today i’m thrilled to welcome a new columnist to d*s! i’ve been wanting to add someone to our tiny team who could help with all things floral and garden-oriented so i was beyond excited when sarah ryhanen of saipua accepted my invitation. i’ve long been a fan of sarah’s (and eric’s) work at saipua, a beautiful flower and soap shop in red hook brooklyn, and have been following her blog for months (you might remember her hilarious guest blog posts at d*s). once a week sarah will be joining us to talk about floral arranging, urban gardening, plants, diy floral centerpieces, introducing us to interesting (and affordable) flowers and anything else that relates to nature and our modern world. we’re still working on a name and permanent day-of-the-week for the column so stay tuned for her regular schedule. so, without further ado, take it away, sarah…
Flowers make people happy in the simplest way. I used to work at a Carvel Ice cream store, and it was pretty much the same type of simple pleasure. But more delicious I guess. You want to know how to make those chocalate crunchies? No you don’t.
So I’m really glad to be here, glad to be sharing pictures of flowers and a few words of wisdom on how to arrange, care for, grow, and sometimes eat flowers. Also here to let you know that your girlfriend likes flowers, would like you to bring home flowers tonight, and would like you to start thinking about valentines day now…Jus’ saying.
Today the anemone is on my mind. Anemone Coronaria… and don’t call her poppy. She can be French or American and comes in shades of white, blue, pink or red but is distinguished by her blue/black center. She’s around from November to April and now – January – finds us smack dab in the middle of the season when anemones are their strongest and most beautiful. Winter flowers always feel really special to me. They are lovely contrast to the weather outside. Such a lovely contrast to the clothes all over the floor or the sink full of dishes. Those things tend to fade into the distance with some flowers on the kitchen table. The cat threw up? Who cares! We have Anemones!
The anemone is a saucy and versatile flower. She can stand surprisingly well on her own – holding a room with just a few stems, but she she also mixes exceptionally well with a myriad of other blooms. She’s great at parties. All this despite her tragic name – Anemone comes from Greek, meaning Windflower. It symbolizes the foresaken and is said to have sprung from the blood of Aphrodite’s slain lover, Adonis. I generally don’t tell that to brides.
I like to put a few stems in small bottles by my bedside or on the kitchen table. To dress them up a bit I mixed about 14 stems here with a few bunches of fresh oregano. For something a bit more styled I made a quick tie-up bouquet with quince blossoms, salmon parrot tulips, poppies, roses, and eucalyptus. Might as well get this out of the way up front: best advice for keeping these beauties looking good for 5-7 days is to change the water daily. Thats all. Some people add drops of bleach (kills bacteria) or dish soap (glycerin acts as a stand-in for flower food) but I don’t monkey with flower cocktails. Just keep the water changed and away from the heater.
Anemones leave you cold? Single petaled flowers seem shallow? Next week we’ll take a look at the Anemone’s illusory cousin THE RANUNCULA.
