Tulip Tulip How I Love Thee On A Tree

This time of year makes me happy.  Just about everywhere I am seeing my favorite Saucer Magnolias with their grand sweeping bows laden with those gorgeous purple and white blooms.  

The buds make me think of Nina Campbell’s tertiary color palette particularly her combination of celery greens and pale purples.  Lovely.

Barbara Ashfield

Flower Power!

Barbara and I recently attended Bouquets to Art at San Francisco’s DeYoung Museum. The event, which was the 27^th annual lasted for five days (March 15-19) and was formerly held at the Legion of Honor.

The event showcases local floral designers and garden clubs interpretations of the museum’s most cherished works using flowers.

Bouquets to Art is organized and produced by the volunteer members of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Auxiliary, and is the largest fundraiser the museums hold for the entire year. The money raised helps fund special acquisitions and educational programs.

Here are some of the photos we snapped while touring the exhibit…

After Diebenkorn...

A Classical interpretation...

After Mark Rothko...

By City College of San Francisco...

Inspired by the upcoming Balenciaga exhibit...

A nude inspiration...

David Hansen

*All photos by Barbara Ashfield and David Hansen for Ashfield Hansen Design inc.

Harbingers of Spring.

My harbinger of spring has always been flowering branches, and access to those branches was very convenient when life was being lived in the Connecticut countryside. On our property there lived a quite substantial hedge of forsythia down by the road, giving me easy access when I wanted it. There is absolutely nothing like the first sight of buds on a branch to bring you out of the “snow fever funk” - with the promise of spring within your grasp and giving you the opportunity to create a little magic indoors. The yellow forsythia was just perfect set against the old plaster walls and wood beams, their warm glow and abundant tiny flowers seeming to warm the frost on the windows that surrounded us on 2 sides.

Life in the country seemed to be all about nature and forcing branches in early Spring was a way of life and something I always looked forward to. Of course, in my first year there I took it to another level, planting 500 daffodil bulbs in the Fall and 200 crocus, but that’s another story.


Living in California now I have access to Quince rather than Forsythia, but I still have the fever. Some things just never change, nor do you want them to.

Guidelines for Forcing Branches (courtesy of Marcia Passos Duffy).

Marcia is a freelance writer and the publisher and editor of The Heart of New England online magazine.

While forcing branches is simple to do, but there are a few guidelines for helping the process along:

1. Pick a day to cut branches when the temperature is above freezing. Forcing can be done as soon as the plant is out of dormancy. This may be as early as mid-January for forsythia and pussywillow. However, for the more difficult to force ornamentals (such as crabapple, apple and redbud) its best to wait until mid-March or longer.

2. With pruning shears or a sharp knife cut branches that have numerous flower buds (you can tell flower buds apart from leaf buds by the larger size of the flower bud). Cut the branches like you are pruning the tree or bush – don’t disfigure the ornamental (you want it to still look pretty when the time comes for it to truly bloom).

3. After you bring the branches inside, split open stem bottom with sharp scissors about 1 inch (if it’s a woody stem, gently mash the ends with a hammer). This will help the branches absorb water. You may also want to re-cut the bottoms a bit to ensure that air hasn’t blocked the cut end. Remove any buds or twigs that will be under water to prevent rot.

4. Place in a vase of warm (not hot!) water. Place in a cool location away from direct sunlight. Higher temperatures will cause the buds to develop rapidly, but you’ll sacrifice its size, color and quality. Branches need light for forcing, but not direct sunlight. Heat from direct sun is too intense, and often drying. Remember, they need springtime (not summer) conditions to bloom. You can also mist them occasionally to prevent drying. Add a floral preservative to help control bacteria. Change water 2-3 times a week.

5. Forsythia and Pussywillow generally take only 1 to 3 weeks to force. Flowering fruits like apple, crabapple and cherry can take up to 4 weeks. And lilacs can take 5.

6. Sometimes the buds are stubborn and take longer to open. And occasionally some buds don’t respond even to the tenderest loving care…but you can almost be certain you’ll be rewarded with bright green foliage for your efforts.

7. Once the blossoms are out, you can move the branches to a sunnier location. They’ll last longer if you keep them away from heat vents at night.


Barbara Ashfield

Paris Blooms

Over the years I’ve done a fair amount of traveling and I have to say that I always make a point of seeking out notable florists in the big cities. They give me a sense of place, (no pun intended) of artistry, and a visual memory that lingers long after I have returned to San Francisco.


A beautiful Winter display in a shoppe around the corner from our hotel.

I included my cousin Wendy in the shot for scale.

On a trip to Paris last winter I made a point of visiting some of the famed florists there. They were glorious, as glorious as I had imagined them to be, and when I entered the threshold of each shop I felt as though I had been enveloped in a beautiful blanket of color. The shops are like little Faberge eggs, each one bejeweled and sparkling. They reminded me of the old Podesta Baldocchi on Grant Avenue in the 1960s. Now that was a florist!

Beauty en masse as seen in the shop around the corner from our hotel.

A few of my favorites from the City of Lights are Christian Tortu in the 6th, Marianne Robin in the 7th, and Flamant in the 8th.

The window display at Christian Tortu.

Mares eat oats, and Does eat oats, but little lambs eat daffodils at Christian Tortu.

Beautiful Ranunculus at Christian Tortu.

I am looking forward my next adventure – destination as yet unknown, but I do know that the great florists of THAT city will be on my list of things to see.

Barbara Ashfield

Pure Magic, Pure MÄDDERLAKE

Spring has sprung – and my first glimpse of that presented itself last week as I peered into the window at my favorite neighborhood flower shop in San Francisco. I was taken in by a window filled with grape hyacinth, ranunculus, daffodils the color of egg yolks, and, standing like soldiers against a myriad of color, magnificent branches of flowering Quince, a personal favorite.

Image from the book Flowers Rediscovered: New Ideas about Using and Enjoying Flowers

Seeing that window made me think of the once great Pure Mädderlake, (now since closed) a world-class, high-style New York City florist whose carefully wild aesthetic spread like wildfire among the city’s upper crust. It has been said that Pure Mädderlake single handedly changed the flora arena - where lavish was out and natural was in; where twigs, flowering branches, berries, roots and vegetables took center stage. They were also known for pairing flowers and plants with unusual containers like moss and lichen-covered pots, old wood crates and cans.

Image from the title page of Flowers Rediscovered: New Ideas about Using and Enjoying Flowers showing the Madderlake paint color tube.

The original shop opened in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the 1980s, it’s namesake a paint color. It was the brainchild of owners Tom Prichar, and Jay Belecki and together they pioneered what became known as the “American Natural” style in floral design, creating a Movement according to The New York Times. They taught us to change the way we see and buy flowers and, through example and through their books (Flowers Rediscoverd: New Ideas About Using & Enjoying Flowers, Pure Madderlake Trade Secrets & Natural Christmas), they encouraged us to refine our palettes and expand our minds in the floral arena. I can’t help but compare Pure Mädderlake’s “American Natural” Movement to Alice Waters’ Slow Food Movement. Though decades apart, both continue to teach us that pure, natural, unadorned nature is what’s best, and most beautiful, for us in mind, body and spirit.

Image from the book Flowers Rediscovered: New Ideas about Using and Enjoying Flowers

Image from the book Flowers Rediscovered: New Ideas about Using and Enjoying Flowers

These days, Prichard and Belecki reside in Tokyo and are teaching classes in flower arranging. Apparently they have quite a following… and I am sure they are still creating magic, Mädderlake style.

Barbara Ashfield