*Roses ‘Polar Star’ and ‘Quicksand’ with roses locally grown (in January!) from La Flor farm, and flowering quince branches*

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with a very long growing season. By committing to using mostly locally grown blooms, I do not suffer. There are hellebores and snowdrops in the garden on this gray January day, and the plum trees are beginning to bud. But to achieve the Fortunate Orchard hallmark of maximalism I need some big, blowsy blooms in my buckets.

‘I’m not really a rose person’ I used to say… then I qualified that to mean that I only really went for summer roses, fresh from the garden, dew on their petals. Not the uptight, no fun roses one encounters wrapped in cellophane. Well… this season I have opened my eyes and heart to roses of many stripes and I’m here to make a case for the winter rose.

Fortunate Orchard sources roses from California via the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in the winter. My love affair with these flowers began one November early in my career because…roses are just about all there is in the ‘foxy flower’ department at this time of year. There are small, demure flowers and there are lilies (I have complicated feelings about lilies) and there are roses. I fell for ‘Caramel Antike’ first, with her warm golden petals, rosy on the inside. And then ‘Quicksand’ , who transforms from a very stiff bloom, gray (corpse-like) into a fluid, fluttery beauty that is the most delicate pink. ‘Sahara’ is another winner: a bit cloying on day one, beige and loose and unkempt in the best way on day 8.

*Amaryllis, hellebores, autumn oak, ranunculus, ammi, ‘Polar Star’ roses*

I have found that one key to turning these very cultivated flowers from dull to va-va-voom is time. My new affection for ‘Polar Star’ was ignited when I happened to keep one bloom for myself, in a bottle on my windowsill. The days passed, and she became more fetching with each sunrise - layers unfolding, pillowy and perfect. I had no idea.

The second essential thing, when designing with these Very Pretty Flowers, is to mess things up a bit. In the Fortunate Orchard studio we tip the scales toward ‘wild’ by pairing winter roses with seasonal elements that are uncultivated and imperfect. Dried foliage, seed pods, branches from the winter garden, moss.. all are perfect foils to the ideal rose.

I recorded a video demonstrating designing with winter roses and unfussy seasonal elements - all in a vase with willow as both a mechanic and a design element. The end result was the arrangement pictured above - after filming I added the amaryllis, which had been hanging out in a pot on the window sill. If you’d like to watch the demo, it is linked below. Thank you for reading, and opening your heart and mind to the winter rose.

Journal

The Winter Rose: A Reluctant Love Story