mother's day gift!

spring tuft, $35 available here

Don't forget! The last day to order mother's day gifts from my shop with guaranteed delivery by mother's day is tomorrow, May 1st.
Enjoy your weekend :)

christina

Kate's Royal Bouquet revealed

image via here

What's in that lovely waterfall of white flowers!??

Kate's beautiful royal bouquet is made mostly (from what I can see) of lily-of-the-valley, sprigs of the Queen Victoria's myrtle shrub, white hyacinth and reportedly 'sweet William' in honor of her new husband.

According to the royal press release, "The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers."

What is the flower language of her bouquet?
Sweet William means gallantry, lily-of-the-valley is return of happiness and purity of heart, hyacinth represents constancy, while myrtle is the emblem of marriage and love.

The blooming bouquet was surprisingly small and dainty mirroring the style of her dress and designed with delicate white flowers. I think it echos Kate's dainty, traditional and quaint style. A beautiful bouquet for a beautiful bride.

image via here

the history of the royal wedding bouquet

The royal wedding is soon upon us! Are you overloaded yet by it? What will I be watching for? Not Kate Middleton's dress (gasp!) which I am sure will be flawless, but the stems that she will be clutching, how they have been designed and who was the lucky floral designer.

So to get prepared, lets have a short review of a few past royal wedding bouquets:

First up is Queen Victoria. For her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, she clutched a small posey of snowdrops (said to be Prince Albert's favorite flower). Another interesting fact is that she reportedly planted myrtle (a green shrub) which is sometimes called the "herb of love", in her garden at the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight after her wedding. Since then, it has become a royal bride tradition to pluck a sprig from the same bush planted 171 years ago and carry it in their bouquets.

Queen Elizabeth the II, then Princess Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Phillip in 1947. She carried a cascading bouquet of three types of British-grown orchids, cattleya, odontoglossum, and cypripedium (and of course, a sprig of Queen Victoria's myrtle). The bouquet was misplaced after the ceremony leaving her bouquet-less for post wedding photos, although they had a replica made and posed again after the wedding for portraits.

In Princess Diana's marriage to Prince Charles in 1981, she chose a very dramatic cascading bouquet that was said to be 3 1/2 feet long and over a foot wide to match the grand length of her train and venue. The royal bouquet included a mix of soft yellow ‘Mountbatten’ roses (named for Prince Philip’s uncle), white orchids, gardenias, freesia, lily of the valley, ivy, veronica, stephanotis, and of course Queen Victoria's myrtle sprigs. Lady Diana had 3 identical bouquets created as a precaution from Queen Elizabeth's mishap of her lost bouquet.

Kate Middleton, bouquet yet to be announced. Just like her dress, tight wraps have been kept on who will be designing it and what blooms and colors (if any) it will contain. I hope she finds a way to honor her new but deceased mother-in-law Diana with the same flower choices or colors but in her own style.

It is reported that she will not be tossing her bouquet but instead following tradition of placing it on Westminster Abbey's Grave of the Unknown Warrior, according to the U.K.'s Telegraph. This is nothing new for royal brides, Queen Elizabeth (the queen Mum) started the custom in 1923 when she married the future King George VI (yes, the one played recently by Colin Firth!!).

So what will Princess Kate's Royal bouquet contain? We'll have to wait and see.

{each image is linked to its source}

moss carpet

La Chanh Nguyen's moss carpet. Not your typical bathmat. The moss mat is sustained by the humidity of the bathroom and moisture that drips off you as you step out of the shower. At my house it would be over watered though by the splashing waves from my little girls during their bath time.

I bet it feels heavenly under your toes though. Just look at all that soft texture.

flower id: muscari

Muscari, also known as Grape Hyacinth, is a spring perennial flower related to the popular hyacinth and it smells just as wonderful too. They are a bulb flower that multiply rapidly in good soil and cover lawns, woodlands, meadows and rock gardens. They are so beautiful here in New Jersey. Remember to plant some next year for your spring garden. You can find them here fairly cheap.

Happy Earth Day today and Happy Easter this weekend!

an italian bakery

My 27th birthday was on Sunday. I was delighted to wake up to breakfast in bed with a surprise cupcake and candle from my little girls and hubs. The bread and cupcakes were from the old local Italian bakery, Natales, a block away. I love going inside to see all the different pastries, cannolis, lobster tails and napoleons. YUM!

The first painting the italian bakery by janet hill studio reminds me of Natales. Janet's paintings are so beautiful. You can check out her website here. I love also having my daughter's birthday the day after mine. She turned 2 yesterday. It was a lovely weekend!

flower id: forsythia

Have you seen these in your yard or along the roadside this spring? These bright blooms are from forsythia bushes. They are in full bloom here in New Jersey right now. We've had a rough spring so they are a little late but these sunshine yellow bushes are everywhere! I have been tempted all week to stop and take some blooming branches from the roadside so when I saw some blooming in a friend's yard, I snipped a few for my table.

Forsythia is actually not a "flower" but a deciduous shrub that blooms beautiful yellow flowers in the spring. If you know you have a forsythia bush, you can take cuttings in late winter before it even blooms, bring them inside and watch them bloom before your eyes.

Happy blooming friday. And bring some spring blooms indoor this weekend!

dino plants

lets face it. there are tons of cute and frilly things out there for little girls. I know this cause I have (almost) 3. Poor little boys always seem to get jipped. But these! I love these! How cute are they for a boy's room? Dino planters made out of repurposed toys found at plaidpigeon. A great way to get boys interested in plants and caring for them. My girls love the new show dino dan so I think these could work great for girls too, especially in pink.

enchanted tree

enchanted tree by illustrator Katie Vernon. In reading her bio I also found that she is a fellow florist! It makes complete sense because her placement of the flowers in her illustrations are like arrangements themselves.

new in shop: marcela

Marcela is the last design in the mother's day 2011 line.
It is designed using dried pink peonies and deep pink/red preserved hydrangea both tucked into a modern square cement garden planter.

Marcela is named after my beautiful mother-in-law whom I love and miss so much! It can be found in the shop here.

Dont forget! Today is the last day you can use the 10% off code 400sale celebrating the 400th sale in the shop.

new in shop: evelyn

next in the mother's day 2011 line is Evelyn.
Designed in a teal mercury glass cup, Evelyn is made out of sola thistle flowers and small cream dried button flowers. Evelyn is named after my grandmother who was full of spunk and pizazz, just like this design. For sale in the shop here.


Now!! For my blog readers and facebook followers:

floresdelsol is one sale from 400, and a few shop hearts away from 4,000!!!!!!!!

To celebrate I am offering my fan's a 10% off your purchase price coupon code until monday april 11th. Think mother's day! The code is 400sale and can be used at checkout.

new in shop : constance

up next in the 2011 mother's day line is Constance.

Named after my Nani, I have fond memories when I was little of walking with her by my home in the country of western NY and her teaching me how to dry flowers by hanging them upside down and spraying them with hairspray(?).

Constance is simple and elegant made of dried white status flower but modern when designed in its square cement vase. Constance is for sale in the shop here.

In other news, I fully enjoyed my weekend by watching general conference. It's a semiannual world conference broadcast my church holds. I am always edified by the speakers and inspired to better my life. This weekend I was impressed by the overwhelming messages of helping others in need and thinking less of ourselves. So the question of the day to ponder is ...

print found at persimmon and pink here.

string gardens

never a dull or annoying post when it comes to string gardens on my facebook feed.