French Country Dinner Party

French Country Dinner Party

Creating the ambiance of a French Country table at your next feast begins by taking a "stroll through the Provence" and into your nearest flower shop.

Floral Decorating Ideas

Designs that are fragrant, simple, bountiful and earthy are key elements. Strands of rye grass in white or blue-washed pots tied with a French ribbon are simple and graceful decor for a serving counter or sideboard. Galvanized metal buckets can hold plants or flowers.

Special Touches
Cover small pots of fresh herbs with French print fabric and tie with French ribbons for accent pieces. Set them next to a bountiful floral centerpiece with bright colors that match the fabric.

Suggested Flowers
Rye grass, delphinium, roses, spray roses, iris, sunflowers, flowering branches, dahlias, french tulips, hydrangea, solidaster, heather, and herbs such as rosemary and lavender.

taken from: aboutflowers.com

Name: Common name~ Stonecrop

Description: Sedum are succulent-leaved plants with large flat flowerheads. Their leaves often have a bluey-grey tint to them, and are attractively fleshy, the flowerheads are shaped like umbrellas. Each flower has a papery case around it, giving an interesting texture to the flowerhead.

Origin: Native to Asia, they have been cultivated in the UK since 1596, originally for their healing properties rather than their ornamental value.

Colour: Shades of pinky-brown, with light green stems; and there is a rarer purply-brown form with brown stems.

Availability: June to October

Varieties: The variety shown here is Sedum spectabile which means "worth seeing". Gardeners may be familiar with relatives of this plant, Sedum flowers naturally towards the end of the year, providing a month's worth of welcome colour in grey autumn months.

Taken from flowers.org.uk

Sunflower Savannah

Savannah

A matt glazed hand-thrown pottery vase holds a typical selection of Landscape flowers - pinky-brown sedum, golden sunflowers, green papyrus, soft yellow alstroemeria, and fluffy heads of Pennisetum (fountain grass.)

Taken from flowers.org.uk

Vitamin F continued

Blueprints for Mood-Boosting Vitamin F

Gratitude: Reminds us to be grateful for the little blessings in life

Key Colors: A low, clustered arrangement in all shades of pink symbolizes opening the heart and making others more receptive to you.

Vase Style: A glass container of any size is fitting, as its transparency exhibits openness.

In the Home: To start and end the day counting your blessings, place this depiction of gratitude on a nightstand, dresser or in the kitchen.

Suggested Flower Options: Ranunculus, alstroemeria, tulips, spray roses

Wellness: Evokes balanced feelings of mind, body and spirit

Key Color: Yellow is the primary color for this emotional energy, as it represents the sun, life force and health. Supplement a big burst of blooms with greens, which induce nature’s healing energy, and white, which reflects serenity.

Vase Style: Choose an oval or round, terra-cotta, wood or bamboo container to replicate the Earth’s element, providing grounding and balance.

In the Home: Locate this energy in the living room or family room to enhance the space of relaxation, meditation and family connection.

Suggested Flower Options: Gerbera, carnations, solidago, hydrangea (white or green), callas, pompons, chrysanthemums

Inspiration and Motivation: Infuses the soul with rejuvenating energy

Key Color: Red epitomizes motivation, fame, courage and power. Design an up-shooting spray that also includes sensuous, rich orange and fuchsia, which suggest enthusiasm and exuberance.

Vase Style: A tall mirrored or shiny metal container of any kind will stoke inspiration. Mirrors boost positive energies and bring good luck, which will circulate through all endeavors.

In the Home: The home office is an ideal place to inject motivational energy — or the power of now. Anyone will feel encouraged to reach for the stars and live life to the fullest.

Suggested Flower Options: Roses, callas, Asiatic lilies, snapdragons, hypericum

Love and Romance: Sparks intimate connections and blossoming love

Key Color: A tight bunch of flowers flush with burgundy and red embodies feelings of passion and romance. Incorporating lush pinks and peaches will help invite love and inspire kindness.

Vase Style: A circular vase is the perfect shape for never-ending love.

In the Home: Spark feelings of adoration during a meal in the kitchen or dining room. As you nourish your body, you will be dually energized by love and encouraged to show your affection throughout the day and night. Flowers are a great addition to the bedroom too.

Suggested Flower Options: Stock, roses, alstroemeria

New Beginnings: Welcomes change with open arms and mind

Key Color: Stimulate joy, enthusiasm and excitement with a simple arrangement featuring the color orange. Complement it with white — the color of purity and freshness — and green, characterizing new opportunity and growth.

Vase Style: A square, ceramic vase brings an earthy energy, proclaiming that while the sky’s the limit, it’s good to keep your feet firmly rooted on the ground.

In the Home: Put the spirit of new horizons on display on a mantle or coffee table, where it will instill faith, creativity and endless possibility.

Suggested Flower Options: Gerbera, carnations, Asiatic lilies, spray roses, alstroemeria

Serenity: Allows our minds to unwind and release tension, bringing a sense of calm to our lives

Key Color: Loosely arranged hues of blue, violet and lavender evoke serenity and will help clear the mind of stress. Blue represents the ocean and sky, while shades of purple invoke spiritual energy.

