Exotic Flowers in Boston

We love this time of year when Easter arrives because not only is it another fun holiday to celebrate with friends and family, but a time to start crafting spring themed projects again!  Flower arrangements are included on this list and make excellent decorations for the gathered festivities so make sure to save time during your planning stages. If you are a person who prefers to let the experts handle the heavy work, you’ll have no problem ordering a stunning arrangement for your table.  If on the other hand, you look forward to the challenge of maybe making your own, here are some tips to guide you through the process. Don’t be intimidated if your bouquet doesn’t turn out exactly like the picture you’re studying from because all creations will vary in size, shape and dynamic. This is what makes floral designing so much fun and a true artistic simulation.  Remember, when you put your heart, soul and imagination into what you do, beautiful outcomes are bound to happen…

photo via aboutflowers.com

Do-It-Yourself Easter Floral Arranging Directions

Go online and check out the local flower shops and farm stands around your area who carry fresh flowers sold in bundles.  Most floral outlets do not sell inventory in this fashion so you’ll want to do your research beforehand. Once you have located your destinations, browse the selections available and opt for varieties which appeal to you.  If you are sticking with the Easter motif, grab species in pastels or those typical to the season such as hyacinth, tulips, hydrangea, pussy willow, forsythia, sweet pea and delphinium. You’ll notice the selection has drastically changed overnight from winter’s hardier blooms to softer pedaled heads, so don’t shy away from trying something new.  If you like branches, there should also be cherry blossoms available which make stunning centerpieces all on their own. If you prefer the European style of tightly compacted bouquets, choose types that have similar surfaced heads like ranunculus and anemones. Don’t forget to pick up a bunch of greenery like lemon leaf or ruscus to use for filling in wholes and finishing off your arrangement.

Alright…now that you have all your flowers at home, undo the packages and lie the different varieties next to each other to make arranging easy.  Select a vase such as a bubble bowl, ceramic container, urn or glass cylinder, fill with warm (not hot water) and begin to “green” the insides. This means make a ring of foliage on the outer inside of the container to place a base for the flowers to rest upon.  Next, layer with the blooms you’ve chosen while remembering to constantly turn the vase. This will ensure that you are properly leveling the piece evenly. When you have finished, fill in the spots you may have missed with remaining flowers and foliage and place in the middle of the table.  Be proud of yourself because you have just designed your first Easter centerpiece!

I know it’s hard to believe but Easter is right around the corner and due to show soon on Sunday, April 1st.  Many of those who celebrate the holiday look upon the festivities with not only a religious perspective but a seasonal perspective as well.  Easter is commonly celebrated either at the end of March or the beginning of April, marking the return of the springtime season. We get excited about the prospect of warmer weather, melted snow and the arrival of our beloved blooms that have been sleeping all winter, making Easter flowers something we truly look forward to sitting on our tables.  Boston florists take this into account when planning their design work for this special Sunday event and rely heavily on the theme of rebirth and renewal. With so many gorgeous varieties to choose from, you can count on local flower shops to have an extravaganza of options readily available to pick out. Whether you’re hosting a large holiday party or a quiet celebration at home, a fresh bouquet of spring flowers is exactly what you need to get everyone into the spirit.  

photo via aboutflowers.com

Eggs are optional…

Very often, we see Easter arrangements advertised with a stuffed bunny stuck in the middle or foam glitter eggs glued to a stick as part of the presentation.  For one portion of the floral clientele, this look is just what they want but for others-less accessories goes a long way. I myself feel like simplicity is the way to go with floral arrangements and believe that if you’re using the best varieties, the flowers chosen should do most of the work.  What this means is if a designer selects the best quality of blooms to create with, chances are the piece will be stunning on its own without having to add any “bling” to dress it up. This advice rings true for holiday arrangements, too. For example, bunching together a clump of grape hyacinth, ranunculus and sweet pea into a single bouquet is a wonderful mixture that perfectly reflects the Easter holiday.  There’s no need to insert anything else into the vase when you have a showcase of beauty already created. Another idea is to simply place three to four bunches of ten stem bunch tulips in a glass bubble bowl, which is beautiful just on its own. If you really want to top off the centerpiece with a bit more accessory, delicately place a few white eggs at the base so that they won’t detract from the flowers.

photo via aboutflowers.com

Easter plants will always be a favorite for many….

It’s true.  Easter plants such as lilies and tulips will always remain one of the top purchased items for gifts during the Easter season.  Why? Because they are easily handled, affordable in price and so pretty to look at long after the holiday has gone by. If this is one of your yearly traditions already, be sure to remove the tin foil that may be placed around the base of the plant.  Although it is sold for more decorative affect, the material can often destroy the leaves, affect water distribution and compromise the soil.

