Fall '08 :: Mimi's Mechanics

market share

Every year I wait eagerly for fall to arrive; its color and temperature please me more than any other season and it’s easy to get inspired! This fall, the inspiration comes from a marche in Provençe. Fresh produce with dirt still on the roots and flowers gathered from a nearby field filled my basket one early September morning. It occurred to me that my purchases looked like an arrangement themselves.

Back at home, I recreate that experience with local produce, flowers, and plants from Oak Street, a local market, and I’m taken back to that September morning in France. There is no arranging to it—this is fall at its best!

1. Selecting Materials/Container
   I chose a natural color palette of black, brown, terra cotta, green, eggplant—earth tones you would see driving down the road in the fall. The plants dictated the color because I chose them first. I tried to get some grasses and herbs and different textures in there. My flowers add to the tones and colors in the assortment of plants, introducing only one new color, the bright terra cotta in the “Moreno” roses. The lighter green in the rosemary and scented geranium bring out the softer shades of the green in the plants and keep the arrangement from getting too dark.
   
   This antique basket I chose was purchased on one of my buying trips in France and used to be for carrying live birds to the marches, There are holes in the sides where their beaks could stick out on the way to market. Tin pinch pots work nicely with the rustic feel and provide a watertight vessel to hold spots of flowers.
   
   
2. Prep the Container
   First I lined the basket with floral foil and cut pieces of Styrofoam with a serrated knife to fit down inside the basket and serve to elevate the plants.
   
   

3. Put the Plant Puzzle Together
• Fit each plant to a liner and place in the basket on top of the Styrofoam. I constructed two different levels of Styrofoam pieces to vary the height of the plants.
• Prep the tin pinch pots by inverting one pot onto a third of a block of Oasis and shaving off the excess. Remember to secure with Oasis tape.
• Arrange the plants and pots so that all fit securely down in the basket. Pay attention to your placement. I love having the Ruby Red Selaginella spill out on one side and the Sedum nestled down in the middle. Try to stay away from a symmetrical arrangement when you are placing your plants, so it will be more interesting.

To see Mimi’s finished product, pick up a copy of our Fall 2008 issue, on sale in October.

Fall 2008 | By Mimi Brown | Photos By Jason Wallis