Each month has a birth flower.  Similar to a birth stone, but in floral form.  I find the history, tradition and meaning behind flowers really interesting.  So I thought it would be really fun to focus a post and arrangement each month on the corresponding bloom.

The only snag in my plan was that I was completely uninspired for the month of January.  We’re already 3 days deep into February and it’s taken me this long to work on my January centerpiece.  I’m going to go ahead and say, better late than never.  I really wanted to find “ordinary” flowers.  Things we see every day that aren’t flower specially flown across country and considered extremely high end.  I think I overly challenged myself with this because I simply could not get inspired until I saw these mauvy, magenta carnations and paired them with their terra cotta counterparts.  Suddenly, my palette sprung to life.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, the carnation is January’s birth flower.   I love these humble little blooms.  They’re sturdy and ruffly and come in lots of interesting colors.

Also in this arrangement, you’ll find a standard white rose that just happened to open up in the most unusual tulip-like, cup shape.  Some sweet and timeless spray roses and calla lilies.  I’ve never used calla lilies before, most brides tell me they’re too formal or they don’t like them.  But I found them a rather intriguing addition to this combination.  I loved the color and shape that they added.  This entire combination feels very Valentine-esk, which is alright with since that time of year is approaching this is about as mushy as I’ll get for the occasion.

In the summer, I rarely purchase greenery for my arrangements unless I have a need for something really specific.  I decided I wanted to take this approach with this piece too.  But foraging is a little more challenging in January.  What I discovered, was that if you really stop to examine the world around you, there are lots of interesting textures to be noticed.  I knew I would be focusing more on browns than greens, which was just another reason that I loved the addition of the terra cotta carnation, it blends so well with these brown undertones.

I put on my snow boots and went for a walk.  I have about 4 different types of dried grasses in this arrangement which added the right shape, movement and lines to the composition.  The full list of ingredients and their amounts are listed below.

Ingredients used:

• 12 Carnations (6 of each the terra cotta and magenta colors)
• 3 Calla Lilies
• 4 Tibet Roses
• 6 stems Celestial Spray Rose
• Dried Goldenrod
• Foraged Grasses
• Foraged Ivy (which was dead, just living in an old planter outside but still had a nice green/brown color)

For February, I have the choice of primrose or violets.  I’m not sure which I’m going to chose, but either one will be a challenge!  Is there one you’d really like to see?

 

 

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