Dear friends,
I love to read. I have two books I am reading at work, three books at home, an audio book in my car, a paperback in the glove box and I read at least three books to my son Lance every day.
Reading promotes tranquility and sharpens the mind. It transports you to wonderful places in history and your imagination. As a florist, my eyes widen when I read about the roles flowers play in history and fiction. Glenn Stout tells us in Fenway 1912, that pots of flowers greeted fans at the grand opening of Fenway Park in 1912. Vanessa Diffenbaugh's Language of Flowers tells a magical tale where the Easter Lily (Lilium Longiflorum) is a symbol of majesty.

Easter and Pass over are holdays filled with symbols and traditions. Flowers on the table are a tradition and these symbols leave us with memories to pass down from generation to generation.

with respect and gratitude,
Your florist, Rick Canale

Flowers are an enormous tradition associated with the Easter holiday.  For some, it’s because of the religious attributes and for others it’s the seasonal celebration of spring.  Whichever attribute resonates with you most, it is true that more than have the homes in the Boston area will feature a floral arrangement during the next few days of festivities.  As some are purchased in order to brighten up their dining room tables while some are otherwise gifted from a loved one, Easter flowers are the most beautiful presentations that mark the warmer weather of the year!  As the temperatures begin to warm, a brighter and bolder color wheel of options is renewed giving us a breathtaking palette to work from.  With options such as tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, hydrangea and other little bulbed beauties that are finally available, florists are whipping up sensational treats for you to enjoy.  

It’s Easter Bunny time!

Who can stand the wait as we’re planning and plotting our to do’s for the upcoming holiday!  What’s at the top of our lists?  Well, our Easter basket necessities of course!  We’ll need the staples such as plastic eggs for the hunt and a pair of bunny ears to be festive for the children but what else should we be on the lookout for in order to make this upcoming April 5^th the best Sunday ever? 

                                               Photo credit: 1061evansville.com

I don’t know about you but creating a fun and different basket for my boys is something that I always look forward to.  Sure they always contain the traditional items of Cadbury eggs, rabbits molded out of chocolate and jellybeans in every shade of the rainbow but I want to add a little individuality to this year’s creations. 

In order to do this, I like to reflect on what makes the holidays treats so appealing for children.  First and foremost, the premium factor is the brilliant colors that we see pouring from the brims of the containers.  The spectacular spectrum brings and automatic positive sensation to the brain causing the feeling of excitement and joy.  Because of this, I love to be sure to make their baskets look like a Crayola crayon set, adding shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple, pink and any other tint that I might see. 

The texture of the things I put in the baskets is another important issue when selecting treats.  I like to always have egg shaped items but I also like to mix it up with hand wrapped specialty candies, swirl lollipops and beautifully foiled chocolate morsels.  The interesting combination of the different heights and sizes causes a pleasing presentation instead of a flat looking bulk of candy.  Take a look around your area and try to find a local candy shop or chocolate baker who might sell unique and distinctive options other than the regular supermarket and CVS stock of holiday wares.

                                              Photo credit; Gifttree.com

Don’t be afraid to walk outside the “sweet” realm and incorporate things such as small spring themed stuffed animals, yo-yo’s, customary toys such as paddleballs and jump ropes or little games and puzzles.  One of my son’s has an adoration for books, specifically written and illustrated by Mo Willems so I found and elephant and piggy novelty that I’ll prop up with a copy from his series.  For my older son, I think I’ll make a trail of treats leading to a new basketball, his newest favorite sport this year. 

The point is, never be afraid to try new themes that work for your kids.  Make their Easter as special as they are by utilizing their interest and hobbies within their baskets.  Be as sneaky as you can with candy trails and hiding spots and watch the joy of Easter egg hunting work its magic! 

 Suzie Canale

Westwood, MA 

Easter is a celebration that entails several dimensions and traditions.  For those who observe this holiday, customs include religious rituals, family gatherings and special feastings that bring loved ones together.  For some, the anticipation of dyeing Easter eggs is also part of the excitement, particularly for those who have young children.  Over generations, there have been several strategies and techniques that have been passed down claiming to be the best way to create these festive decorations.  Even the process of readying the eggs has become debatable on whether pricking a whole at each end and blowing out the yolk or otherwise keeping the contents and simply boiling them before crafting.  What to color the eggs with is also a complicated choice because of the extensive products that you can purchase in stores or otherwise making your own dye concoction using kitchen ready ingredients.  Easter egg dyeing is serious business and one can feel overwhelmed when deciding just how to go about it.  After careful research, I’ve found some effective and efficient ways to color your eggs that will leave even the Easter Bunny speechless!

