Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2017 i Flower

WHEN IS A MATERIAL THING more than just a thing? The question was posed, pondered, and wept over in millions of homes throughout Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico during the late summer, when massive hurricanes washed away the contents of entire houses and damaged personal items later piled on the curb. A New York Times reporter told the story of Shirley Hines, a Houston flood victim devastated by the loss of six Fitz & Floyd red and white coffee cups, which had been passed down from her mother. Touched by Hines’s story, a stranger in Maryland tracked down a replacement set and sent it to Hines, who cradled the new cups, fighting back tears, her treasure restored. In this context, reading Wedgwood: A Story of Creation and Innovation by Gaye…

Oh, hello! Do come in. I hope you found it all right,” says Laura Dowling, as she welcomes me into her home in Alexandria, Virginia, a historic town house that’s beautifully appointed with collections of 18th- and early-19th-century European and American furniture and layered with eye-catching decorative objects. It makes you want to creep behind at a snail’s pace to take everything in. The rooms are wonderfully composed, and with the additions of holiday arrangements and a homemade garland, the effect is enchanting. Dowling’s polished arrangements, accentuated expertly with hand twists, trailing vines, light layers, and other touches of European technique, all build upon the idea of classic French design. After all, it was a sightseeing trip to France that jump-started her foray into the world of flowers. In 2000,…

In the 1980s, Ashley Spotswood and her friend were driving around the Abingdon neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama—one of those tucked-away places that feels more like the country but is only a stone’s throw away from the bustle of city life. Her friend pointed out a house that she particularly liked, but for Spotswood that same house cast a kind of a spell on her. Perhaps her artistic sensibility was stirred. (She’s an accomplished landscape painter and furniture designer, among other talents). A couple of decades later, her daughter announced, “Mom, your house is for sale” or something to that effect. Spotswood was determined. “We weren’t looking at the time, but I had to see this house,” she recalls. “We stepped inside, and it was like the house found us. Bob…

A Look Back… at an image from our 2014 feature about New York at Christmas, when the city turns into a twinkling holiday landscape. I once worked right by Rockefeller Plaza, with its oversized tree lit up like a torch and abundant white lights adorning the smaller trees along the promenade. No matter my day, I was always cheered by the sight and the bustle of Fifth Avenue. But on days when I needed to escape the frenetic streets teeming with tourists spilling out of the beautifully decorated shops, a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art would be in order. There I could marvel at the more understated holiday décor, such as the Christmas tree covered with angels, the Neapolitan baroque crèche, and of course, the massive towering floral creations…

NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS Fall Chrysanthemum Show November 4–19 smith.edu/garden THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival November 9–19 pwaf.org WILMINGTON, DELAWARE Delaware Antiques Show November 10–12 winterthur.org HOUSTON, TEXAS Theta Design Weekend December 1–3 thetadesignweekend.com OMAHA, NEBRASKA Holiday Poinsettia Show November 24–January 4 lauritzengardens.org ATLANTA, GEORGIA Christmas at Callanwolde November 24–December 12 callanwolde.org JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA Art & Antiques Show December 1–3 womensboardwch.com…

AFTER THUMBING THROUGH the slim, pocket-sized volume Hot Drinks (Ryland Peters & Small, 2017), I half-expected to look in the mirror and find a frothy milk mustache, so bewitched was I by the images of steaming, whipped concoctions on every page. I could go on waxing poetic about the allure of these drinks—a mix of kid-friendly and adults-only beverages good for serving a Christmas party crowd or a fireside party of two. But the best way to convey the promise and pleasures of this little gem of a book (which slides easily into the back of bar) is to let the drinks speak for themselves. Here is a sampling: Gingerbread Hot Chocolate, Turkish Delight Frothy, Hot Toddy Studded with Cloves, Saffron Milk, Peanut Butter Crunch, Hot Rum and Cider Punch,…

MATERIALS Bind wire 1 (4-inch) sphere of floral foam with netting Variety of mixed evergreen material 15 small lemons6-inch wired wood picksGreen paddle wire 25 small crab apples 3 to 4 strands of trailing green ivy 1 TIE A LENGTH of bind wire, about 12 to 15 inches, through the netting at the top of the sphere. Soak the floral foam in water. 2 CUT 4-INCH PIECES of evergreen material, removing the bottom leaves from each sprig. Cover the entire sphere with greenery by sticking the ends into the ball and overlapping pieces. 3 SKEWER THE LEMONS with the wired wood picks, and stick the other end into the sphere. Add enough lemons to cover the sphere evenly. 4 USE THE PADDLE WIRE as string to create a mini garland…

Ashley Wiltshire Spotswood’s artistic journey began in her hometown of Pensacola, Florida, at the tender age of 4. When she saw a plain brown paper package ready to send to her cousins, she decorated it with nudes of men and women. Following that precocious start, her mother enrolled her in art classes. In addition to her landscapes in oil, Spotswood has engaged in several artistic avenues. Once, a wrong turn in Birmingham landed her in a neighborhood with lots of barred windows. The ironwork sparked an idea to create a table inspired by an antique French one she had seen. So she hired a blacksmith to produce the piece and other designs, which found their way to High Point Market in North Carolina. Now she is exploring encaustic painting (using…

