Winter Hellebores as cut flowers and how to make them last

A plate of hellebores from Northwest Garden Nursery

March is peak Hellebore season for us in the Pacific Northwest and there's so much to love about them in the garden, but the temptation is ALWAYS there to cut them to bring inside for a vase. The trouble is, once hellebores are cut, they often have a hard time actually taking up water and in a matter of minutes, their heads are drooping and look unflattering. So to enjoy them, most people will just float them in a shallow platter like the O'brynes did above.


First, I want to write about the different types of hellebores one would encounter at a large garden center. There are two main types that are distinguished by their growth habit:  stemmed (caulescent) or stemless (acaulescent).

Caulescent types emerge from the ground and have a prominent stem with attached alternating leaves and the clusters of flowers up top. H. argutifolius is an example (the green ones in the photo on the right and all the foliage you see is attached to the main stem with the flowers up top)


Acaulescent hellebores do not form a stem with foliage, but instead, all the foliage and flowering stems emerge from the base of the plant. The "orientalis" type of hellebores are the most common. (the pink flowered ones on the photo)








Now, between the two basic growth habits, there are hybrids between the two types creating varieties that possess some of the qualities of both resulting in vigorous and hardy garden plants.

Helleborus x ballardiae 'Pink Frost'

I've found that all types of hellebores have a difficult time standing up when cut for a vase. There are many tricks that have proven to be effective such as:

1. Dip cut ends in hot boiling water for a few seconds.

2. Flame the cut ends for a few seconds to supposedly "seal in" the moisture

3. Slice bottom end lengthwise an inch or so to maximize water uptake. (Mentioned by Val Easton on her blog. She wrote a book called "Petal & Twig")

4. The age of the flowers play a very important role in the longevity of a cut hellebore. Wait until the ovary begins to develop when the stamens, anthers and nectaries have fallen off and the flowers are a little "greener" and they'll last for about 10 days when cut (according to Diane Szukovathy of Jelly Mold Farm)

I've primarily been playing with the "Orientalis" types (very uncommon to get the true Helleborus orientalis species). They are botanically referred to as Helleborus x hybridus because they're far more plentiful in bloom along with some of the complex hybrids out there like 'Pink Frost' above, 'Merlin', and 'Cinnamon Snow'.

So recently, I chatted with Linda Beutler at the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show in Portland, Oregon who wrote the book, "Garden to Vase: Growing and Using your Own Cut Flowers."

 
Linda advised me to try the following solution to condition Hellebores for arranging:

2 tablespoons of alcohol to 1 quart of regular tap water 
1 packet of flower food (optional)

Keep Hellebores in a cool location as they soak up this solution overnight (I never found out how long, this is how long I soaked mine, but it's probably less than that) and then they'll be ready for arranging.


So, I used a combination to maximize the longevity of these precious cut blooms (and also to tell each of the people I've consulted about hellebores that their technique worked! LOL!)

I've noticed that Hellebores need to be kept cool and hydrated as if they've never been cut. So, I bring a bucket of water out to the garden that will have at least half of the cut stems submerged.

As I select stems to cut, Linda recommended that one should wait until the very first bloom to mature (meaning having the stamen, anthers, and nectaries naturally fall off). Diane will wait for all flowers to loose their central bits. 

Then I used Linda's solution to condition the flowers and remarkably, they stayed perky and held up pretty well for 2-3 days inside the house. Then I noticed a few things:

1. A few wilted sooner than others.
2. Re-cutting the stems seems to "uncondition" them.
3. The shorter the stems (mostly submerged in the water, the longer they seemed to hold up. 

A bright and gorgeous Golden Sunrise hellebore just cut from the garden. Noticed the first flower to open and mature at the bottom.

Split the cut end to maximize water uptake

Immediately submerge in fresh water or in a conditioning solution.

CONCLUSION:  This alcohol solution seems to work and is simple, cheap and highly effective if flowers are harvested at the right stage. 

*2 tablespoons of alcohol to 1 quart of water and a packet of flower food if you have it.

*Always keep them as cool as possible (again as if they weren't disturbed by being cut) and the shorter the stems, the better.

*The "green" varieties seem to hold up much better than the others.

And no, I'm no afraid of heat or fire, I just haven't gone that route because I have an issue of physically damaging plant tissue when it might not be necessary.

