I was antsy to try one of the antique floral cages Brian surprised me with for my birthday, and ran out to our backyard to see what I could grab for a quick arrangement while the girls napped. The Amaranth and Queen Anne's Lace I experimented growing from seeds are both abundant, despite the fact that they're both not to full maturity yet. And, our little hydrangea bush in the front yard managed to produce two small, early blooms...so, of course I picked them ( also grabbed a handful of Lamb's Ear while I was at it!)
I ran into town to grab just a couple of other flowers to fill in space; three lavender roses and two Larkspurs. And, I have to say I'm ecstatic with how easy it was to use the floral cages. After filling a thrift store "compote," or bowl shaped vase with water, I placed the cage in the center and started with the steps below. I'm no expert and am just winging this as I go, but for what it's worth I added steps;)
First step: build a base. I tried to make a base of greenery for the arrangement lining the bowl with Amaranth, at various lengths and filling in spaces with Queen Anne's Lace.
Second step: add volume and dimension. Hydrangeas are perfect to add fullness and volume, and to add a bit of height I placed the long narrow Larkspur slightly off center and at an angle.
Third step: place focal flowers. I placed the three roses just slightly above the Hydrangea to be the focal point and filled in any remaining holes with Lamb's Ear and snippets from the Larkspur.
Fourth step: set at the feet of Our Lady.
I looked up the religious meaning behind the flowers in this arrangement and found;
Queen Anne's Lace // Christ's Blood Drops
Larkspur // Mary Tears
Hydrangea // Ave Maria
And, of course roses for Mary as she is the "Mystical Rose."
I guess I shouldn't be surprised how these flowers ended up "belonging together" bringing to mind our Lord's suffering and how His Mother must have experienced His Passion. What a providential and beautiful way to enter into Friday. #EverFlowerFriday indeed.
PS: Would anyone be interested in more in-depth step-by-steps or having a live instagram session? Let me know friends!