It is week 8 of of the Slow Flower Challenge 2015, in which I am attempting  to make a fresh flower arrangement using only flowers grown here ( inside and out) or sourced locally every week for a year . If you have been following along you can see that even in the depths of winter under feet of snow and record cold I have been able to ( so far) keep up.

This weeks arrangement is prompting a HUGE smile and sense of accomplishment from me every time I walk by it because it is the first time I have successfully forced tulip bulbs. Tulips are tricky little buggers to get the timing right. They need a longer cooling period than some of the other bulbs and I have found are more prone to freezing and turning to mush as well. This year I potted up these orange tulips and then promptly lost the label, which I am very sorry about because they did so well and now I do not know what they are. Sigh. The stayed out on the deck until the week after Christmas when they were brought indoors to the cool mud room first then a sunny kitchen window a few weeks later. They started to bloom last week.

As always ,though , when I arrange it is  the container that is considered first. years ago, I saw an arrangement in a shelter magazine  and ripped the page  to save for inspiration . In it, white tulips and snapdragons are paired with pussy willows in a lovely silver pitcher and placed on a silver tray. To the side is a  small glass vase filled with  gray foliage and in front of the pitcher sits a silver bowl filled with green moss.  In my interpretation, I have used pewter ( I have a large collection of pewter that has adorned my dining room forever and ever) Because the pitcher I chose to use was on the shorter side,  I used a little birds nest instead of the glass vase. Lacking any green moss ( currently buried under feet of snow and ice) I used dried moss and place a succulent in the center of the pewter porringer  I used in place of the silver bowl.

Anyway, in this arrangement are the tulips, flowers from two  of the geraniums I overwinter indoors , a white cyclamen, pink PJM azaleas, Forced branches of red maple and redbud trees, and foliage from an arrowhead  houseplant,a spider plant,  and a hellebore and lavender that are both growing indoors.

I hope you feel a little inspired  and keep following along to see what the rest of the year brings!