Fall officially arrives Saturday for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere and I’ve been counting down the days to my favorite season since July! While there is still plenty of summer weather ahead of us in North Carolina, I’m ready for a harvest of pumpkins, warm plaid layers, and cozy meals with the flavors of fall on the menu!
In celebration of fall’s arrival, I’m joining my blogging friends, Pam, Lidy and Shirley, for with another edition of Floral Friday!
You’ll find their links for their beautiful floral inspiration at the bottom of this post.
Apples, gourds, pumpkins, mums, and Indian corn are a few of my favorite harbingers of fall! I gathered some of each in celebration of the season, along with some dried putka pods, a botanical filler that resemble tiny pumpkins.
I find myself gravitating to sunflowers this time of year. Sunflowers are the perfect transitional flower with their large brown centers and sunny yellow rays. . . ideal for September when it’s supposed to feel like fall, but the summer heat is still hanging on.
We’ve had our 8th hottest summer in 80 years of record keeping in North Carolina. The mercury is still in upper 80s, with the humidity pushing the heat index in the 90+ degree range. . . fall can’t get here quickly enough for me!
Our common theme this week for Floral Friday was apples!
To add the apples to the arrangement, I used some wooden kabob skewers from the grocery store. You usually find them in 10 and 12-inch lengths, so they’re ideal to skewer an apple to add height and interest to an arrangement. If the skewers are too long, you can easily break them to the length you need. Because the skewers are food safe, you can eat the apples after your flowers are spent and disassemble your arrangement.
A piece of chicken wire makes for easy arranging and supports the flower stems and bamboo skewered apples in the arrangement. Chicken wire can reused as opposed to wet floral foam. Soak your chicken wire in a solution of water and a little bleach after using it (or place it in your dishwasher) and let it dry so you don’t introduce bacteria that would potentially shorten the life of your flowers the next time you use it.
Sunflowers join rust colored mums and white waxflowers from the grocery store. I added some red kale for some texture and color to the arrangement, along foliage from the shrubs.
Tips to help your cut flowers last:
For a long-lasting arrangement, add a packet of commercial floral preservative to the water that comes with your flowers. If you don’t have any floral preservative you can mix your own with this easy formula.
Cut the stems of your flowers at a 45-degree angle one inch from the bottom for maximum water uptake.
Remove all leaves below the waterline to prevent bacteria in the water.
Keep your arrangement out of direct sunlight.
If possible, change your water in your arrangement every two days.
I often get questions about how long an arrangement will last: it depends on the type of flowers you use and the condition of your flowers. Sunflowers, waxflowers and mums are long-lived in an arrangement if you change the water and follow the tips above. My arrangement has lasted a week, with the kale the first to expire. I removed the kale and added some foliage to replace it.
Join me on the porch while we wait for hayride and cider-sipping-weather and page through some favorite fall magazines for autumn inspiration!
Porch details:
Hayrides and Cider Pillow / HomeGoods, recently
Plaid Throw / HomeGoods, last year
Wood Tray / HomeGoods, several years ago
Bird urn / retail days
Copper Moscow Mule Mug / Target
Visit my talented blogging friends to see their floral inspiration this week:
Pam at Everyday Living
Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse
Shirley at Housepitality Designs
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ~ George Eliot
Wishing you a delicious autumn. ♥
Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Metamorphosis Monday
Beautiful and delicious
Mary, I’m in love with your beautiful urn and arrangement with apples and sunflowers! Your porch looks so inviting, you would never know it’s 90 degrees. I’m oh so ready for fall too. Thank you for another inspirational Floral Friday, Happy Weekend!
Lovin’ those extra long pumpkin stems Mary! I just pulled up the 10 day forecast… Philly temps are headed into the 70’s and I eagerly await it! Have a great weekend:@)
Thank you for the helpful floral arranging tips Mary. I love sunflowers year ’round and the apples look so pretty paired with them in your arrangement. I would have never thought of using kabob skewers to add the apples. Your bench looks so cozy with your beautiful plaid throw and pillow. We’re just experiencing some cool morning temperatures and lower humidity. I hope fall arrives for you soon!
So lovely! I am interested in where you found your magazine basket?
Mary, I am swooning over your beautiful urn with all the colors of autumn! I agree that sunflowers are the perfect transitional flower. You have set the perfect scene on your porch. It is so inviting with that cute hay ride pillow and plaid throw, and a lovely place to enjoy fall magazines. I am so ready for cooler temps, we have been in the 90’s all week. It is always a pleasure to share Floral Friday’s with you!🧡
What a beautiful arrangement, and I love your use of apples in it. Your porch is so welcoming and pretty!
Good morning Mary- Love this arrangement on your porch. It looks like fall & hopefully soon will feel like fall. We need crisp fall weather to go with crisp fall apples.🍎 Already pinned to several boards. Enjoy your weekend! We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary tomorrow! Clara 🎃🍁🍂
Mary, I think this might by my favorite Floral Friday creation! Thank you for sharing your talent and tips with us!
