Botanical Style

Maybe it is the change of the season, maybe it has come with age (my mama certainly was blessed with a green thumb in her thirties) or maybe it is just my normal wandering mind. I love decorating my home (inside and out) with plants.  I remember when I was younger going to the garden center with my mom (again) and looking at all the flowers.  She had her favorites -- pansies, petunias, tiger lilies, portulaca, canna lilies, crocus, morning glories, lilac, daffodils, lily of the valley, and who could forget, magnolias!  Oh man, she and my dad loved their magnolia trees. They loved them so much that they would spend hours driving around on vacation with two little girls in the backseat of the car commenting over and over how much they love the magnolia trees. Magnolia. Magnolia. Magnolia.  I'm obviously still traumatized. And now I admit, I love magnolia trees... like mother, like daughter.

For Mother's Day my girls got me a new book, Botanical Style: Inspirational decorating with nature, plants, and florals by Selina Lake.  This book is gorgeous. I love how the style of the book mixes botanicals with vintage.  There are ideas for kitchens, family rooms, outdoor spaces, and offices.

It is packed full of succulents and cactus!

I love the different way that the flowers and plants are displayed, using old bottles, tubs, and jars.

I also love the botanical artwork that is hung in the rooms. I especially love vintage botanical charts.  I have a few in my bedroom that hang above my bed. 

My favorite way to decorate with plants is against natural woods and white. Especially next to my white owls... I might have a thing for white owl statues too. If you are looking for some botanical decorating ideas, this book is awesome.

More Succulents

I have a bad addiction right now.  I love love love succulents.  I can't seem to get enough of them.  I even used them as part of the centerpieces at my wedding over five years ago, I wish I still had some of those.  (I ordered them online in mass to get the best variety so if you are looking do to the same, you can find them here). Most rooms in my house have a succulent plant (some real, some fake) but with the spring arriving and all the plants are out, succulents have cropped up everywhere.  I mentioned in a previous post that I set up a succulent garden in a little greenhouse in my kitchen a couple of weeks back.  Apparently that didn't satisfy my addiction because I was back at it this weekend, looking for more and more succulents! Oddly enough, the best crop of them I found was at my local grocery store, Dillons.  They had amazing displays of succulents and even small one's you could buy individually.  I found the most beautiful planter shown above and just had to have it.  I love that this arrangement has so many varieties.  I would be great to be able to take the cuttings and grow even more.  I might have to try that soon and let you know how it goes.