Debra Prinzing, author of "Slow Flowers", with split-stemmed, alcohol/flower food conditioned hellebores from UW Botanic Gardens/Washington Park Arboretum she took with her on a plane to New York to help promote American grown flowers for a very special wedding! They held up VERY WELL and designers drooled and fought for them!

Can you spot the hellebores??  Arrangement lasted about a week in a cool room indoors and the Akebia vine opened is scented blooms!

A very tiny centerpiece with a "conditioned" hellebore that lasted only 1 day before it curled up. Maybe if I used an "older" bloom.

Pink hellebores with flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum). I kept this arrangement outside. Most of the conditioned Hellebores held up for about 5 days, but one variety in the foreground is still "plump" after about 9 days.

A very short arrangement using parrot tulips and the bloom head of H. argutifolius which did not hold up as an entire stem when conditioned and put into plain water inside the house. So I cut the flower head, conditioned the short stem in the alcohol before arranging this and they still look good after 8 days.

Again, shorter stems hold up longer and you can use lovely grape hyacinth with them!!

More hellebores and Muscari latifolium

Black hellebores with the silver/green cardoon foliage is stunning together with sprays of Osmanthus delavayi for fragrance

Older blossoms of 'Pink Frost' hold up well and much longer than the delicate Epimedium in the foreground

 

Green and chartreuse mean SPRING!!

"I'm ready...." it says...

Riz

A collaborative design: Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2014 Floral Competition

While I was relieved not to have done a show garden at this year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show, I still wanted to take part and it was actually the show manager, Cyle Eldred, who called and recommended that I enter a floral arrangement for the floral competition after seeing some of my work posted on Facebook and Instagram.

I seriously considered designing on my own, but I saw another opportunity present itself when I learned that floral designer, Nicole Cordier, wanted to collaborate on a project. Thanks to our mentor, Slow Flowers ambassador and garden writer Debra Prinzing, who planted the idea in our minds, we set forth and planned out an arrangement that would reflect our aesthetic and showcase the love for what we do.

Throughout our entire process, it seemed like that was the underlying goal: to have fun and create something that we knew people around us would absolutely love. Yes, it was a floral competition with a cash prize and all, but just to participate and have fun working together was important for Nicole and I.

I might have mentioned Nicole a few months back when I talked about teaming up with young floral designers who were aspiring to be urban cut flower growers. A native of Colorado, she was drawn to the lushness of the Pacific Northwest and made Seattle her home for the past few years. Having recently married and now expecting a baby boy come April, life couldn't have moved faster for Nicole this past year, but she's handled it well!  Working for the Seattle Wholesale Grower's Market and then a local floral shop in West Seattle, Nicole has been profiled by garden columnist Valerie Easton and has made many friends and contacts in the industry.

As experienced and talented as she is, Nicole is a lot like me in that she's not very good at tooting her own horn. Hehehe. While I thought I was poor in marketing myself, Nicole didn't even have business cards as we began brainstorming ideas for our display.

I began to anticipate that this display would be Nicole's coming out party. It would be her chance to really get her name out there and I simply had to step back and just assist in any way I could. During one of our meetings, we brainstormed ideas for her business name and I strongly felt that her last name "Cordier" (pronounced kor-dee-yay) sounded classy, high-end, and could easily stand alone.

For the show, she went with Cordier - Botanical Art and, most recently, I fantasized for her having a lavish studio that would be referred to as "The Botanical Floral House of Cordier".

"Botanical" is the key phrase that made me so enthusiastic about working with Nicole.   She has a fondness for natural flora; forest elements such as moss and ferns captivate her.

Using as much seasonal and local material we could source, we moved in and looked as if I had planned another show garden with the quantity of materials we gathered. From Camellia foliage and buds from her garden to potted pitcher plants from a local grower, locally forced bulbs and branches, and even moss and lichen from work comprised of our display we entitled, "Enrapture".






With a suspended manzanita branch (Arctostaphylos sp.) above with illuminated tips as the central vein of this display, the idea was the branch would pull a botanical tableau from the mossy ground unveiling a colorful and unique palette of earthly delights.

Bright red Ranunculus grown in Oregon with Cymbidium orchids from Canada and blackberries from California.

Saraccenia (Pitcher Plants) with Peterkort roses from Oregon, Nicole's Camellias surprisingly opened to our delight and matched the colors perfectly and the silver Brunia adds a lovely texture.

