For years, the neighbourhood florist was the go-to place for special-occasion arrangements and the occasional pick-me-up of cut flowers. Now, as grocery stores, farmers markets — even hardware stores — have made fresh flowers so readily available, designers Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo of San Francisco firm Studio Choo have a suggestion: Be your own florist.
Harampolis and Rizzo share their arranging skills in The Flower Recipe Book, a new how-to guide for creating 100 arrangements for all kinds of occasions. The book (Artisan, $24.95) is set up as a series of recipes, with lists of ingredients, step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs making each arrangement simple to comprehend. The book also includes tips on choosing tools and vessels, advice on proper cutting technique and a frame-worthy ingredient chart.
Flower arranging seems like such an instinctive process, so I was cynical as I walked with book in hand to the Los Angeles Flower District, the huge market downtown. I presumed that following a recipe would take all the fun out of creating my own arrangement. I was wrong. With its streamlined approach — recipes often use no more than four ingredients and sometimes only one — the book was a helpful resource in an overwhelming environment. I have never been in and out of the 50,000-square-foot market so fast.
