Flower July/August 2014

“Beautiful.” It’s the title of the new musical about Carole King, the great songwriter and recording artist. Her music is the soundtrack of my adolescence, but not only that, her breakout album “Tapestry” almost literally saved me, although I didn’t fully realize it until I was in a cab leaving the Sondheim Theatre a couple of months ago, and burst into tears—43 years later. My early teen years had been hard and sad and scary, and most of all lonely, and when all that reached a crescendo, it was those 12 songs—from “It’s Too Late” to “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Home Again,” and, yes, “Beautiful”—that walked alongside me. The evolution of King’s oeuvre, steeped as it was in heartbreak and disappointment, presented in 3-D that night on Broadway, stirred in me…

BUFFY HARGETT MILLER Floral Designer “I see light, texture, and graphic patterns in everyday objects, such as an artichoke, a rusted piece of metal, or the intricate patterns found in aged concrete or marble. Inspiration is everywhere,” says Buffy Hargett Miller, of Birmingham-based Buffy Hargett Flowers (buffyhargett.com), who created floral arrangements with produce for this issue’s Flower Show (page 35). A photo stylist for Southern Living, Miller also channels her creativity through oil painting. Favorite flower? Quince. Favorite vacation spot? Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. PAMELA HOLLON Assistant Editor During her past three years at flower, Pamela Hollon has dabbled in everything from writing to styling. A lover of travel and adventure, she is moving to Hawaii this summer with her husband, Robin, and dog, Sampson. “I have quite the collection…

CRESTED BUTTE, COLORADO Crested Butte Wildflower Festival July 7 – 13, 2014 www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com SURREY, ENGLAND RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show July 8 – 13, 2014 www.rhs.org.uk CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Wisconsin-Illinois Lily Society Show July 12 – 13, 2014 www.chicagobotanic.org IDYLLWILD, CALIFORNIA Idyllwild Lemon Lily Festival July 12 – 13, 2014 www.lemonlilyfestival.com ATLANTA, GEORGIA ADAC in Bloom July 16, 2014 www.adacatlanta.com NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS Art with Blooms Gallery Walk July 18 – 19, 2014 www.nantucketgardenclub.org SEQUIM, WASHINGTON Sequim Lavender Festival July 18 – 20, 2014 www.lavenderfestival.com CANBY, OREGON Dahlia Festival August 23 – 25 and August 30 – September 1, 2014 www.dahlias.com CADILLAC, MICHIGAN Michigan Flower Show Symposium August 27 – 28, 2014 www.michigangardenclubs.org OMAHA, NEBRASKA Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show September 18 – 21, 2014 www.lauritzengardens.org For more events, visit…

For more information, see Sources, page 94.…

“For a weekend invitation, I take Frances Palmer’s Shane pot— there’s no complicated arranging necessary, as everything looks beautiful in this vessel. It’s a classic shape that works with any décor.”–STACEY BEWKES, BLOGGER, QUINTESSENCE “A piece of good advice a Parisian host once offered me: Send a case of Champagne for every week spent in someone’s home. Well, I rarely spend that long anywhere, but it’s always nice to arrive with a good bottle and some prearranged flowers. This one accomplishes both.”–THOMAS JAYNE, DESIGNER “As a child of the ’60s, I love the name of this Orbix Groove vase, and then there’s the fact that they’re made in my home state of Alabama. They’re super easy to arrange with a little cluster of ranunculus or the like.”–MARGOT SHAW, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF “I love giving…

My inspiration for this design was the desert landscape in Tucson. Here we have an extended period of warm weather to enjoy outdoor entertaining, so I created an eco-friendly table runner for my patio that I could enjoy all summer long. Using shadow boxes as containers, I planted four living squares and arranged one cut-flower square that will dry beautifully. They were carefully designed using color and texture to create a curvilinear line that is picked up by the next square when placed in row. This five-piece table runner will last several months—maybe even years—with very little upkeep. Each living square has six or seven varieties of succulents, aloe, or cacti planted with soil, but here I’m demonstrating how to create the cut-flower square using floral foam, which keeps the…