A Perennial Update
As many of you noticed, the items in my Perennial Collection—which I promised would always be around—had been sold out for some time. I've been itching to make some changes and after the last of my inventory sold out before Valentine's Day, I seized the opportunity for a fresh start. Here's what this overhaul entails—and don't worry, my blush peonies aren't going anywhere!
What's New?
Ivory Peonies
This custom order became one of my favorites immediately. I made a huge batch over the holiday break so that I could introduce them for Valentine's Day, and they sold out faster than I expected. (I even had people try to bribe me to make more!) I'm happy to be offering these as part of my regular repertoire and I'll be working hard to keep batches in production as often as possible!
Munstead Wood Garden Rose Bundle
This bold beauty is another rose that I created for a client project and promptly fell in love with making. Combined with neutral hues and lifelike, textured carnations, this mix is a real crowd pleaser!
Traditional Roses, Sold by the Half Dozen
Classic rose bundles are one of my more commonly-requested items, so I thought I'd make it easier on everyone. I'll be adding more colors to this listing in the future, but for now, here are my top picks for the season!
What Changed?
Blush Peonies
These are now in sets of three stems instead of four, and I added more detail to the buds and leaves to create an even more lifelike appearance.
Spring Peony Mix
(formerly the Soft & Pretty Spring Mix)
The total stem count in this mix hasn't changed, but I switched out a Peony bloom for a bud, and instead of rosettes this piece now uses large blush garden roses.
Juliet Garden Rose Bundle
(formerly the Garden Rose Bundle)
I revised the configuration of this piece slightly by switching out the dahlia for two rosebuds. I always felt that this pieces needed a little bit more color to complement the Juliet rose, and now it feels much more balanced and natural.
Why so many changes?
I've been practicing
One of the reasons I release my offerings in collections is because I am continually working to improve my techniques, learn new skills, and try new flowers. I don't want to become a paper flower-making factory that makes the same type of flower from the same petal template day-after-day! That's part of the reason I was hesitant to create a "permanent" collection in the first place.
My peonies and my roses are done 100% from memory at this point—they're like shooting foul shots! Dribble twice, spin, deep breath, shoot.* That's what practicing every day for years will do to you!
But the little details, like leaves, buds, the frilly greenery along the stem of anemone—those things are pieces I've been fine-tuning for the past year too. Now that I know I can do them over and over again without a ton of variation, I'm comfortable adding them outside of a limited release.
Easier arrangements
I've also been observing how many of you purchase from this collection. Lots of you are ordering in pairs so you can combine or create larger compositions. With that in mind, I reworked quantities and configurations to make it easier to mix and match pieces together.
Almost any combination of these pieces would work well together, and I've kept many of the items in odd numbers to help with arranging (a little florist trick I've picked up along the way!).
I'm planning another blog post to show some combinations and some of my tips and tricks on this topic in the future—so stay tuned for that!
Time management
And finally, I eliminated a few pieces that always seemed to cause a kink in the wheel. Like my Shirley Temple Peonies! As much as everyone loves them, they're super time consuming and remarkably temperamental! Maybe they'll come back in another collection when I can schedule them better, but as a regular item, they became too risky.
Added Bonus
I shot this set of photos in a variety of different vases and vessels to help give you more ideas about how to display your flowers. Naturally, I love my Awl Snap vases! But I get a lot of questions (especially at markets) about how to use the pieces in your collection at home. I hope seeing other suggestions sparks your creativity!
I hope you like the changes and are happy to see the return of peonies (I know that's what the big takeaway is here!). I'm beyond excited about what I've got cooking up for Spring/Mother's Day—and yes, there are even more peonies on the way! In the meantime, let me know what you want to see around here next. I'm all ears!
*Forgive the basketball reference. March madness runs deep in the Fleck family!