LA in Bloom » Flowers

Weekend in Bloom

Heather — Tue, 26 May 2015 03:50:29 +0000

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! I spent Sunday morning shopping with Scarlett at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market where I let the warm feeling of summer wash over me with every stone fruit sample I popped in my mouth. Peaches, nectaries, cherries – ’twas all off the hook. I came home and cooked brunch for my cousin (Peruvian potato frittata) and dinner for my in-laws (white salmon, rice and asparagus). Such a lovely launch to my favorite season. xoHBT

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Floral Crowns with Hollyflora

Heather — Wed, 13 May 2015 06:01:50 +0000

Around this time last year I spent an afternoon with my sister and Hollyflora making floral crowns as part of a project for the debut issue of Nourished Journal. Holly and Becky brought over buckets spring blooms, including lilacs, peonies and clematis, along with all the necessary materials (floral wire, floral tape, ribbons). The story ran in Nourished but I thought I would share a longer version here, along with the tutorial. It is lilac season, after all. Photography by Jeana Sohn.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Take three or four floral wires and bundle them together. Adhere them together using brown floral tape. Make sure to wrap the tape around the wires tightly.

2. At each end, make loops out of the wire and tape. Secure the hoops with more tape. This provides an easy way to attach ribbons for adjustable sizing.

3. At this point, your foundation is complete. Take the crown and gently shape it to the size of your head.

4. Now it’s time to decorate. Pick your flowers and foliage and start layering on. Use 2” pieces of wire to attach lighter leaves and stems.

5. Once you have completed the base layer of decoration, use a hot glue gun to attach any heavy or delicate blooms.

6. Finish by threading ribbon through end loops. Tie it onto your head as a headband or crown.

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Spring Dinner Party: Cinco de Mayo at Gracias Madre

Heather — Mon, 04 May 2015 15:43:14 +0000

Last week, Jenni Kayne and I invited a handful of ladies to join us for an early evening Cinco de Mayo dinner at Gracias Madre. Jenni, the LA-based fashion designer and tastemaker, suggested we join forces and unite LA in Bloom and her site Rip&Tan for a night of gorgeousness. With their extensive menu of killer margaritas and vacation-like vibes, we settled on the vegan Mexican restaurant Gracias Madre for the setting. For flowers, we called upon Hollyflora who created tropical-inspired arrangements in shades of coral and fuchsia, with trails of fern and variegated green leaves. For linens, we covered the long table with my Green and Pink Striped Tablecloth and used our Striped Tea Towels as napkins. Dinner was served family style and included Hearts of Palm “Crab Cakes” , Quinoa & Black Eyed Pea Salad and Sopes. And in an effort to take it all to the next level, we got our very on LA in Bloom x Rip&Tan custom cocktail. See below for recipe…

Sparkling Dry Cucumber Lime Agua Fresca By Jason Eisner at Gracias Madre

Ingredients For the Sparkling Dry Cucumber Lime Agua Fresca:
1 Large Cucumber
6 cups water
1/3 Cup Lime Juice
3 oz Agave Nectar
1 Pinch Salt
2 Dashes Lime Bitters

Directions: Rinse the Cucumber well and leave the skin on. Chop the Cucumber up into pieces and add all ingredients to a VitaMix. Blend well. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain into a pitcher. Add to any carbonation machine, and carbonate.

How to Build The Cocktail:
Add 1.5 oz Tequila Blanco to a shaker with a tiny bit of crushed ice. Shake and strain into a single rocks glass. Add fresh crushed ice, and a spear of fresh cucumber dipped in lime juice and sparkled with sea salt and chili to taste.

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California-Inspired Wreath

Heather — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 03:58:53 +0000

A few weeks back, I visited the Hollyflora studio with a plan to make a fall wreath to hang on my newly painted yellow door. While sifting through seasonal berries and copper-hued leaves, I spotted a bunch of awesome pink flowers and couldn’t take my eye off of them. Holly quickly identified them as coral protea. “Can we make a wreath out of those?!,” I asked in a slightly crazed voice. This is how a fall wreath story morphed into a CA-inspired wreath story, or a follow your passion and grab whatever plants and flowers are prettiest to you kind of story. Photos by the brilliant Jeana Sohn above and a tutorial below. Feel free to substitute the plant materials but keep in mind that certain things will dry and/or last longer than others.

HBT: Holls, can you show us how to make a wreath?
Holly: Let me just grab my apron…

Materials:
Clippers
Wreath form
Paddle wire
Eucalyptus gunnii
Willow eucalyptus
Coral protea
Oak leaves

Method:
It’s good to conceptualize the wreath before you get started. Anchor your wire on the wreath form. Take a bundle of your materials and place them on the form, wrap the wire around the wreath and form several times and pull tight. Continue around the form, every third or fourth bundle tie a knot in the wire so it doesn’t slip. We like to create visual focal points of center. Make sure there is a wire loop in the back for easy installation. – in the words of Holly Vesecky

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Shop Visit: Hollyflora Market & Courtyard

Heather — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 15:01:36 +0000

LA-based florists and Hollyflora co-owners Holly Vesecky and Rebecca Uchtman have created a name for themselves by elevating flowers to an art form (literally: they have collaborated with LACMA and the Hammer) and pushing trends forward in the ever-popular industry of floral design. And just in time for start of holiday season they have opened the doors to their first boutique, the Hollyflora Market & Courtyard. My first impression upon walking into the sun soaked storefront was that they had nailed it. My second feeling was that of being transported to those magical boutiques that you stumble into in Paris.

The idea behind the shop was to sell everything one would need to set the stage for a dinner party. Being there made me want to stock up on poppy-hued beeswax candles, brass lanterns, knobby pumpkins and then immediately plan a fall lunch. The shelves are stocked with ceramics, textiles and various useful yet sleek garden accessories. Seasonal flowers are available for purchase by the bunch but they also hang from the rafters in a way that nods to Holly and Becky’s wedding design skills – these girls are used to creating drop-dead-beautiful settings for their clients’ events. Here they haven’t just opened a shop, they have created an environment. And the result is downright inspiring.

Hollyflora Market & Courtyard
5046 W. Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 9-5PM and by appointment
(323) 591-1120

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Hello Again + Dahlias

Heather — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 14:28:50 +0000

I’m so happy to be back on the blog! This is the longest break I have ever taken from LA in Bloom, since I launched the site back in 2008. And it didn’t even happen on purpose. The last couple of months have been intense and great – we have been remodeling our house, prepping for baby, navigating the highs and lows of pregnancy and running HTH out of our construction zone of a house. This period of focused work has yielded a lot of inspiration and many ideas and I’m excited to bring you some great news posts in the coming weeks and months. For now, I want to share my favorite flower of the moment – the dahlia. It’s a perennial beauty and I’m having a renewed love affair with these blooms, especially in this rusty, orangey, pinkish hue.

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