moving on…

Bramble has a new website! Please visit www.bramblefloraldesign.com from now on for blog updates and info on how to contact us!

Summer Reading

While I’m sitting home sick and in a lull between planing and harvesting and floral gigs, I’ve been catching up on some reading. If I wasn’t too sick to move from the couch, I would definitely be out finding something sturdy to swing my hammock between so I could read outside. (You should be warned I’m obsessed with my hammock and will probably find many more opportunities to mention it.)

So, for the reading material:

-Borders has an awesome magazine selection (rivaled, at least in Portland, only by Powell’s books) where I found this fun wedding flowers mag. It’s aptly called “Wedding flowers: your expert guide to bridal blooms” for June/July 2010. It’s British, and is connected to this website (I recommend the “Real-life flowers” section). I loved their cute ideas, and that they included some ideas for doing things smaller and more affordable.

-While we’re renting and focused on potted gardens, we’re still a little obsessed with gardens and learning as much as we can about gardening before we have a yard of our own. My in-laws got wind of this and sent me a book they just found for my birthday. It’s similar to another one we’ve found, and I’m excited to actually read this one (I just got it, so I’ve only skimmed it) because we’re pretty sure this is a style/philosophy of gardening that we want to get in to. The book is “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew. His website is a little intense, so I suggest checking out the book.

More Treehouses…

…becoming a possible addiction.

Private commission tree houses. Oh yes. My obsession as a child with outdoor “play houses” and pretending to be Tiger Lily/Mogwli/etc has translated to

French company La Cabane Percheem can make your unrealistic grownup dreams come true – check this out:

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/green-architect/amazing-treehouses-by-la-cabane-perchee-120872

Wedding Details

Please enjoy these details of a bridal and bridesmaid bouquet from a wedding I did earlier this month. Hopefully more pictures from the wedding, including corsages, boutonnieres, and reception to follow!

PSU Market

We’ve spent past few Saturday mornings at the PSU farmers market. While I fully intend to try out as many of Portland’s markets as I can… I keep going back to the Hollywood and the PSU market. The extremely convenient locations I think are probably part of the big draw, as well as the familiarity that the Hollywood holds. The PSU market is quickly becoming familiar, but I feel like I could visit there every weekend of the  summer and still have more to try.

With hours of 8:30 – 2, open March through October, you’d think it was possible to get a taste of everything, but not only the market huge, but the vendors are all so delicious looking! I just wander around looking and sampling and taking it in.

 The PSU Farmers Market is located at Portland State University in the South Park Blocks between SW Hall & SW Montgomery. After being a student at PSU, parking on a weekend in the summer doesn’t actually feel that terrible, and there are always lots a few blocks away if you dont want to parallel park

Garden Update / Cage Match Winner?

I’m so torn on this! Chocolate mint looks a little taller, but Habak looks possibly fuller? If we’re judging by which herbs are crowding out others, both mints win – I had to start harvesting just to keep the chives alive.

Who do you think’s the winner?

[I also had to post a photo of my apple tree… I have 5 apples just as beautiful as this! So exciting… I hope they are able to fully mature this season.]

Edibles!

The amazing creativity and deliciousness of our local farmers/growers/bakers around Portland never cease to amaze me!  A bunch of sugar pea tops/flowers, and some Thai flowers for a stir fry caught my eye and I couldn’t say no… such delicate, pretty things that are also edible? and I never even knew the existed? I’ve been missing out! Food texture is just as important to me as flavor, and almost anything can win me over if it is fun and looks beautiful. The Thai flowers tasted nice and slightly sweet and lemony; the pea tops basically tasted like broccoli. But I like broccoli.

We just dropped the stems, leaves and flowers in the wok with some garlic, soy sauce and oil – simple and delish.

The leftover buds I added to one of my favorite vintage vases. I particularly love the tiny curly-cues.

Alyssa’s Bridal Shower

Thank you, Alyssa, for getting married …and for choosing excellent wedding colors!

Cage Match

As a renter without a yard, I’ve invested in a few pots and various types of edibles that are pot/deck/patio/porch/balcony happy. My two year old columnar apples were getting lonely, so this year we bought some herbs.

I have a tendency to want to buy EVERY herb at the nursery… somehow we managed to finally narrow it down to three: chocolate mint, habak mint and chives. (I like chives for their lovely petite flowers, especially.)

Rose Gardens

If you’re ever in Portland, make sure you visit the Portland International Rose Test Gardens (they don’t have a great website, but some of the information is good). I love going up to the gardens to walk, read, watch people play tennis – I can find any reason to spend time there.