>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"
is brought to you by...
Albertsons Companies...
with additional support from the
following...
CalFlowers...
Dollar Tree...
Sunshine Bouquet.
♪
>> Today on "Life in Bloom,"
we're featuring a timeless
flower, the sunflower.
I'll make several arrangements
using this popular bloom, create
three-dimensional wall art, and
I'll visit a clever baker who
creates exquisite flower cookies
and more.
♪
♪
I'm J Schwanke.
Welcome to "Life in Bloom."
Few flowers immediately lift the
spirit the way sunflowers do.
They're bright and cheery, as
warm and inviting as their
namesake, the sun.
Their brilliant yellow petals,
also known as rays, form a
sun-like appearance that has
made them a crowd favorite,
especially in the summer months.
♪
Sunflowers have become iconic
due in part to the sunflower
series by Dutch
post-impressionist painter
Vincent van Gogh.
Letters to his brother Théo
indicate creating the vivid oil
paintings brought van Gogh much
joy.
♪
Sunflowers continue to be a
constant inspiration for
fashion, home interiors,
crafting, and more.
♪
With the advent of social media,
many seek out golden fields of
them growing in the summer for
irresistible selfies.
♪
♪
Today's project is all about
topiaries.
We'll start with our sunflowers.
This is easy, because sunflowers
naturally make themselves into a
topiary form.
So, we've got our beautiful
sunflowers.
We're gonna gather them up, and
notice how the heads start to
form.
So, we continue to add them in.
I just look at the shape and
form of the sunflowers as I'm
putting them into my hand.
♪
That collection's gonna look
great.
We'll take our bind wire.
It's a craft covered wire.
We're simply gonna wrap it
around underneath the blooms.
♪
Gonna make a band with that bind
wire so that it's decorative as
well, and it's gonna support the
stems.
♪
Tie it off.
We want to make sure it's secure
at the top.
♪
That looks great.
And that's about the length
we're gonna want it.
So, you know how we cut a stem
so that it has a sharp angle?
We're gonna treat this as one
big stem, and we're gonna cut it
at an angle.
♪
So it's just like a smaller
stem, and it's gonna push into
the foam easily.
♪
Now, we'll take our other
sunflowers and we'll arrange
them around the bottom.
♪
You get the idea of how that's
gonna come together.
Now let's do something different
with the tree fern.
♪
I'm gonna take the stems, and
I'm gonna gather them up in my
hand the same way that I
gathered up those sunflower
heads...so that all the foliage
is falling up towards the top.
♪
We use our bind wire again.
♪
And we're gonna wrap it right
around where we were holding
those.
♪
I like having a broad little
band, because it holds everybody
together tightly.
So, now we'll trim it up.
Just like giving it a hair cut.
♪
So, now we have a perfect little
topiary shape.
Again, we're gonna cut that at
an angle.
♪
And then we'll go directly into
our container with that.
♪
We'll fill in around the base of
our sunflower topiary using
other sunflowers.
Next, we'll take four sunflowers
and place them around the base
of our tree fern topiary.
♪
Now I've got two other
containers, and these three
containers will stack.
Our first container we'll fill
in using sunflowers.
♪
The next one, we'll grab little
bundles of tree fern and place
those into the foam all the way
around and trim it off.
♪
Then I'll grab a small bundle of
tree fern, bind it off, and trim
it up.
We'll add it in between the
topiary base and the topiary top
so that we have tree fern in
both our arrangements.
Sunflowers and topiary tops --
it all goes together so well.
♪
So, I'm so excited for you to
meet my friend Kara Bolt from
Cyclops Bakeshop.
I fell in love with you through
your cookies.
I mean, your cookies, the first
time I saw your cookies, I was
walking through the farmer's
market and I -- like, my head
jerked around and they were
zinnias.
And I was just like, "I have to
have them," and they were, like,
all different colors and I
bought all different colors.
So, you've been doing this a
year and a half...
>> Mm-hmm.
>> ...and you end up in national
magazines with your radishes.
I love the-- I bought these.
I bought these, I bought the
asparagus.
I mean, I thought of "let's do
sunflowers," and you were like,
"Okay, send me some pictures,"
and then this is what happens.
So, where do you get your
inspiration?
Where does that come from?
What are you looking for?
>> Um, I mean, I kind of just --
My brain is just like a cookie
brain I guess, because I just
see things and I'm like, "Oh,
that would be a funny cookie" or
like, "Oh, I wonder how that
would look as a cookie."
And, you know, sometimes I make
them and they turn out terrible
and no one ever sees them.
>> Are there pictures of those?
>> No.
>> Oh, okay.
>> I, like, throw them away.
Um, but, yeah.
I just -- I don't know.
I think the more that you, like,
do something, the more your
brain is just, like, attuned
to finding those, you know,
things.
