In another attempt to spend time in Boston, I attended the Boston Flower and Garden Show last week. I dragged Tony along with me, which was funny because he has absolutely no interest in botanicals of any kind. In fact, if I so much as reference a plant by its proper name (i.e. Forsythia) he rolls his eyes. He claims it’s pretentious to “name drop” plant names. Oh right, I should just say the yellow bush – my bad!

Regardless, we had a nice time in the city and I loved seeing the gorgeous displays. I was most interested to see the latest in floral design trends. However, I was also impressed with the landscape and stonework displays. Some were very elaborate.

As we walked around, I looked to identify the top floral design trends and popular plants.

Plants

As far as plants go, it looks like succulents are still a favorite. They were abundant throughout the show. I imagine the easy care and hard to kill nature of these plants allows them to maintain their popularity. Bonsai creations were also quite attractive to the crowds.

Flowers

While the plant and garden displays were eye-catching, my focus was on flowers. I was happy to discover the Floral Design Competition room tucked in the back of the convention hall. Here, I took my time and perused the colorful and creative arrangements. I looked for patterns in color, structure and flower choice. The trend that most intrigued me was the fusion of floral and sculpture – flowers combined with some kind of manmade structural component. I did find these creations interesting and dramatic, however I prefer the beauty of blooms to stand alone.

It was nice to get a touch of spring at this event. Hopefully we, here in New England, won’t have to wait too much longer for the real thing.

Feeling blue? Go buy yourself a bunch of happy flowers…sniff and smile. They always do the trick for me.

When I started on Instagram, I had no idea what I was doing.  I began following a bunch of accounts with no rhyme or reason. I paid no attention to profiles or locations, I was simply attracted to pretty pictures.

I discovered Giardini di Sole and became obsessed with their gorgeous posts. I paused at every image and marveled at the color, brightness and interesting angles – kudos to their photographers. I’m pretty sure I now have a flatware fetish.

After countless stops and likes, I finally took the time to explore Giardini di Sole thoroughly and realized they are located in Boston. My immediate thought was that I must go there.

And last week I did! It was so satisfying to experience Giardini di Sole in person.

The very thing that drew me to Giardini di Sole on Instagram is what struck me when I walked into the store at 460 Harrison Avenue. It was the amazing color and uncluttered merchandising. Every plate, cup and saucer is perfectly placed to draw attention to its unique beauty and craftsmanship. The thoughtful presentation is so pleasing to the eye.

In store, I met with Libby Morris who shared the Giardini di Sole story… a partnership of four women with an affinity for Italian design and style. Read more about them here.  Their shared passion resulted in showrooms in Boston, Vancouver and an office in Rome.

Libby describes the store as a gallery, showroom and retail space in one. It was the perfect description, as everything on display reads like a work of art. In addition to tableware, home décor and accessories, Giardini di Sole also offers jewelry, bath and body products and even glazed lavastone by Flowstone for counter and table tops. The Flowstone bright and bold colors were fabulous! And future brides and grooms will love Giardini di Sole’s registry service.

Thankfully I was joined by my friend, photographer Emily O’Brien, who captured the beautiful images in today’s post. Follow Emily on Instagram here for more of her great photos and here.

Thank you Libby and Emily for sharing in this fun collaboration.

The cool thing about visiting Giardini di Sole is that it exposed me to SoWa in Boston where I’d never been, but had heard many great things. The district is full of art galleries, retail shops and trendy restaurants. I cannot wait to go back for a SoWa First Friday or SoWa Open Market (Saturdays and Sundays starting April 29). At Open Market you can enjoy the galleries and shops as well as the Arts Market, Farmers Market, Food Truck Bazaar and Beer Garden.

Follow and fall in love with Giardini di Sole on Instagram and on Facebook. Stop into their SoWa location to experience a true essence of Italy.

The Language of Flowers

Today, I throw back to a short piece I wrote for the spring issue of Merrimack Valley Home Magazine 2015. It was an homage to my favorite book, The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I enjoyed everything about that book and, mostly, its focus on flowers and the meaning behind them. I put together this page and l loved how the tulips dropped past the edge of the rustic table. The soft pink and peach tones of the bouquet were elegant and romantic. I liked their contrast to the earthy greenhouse where we shot this, at Mill City Grows in Lowell, MA.

A special shout out to photographer Meghan Moore and florist Joanne Fiore for making my version of the language of flowers come to life.

I am going to run out and get a bunch of tulips right now. It may still be chilly outside, but it is spring.