                                      photo credit: Emily Kate Roemer via MarthaStewart.com 

 Although millions of eggs are dyed each year in totality with food coloring, there’s nothing that says you can’t decorate using plain acrylic paints.  Not only will they be bright in color but kids and adults can put their own original touch within design and shading that a store bought brand wont allow you to do.  Patterns of stripes, polka dots and elaborate pictures are just a few of the possibilities when using crafting paints and will also encourage the little artist in you and your family.  One tip to keep in mind, water or oil based paints will not give the desired results that you’re looking for so be sure to have the right variety. 

                                      photo credit: MarthaStewart.com

If you’re looking to make some fancy eggs, try using this recipe to create marble eggs quickly and inexpensively.  Take 3 to 4 mugs and add 7 droplets of food coloring.  Add to each container 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.  Fill the rest with water until it is about ¾ full of liquid.  With a spoon, stir the contents to make a spinning whirlpool.  Carefully place the egg on the utensil and gently lower into the moving vessel.  Count to 10 and then remove to allow drying.  For this method, a hard-boiled egg works best because the lightness of an egg that has been hollowed out may crack up against the mug during the dyeing process. 

                                                  Photo Credit; Emily Kate Roemer via MarthaStewart.com

This idea is my favorite so far…  Visit your local hardware store and buy a small canister of chalkboard paint.  Paint the eggs (again, this works best with hard-boiled eggs) and set aside on a paper towel to dry, touching up spots that may smudge in the process.  Find some regular chalk and let your family stencil their eggs anyway that comes to their imaginations. This is a wonderful tactic for small children because if they make a mistake and want to change it, all they have to do is erase and draw again. 

Suzie Canale

Westwood, MA

Suzie will be coloring eggs this week with her two boys.

Easter Lilies

Easter will be celebrated in many different ways within the city of Boston this April.  Depending on a person’s depiction of the holiday, various methods and tools will be used such as decorating eggs, displaying Easter baskets, hunting for hidden chocolate treats, attending religious services or maybe even hosting a feast of a pineapple glazed ham.  Sure, it’s pretty likely that our children will be anticipating a visit from the big white bunny but what else do we use in our preparations during this time of year?  One custom that is popular in many homes this holiday is the Easter lily plant, which has it’s own fascinating explanation as to why its demand is so high.  I’ll bet you’ll be as surprised as I was to learn the different correlations that this bulbed beauty has tied to Easter and what makes this one of the highest produced greenhouse products next to the poinsettia, azalea and mum. 

First of all, the physical attribute of the Easter lily is reason enough to seek this as a centerpiece or gift.  The plant yields long tube-like heads that resemble a trumpet shape that stretches either flat out, down or slightly up.  Leaves are also sleek, growing in a deep green with a silky texture that runs straight across the plant from its base to the head.  Easter lilies were historically imported from Japan but began to decline during the 1940’s when cultivators from California and Oregon began improving growing systems in their greenhouses.  As technology developed, the bulb quickly became one of the U.S.’s highest demanded bulbs to remain shipped throughout the states and then exported across the globe.  The bulb is systematically planted in pots during the fall and forced to grow during the winter so that they would be ready for a March or April crop.  Because they could be harvested on domestic soil, the Easter lily has remained both easily supplied and economically reasonable in price.  These two factors encouraged people to buy the seasonal flower and use it annually during their celebrations. 

Other reasons that make the Easter lily popular is the meaning of the name, which means purity, birth and renewal-all thematic concepts of the Easter holiday.  Religious scripture believes that these particular lilies grew from the droplets of sweat that Jesus made during his last hours.  Flowers sprung to life from the perspiration symbolizing the rebirth of Christ, making the lily one of the highest regarded flowers in the Bible.  Catholic artwork emphasizes this connection with several paintings including one of the Virgin Mary surrounded by white lilies while pregnant and also featured at her tomb.   If you are planning on attending a service at your church, you can bet you’ll see several specimens of Easter Lilies both lining the aisles and perhaps even planted in a cross formation. 

If you haven’t bought an Easter lily for your celebration plans, visit your local florist to find a healthy selection of potted plants or even cut flowers that make excellent centerpieces.  Those lacking a green thumb will also love that these are pretty hard to kill, as they need only a little water to keep moist and a sunny space to sit. 

