My Adventures

These dark January days make me think of the element of design ‘Light.”  The elements of design are the physical properties that may be seen, touched, or smelled----light, color, line, form, size, space, texture, and fragrance. LIGHT Light is essential for vision. ...

Chilly December days have us spending more time indoors looking out and wanting to fill our homes with greens and flowers. This is a good time to focus floral designs on lots of long-lasting evergreen foliage and add just a few flowers, berries, and accents.Foraging...

November brings Thanksgiving and time for pumpkins. All around us there are pumpkin displays, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pastries, and pumpkin pies. Although I am not a fan of pumpkin latte, I am totally entranced with the magical pumpkin interpretations of the artist...

“If flowers bring us joy, trees give us strength”October in Pennsylvania reminds to look up and enjoy the changing colors of nature.  All around us deciduous trees are turning tones and shades of red, orange, and yellow and giving us a last burst of color before they...

As the days get shorter in September, sunflowers remind us of bright summer days and abundant harvests. Sunflowers (Helianthus annus) are native to both North and South America. They grow from between 5 and 12 feet tall and have large, showy flower heads. The head of...

Hydrangeas are deciduous shrubs that come in many sizes, shapes, and colors and make wonderful cut flowers bouquets for the home. Use them combined with other flowers, or just a big bowl of a single variety can make a stunning display. The name hydrangea comes from...

My most recent flower adventure was preparing and presenting a Zoom program for NALS, the North American Lily Society. From the very beginning, thinking about the vast varieties of lilies and what designs to show them off was a totally absorbing experience.  Since my...

This year the Philadelphia Flower Show was held outdoors. With the Covid pandemic, PHS cancelled their March indoor venue and moved the show to June in the beautiful Olmsted FDR Park in Philadelphia. The show theme was “Habitat” and a class called the “Enchanted...

May is the month of the “Flower Moon” named by the Native Americans to mark the season of blooming plants. Matthew Ross, the multi-talented head of Continuing Education at Longwood Gardens has shared some pictures and I am inspired to explore arranging with tulips...

A recent honor for me was to be invited to be a speaker for the Garden Club of America’s 2021 virtual floral design conference. My topic was to be “Proving the Principles” and I chose to make my presentation illustrate the connection between historical eras and how...