Vase Style: A cobalt blue glass vase represents inner wisdom and will help add balance. The blue is yin (soft, curving, cyclical) and the glass is yang (straight, shiny, linear) for a perfect equilibrium.

In the Home: Setting this in the entryway will set the tone for tranquility as you step inside your home from the chaotic world outside.

Suggested Flower Options: Hydrangea, delphinium, lisianthus, stock

Prosperity: Stimulates action and indicates success and richness

Key Color: Let red or deep purple dominate this abundant arrangement, intimating accomplishment and wealth. Accent with shades of gold, the preeminent color for good health and fortune.

Vase Style: Select a metallic, perhaps golden container, representing a pot of gold.

In the Home: Give your home a boost by placing this inspirational bouquet where you welcome guests or potential buyers.

Suggested Flower Options: Lilies, roses, lisianthus, snapdragons

taken from saf.org

Vitamin F

Get Your Daily Dose of Vitamin F:
Nature’s Remedy for Emotional Energy

Personal Fulfillment Expert Reveals
Flowers Fuel the Soul and Create Inspiring Spaces

From A to E, vitamins are responsible for strengthening our senses, bolstering our bones and invigorating our bodies from the inside out. Research proves that flowers, being dubbed by some as Vitamin F, help feed our need for serenity, inspiration, wellness, gratitude, love and optimism.

Mind and matter are interconnected, according to personal fulfillment expert and best-selling author Jayme Barrett, as she points to university research studies linking flowers with happiness, creativity, compassion and tranquility. Barrett’s interiors expertise coupled with the floral investigations demonstrate that flowers hold an intrinsic, natural energy that, when used throughout the home, can create positive shifts in emotions, and lead to truly inspired living.

“People and flowers both have a life force that needs oxygen to thrive, and light and water to live. And, when we are surrounded by nature, our emotions are calmed and harmonized,” says Barrett, who has applied the principles of Zen and feng shui to floral design. Her philosophy is that we can cultivate idyllic atmospheres by purposefully integrating flowers throughout our living space.

In fact, research from America’s leading universities has cemented the connection that flowers have both scientific and emotional powers. As early as 2000, Rutgers University found that flowers create instant delight and happiness, and increase enjoyment and life satisfaction. Most recently, a Harvard University study introduced small bouquets of flowers into people’s morning routines and discovered that respondents immediately perked up, much like they would with a morning vitamin.

“We need and deserve simple ways of creating homes where we feel happy and harmonious by disconnecting from the hectic pace of the world outside,” says Barrett. “Flowers are a wonderful way to ease the stress of everyday life and refocus our emotions more constructively.”

So that anyone can introduce a range of positive floral energies in the home, Barrett shares a simple, do-it-yourself guide to creating Vitamin F arrangements. Her seven soul-stimulating energies include gratitude, wellness, inspiration and motivation, love and romance, new beginnings, serenity, and prosperity. Her floral formula factors in color combination, shape and significance, vase style, placement in the home and flower variety.

Continued in the next post. Taken from SAF.org

VSA

Be sure to visit

"Village Square Antiques"

the next time that you are

in the vliiage!

Located at

0s118 Winfield Rd

Winfield, Il

60190

phone: 630.234.5071

Hardy mum plants

Mum plants are a staple in fall gardens.

However for mums to be truly hardy, they are best planted in the spring. The mums for sale in fall nurseries have been coddled to set buds for September blooms and are putting an awful lot of energy into blooming, not growing roots. Planting these out in the garden in late summer / early fall doesn’t guarantee sufficient time for the plants to become established. This is not a problem in warmer climates, where a bit of deadheading will satisfy most mums after bloom, but in areas with sub-zero winters, freezing and thawing of the soil will heave the plant out of the ground and kill the roots.

For a better chance of survival of fall planted mums in cold areas, leave the foliage on until spring and either mulch the plants heavily or dig, pot and move the plants to a more protected spot in the garden for the winter. If you choose to move the plants, do so before the first hard freeze. Established plants shouldn’t be fed after July, so new growth isn’t injured by frost.

(taken from gardening.com)

Fun ESC Figures

Stop by and see the new
ESC figures for fall and Halloween...

They are really fun and cute!

Winfield Flower Shoppe
0s118 Winfield Rd.
Winfield, Il
60190
630.668.8460

Fall at the flower shop.

Great Fall looks are here right now!

Beautiful fall ornaments, candles and arrangements along
with gift ware are arriving daily!

Stop by, today for the best selection.
Winfield Flower Shoppe
0s118 Winfield Rd.
Winfield, Il 60190
630.668.8460

Art Show

The art show at the
flower shop was visited by
many people. Everyone enjoyed snacks and
being able to speak to the artists about their work.

Thanks to David Dix and Richard Johnson for bringing their
beautiful work and sharing it with us!
Also, our thanks goes to Todd Zimmerman for his
marketing skills and putting this event together for us.

New Antique Vendors

You need to see the wonderful
antiques and collectibles at:
Village Square Antiques.

Houses at the Winfield Flower Shoppe.
Stop in today or call VSA
630.234.5071