Prices are subject to change. Any items not listed are unknown. COVER Floral design by Holly Carlisle of Rosegolden, 205.401.5659,rosegolden.com. Painting by Adam Miller, adammillerart.com. IN BLOOM PAGES 13–16, TRAVEL: Hillenmeyer Christmas Shop, 859.266.6889, hillenmeyerchristmas.com. Joseph Hillenmeyer & Associates, 859.971.7606, josephhillenmeyer.com. FRESH STYLE PAGES 29–32, ARRANGE: Floral design by Kaylyn Hewitt of True Vine, truevinestudios.com. Containers from Campo de Fiori, 413.528.9180, campodefiori.com. White ceramics from Myrth Ceramics, myrth.us. Cake by Oh Miss Kate, 207.229.4184, ohmisskate.com. PAGES 34–38, GARDEN: Designs by David Harber, 312.895.1586, david harber.com. PAGE 40, MEET: Interior design by Carleton Varney, 561.585.1855, carletonvarney.com. PAGES 43–46, ENTERTAIN: Glassware and pottery by Simon Pearce, 800.774.5277, simonpearce.com. A CAPITAL CHRISTMAS PAGES 48–55: Floral design by Laura Dowling, 703.549.2560, verizon.net, lauradowling.com. ST. CHARLES SOIRÉE PAGES 56–61: Event design by Kenny LaCour…

AS THE REST OF THE WORLD slowly builds up to the winter season, one family is already knee-deep in the holiday spirit. Starting the first of November each year, Joseph and Shannon Hillenmeyer set up camp in an open-air barn and carefully transform it into their namesake Christmas shop. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of 1950s holiday nostalgia, customers of the Hillenmeyer Christmas Shop are transported as soon as they walk through the red-and-white barn door. “We want to convey what the season used to be instead of today’s bustle and insanity,” says Joseph. “We try to slow the pace of the season down.” The Hillenmeyers work around the clock to ensure that every detail is perfect. There’s a roaring fire for guests to roast marshmallows; hot apple cider;…

MATERIALS: ▪ chicken wire ▪ floral tape▪ three complementary containers▪ sumac foliage▪ leucothoe branches▪ Christmas bush▪ hellebore▪ ‘Amnesia’ garden roses▪ pink garden roses▪ Allium canadense▪ lisianthus▪ ranunculus Kaylyn’s inspiration for this design was the changing of the seasons. I think this is a transitional arrangement—we’ve just left fall and are getting ready for the holidays. It’s also time for entertaining, so I created a long tablescape by making three arrangements and grouping them together with other elements on the table. I used a mix of complementary tones like rust, cranberry, white, and blush to create a new interpretation of the traditional holiday color scheme. Because this was created for a dessert party with friends, I wanted it to feel light and feminine, so I added brass, fruit, and white ceramic bud…

"IST'N THIS EXQUISITE!" EXCLAIMED 4-YEAR-OLD SARAH HEEBE as she stepped inside the luminous Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée restaurant during her first trip to Paris. Today, nearly 10 years later, the adjective still prompts a giggle from mother Jennifer, father Fred, and twin sister Anna. The memory remains so dear that it inspired the theme for another family milestone, Jennifer’s 50th birthday celebration. Working with event designer Kenny LaCour of Grand Events and floral designer Stephen Sonnier of Dunn and Sonnier Antiques & Flowers, Jennifer re-created the sparkling ambience of the hotel’s famed restaurant inside a clear-topped tent on the sprawling front lawn of her New Orleans home. Built in the Beaux Arts style by architect Emile Weil in 1907 and redesigned in 2009 by interior designer Gerrie Bremermann and…

A wedding planner by trade, Jane Schewe has helped many brides walk down the aisle. While leading her all-inclusive, Minneapolis-based wedding planning company, See Jane Plan, Schewe slowly curated a list of favorite resources. So when the time came to assemble a top-notch team in just a few months for her own wedding, she knew she could pull it off. Taking inspiration from the abundant winter foliage in Minnesota, Schewe created a day worthy of a fairy tale. She arrived in a horse-drawn carriage and walked down the aisle to the tune of Clarke’s “Trumpet Voluntary.” Moments later, each of the couple’s 100 guests held a candle in support of the union, casting a warm glow on the intimate ceremony. “To see our guests’ faces lit by candlelight was a sight…

HONEY, I CAN’T POSSIBLY go to Mississippi in mid-December for two days on a hunting trip. A) It’s mid-Christmas season and all that that implies. B) I’ve got flowerin’ to do. C) I don’t hunt.” But I did go, and it was sublime. We weren’t holed up in a cabin with no amenities in the middle of nowhere. We were wined, dined, and generally spoiled rotten in an antebellum home-cum-hunting club in the middle of nowhere. Midway through the two days, I began to think maybe I could get used to this kind of hunting. I was even looking through Orvis catalogs on the sly before breakfast. Though I had brought lots of Flower work along, I didn’t really think I’d have much time to devote to it. But somehow…