Scented hyacinths from British Columbia, Helleborus x Cinnamon Snow from my garden and the dramatic leaf of Anthurium clarinervium)

Another batch of stunning Seraccenia

We found out the results of the judging the following day and were a little bummed that our display didn't place, but our satisfaction was obvious regardless having left the convention center after we put the finishing touches on before judging. Nicole saying she had fun was our first place ribbon!

Throughout the show, groups of people would stop and take their time and admire our work. The feedback we got was so positive and I was relieved that Nicole had finally gotten a stack of business cards because she would constantly run out.

The day before the show closed, I get a text from Nicole saying a shiny purple ribbon appeared on the table! We had won the "People's Choice Award"!!

The remnants of our display loaded back in my truck with the other remaining flowers shared with passerby show attendees as we dismantled our display. It's a little tradition I have that I'm glad Nicole embraced as she wholeheartedly handed roses to anyone who'd take them as they exited the show.

There goes a wonderful talent and kind heart. Until her next masterpiece...

The Floral Masters: Reconnecting with the growers and meeting Francoise Weeks

Re-igniting my fondness and passion for arranging flowers these last two years has been quite a ride. The many wonderful people I've met and the various events I've been able to do flowers for have been experiences I'll forever take with me and the season's not even over yet! I've got at least two more weddings this year and I've been seriously thinking about adding this work to my already jammed-packed repertoire of services offered. And I'm seriously thinking......be careful. LOL!

What brought me back to arranging flowers intensely was the simply fact that playing with flowers, local flowers from my own gardens, was becoming more recognized and the stories of small farmers/growers was something I related to and found inspiring. Thanks to Debra Prinzing and David Perry's fantastic book, "The 50-Mile Bouquet" followed up by Debra's "Slow Flowers", the arrangements I did for events at work or for my own enjoyment at home suddenly had value and meaning.

One grower I met and instantly clicked with was Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm. You might remember I paid her a visit in Spring of 2012 with some friends and learned about the basics of sustainable cut flower production. This mighty power-house of energy, knowledge and business sense is at it full speed with her partner Denis, who helps in every aspect of their remarkable operation.

It was definitely a treat to visit again during the peak of bloom and harvest:

Scoping out a remarkable crop of Scabiosa atropurpurea  'Black Knight'/'Ace of Hearts'

Walking down the rows with stunning roses underplanted with Nigella or Love-In-The-Mist. Looks stunning together

A personal favorite both in the garden and vase, Echinops ritro or the Blue Globe Thistle

Their most precious and lucrative crop (when earwigs haven't eaten the petals) is this elegant Dahlia called 'Cafe Au Lait'. It's said to be the most asked for flower by brides who see it in all the magazines.

A view of the Cascade Range in the background as Jello Mold Farms erupts into bloom!

So if you take these flowers and have them assembled by artists, you instantly have an endeavor that's so rewarding and absolutely state-of-the-art. One such floral artist is the very well known, Francoise Weeks, who I had the GREAT pleasure of meeting during a recent trip down to Portland.

Visit Francoise's website and blog. It truly is remarkable what she's been able to create, but what's most inspiring is Francoise herself. From the moment she walked down her driveway to greet me, she was all smiles and warmly welcomed me to her studio.

And what a studio:


I was actually kind of surprised that she even had time to meet with me since it is wedding season and all. I was simply in awe just walking into this room and seeing for myself the exquisite work that she does.

Francoise had just completed a project and a collaboration with a professional photographer who captured these most unusual headpieces worn by models for a photo shoot worthy of a fashion magazine cover! Check out her blog about these pieces and, of course, the resulting photographs!

An elaborate headpiece composed of Abutilon, Gloriosa lilies, and a few begonia leaves in the rear

The best thing about her designs are the sheer number of botanical wonders she integrates into her work. Talk about detail, color, form and textures!!

A truly captivating mask using the absolute perfect variety of Rex Begonia!

Another mask, this time with a wide assortment of succulents all carefully glued on.

I would love to take part in one of her workshops and learn techniques to improve my own work. As brilliant as she is, she is also very kind, informative, and very generous woman. Scoffing at trends, making time to explore and share her knowledge and creativity, and having a love and respect for the medium she uses to create, Francoise is definitely someone the next generation can look up to.


