Tropicals of the South Pacific

Wow, has it really been 3 months since my last blog!?!

My mom and I showing off our Leis in American Samoa!

Summer has flown by this year (the rainy weather till July probably didn’t help). I hope all you flower lovers have had a wonderful summer filled with sun and sunflowers! I, myself had an amazing summer! The main reason was the two and a half week vacation I took in June! It was the trip of my dreams! My mom and I traveled 5,088 miles to the tiny island of American Samoa, and of course on our way back home we took a little jaunt over to Hawaii!



Where is American Samoa one might ask? Well it is located in between Hawaii and Australia, a little west of Fiji.

Here are some little facts about the island in case you are curious. It is 76.83 sq miles (which is just a little bigger the Washington DC), with a population of about 68,200 people. The capital is Pago Pago and the 1^st contact with the Europeans was in 1722.

 Now, you’re probably wondering why we decided to vacation on a tiny island in the middle of the pacific that most people have never heard of. Well my uncle met a beautiful Samoan woman while he was in the Air Force, stationed in Hawaii in 1973. He promised her that when he retired that he would take her home. So in 1985 they moved back to a little village on the south side of American Samoa and have lived there ever since.

Here are some photos of the gorgeous island.



American Samoa

Maliu Mai, American Samoa

Napali Coast, Kauai

Our second half of our amazing vaca was spent on the equally beautiful island of Kauai also known as the “Garden Isle”. It is the oldest island in the Hawaiian chain (6 million years old), and is also the rainiest place on earth! The Wai’ale’ale mountain gets an average rainfall of 460 inches of rain a year. All that rain makes for the lushest island in Hawaii!

Now, enough with the geography lesson, let’s get to the flowers! Everyone knows that tropical islands are known for their amazing plants and flowers, but I about died when I saw Ginger and Ti leaves growing wild in my uncle’s yard! Oh, what I would give to walk out my front door and pick a bouquet full of colorful, fragrant, tropicals!

Everywhere we went around the island I saw some plant or flower I have never seen before! It was an amazing experience and made me love what I do even more!

For those of you who don’t know, my floral dream is to move to Kauai someday and do wedding flowers there. Could you even think of a better job?? I was very excited to look at all the wonderful flowers that grow on the“Garden Isle” and Kauai didn’t disappoint! We went to as many gardens we could get to (in between the helicopter ride and zip lining) and I saw some of the most incredible flowers.

The map of the National Botanical Gardens that my
mom and I walked through!

Some of the coolest vines I've ever seen

When you think of Hawaii, what else do you think of besides some Birds of Paradise?



Even the resort we stayed at had an amazing orchid garden, which inspired this arrangement. Orchids are amazing flowers. There are many different kinds, in hundreds of colors! I had a ton of fun with this arrangement and made me feel like a little piece of the islands were in my living room!

Uwe ka lani, ola ka honua.

When the heavens weep, the earth lives.

Mother's Day

  It's Mother's Day, and for those of you that are working in a floral shop, you probably couldn't be happier! I hope everyone had a very successful spring holiday season! I didn't work in a shop this Mother's Day, but I'm sure it was a doozy! I've seen delivery trucks everywhere!

  I'm spending this Mother's Day with, of course, my amazing mama! Sadly, this lovely Oregon weather is keeping us from doing our Mother's Day tradition. Most everyone has little traditions they do around holidays, and if you don't, I highly reccomend it! I love holiday traditions and it just doesn't feel like a holiday without them.

Our Mother's Day tradition is to plant all our pots that go on our patio. I've been doing this with my mom and my Grandma ever since I remember. It is a great memory I have of my Grandma. She is where I got my love of flowers and I wish she could see me now! Luckily my mom and I planned ahead and planted some pots on the one nice day we had this week. A full pot of beautiful flowers outside will lift your mood just like a bouquet on your table!

 Of course I also had to make my mom a Mother's day arrangement! I got inspiration from our tradition and decided to go with a garden themed arrangement. I wanted to do my own spin on the garden theme with a tiered look. This is how it turned out!

I wanted it to look like a planted pot in the middle of the garden. I was happy how it turned out. I'm still somewhat new at this, so when an arrangement ends up looking how I pictured it, I get very excited!

