Sunday Night Supper

In the light of a new fall surge of COVID–19 cases, the Ontario provincial government has been urging everyone to keep this year's Thanksgiving celebrations limited to members of one's immediate household. 

For us, this is less of a change than it would be for most people. With family living far and wide, our Thanksgiving holidays have always quiet. Last night there were just four of us.  Still, we made a hearty meal, lit some candles and had a wonderful evening. 

Arranging the flowers and setting a pretty table is so much fun! Here's a peek at what I did.

Just to be cautious, I bought a bunch of grocery store flowers to augment what I had on hand. In the end, I am not sure I even needed them.

Everything else came from the garden (despite the light frost we experienced last week).

I always try to watch for old florist's vases at thrift stores. This lovely white ceramic one was under $5 (most florists use plastic vessels these days). I am sure I will use it again and again. 

To hold the flowers in place, I used a floral foam block because I had one on hand (the dollar store is the cheapest place to find them). Note: I do know this green foam is not biodegradable. In the future, I hope to change to using a floral frog or chicken wire.

 With the foliage that makes the core of this arrangement, I got quite creative. 

I used quite a lot of peony foliage because it had turned lovely autumnal shades of maroon and gold (the peonies are pretty much done for the year and needed to be cut down anyway, so this was a win-win in my books!). 

Fragrant herbs like sage, oregano, curly parsley, rosemary add a subtle hint of scent. I also employed sprigs of Euyonumus for the variegated foliage and berries.

There are still quite a number of roses in bloom in the garden, but they are mostly pink and white (not quite the fall vibe I was going for). Instead, I picked pink hydrangeas, orange and yellow Nastursuims, white Eupatorium, Feverfew (small white daisies) and rose-colored Sedum. 

I wasn't sure about mixing bright purple in with all the fall colors, but I decided to give it a go and found that the cool color really contrasted nicely with all the warmer hues. 

I am always hesitant to take pictures inside the house (I don't have the proper camera lights), so forgive the poor lighting. Here is the arrangement I made for our Thanksgiving table.

I hope all my Canadian friends had a wonderful, if not quiet Thanksgiving. 

My husband and I are rushing to finish a number of fall projects before it's too cold to work outside. I hope to be back soon with regular posts. Until then, stay safe and well my friends!

Quick & Easy Floral Gifts

Last Friday we went to our first holiday party of the season.

With the exception of my husband and I, almost everyone who attended the party brought the hostess a poinsettia. Honest to goodness, the poor woman could have opened a shop she had so many red poinsettias at the end of the night!

Here's something quite similar to what we brought her. My cute little arrangement had a personal touch, was fun to whip together and wasn't any more expensive than any of those generic red poinsettias.

Cut flowers are nice, but I think you'll agree that no hostess wants to take time away from her guests to hunt for a vase and put cut flowers in water. It's so much better to present her with a finished bouquet.

Unless the vase itself is a key part of the gift, I tend to allocate my money to the flowers rather than the container. That's not to say that the vase can't be attractive. I got this gold mason jar at the Real Canadian Superstore (a grocery chain here in Canada) for just $3.50.

Add in some foraged greenery, a few sprays of red roses ($7.00), a few sprigs of faux berries ($5.00) and a bow (free–ribbon I had on hand) and you have a thoughtful, but inexpensive hostess gift. Total cost is just over $15.00.

While you may not want to spend money on a vase or container, the last thing you want to chose is something so junky it ends up in the landfill. A smarter option is to give an arrangement in something that can have a second life.

This mug, personalized the recipient's initials, can always be put to use when the flowers fade. Mug ($3.44 from the Real Canadian Superstore) plus roses ($7.00), white mums ($3.50), foraged greenery and faux berries ($5.00) comes in at just under $20.

Sometimes you want to spend a bit extra to thank someone special. This little vase was made by a local potter and was still well under $20. Fill it with greenery (free) and some red St. John's Wort ($5.50) and you still have an attractive gift for around $25.

(Note of caution: St John's Wort might look edible to a young child, but it is poisonous. This may not be the best choice of flower for a young family.)

I made this thank you (to go along with a monetary gift) for JoAnne (Because you Love Them Pet Services) who looked after our dogs when I was away in Nova Scotia. It was such a comfort to know the boys were getting a mid-day walk in my absence.

Vase ($3.50 from the Real Canadian Superstore), 4 stems of carnations (approx. $3.00), 3 stems of alstroemeria (approx. $4.50), one stem of St John's Wort ($2.00), foraged greenery, a bow (free–ribbon I had on hand). The total is under $15 and yet I hope the bouquet is pretty enough to say how much her help meant to us.

I used the remainder of the carnations in a small jug for yet another gift. Small white jug ($12.99 at HomeSense) and carnations ($4.00).

Not everything I put together works out. Take this arrangement– it's the floral equivalent to big hair from the 1980s!  For one thing, the mason jar is way too small for the flowers I chose. And for another, the whole bouquet is as round as a bowling ball.

What was I thinking? I had to rip the whole thing apart and start over. It was frustrating, but sometimes you learn from your mistakes.

At the end of the day, it's the thought that counts.

One of the best things about putting these gifts together is that I got to use the leftovers to make an arrangement for my own house. This jug of flowers is sitting right beside me as I type these words.

Best wishes for the holidays and the new year 

from our family here at Three Dogs in a Garden. 

A Fresh Take on Floral Arrangements at Canada Blooms

I am sad to report that I was a bit disappointed with the big garden displays at Canada Blooms. In fact I was so underwhelmed, that I took hardy any pictures of them. Still, I enjoyed my day at the show and so I want to start off by focusing on what did catch my eye.

At the show I made new contacts, found resources for future projects and even saw some fresh ideas. Take these pretty floral arrangements. I thought that they were simple, but effective. Best of all, they would be easy to replicate:

Take a plain, inexpensive glass cylinder vase and wrap it in colored yarn. To do this, fasten one end of the yarn with a piece of clear tape and then wrap it around the circumference of the vase. Tuck the loose end in up under under the wrapped yarn. Attach another contrasting color and wrap it randomly overtop of the first layer of yarn (tuck the loose end of yarn in under your first layer).

I have also seen a similar kind of floral arrangement done using different colored rubber bands on glass cylinders. If this look is too contemporary for your tastes, you could try wrapping rough twine for a more rustic or romantic take on the idea. A final variation would be to wrap a pastel shade of ribbon and tie the loose ends with a bow to create a pretty Easter arrangement.

For best effect, I'd suggest you group 3 vases of different heights and circumferences.

Here is another idea I liked. Take two or three floral stems and wrap them with some decorative wire. Twist the loose ends to make curlicues. These freesia were them placed in champagne flutes.

Gather 5 stems together and warp them round with metallic or colored decorative wire. Place the flowers on an angle in a clear glass cylinder. Easy and fun!

Snipping the odd spring bloom shouldn't lessen your outdoor display and can really brighten up the house. Gather bud vases in groups of three or five.

These tube vases make it effortless to arrange flowers. If you don't have a vase like this, simply group bud vases of differing heights together.

Finally, it is easy to pay so much attention to the flowers when you are creating a bouquet, that you forget to think about the flower stems. I always try to remember to consider the bottom half of the arrangement, when I put flowers into a glass vase. Twisting or organizing the stems really can really add to the visual appeal, as this arrangement at Canada Blooms demonstrated beautifully.

Market Fresh Summer Flowers

The ethereal beauty of monkshood

The sun about to rise.