Sheet Mulching for Hellebores

Maybe our fascination with sheet mulching started on a visit to the infamous Max Gill's flower garden in San Fransisco last March. "It's a mess!" he insisted. Indeed it was covered with cardboard, yet still the most exquisite clematis - vanilla scented! - bloomed, along with a smattering of hellebores here and there. Akebia, ecchevaria...I'm digressing, but lets take a quick look:







Anyway! The cardboard was for weed control; a weed barrier if you will that saves your back hours of work when it's time to plant. This stuck in my mind.

In February we have a big southern tier hellebore trip planned. Our goal is to accumulate a large selection of rare hellebores to serve two purposes; First to be used as specimens in our Hail to the Hellebore class the first week of March (we'll teach about them and then cut them up like the greedy florists we are), and Second to begin to establish a hellebore garden upstate for future cuttings.



Our hellebore garden will happen in a large patch of pine trees. Sheet mulching this area now helps us prepare for an early April planting and will keep the weeds (and massive stretches of poison ivy) from coming up. Who wants to weed poison ivy? Not I, and judging by her recent work ethic, not Nea.





There is lots of information on the internet about sheet mulching - and different ways to do it - we did this:

1. Lay down overlapping cardboard to frame out the area of the garden. It's important to really overlap them generously so that weeds can't find their way through. A nice way to use all those cut flower boxes from our studios...

2. Moisten the cardboard with water to help adhere it to the ground.

3. Cover the cardboard with this layer of seed-free top soil 3 inches thick. This took about 2 tons of top soil which we shoveled into the back of my pickup and then back out of my pickup to wheelbarrows. Next time we might find someone with a dump-truck.

4. Cover the soil with a layer of sawdust (from the Saipua soap dish mill).

5. Top it with a thin layer of mulch.

Voila! Let the worms get to work. In April we'll dig down to the cardboard, cut and X through it and plant the hellebores.

Into the woods

We've spent two days deep in the woods of upstate New York foraging some material for this Sunday's wreath making class. Nea led the way in her neon 'please don't shoot me' hunter vest.



Wild rose hips are so prickly but we had to have them.



Tamarack cones



Piles and piles and piles!
See you Sunday!

Meet you in Garden Valley...

Saturday, May 12th, 2012
ROSES 101: Little Flower School at Garden Valley Ranch
10am - 4pm
$400

Garden Valley Ranch in Petaluma, California grows some of the finest heirloom roses in the country (without pesticides!) and supplies our studios each spring and summer with the most fragrant and unusual specimens. In this day-long class, we’ll tour the rose fields with Garden Valley staff and learn about their rose growing techniques. After lunch we’ll discuss the basics of flower arranging and use our rose clippings together with a smattering of other California grown stems to create lush rambling centerpieces.
Possibly our most exciting class yet...we encourage you to browse the roses grown at Garden Valley and hope to see you there in May!


All materials, clippers, lunch and sunscreen provided.
Registration here.

And the winner is...

Jules! Please get in touch with us and let us know which class you'd like to take!
Congratulations! hello.flower.school@gmail.com

We'll be posting some more classes over the next few weeks (including some dates Northern California!). Sign up for our mailing list to get info on all upcoming classes.
More soon....

xo
N & S

A new season...

We're gearing up for another season of flower design classes at Little Flower School!

A few changes to note; we've made it easier to register for classes online - see our new bigcartel site for registration. We're hoping to make some of our favorite tools (think clippers, vases) available on here as well.

Also, we're working furiously to get together details for a very exciting northern California class; a weekend warrior style bridal workshop; a possible list of Paris dates (!) and a Pacific Northwest summer tour.

And, we have a new improved mailing list situation located over there -->;
If you'd like to receive emails about new classes please sign on up!

LASTLY, we're giving away one spot to one lucky winner!

Leave a comment on this post and you'll be put in a lottery to win a spot in our Color Workshop, Orchid or Hail to the Hellebore class... You win, you choose!
The winner will be selected at random. One comment is all you need to enter.
We'll announce the prizewinner on Monday, December 5th!

Thanks always for your support and enthusiasm for flowers!

Wreath Making 101

WREATH MAKING 101

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

Between 1 - 4 pm

$45

SOLD OUT

We’ll be using a variety of pine, cypress, cedar along with a smorg of pinecones, rosehips, pomegranates, feathers, and dried doo-dads to fashion natural looking winter wreaths all afternoon in the Saipua Studio. Make something tailored and neat or loose and wild. Wire frames or grapevine frames provided along with all supplies needed.

PLEASE NOTE:
This class is taught one-on-one in an open door timeframe; please pre-register and come by during the timeframe of noon-4pm.

The Saipua Studio is located at 147 Van Dyke Street in the Red Hook Section of Brooklyn.

Coral, Sand and Citrus; A color study with Ranunculus and Winter Fruits

Coral, Sand and Citrus; A color study with Ranunculus and Winter Fruits

Saturday, January 28th, 2012
1:00-4:00pm
$275 SOLD OUT

By January the really exceptional locally grown ranunculus are rolling into our studios from upstate New York, New Jersey, and a few hyper specimens from Japan. In this entry level class, we'll talk at length about strategies of color blending. Through the use of gradient techniques, we'll blend soft and bold colors; employing stems of ranunculus, poppies, tangerines and kumquats, sweet peas, hyacinth, parrot tulips, etc.

This class will meet at the Saipua Studio; 147 Van Dyke Street in Red Hook Brooklyn.

Granted it's warm palette, but still rather cool in our studio so dress with layers!

All materials and refreshments provided.