I hope you all enjoyed my Mother's Day blog, and I hope all the mothers, grandmothers, mothers to be have a flower filled, happy Mother's Day!

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

~George Cooper

Easter Egg Nest

Well, it sure did take me long enough, but I finally have something to write about!! Spring is here and that means bright flowers and fun holidays! Easter is this Sunday and what could be better to take to your brunch then a flower arrangement?
When you think of Easter what do you think of...... colored eggs, bunnies, and CANDY! Instead of having your candy in a boring basket, how about a nest? No, you don't have to go out and hunt every tree in your neighborhood and steal one from the birds, you can make your own! I learned how to do this in my second course at the Floral Design Institute and had a blast. I couldn't wait to make it again! They look great as a centerpiece, an alternative to the Easter basket, or just a fun hostess gift! It's super easy and you can customize it however you want!

Okay, let's get started!
What you will need for this project is:
~Barked wire (wire wrapped with a brown raffia)
~Curly Willow
~Greens (anything long with small leaves will work)
~Wire Cutters
~Pruners
~Some yarn and decorative wire (optional)
~Long lasting flowers (optional)


Your first step is to make a base of your nest with the barked wire. Make 2 rings, one bigger then the other, and connect them making a kind of spider web pattern, but in a bowl shape. It is best to wrap a second piece of barked wire around the top ring of the form to make it sturdy enough for the next step. You can make the base any size or shape you want! Want to go more contemporary with it? Try making a square nest!

The next step is to weave the curly willow through the base. The fresher the willow, the more flexible it will be. Depending on the size of the branch you will most likely have to cut the thick bottom off. I'd say the top 2-3 feet of the branch is the best to use. Now, I know that we are making a birds nest and we want it to look natural, but we can't forget all the rules we learned in floral school. With the curly willow make sure to have all the branches weaving in the same direction. I had all my branches going clockwise around the base.

After you have the desired amount of curly willow in the base, it is time to add some foliage. Most greens will do in the nest as long as they have small leaves. Trying to add some Salal in the nest would get frustrating and look a little odd. In this nest I used Oregonia, a type of boxwood, and a little Eucalyptus, mostly for the smell. Other greens that would be good to use are; any type of grasses, ivy, Ming and Foxtail fern, and boxwood. With the greens like boxwood and eucalyptus, you can't really weave them through the nest. I just cut about 5 inch sections of the plant and nestled it in the curly willow. Make sure though, that it is secure. There's nothing worse than handing over your arrangement and leaving a trail behind you. If you are worried that the bottom of you nest is still a little bare, add some moss for a nice platform for your goodies inside! Once you've made a nice bed of foliage in the nest, it's time for the fun stuff!!















Your nest should be shaping up to be a lovely little home any bird would be proud of. Nice, cozy, sturdy, and well, a little boring. If you're going for the all natural look, you can stop here, but for hoildays such as Easter, we have go to add a little color! Most of us have half done craft projects lying in the closets somewhere in our house. Search though all those piles! Yarn, wire, beads, anything you can find will go great in your nest! You can also get some long lasting flowers and stick them in the nest. Weave your decorations through the nest. Don't try to make it perfect. Birds aren't standing there, looking at their nest thinking "That piece of string isn't hanging quite right..." If you have decorative wire you can make litte birds eggs, or bobbles. Just get about a foot section of the wire and roll it around with your hands. Be creative on this step, this adds color, texture and really make the nest your own!















Alrighty, there you have it! Your nest is ready for that Easter brunch or egg hunt! Add a few colored eggs, maybe a chocolate bunny or two and you're all set to go!

I hope everyone has a great Easter with family and friends!

Trying Something New...

Welcome to Kaity's Garden! I love designing with flowers and I hope to spread that love with you! Whether you are planning a wedding, event or if you just want some beautiful flowers around the house, this is the right blog for you!

Flowers~

Flower, flower grow for me,

Become a flower from a seed,

Grow your roots and a stem,

Let the water come right in

Flower, flower you are true,

You make me happy when I am blue,

You became a flower from a seed,

You did all that just for me

~Olivia Taylor