Flower Power

Pumpkin Vessels
Earthy Fall Chrysanthemums & Pumpkins make a cheery center piece

I’m always looking for new way to design floral displays and pumpkins and gourds are the perfect shaped vessels. It starts with going to the farm stand and picking out unusual and interesting pumpkins and gourds.

Alison, a friend of my assistant, Monica, has a friend who owns a glorious old barn in Connecticut. It's a perfect backdrop for shooting pumpkin projects. These  projects were designed for Country Gardens magazine for Fall, 2013.

Photographer Andre Baranowski, Monica and I landed here for two days to set up 

and make some Fall magic, 2013.

Monica, Alison and me.

Here's one idea that can work with any pumpkin variety you happen to love. It will bring some seasonal beauty to your home. There's no need to fill the pumpkin with water. However, you will need floral viles filled with water to make it work.

What you'll need:

Assorted mum flower heads and asters in a variety of sizes. You can cut mums heads from your blooming plants or buy plants at the nursery. Take heads from a variety of plants to get the diversity of flower heads in different sizes and colors.

1. You’ll need floral vials that hold water  You can buy them by the bag at a super crafts store or your local florist.

2.  A paring knife for cutting holes in the pumpkin.

3.  Cut the hole the just slightly larger then the head of the vial

4. Fill vial with water, place cape on vial, cut the flower stem to 1.5 inches. Push vial into the hole so flower is flat against pumpkin surface.