>> So, let's talk about the
cookies then.
So, these are vegan cookies.
So what made you say, "Okay,
I'm gonna do these cookies,
these fabulous cookies, and
I'm gonna make them vegan"?
>> You know, I personally am
vegan, and, you know, everyone's
like, on their own journey.
I'm not here to, like, judge
other people and things like
that.
But I think, like, if you have
the opportunity to choose
something that, you know,
involves less, like, animal
harm, it's probably a better
option.
And so I just wanted to do
something that, like, reflected
my own personal values.
So I chose to make them vegan.
>> Okay, so, I thought we would
decorate.
So show people how you decorate
the cookies.
>> Sure.
>> And maybe I would try it with
your coaching and see how -- see
how well I do with that.
So, yeah, show us what you do.
♪
>> Have you decorated cookies
before?
>> Poorly.
[ Laughter ]
I mean, at Christmas, I -- Okay,
Christmas, I do the royal
frosting and then I do the
sprinkles.
>> Yeah.
>> That's what I do.
>> That's great.
>> [ Chuckles ]
It's not like this.
>> Um...
So, the good thing about these
is that they're an organic
shape, so even if you mess up,
it's not a big deal.
>> Oh, okay, I get it.
>> Most of the cookies I do
involve flooding, which is like
putting down a really soft layer
first and then going back over
it, but these are, like, really
structural, so this is a little
bit different.
>> So, you make your own
frosting.
>> Yep.
So, I use -- So, typical royal
icing uses egg whites,
but I use the liquid from a can
of chickpeas 'cause it has a
similar protein structure and
you can whip it into, like,
meringue.
So that's how it hardens is
through that.
>> Alright.
And why it's even.
>> Right.
So, then you're just gonna go
back over.
>> What's your most popular
cookie?
>> I have definitely done a lot
of avocados.
People really like those.
>> Oh, right.
Your avocados are adorable.
>> Honestly, any, like, pop
culture.
It's interesting to see --
>> You do interesting
pop culture stuff.
>> Yeah.
It's interesting to see what
people, like, connect with.
Sometimes cookies, I'm like,
"Oh, this is gonna be great,"
and then everyone's like, "What
is that?"
So it just -- It kind of just
depends.
So, yeah.
This is just -- You can pretty
much do whatever you want at
this point.
Just adding color, and generally
the more detail something has,
the more interesting it is.
You want to try?
>> I do -- I have been dying to
try, but yeah.
So let's see what happens.
>> Okay.
>> Alright.
>> Okay, so people have
different ways of holding their
bags.
Um, this is what I generally do.
>> Okay. Alright.
>> But you can kind of...
>> So, okay, got it.
I see. Okay.
'Cause I've got to keep that out
of the way so it doesn't run
into stuff, right?
>> Right.
>> Okay.
It wants to go.
Oh, so you want to be --
'cause -- Oh, okay.
♪
>> Yeah. There you go.
>> Uh-huh.
♪
♪
♪
So, we have a tradition on
"Life in Bloom."
Because you came to share your
fabulous cookies with me,
I made you a flower crown.
>> Oh, thank you.
It's beautiful.
>> So, yeah, let's see how well
I did.
>> Is that hosta?
>> Yes. There are hosta.
There's marigolds.
There's lilies.
>> Wow.
>> So, I didn't have sunflowers,
but I had pretty little gerbera
daisies.
>> Thank you.
>> Here we go.
Oh, that's pretty.
See? That looks good.
>> Thank you.
>> Yeah.
Thank you so much for coming and
sharing what you do so well,
and I appreciate the fact that
you came to be on the show.
>> Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it, too.
>> You're very welcome.
♪
I love a party, and it's fun to
have a garland of flowers
running down the center of the
table.
It's easy to create with
sunflowers and ribbon.
You can start with a premade
garland of foliage or even
repurpose a Christmas garland.
No one would know.
I like to use three different
kinds of ribbon.
I use tints, tones, and shades
of yellow and run out an ample
length of each.
Then I simply use a bamboo
skewer to push the ribbon into
the garland, making big loops.
♪
And then it's time to add the
sunflowers.
Sunflowers can last quite a long
time out of water, so I can add
them right before the party.
Or if I need more longevity,
I can place them into a water
tube.
Placing the sunflowers where
I've gathered the ribbon looks
like the flowers are holding the
ribbon in place.
♪
♪
To make the flowers last even
longer, I can spray the entire
garland with an
antitranspirant to reduce
evaporation.
♪
Now all that's left is to set
the table and bring on the
party.
♪
♪
Sunflowers are fun to arrange
with, but it's also fun to work
with flowers that are
reminiscent of sunflowers, and
then we can play with texture
and scale in our arrangement.
Let me show you how it's done.