Suzie Canale

Westwood, MA 

                       photo credit: Flower Factor

In just a few weeks, it will be time for the bunny to arrive and you know what that means.  Time to put out your best china, decorate eggs, accessorize with pastels, pull out holiday recipes and most importantly order your Easter Sunday table centerpiece!  This year, Boston florists are offering a whole new array of choices perfect for April 5^th’s festivities that not only will create the perfect setting for friends and families but also inspire a spring feeling that all New Englanders are craving after this winter.  Past Easter arrangements often were styled in a soft mixture of light pink, peach and baby yellow with sprigs of octoberweed or if not too expensive and available, lady’s mantle.  The French styled, rounded pieces were admittedly perfect for the season but lacked adventure and let’s face it- we all need a little pop of adventure these days.  Luckily, contemporary artists are coming up with some new options for us to enjoy with ideas encompassing a more vibrant palette.

                   photo credit: Flower Factor

We’re switching the blushing pink for some hot fuchsia this time around and there’s not an inch of doubt about the positive impact the color trend will happily surprise flower lovers.  Traditionally the softer sides of this shade are used but why can’t we amp up the volume and give Easter celebrations the bright and fun splash that it deserves?  Fuchsia can be easily combined with other deeper tints such as plum purple, burgundy and tangerine orange so don’t be afraid to ask your Boston florist for something different than what you usually order.  If you still want to experience the delicate gesture of pastels in your pieces, request that your flowers include some of the traditional tints of cream and baby blue.   The bouquet will still showcase the exciting new style as well as expel the romantic feel that Easter blossoms are famous for. 

                          photo credit: Flower Factor

Spring bulbs are more than just the daffodils popping up from a newly thawed lawn you know.  Boston designers are beginning to implement them in arrangements because they have a lot to offer including texture, architectural placement and color appeal.  Fabulous choices available may be lily of the valley, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, paper whites and fancy tulips.  Usually, they are forced open by growing them in a pot of soil in a warm area near light.  When ready, they are transplanted into a holiday box garden or simply cut and arranged with other spring blooms.  If they have been kept attached to the bulb, customers will enjoy the extra longevity of the plant and may even be repotted in the garden if the season is cooperative.  I recently tried this experiment and was able to force white daffodils by placing them in a cup of water allowing the roots to grow and a stem to sprout.  After a healthy unit matured, I placed the bulb with a grown flower in a container full of soil and used green moss to surround the base.  The presentation was not only inexpensive to make but offered a beautiful springtime time presentation. 

 Suzie Canale

Westwood, MA 

The spring is arriving and so aren’t the special holidays that makes this upcoming season a wonderful time of year.  Occurring the Sunday before Easter is the Christian observance of Palm Sunday, a celebration that marks Jesus arrival into Jerusalem.   For those who will celebrate on March 20^th, many will attend masses and receive the traditional icon of the moveable feast, which stands for the people of Jerusalem lying down palms as a pathway for Jesus into the city.  For some regions that do not harbor the appropriate climate to harvest this fanlike greenery, substitutions of yee, willow or even box flower are used in its place.  For this reason, Palm Sunday can be referred to universally as “Branch Sunday”.  Bostonians who will be partaking in this festivity will most likely be handed real palms that local city florists have imported from countries around the world.  Churches generally give out the symbol in either single stems or in formations designed to mirror the cross. Although they are an intricate part of the ritual, the tropical branches can also be utilized to make their holiday centerpieces.  Here are a few ideas for a fabulous floral arrangement for your Palm Sunday festivities.

                from wikipedia.org  "Entry of Christ into Jerusalem (1320) by Pietro Lorenzetti: entering the city on a donkey symbolizes arrival in peace rather than as a war-waging king arriving on a horse"

If you have been lucky to receive the customary branch of palms from your religious establishment, you would be wise to use them as décor for your holiday table setting.  The beauty of this technique lies in the greens stunning simplicity and architectural appeal.  A plain glass cylinder or square that reaches a height taller than twelve inches is ideal for displaying two or three palms or even a single sprig for a feng shui effect.  Not only is this presentation clean but visually attractive and wont interfere with the attractiveness of your dishes served on the table.  Another incentive to getting creative with your palms is that they have a remarkable longevity.  If the branches are fresh, they will be perfectly fine to showcase a week later for Easter! 

                       The Palm Leaf by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905), portrait of an unidentified                                 woman in ancient dress - wikipedia.org

If you’re interested in swapping the customary palm for another type of look, you have several options in front of you.  New England trees and shrubs such as forsythia, pussy willow and even cherry branches make lovely substitutions and can be placed in a container alone or mix and matched together.  If you are pruning from your yard, be sure to cut the stem at an angle and then place in warm water, which will allow the flower to drink quickly and easily.  If you want to beef up your vases, take advantage of the life popping up from the (hopefully) thawed ground such as daffodils, hyacinth and tulips.  For small nosegays and low arrangements, be on the search for crocus, grape hyacinth and lily of the valley.  Not only are the blossoms bold in color but also are also complimentary with one another as well as aromatic for your home. 

Suzie Canale

Westwood, MA