R

Farm Fresh: Spring Weddings Flowers Part 1

Since Katharine and Scott's wedding last summer in Seabrook, WA. I've been inspired more than ever to help friends with their wedding flowers and I've been gaining the confidence to churn out creations that people enjoy and are amazed by as long as they're okay with me using what's in my yard, their yards, what's in season and in a valiant attempt to visit and support local specialty growers, their remarkable and interesting crops, I hope, to use as well!

My first wedding flower gig this season is for my co-worker Annie and her longtime partner, Erika. With the passing of Referendum 74 here in Washington State that allows same-sex couples to finally be married and have it be acknowledged by the state, it was a HUGE honor to have been asked to do their flowers.

One of the biggest trends in weddings these days is the whole DIY concept in keeping costs down. It can be affordable, but the time and labor involved can easily stress and frustrate those who take it on. Knowing Annie and Erika, they're not at all about extravagance, they simply wanted the very basic and they wanted to use plants and flowers from their own garden that they grew. So, my challenge was to stay true to their simple requests: a bouquet for Erika, a boutonniere for Annie, their son Anders, and corsages and boutonniere for the parents and center pieces for the tables and just a few random arrangements here and there to decorate and enhance the venue.

Having been playing around with arrangements all winter, the spring push opened up a whole new palette of wonderful garden plants that would be wonderful for their wedding. With Annie being an avid gardener herself, "Why not just cut from the garden?!".

So I went at it with buckets and just gathered as much material that I thought would hold up. Fantastic Solomon's seal (Polygonatum sp), Helleborus x hybridus just reaching the stage where they're best cut, assorted greens, and even the horribly weedy spanish bluebells inspired some color and held up alright "as a cut"

The Seattle Wholesale Grower's Market in the Industrial District of the Emerald City has been such a delight to visit each and every time I come in. Having made many contacts and close friends and colleagues through the likes of author Debra Prinzing, photographer David Perry, and Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farms, I'm as giddy as a kid in a candy store looking forward to what the growers have brought in and to be greeted by smiles and hugs when I visit just makes me realize how much I love what I do. Floral designer and aspiring cut-flower grower, Nicole Cordier, is the main woman behind the desk handling orders and greeting customers. I adore her enthusiasm for unique plant materials and it's so easy to just hang around and chat flowers and the future of the industry. Not only is she a next generation gardener, she could be a next generation GROWER! The beauty of all this is the fact that we're not alone in our endeavors. I've met three other young ladies in just the past year who have their sights set on growing cut flowers and I'm anxious to see if their strong interest carries them through the ups and downs of a very challenging industry.

So, for Annie and Erika's wedding, I proposed that we use soft orange Ranunculus and blue grape hyacinths. As for arrangements, they were very open to ideas and expressed their love of lilacs so I grabbed a large bunch along with some fantastic, young snowball viburnums that were still a light moss green that contrast with the deep violet color. These were grown by Oregon Coastal Flowers who have a regular stand at the Seattle Wholesale Grower's Market.

For the orange ranunculus, Nicole directed me to Ms. Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers who was their Ranunculus and Anemone specialist and I was able to get in touch with her to place a special order for 50 stems of orange ranunculus. By coincidence, her Standwood farm was actually on the way to the wedding venue in Camano Island and I has asked if I could pick up my order and also see her growing operation!!!!!!So yeah....good times...good times!! She was so kind and enthusiastic and I admired her work ethic and remarkable quality flowers as she toured me through her hoop houses and her fields in the picturesque Skagit Valley

I couldn't help but marvel at the incredible and painstaking work involved in producing these cut blooms. I also had to get some fabulous Cerinthe purpurescens, which she cut for me right then and there! Talk about fresh from the field!!

With my floral-mobile set, I gave Vivian a hug and gave her my sincerest thanks and off I went to Camano Island to quickly put wedding flowers together.

I was actually surprised that the scent of lilacs wasn't too overpowering. Combined that with wonderful lily-of-the-valley, it was simply heaven! It felt so good to have had the opportunity to gather all these plants, meet the people who tended and raised them and now comes the part where it all comes together to celebrate a union that's been a long time coming!

 

With the help of the family, they arranged the centerpieces and did a great job!

After a wonderful and emotional ceremony, I was greeting with compliments and "thank yous" from so many people and I was so thrilled that they were pleased with the result. Probably the most meaningful comment someone said to me was, "You did a great job. This is so Annie and Erika!"


Riz