A Bevy of Flowers

In honor of pollen season the arrival of Spring, I'm giving you flowers, courtesy of Ronaldo Maia.  Maia, who for decades has been one of New York's premier floral designers, fashioned these blossomy creations for his debut monograph, Decorating with Flowers, which was published almost forty years ago- hence the dated-looking graininess of the book's photography.  But no photographic deficiencies can diminish the charm of Maia's timeless arrangements, whose simplicity is offset by a richness in their surroundings: Chinese porcelain, simple ceramic containers, wicker baskets, and bottles of cognac.  For those of us who appreciate both flowers and the decorative arts, these still-life snapshots are a bounty for the eyes.

The Genteel Geranium

I've heard some awfully disparaging remarks about geraniums, and for the life of me, I just can't understand how such a well-mannered and proper plant could elicit unkind comments. Thanks to their cheery and good-natured blooms, geraniums are guaranteed to bring one out of the doldrums, something else that means this flowering plant deserves a little respect. (I should add that I'm guilty of making disparaging remarks about gladioli, but that's a post for another day.)

While I'm partial to red blooming geraniums, pink, coral, and white are fine by me too. And did I mention how easy they are to care for? They only require some sun, a good watering, and the occasional deadheading. But I'm certainly not the only one who is a fan of the geranium. Take a look at some of the others who admire this most genteel of plants.

Image above: Lady Diana Mosley (née Mitford), had pots of geraniums including this one scattered around her garden at her Paris home, The Temple of Glory at Orsay.




During the annual Festival of the Patios in Cordoba, Spain, townspeople decorate their patios, terraces, and balconies with geraniums and other plants.



Cecil Beaton grew scarlet colored geraniums- and lots of them- at Reddish House.




The very elegant drawing room at Bentley in Sussex, owned by Mary Askew. Note how the red of the geraniums, pillows, and book end tables punctuate the room.






Countess Margaret Willaumez and her dog Moppet enjoyed the geraniums at their home in Capri, Casa Lontana.

Image at top from The Finest Houses Of Paris; Cordoba, Spain photo from House & Garden, November 1971; Beaton photo from Celebrity Homes: Architectural Digest Presents the Private Worlds of Thirty International Personalities; Bentley photo from Country homes (The Worlds of Architectural digest); Willaumez photo from House & Garden, January 1970.

Old-Fashioned Easter Lilies

Every year as Easter rolls around, there are two things that I especially look forward to: Cadbury Cream Eggs and Easter lilies. There's not a lot that I can say about Cream Eggs other than they taste really good, so I'll just focus on Easter lilies here.

Easter lilies, white and trumpet shaped, aren't seen too often anymore. In fact, I'm only able to find them in Atlanta during this time of year. I suppose that they're a rather old-fashioned lily, one that has now been supplanted in popularity by the Oriental varieties that are so prevalent today. When I was trying to find interior photos which showed Easter lilies, I could only find images from the 1930s to the 1960s, a time when the Easter lily was popular in both its potted form as well as in cut stem arrangements.

By the way, if you're wondering why these lilies are a symbol of Easter, it's because they're a symbol of both resurrection and purity. And one more tidbit of info: Easter lilies are also called Bermuda lilies.



A vase of cut lilies in the New York apartment of designer James Pendleton.




A Pierre Brissaud illustration shows the drawing room of the Harrison Williams.




A potted Easter lily in the Rose Cumming designed home of Dr. and Mrs. Russell Cecil.




McMillen's old Houston showroom. An urn is a classic way in which to plant a lily.




Some rather tall Easter lilies flanking the fireplace in this McMillen designed drawing room.




The sunroom of Françoise and Oscar de la Renta. The mirrored urns holding the Easter lilies look very disco.



Photos #1 and #2 from House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration (1942); #3 from The Finest Rooms by America's Great Decorators; #4 and #5 from Sixty Years of Interior Design: The World of McMillen; #6 from HOUSE & GARDEN'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO INTERIOR DECORATION - SEVENTH EDITION.

Bringing Nature Home

Most of us just can't get enough of flowers, books on flowers, and photographs, drawings, and paintings of flowers. Oh, and maybe even floral fabrics and floral china too. If this describes you, then you should consider picking up a copy of Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature, photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo's new book dedicated to the beauty of flowers.

Ngo, whose photographs often grace magazines like House Beautiful and Architectural Digest, has a background in landscape design, something that probably explains her affection for flowers. Having partnered with Nicolette Owen, co-founder of the Little Flower School in Brooklyn, Ngo has authored a book that is a compilation of beautiful photographs of floral arrangements in situ as well as of flowers in their natural habitats. The book is divided into the four seasons, so all kinds of flowers make appearances in the book: carnations; peonies; dahlias; fritillaries. But what's really striking about this book is that it's mostly full-page photos, something that allows the reader to really soak in the details of each image. The photos are so captivating that I had a difficult time choosing a few images to feature here!























All images from Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature by Ngoc Minh Ngo; Rizzoli publishers; 2012. Images used with express permission of the publisher.

Nourishing Decor

Before winter is over, I plan to do as Constance Spry once suggested and create an arrangement made entirely of kale. For dining, I'm more of a collard greens person myself, but collards just wouldn't have the same effect in an arrangement as kale. Kale has that wonderful texture thanks to its curly leaves.

Spry's kale arrangement reminded me of some beautiful table settings that I have seen in which vegetables and fruits were the main decoration. Now we're not talking about watermelons cut to resemble baskets holding fruit salad or hollowed out heads of cabbage doing duty as dip bowls. (Although I have to say that I am fond of those watermelon baskets.) Rather, I'm thinking of more organic, natural arrangements like those on the tables of designer Diane Burn (a photo of her dining room is above) and Julie Janklow (see below.) Don't those vegetable centerpieces remind you of Dutch still lifes? The Burn table looks like a vegetarian Lucullan feast.

And then last week, I saw the cover of the July 1935 issue of House & Garden in which a farm scene was created entirely of vegetables. Clever yes, but not quite as elegant as the Burn and Janklow tables. Still, it was in keeping with the fruit and vegetable theme that has been running through my head, so it seemed appropriate to include in this post.

Anyway, take a look below and you might be inspired to create your own vegetable tableaux. The beauty of these arrangements is that they can always be used later for stew or soup.




Spry considered kale to be "one of the most valuable of all plants for winter decorations." The arrangement at top included Purple Kale and Callicarpa Berries, Mauve Rhododendrons, and Grey Lichen. The second arrangement was far more simple, composed only of kale leaves.





Julie Janklow's dining table set with a large cut-crystal punch bowl holding carrots and another bowl containing large strips of cucumber.





The cover of the July 1935 issue of House & Garden. The cow appears to be made of a potato and parsnip body and legume ears. I especially like that cauliflower sheep.




Of course, no post on fruits and vegetables would be complete without mentioning Arcimboldo and his fanciful paintings. "Vertumnus" (c.1590-91), seen above, depicts the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II as the Roman god of the seasons.


Photo of Diane Burn's table from Architectural Digest California Interiors; Spry photos from Flowers in House and Garden by Constance Spry. Janklow photo from an old issue of Vogue.