♪
♪
Using yellow foliage like coleus
or yellow Lysimachia flowers
mimics the color of the
sunflower...
while flowers like coreopsis,
coneflower, and daisies echo the
shape and form of the sunflower.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
As far back as 3,000 BC,
Native Americans grew sunflowers
for medicine, oil, and food.
♪
The seeds of the sunflower are
highly nutritious and are a rich
source of protein, potassium,
magnesium, calcium, iron, and
vitamin E.
♪
Sunflowers need at least six to
eight hours of sunlight a day,
but time is ideal.
♪
The flower buds display a unique
behavior called heliotropism.
They gradually move to follow
the sun's position in the sky as
it moves through the day from
east to west.
♪
Sunflowers are typically yellow
but can also be purple, orange
or red or even a mix of these
hues.
♪
Sunflowers range in height from
one foot for dwarf varieties
to giant varieties more than 10
feet tall.
♪
Sunflowers are inspirational.
They brighten up any space.
But what if you wanted to use
them to decorate your home or
office?
Permanent or silk flowers are
wonderful stand-ins for fresh
flowers when fresh are either
not available or sometimes not
practical for a situation.
Even principles of fêng shui
allow for silk flowers or images
of flowers to substitute for
fresh flowers.
These stand-ins also provide
similar health and wellness
benefits.
I could arrange these stems in a
vase, but I asked myself, "What
can I craft with these permanent
flowers that isn't practical or
possible with fresh flowers?"
So, today we'll make a piece of
art that we can hang on the
wall.
I'm using a square of Styrofoam,
and we're gonna place our
permanent sunflowers into that
Styrofoam, and we'll make a
framed piece we can hang on the
wall.
We'll also add a ribbon accent
around the outside and use
some moss to fill in between the
sunflower heads.
It's great, 'cause we're able to
glue these heads directly to the
Styrofoam exactly where we want
them.
So it's a fun project that you
can do with your kids.
Hot glue is the only thing that
you're gonna use.
I prefer a low-temp glue gun
because it's safer for
everybody.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
Armatures are quite the rage
when it comes to flower
designing.
I like to make armatures the
easy way.
They can be very intricate and
be very time consuming, but I
like to have something that's
simple that looks great when
we're done.
Today, we're gonna create our
armature out of curly willow.
And we're gonna use it by
placing it over the top of the
container and then clamping them
together using small pieces of
the flat wire.
I've cut off little pieces from
the regular bolt, and we'll use
those to attach our armature.
We'll start with a couple pieces
that have the most interesting
turns to them, placing them over
the top of our container...and
getting them situated just about
where we want them.
We connect the pieces together
simply by taking the flat wire
and wrapping it around the curly
willow branches.
♪
We bind our connection points
together by folding the flat
wire around them.
That's an easy way to make the
connections wherever we want
them to be.
♪
Wrapping the curly willow around
the vase helps me grip it to the
container.
Placing vertical stems inside
the vase into the water, and
then binding them to the
structure that goes horizontally
helps create stability and also
a vertical interest for the
overall arrangement.
♪
Although it begins to look
complex, the technique of
binding the stems together with
a flat wire is still very easy.
The armature can go together
very quickly, or you can take
time and create a wonderful
artistic representation as well.
♪
Today, we're using a selection
of sunflowers, Pincushion
Protea, kangaroo paw, and
Craspedia yarrow, or globe
yarrow.
I've also got a couple pieces of
ribbon aspidistra that we'll use
as well.
So, we'll use a few of these
flowers to accent our armature
structure.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
This is a great way to enjoy a
few flowers from the garden or a
local farmer's market.
In addition, the structure can
be created from just about any
type of branch.
♪
♪
I hope our journey through
sunflowers has resulted in a
sunny disposition.
I know they always bring me
cheer.
Whether you grow them in your
garden, pick them up at the
farmer's market, or gaze into
artwork, be sure to take a
moment to bask in their golden
glow.
For "Life in Bloom," I'm
J Schwanke.
>> Um, I have a surprise for
you, by the way.
>> Stop it. Okay.
I love surprises.
>> Okay.
♪
>> Stop it.
>> This is you as a cookie.
>> It is me as a cookie!
'Cause that's what you do!
Oh, my God.
>> And I actually brought this
one so that you can decorate
yourself.
>> Nice.
>> If you would like.
>> Oh, sure. Let's do that.
>> Okay.
>> Let me try. Okay.
So I need...Let's see.
I guess I need -- I need a nose,
right?
Yeah.
Is that where I start?
>> That's where I start, yeah.
>> Okay.
"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"
is filmed in Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"
is brought to you by...
Albertsons Companies...
with additional support from the
following...
CalFlowers...
Dollar Tree...
Sunshine Bouquet.
♪
Closed-caption funding provided
by Holland America Flowers.
♪
For everything flowers, recipes,
projects, and more information,
visit ubloom.com.
♪