The Beauty Battalion - Featuring Beauty In All Shapes & Sizes April 2017 | Page 31

In “Indoor Edible Garden,” a highly visual guide full of practical tips and stylish ideas, Allaway offers step-by-step directions for everything from creating suspended shelves and hanging jars for growing herbs to mounting edible orchids onto bark and displaying them on walls. She points out that those embarking on indoor gardening should first evaluate the level of time they can commit.

“Just remember that unlike other projects in the home, such as decorating and cooking, all gardening projects require some aftercare. So, if you have a busy schedule, choose crops that will tolerate less watering and feeding.”

Flower Arranging

While your flower garden is likely a beautiful work of art in and of itself, you can spread the joy by harvesting your flora and bringing the beauty indoors. Floral arrangements add vitality to any interior space.

“For me, every arrangement starts with the container. Think about what mood or style you want to evoke, and remember, anything can be a container as long as it can be made watertight,” says Rachel Siegfried,” author of “The Flower Book: Natural Flower Arrangements for Your Home,” which explores 60 flowers, bloom-by-bloom in portraiture, including quick-reference profiles and tips.

Siegfried recommends that, when selecting flowers for your arrangement, pay attention to shapes, textures and colors to achieve good balance. Start with a primary focal flower and build out with a couple of secondary focals, a final flourish, and foliage.

For her part, she relies on instinct. “I get a ‘buzz’ when I find a good combination,” she says.

From flowering bouquets to spicy pepper plants, apply creativity to your gardening this spring.

--Courtesy of StatePoint

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