A locally grown flower arbor installation

Thank you to Alice at Loving My Company for the photo

Last week I hosted a group of friends at our farm for a photoshoot. It's become an annual event, and each year I try out a new floristry technique. I am not a farmer-florist, so this event is a fun opportunity to try something way outside my regular routine.

This year I decided to decorate the birch tree trellis. It supports our two concord grape vines, and I wanted the cut flower installation to enhance the greenery that is already there. To do this I used four small buckets that were secured up the trellis post with chicken wire, and two oshun pouches at the top.

For greenery I used maple branches, apple of peru, mountain mint, and tomato vines. These were all things I had in abundance in the yard. Everything was in water, but the tomato vines wilted right away. I thought the apple of peru, and mountain mint could also be wilty in the hot sun, but both held up for 24 hours as long as they were in water.

I knew none of the greenery would hold up in oshun pouches, so the top was a spray of flowers.

For flowers I used lisianthus and hydrangea because I knew they would hold up in the sun, queen annes lace and joe pye weed because they have long stems. Finally, delphinium, cosmos and agastache were used for accents.

Taking everything apart the day after.

When the whole installation was complete it looked just as I hope - an enhanced green trellis that was a perfect backdrop for some family photos. Most of the flowers held up all evening, and into the next day. This furthered my love for mountain mint - an undervalued, native workhorse cut flower.