This is just a pretty post with pretty flowers that I grew in the warm weather and sunshine of my garden last year. Take that February, you wretched, wretched month.
Near the end of last summer, when the flowers were blooming faster than a teenage girl at a Bon Jovi concert (how's that for an incredibly modern reference?) I decided to start taking photos of all the arrangements.
This summer, when I'm smarter and more organized, as future me ALWAYS is, I'll try to start this project a bit earlier in the season so it isn't ALL dahlia arrangements.
I welcome you to February with these 18 arrangements that'll help us stick it to the month of waxy chocolates and scratchy lace underwear.
There isn't a single red rose in the bunch.
Mixed flowers in silver jug
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Celosia - Wheat celosia (formerly flamingo feather)
Sunflowers ~ gifted unknown variety
Dahlias ~ Alfred C, Hamilton Lillian, Sweet Nathalie, Cornel Bronze, Black Satin, Rock Star
Dahlias & Cosmos in white vase
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Dahlias ~ Alfred C, Rockstar, Cornel Bronze, Hamilton Lillian, A La Mode
Mixed Flowers in tomato jar
Celosia ~ Crested Cockscomb, Wheat celosia (flamingo feather)
Amaranth ~ Hot Biscuits
Dahlia ~ Wanda's Aurora, Cornel Bronze, AC Paint, Alpen Cherub
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Dahlias & Amaranth in copper vase
Amaranth ~ Hot Biscuits
Dahlias - Alfred C, Cafe Au Lait, Cornel Bronze, Wanda's Aurora
Mixed Bunch in dahlia vase
Snapdragon ~ Doubleshot Orange
Dahlia ~ Rockstar, Cornel Bronze, Yvonne, A La Mode, Unknown (pink)
Sweet Peas - White perennial
Floating Dahlias in silver serving bowl
A La Mode (x2), Hamilton Lillian, Jess-Lynn
Mixed Arrangement in Oh Flora Cove Vase
Dahlias ~ A La Mode, Yvonne, Cornel Bronze, Dollarama Black, Black Satin, Rockstar
Sunflower - Unknown gifted variety (Liked them so much I saved the seed for this year)
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Celosia - Wheat celosia (formerly flamingo feather)
Mixed Bunch in tall white vase
Dahlias ~ Alfred C, Rockstar, A La Mode, Cornel Bronze, AC Paint, Wanda's Aurora
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Amaranth ~ Hot Biscuits
Celosia - Wheat Celosia
Cosmos & Dahlia in small vase
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Dahlia ~ Alpen Cherub
Mixed Arrangement ribbed vase
Dahlias ~ Alfred C, A La Mode, Alpen Cherub, Cornel Bronze
Sunflowers ~ Unknown variety
Amaranth ~ Hot Biscuits, Opopeo
Tomatoes ~ Candyland, Unknown yellow variety
Queen Anne's Lace
Carrot greens
Mixed Arrangement in oval white vase
Dahlia ~ AC Paint
Cosmos - Apricot Lemonade
Celosia - Wheat celosia (pink, red, yellow)
Single Flower Arrangement in bud vase (thanks Lynne Knowlton!)
Dahlia ~ Rock Star
Dahlia Arrangement in glass vase
Dahlias ~ Rock Star, Black Satin, A La Mode, AC Paint, Alpen Cherub
First attempt at a curved arrangement. (in Oh Flora vase)
Hydrangeas, snapdragons, apples, sweet peas
Peonies & Sage in black vase
Peony ~ Purple (unkown variety), Pale pink (Shirley Temple)
Greenery ~ Sage flowers, apple branches, sweet pea greenery
Dahlias in glass jar
All the dahlias in this vase are the same variety from the same plant - AC Paint They're quite the magical dahlia.
Dahlias & Cosmos in glass vase
Dahlias ~ AC Paint, Wanda's Aurora, A La Mode, Rock Star
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Mixed Bouquet in glass vase
Dahlias ~ AC Paint, Alfred C, Alpen Cherub, Rockstar, Dollarama Black
Cosmos ~ Apricot Lemonade
Sunflower ~ Unknown variety
Celosia ~ Wheat celosia
Amaranth ~ Hot Biscuits
Mixed Arrangement in Ironstone jug
Dahlias ~ Colleen Mooney, Yvonne, Rock Star
Snapdragon ~ Doubleshot Orange
Celosia - Crested Cockscomb, Wheat celosia
I'll be planting many of the same, plus this year I'll remember (because again, future self is SO much better at stuff than present or past self) to plant more greenery.
All I had were flowers but to make nice flower arrangements you need as much greenery as you have blooms.
You can learn more about the varieties of dahlias and the other flowers in these posts.
I had pretty good luck with everything, other than the Henriette dahlia which turned out to be not a Henriette dahlia but something else entirely. Which is why labelling your dahlias when you dig them up right away is important.
Spring starts in ...
Well you've made my day!! Just recovering from a dreaded v+d stomach bug and feeling like *&%$, so these photos really cheered me up!!
Oh lord no, sorry. That's the WORST. ~ karen!
Gorgeous Karen! Photography's not bad either! ; )
omg donna, flower arrangements are SO hard to photograph! ~ karen
I know!! I've done some in the past and the hardest part is the arrangements.. you've done a lovely job!!
I love love love that you used sprigs of tiny tomatoes and carrot greens in one arrangement. If I could do floral arrangements of just vegetables I would. Those spiraling cauliflower varietals, garlic scape curves, renaissance reminiscent eggplants…
You can! I've done entire vegetable arrangements before. :) It's so much fun. ~ karen!