George Eliot certainly had it right!…the entire vignette of the Fall apples display wants us to grab our coats and feel the crisp air and hop on that wagon of hay and go get our pumpkins and pick the apples. Not only are your posts beautiful, they are also filled with such great information for us to take away and apply. Always love to see your beautiful creations on your porch and Happy Friday and have a great weekend….always a treat to be a part of these beautiful Floral Fridays with you!
It looks cozy, festive and very September. I love it!
Beautiful, Mary! Where do you find the dried putka pods? I have seen you use them before and always love them. I like the apple theme this week. Here’s hoping that your weather cools off some SOON!!! The older I get, the more I long for Fall, can’t take the heat anymore:(. Have a beautiful weekend!
Thank you Pinky! I found them at HomeGoods a few years ago but you can find them online at Amazon or Etsy and I think Pottery Barn might have some.
Just.. W O W.. headed off to the apple orchards.. even if it is HOT here!!! Luv your posts…
Mary this is just the inspiration we need to welcome fall. Thank you for the tutorial on how to replicate your beautiful design and for the quote from George Eliot. We too are waiting for the cooler fall temperatures and are hoping to entertain on our screened porch tomorrow evening. May just stop by the market today and pick up flowers and apples for a table arrangement.
Thank you !
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This is fall on a tray Mary, so welcoming and cozy, it definitely makes you want to snuggle under a blanket on your porch and sip some hot cider! I love how you included apples in your arrangement and the pumpkins and gourds on your tray. You and your Floral Friday gals have me itching to run to TJs this morning and get some flowers to play with, and at least pretend it’s fall!
Jenna
Just love the Floral Friday posts and share them with my local Rose Society! I have started using the chicken wire trick. Thanks for the tips and lovely inspiration!
Beautiful porch! Beautiful fall flower arrangement! Love the tall lantern with fall touches! I have a smaller urn and now you have inspired me to try an arrangement. Thanks Mary, always a joy to read each and every post! Happy Fall Friday! 🍂🍊🌻
So pretty and charming, Mary. And very kind of you to share your tips! Having lived AZ for 45 years, I miss fall the most, but it won’t be here any time soon…101 degrees today…maybe by November? Then we’ll have our usual 20-minute sweater season, lol! Have a great day!
Beautiful pictures and love the idea of the apples on sticks incorporated into the floral arrangement.
Fall hasn’t arrived in New York. The weather has been hot and humid. Thank You for sharing your Fall settings.
Joan
Mary your apples,flowers and pumpkins look like Autumn even though Summer is still making it known it is not going away any time soon.
Marilyn
Love the Fall things. You always make everything so inviting. Have a great week end Mary.
Marion
Mary, your beautiful urn with all the colors of autumn is so beautiful! I agree that sunflowers are the perfect transitional flowers, and I love your combination with the deep dark flowers. You always set the perfect scene on your porch, such an inviting spot to visit with friends, or a cup of hot apple cider and magazines. It is always a pleasure to share Floral Friday’s with you!
I just love how you used apples in your arrangement, Mary! And you find the best things at HomeGoods! I’m hoping my local store has the same one!
How I would love sitting on that porch, admiring your rich autumn floral arrangement and just chatting away the time! I’d be spotting the plants in your garden from which you pulled for the arrangment, and we could talk about fall plantings and some of the great things we enjoyed in those magazines. But today? It’s way too hot, so we’ll just pretend we’re there and fall is here! Putka pods.. hmmm, those pretty little burgundy things? New to me! Have a great weekend. Happy fall!
Always such a pleasure to see what you’ve created, Mary! Truly talented….just love it!
Your quote from George Eliot went perfectly with your birdie urn! Of course your Fall Apple-themed arrangement is wonderful, Mary. It looks so pretty on your cozy porch, with your pillow, and plaid blanket.
Mary, your blog is always Awsome! The colors you put together are eye candy. Thanks for sharing.
Great fall arrangement with apples, sunflowers, white wax flowers, greenery from your garden and rust colored mums. I would not have known the name of the tiny white flowers so I learned something today. I love the texture and shape of the urn you selected for your arrangement. The box of fall pumpkins, gourds, dried flowers, and corn with the pretty plain napkin was the perfect accent for a fall vignette.
I’m all in for the chat on the porch and the stack of fall magazines.
Congrats to your giveaway winners.
Sorry I am a little late commenting. I have been out of town.
How gorgeous!
Lovely arrangement, Mary, and such an inviting porch! The addition of the autumn magazines was a clever idea that just makes one wish to sit and enjoy them. So glad y’all came through Florence without serious damage. My son and dil live close to you, in Myers Park, south of downtown Charlotte. Big downed trees and creeks flooding, but it missed their house–thank goodness! My heart goes out to so many who have not been as fortunate–so sad.
Beautiful as ever!! So happy cooler weather has arrived!! It is truly Fall here…corn and beans are being combined!! Yeah!! 🍁🌻🍂🍁🌻🍂🌾
Another lovely arrangement by such a talent! I love the apples are a perfect addition for a fall arrangement!