When Caroline Scheufele moved into an 18th-century villa in the rustic village of Prangins in Switzerland, she was immediately seduced by Lake Geneva, the body of water that is literally at the foot of her garden. “Living next to the lake is a magical experience — the sky lights up the garden and we never see the same shades of green in the trees,” says Scheufele, co-president and artistic director of Chopard, the 153-year-old Swiss firm owned by her family and renowned for its diamond-encrusted watches and luxury jewels dripping with precious and semi-precious stones.
While Scheufele doesn’t design her collections al fresco, she has found much inspiration within the 1,200 oak trees she planted to border her land. To celebrate Chopard’s 150th anniversary, she created a glittering menagerie of jewelry. The collection includes dazzling flowers, of course!
To read more, see Veranda magazine, March-April 2013 issue.
It’s all about glamour at Claridge’s, and, as it’s a landmark hotel, the flowers have to reflect that unique status, says owner of McQueens, Kally Ellis.
Ellis has been the florist for London’s fashion set for more than a decade. Her clients include LVMH, Roland Mouret, Christian Louboutin and Alexander McQueen. The last name is particularly apt since the florist derives its name from its first location on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch, east London, an old flower shop once owned by the late designer’s aunt.
Ellis’s signature same-flower displays have become a tradmark of any event that is cool enough to know her, and also of Vanity Fair magazine parties. What sets her apart is that her eye is driven by art rather than convention. To this day, she doesn’t employ traditionally trained flower arrangers, peferring artistic people with an “eye”.
The supply of helium, an inert element with the lowest boiling point of any known substance, has now become so erratic that scientists are calling for a ban on all but the most essential uses – which could mean no more helium-filled party balloons. “The scarcity of helium is a really serious issue. I can imagine that in 50 years’ time our children will be saying ‘I can’t believe they used such a precious material to fill balloons,’” said Peter Wothers of Cambridge University.
“There is a finite supply of this lighter-than-air gas on Earth so if we keep using it for non-essential things like party balloons, where we’re just letting it float off into space, we could be in for some serious problems in around 30 to 50 years’ time,” Dr Wothers said.
The shortage has mainly affected research centres studying the brain using magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanners, which are similar to the MRI machines used in hospitals but need to be topped up regularly with liquid helium (helium super-cooled to minus 269C, just four degrees above the lowest possible temperature, absolute zero).
We at bbrooks take the information found in this January 1013 article from The Independent/UK very seriously. As of March 2013, we will no longer be fulfilling requests for balloons.
Long-time bbrooks member Cebolla Fine Flowers in Dallas, TX showcases whimsical, yet tasteful, Easter arrangements for this season.
Shown at left is “Easter Nest“, featuring pale peach roses, yellow ranunculus, white hyacinth, and viburnum in a clear glass vase with twig collar and sweetly adorned with miniature bird’s eggs.
Eache spring at Moss Mountain Farm in Roland, Arkansas, the stars come out twice – once at night, like everywhere else, and again in the daytime, when innumerable daffodils illuminate hills and meadows from horizon to horizon.
The plantings are the handiwork of the farm’s owner-author, designer, and TV personality P. Allen Smith-who has loved these flowers since he was a boy. Allen believes how and where you plant bulbs is just as important as how many, no matter whether you have an acre or a 20- by 10-foot border.
Planning a trip to see wildflowers this spring? Make sure your itinerary includes a stop at The Huntington, where a major new exhibition,“When They Were Wild”, draws on a rich heritage of wildflower illustration to take a closer look at California’s natural and horticultural history.
California has one of the most diverse floras in the world, spread across several distinct floristic provinces—regions of plant distribution defined by shared climate, geology, and geography. Three of the state’s primary provinces are the Californian (chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and grassland), Vancouverian (mixed evergreen and coniferous forests), and Desert (cacti and desert scrub).
“When They Were Wild” is arranged thematically into four sections: Heritage explores the conditions that gave rise to the most diverse flora in the United States.
Congratulations to long-time bbrooks member, Karen Dickens of Primavera, in Idaho! Karen’s daughter Sierra and her fiance Andre were the winners of The Knot Dream Wedding! Very Exciting!!
Dragonfly Floral, our bbrooks member in Healdsburg, CA shares images from their farm. They grow flowers, fruits and vegetables to be used in their floral arrangements and to sell at their seasonal farm stand and flower shop. They also grow and raise chickens and ducks to help around the farm. Everything is grown organically and fairly sustainably!
John and Ann Betar of Fairfield, Conn., said “I do” on Nov. 25, 1932, and have been happily married for 80 years. Together they have five children, 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
The couple was selected for the 2013 award by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, based in San Bernardino, CA. An award ceremony will take place this month at the Fairfield, Conn., home of one of the Betars’ granddaughters, Heather Mitchell.
Though the couple is hesitant to give out marriage advice, their secret to so many happy years together is simple: compromise and don’t hold a grudge.
John, 101, met Ann, now 97, while growing up in the same Syrian community in Bridgeport, Conn. Breaking with tradition, Ann defied her parents when they set up an arranged marriage for her. She ran off to Harrison, N.Y. to elope with John. Now, she says she knows she made the right choice.
The Betars were chosen out of hundreds of couples nominated during the project’s submission period, which ran from October of last year to January. There may be other couples who have been married longer in the U.S., but none was formally nominated, according to the group.
When Caroline Scheufele moved into an 18th-century villa in the rustic village of Prangins in Switzerland, she was immediately seduced by Lake Geneva, the body of water that is literally at the foot of her garden. “Living next to the lake is a magical experience — the sky lights up the garden and we never see the same shades of green in the trees,” says Scheufele, co-president and artistic director of Chopard, the 153-year-old Swiss firm owned by her family and renowned for its diamond-encrusted watches and luxury jewels dripping with precious and semi-precious stones.
The supply of helium, an inert element with the lowest boiling point of any known substance, has now become so erratic that scientists are calling for a ban on all but the most essential uses – which could mean no more helium-filled party balloons. “The scarcity of helium is a really serious issue. I can imagine that in 50 years’ time our children will be saying ‘I can’t believe they used such a precious material to fill balloons,’” said Peter Wothers of Cambridge University.
John and Ann Betar of Fairfield, Conn., said “I do” on Nov. 25, 1932, and have been happily married for 80 years. Together they have five children, 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