What a lovely post! That will brighten every ones dull old February.
Each one is special. You are an artist!
They inspire me to get out the paints or pencils and get something artful done. [I'm not a flower painter, horses are my thing]
Your arrangements and photograhy are amazing. You are very talented. I hope you don't mind if I borrow some of your ideas come flower season.
Absolutely stunning! You have a gift young lady. I hope the decluttering provided room for many gorgeous vases - they are definitely a tier 1 need.
Those of us who do not remotely possess the eye of the artist can still genuinely appreciate the talents of those who do. So.... sincere kudos Karen. Flower arrangement IS an art. When I couple that with the fact that you and Mother Nature collaborated to bring those flowers into existence I am near flabbergasted. And it is a very rare occasion upon which a lovely lady such as yourself gasts my flabber.
If you're curious about knowing which is my favorite - it's the mixed arrangement in the ribbed vase. Oh my, yes!
If you print the calendar I will buy it. What's wrong with all dahlias, anyway?
What an excellent idea!
47 Days - thank you. Ahhhhh
I whipped through your photos of flowers then suddenly stopped myself. I went back to the first photo and slowly languished over it's beauty and smiled as I scrolled through each one, soaking in the beauty of these flowers and the arrangements. A most excellent post. Cheers.
Thanks Cara! The photos really aren't great, but it's remarkably difficult to photograph a flower arrangement. ~ karen!
Thanks for the post, and including the names of each flower. I just completed a Shutterfly album for 2023 in the garden. It’s a nice record of what looked good in the garden. It’s also arriving in February to help get through a month of yuck!
Tomatoes, not just for eating anymore. 😆
Such a beautiful post! Your flower arrangements brought some color and sunshine to a very dreary February morning! Thank you so much for taking the time to spread some joy!
Thank you for these lovely photos! So inspirational, and yes, does make you long for the coming growing season!
Beautiful! Where is dollarama dahlia ? Seed starting tomorrow!!!!
The simplicity and perfection of the Lynne Knowlton bud vase with the rock star dahlias. Zen my February. 🩶
I couldn't have said it better. Perfection!
I really liked that one too. Those rock star dahlias truly are rock stars.~ karen!
WOW KAREN! I think that the first photo and the ribbed ( for my pleasure 😉) vase photo are my favourites, but only by a hair because they are all stunning! As a person who also “addresses “ my past and future selves, I appreciate “past Karen” taking care of “present us “ right now with these beautiful flower photos. I’m pretty sure you and I ( and the previous commenter about Lief Garrett (sp?) are soul sisters- I’m not a stalker! Thanks for this uplifting post ❤️🌻🌸
Thanks Cinder! I just have to remember to plant a lot more greenery next year.😆 I think I'm going to give eucalyptus a shot. ~ karen!
Terra had small eucalyptus plants last summer. I don’t know if they were a perennial variety or if such a thing exists. But they sure were purty!
They likely wouldn't be perennial for this area, but still a fun annual to grow. William Dam has seeds I've always wanted to buy so this year I will. ~ karen
🤩😍These are MAGNIFICENT❣️
What are the two different green stem stabbers/latticed holders at the bottom of two of the pictured vases? …Amazon link & I’ll buy it/them in a heartbeat
Hi M.D. Thanks! The one is a vintage flower frog - they're made of heavy metal and have sharp pins for holding the stems in place. I have about 5 of them and I got them all at garage sales or flea markets. The other one that's a series of bent wires I got as a gift from Erin Benzakein of Floret and it's my favourite. It holds the stems without piercing them which can also weaken them. There now you know all about my flower frogs. And thisss is the Amazon page that has similar ones to the ones I use. ~ karen!
Karen, I'm no expert (commonly known as a former drip) but I'd say you've got the "Touch" for arranging flowers! All those arrangements prove that as far as I'm concerned! Those arrangements are gorgeous for sure! All that work you've put into coming up with those arrangements sure made me admire them! Bravo! They're all top shelf in my book! Well done! I'd tip my Hat to you, if I only had a hat!
Stunning arrangements! You have a good eye for texture & color combos.
You pop a bright hole in some of Winter’s otherwise dark days. Thank you!
Thanks Deb! It has been SO dark here in Ontario. I remember one sunny day. And the only reason I remember it is because the fact that we were having a sunny day was on the news, lol. ~ karen!
I have the itch starting to creep up on me too... for my flowers in my garden to bloom, NOT from lace underwear. (Cute but sensible cotton bikinis thank you very much.) I LOVE "cosmos and dahlia in small vase" because I love the simplicity of it. And Lynne's single flower type arrangement, because... I love the simplicity of it. As for coming into my personal bloom, Leif Garrett on the the cover Tiger Beat! Please tell me I am not alone. In February, I buy Baby's Breath and put it in vases all over the house. It has a sweet vibe for the month but also maybe winter-y ish too? I don't know, but it works for me. I wish we readers of your blog could have a bad ass Galentine's Day party together. And yes, the male readers could come too. We could do stuff, eat Karen's homemade pizza, drink some beers...that would be FUN. I'll "settle" for my husband, because he really is pretty awesome!
Hi Jennifer! I l ove those little arrangements too. Lynne gave me the vase that the single blooms arrangement is in and it's just perfect for a few blooms. I have no pizza dough ready to go in the freezer, so no pizza party any time soon. ;) ~ karen!
Simply gorgeous! And I envy you your collection of vases.
Oh boy, lol. Wait until you see all of my vases. That's coming up in a later post when I talk about the purging I did in January! ~ karen