housemartin

fall color

I love the mood of this photo over at Domino's blog...

Reminds me of all the colors we saw on our walk this morning - mostly oak and maple leaves turning - so many shades of yellow, green, orange, and red.

Have a lovely fall weekend everyone.

mini bouquets

Look at these gorgeous little bouquets over at Swedish floral designer Minna's blog called Blomsterverkstad. A combo of elderberries and green hydrangea in little sheet music paper cups - lovely...

Ivory Prince

So happy to see my Helleborus blooming again this year in our porch planters. Such a gorgeous combination of ivory, chartreuse, and subtle pinks...

sprung

It always amazes me when you buy blooming branches to force at home. They look rather scraggly with only tiny shoots - sign of life...
Within days they may look like this - lovely forsythia branches with gorgeous yellow blossoms.

my friend hazel

I discovered a new friend at the wholesale market last week. These stunning branches are witch hazel. They have the most interesting charteusey-yellow blossoms - very dramatic.

subtraction

Clinton Friedman recently released his gorgeous book Subtraction. It is a wonderful book of photographs of healing plants of South Africa. Stunning. You can read more about his work and buy the book here.
(link via Ella decoration South Africa)

shop hop - Cactus Jungle

Last stop on my shopping tour is a great little garden in Berkeley, Ca. It is called Cactus Jungle and they grow all of their cacti and succulents. The photo on top shows a giant Golden Barrel Cactus (echinocactus grusoni) that was rescued from an estate in the South bay and is over 50 years old. There are many other smaller varieties to love too including some of my favorites - aeoniums - a ruffled variety below with burgundy edges. Some of the plants are grown in coconut fiber pots. Which means you can pop them right into the dirt and the roots will grow right through. This saves on collecting all those plastic containers that we would otherwise recycle or throw away - clever idea! I think you would enjoy it if you are out shopping in Berkeley - gorgeous when the sun is shining!

hips

The last post reminded me of these little branches. I discovered them for the last wedding I did. They are miniature wild rosehips. They certainly add a nice bit of texture and color to fall arrangements.

cinderella

Several weeks ago we went pumpkin picking out on Sauvies Island. We went to a farm that had mostly Cinderellas (the dark orange pinched ones) and white pumpkins. This can be quite an ordeal as one gets attached to them....er, well I do.
50 pumpkins later (thats an exaggeration - but it was an entire carload full)
...here are some of the beauties we encountered.
Here is how you end up with a carload...
"We have to get this one...it's so wide!"
"We have to get this one...it's so tall!"
"we have to get this one...it's so ghostly white!"
"and this one is so nobbly!"
"and this one is so lopsided!"
You get the picture.
Also lovely chickens at a second farm...

and here they all are - happily back at our house - arranged in the dining room and on the front porch
and finally, a sweet treat for you all - Happy Halloween everyone!

the apple of my eye

I love harvest time - so many wonderful flowers, fruits, and pods to choose from!
What a pleasure it was to go apple picking in Hood River for our birthdays last weekend!
Here are the fruits of our labor....well actually it takes about 10 minutes to fill up a bucket this size - the trees were so brimming with apples...

from left to right...Golden Supreme, Gala, and Jonagold

a view of one of the Gala trees