the feel of extended seasons, and provide a lift while people await the arrival of spring, Anderson says. Winter florals are no different from any other florals says Thommy Conroy of 4121 Main, a Lawrenceville florist, and coffee shop. “They connect people with nature and bring the outside in,” he says.

Catalina Gorena, of Fortunata’s Vintage Bouquets (fortunatas.net) in Monterrey, Mexico, agrees. “Flowers always make everything look better, brighter, and much more alive,” she says. “They help us feel happier and are the perfect touch to make any space cozier.”

Materials

Try looking in your own backyard. You can use things like boughs from evergreen trees, branches from a red twig dogwood, and pine cones for basic structure and a matrix in the vase.

“We reuse things a lot here from year to year,” Anderson says about Phipps. “You can go out in the yard and see a neat shrub with interesting coloration or bark. “Once leaves are off, you go ‘Wow, look what’s underneath those leaves!’ You can snip those off and add to the arrangement,” she says. Then, you can fill in the rest of the display with fresh flowers, Anderson says. As those flowers start declining, replace them with a different color scheme. Or, you can use dried flowers like dried hydrangea heads or dried zinnias “Choose something bright and cheery,” she says. “It makes everything better.” Gorena likes to mix flowers with light and dark tones, complementary colors, and lots of different textures. For winter bouquets, she likes a mixture of dahlias, ranunculus, lisianthus, spray roses, lavender, eucalyptus, delphinium, and daisies. She recommends that people visit local flower markets and ask for seasonal blooms – and, observe outdoor surroundings closely, as you might encounter the perfect wildflower or branch for plucking.

Conroy loves the idea of mixing flowers you buy at a florist with natural materials. “That’s the really great thing to do: Contrast foraged material from your own landscape with flowers, especially tropicals,” he says.

You can add wintry fragrance, along with more visual effects, by adding things like dried fruit and cloves, Anderson says. You will need a lot of natural materials like flowers and twigs in your winter arrangements, but manufactured items like twine and ribbon can add a lot of visual appeal, too.

Nourish your flowers and other materials either with water in a vase or soaked floral foam that provides water without the need to change it constantly, Anderson says.

Display

Arranging the flowers is the easy part – there are no rules, rights, or wrongs. “It’s all about texture and color and fragrance and what makes you happy,” Anderson says. “You don’t have to be an artist to arrange it because Mother Nature does that for you. You really can’t go wrong when you put together elements that pair well together.”

During the December holiday season, you can add silver and gold accents to your display to give a festive touch, she suggests. Then, after the holidays, you can remove and replace elements that are specifically about Christmas or other

holidays. “You can really go from one end of the spectrum to the other – whatever your personal taste is or the occasion,” she says. Your indoor winter bouquet may be very simple and casual, and not require any arranging except to place flowers in a vase.“Have fun with it and be creative,” she advises. “You’re not outside, so just bring a little bit inside.”

Conroy likes to use chicken wire to help structure a floral display. Gorena recommends using a floral frog and starting with the thicker branches to create a structure. Put the big, round flowers toward the bottom, then “get inspired and let the flowers do their magic … relax and enjoy,” she says.