The Dog Days of Summer

Great Dane Elliott enjoying a wee bouquet of blooms.

It’s hot. The sun beats down from a cloudless sky through stagnant humid air, falling upon human, animal, plant and the inanimate alike. The streets absorb the heat to the point that the tar becomes almost fluid and if a car drove by it would surely find itself stuck. As you stand stationary you feel beads of sweat form and roll down your face and back; any movement would surely cause a sweat so profuse it would seep through your clothes leaving you wet, embarrassed and somehow even hotter still. The air is so thick you could practically chew on it if it wasn’t choking you. Vision clouding waves of heat fall into view, distorting the landscape of motionless blades of grass and unmoving trees full and heavy with summer’s bounty. Squirrels, birds, feral cats and that fat backyard groundhog you nicknamed Sebastian long for any kind relief as they struggle just to breathe, and you swear they somehow know about air conditioning and are jealous when they see humans retreat indoors with their beloved chosen pets. The sun is a relentless furnace with no breeze to calm its fiery breath. It’s just... So. Damn. Hot. These are the dog days of summer.

Poodle Winston couldn't be happier with his yellow ranunculus!

We are in the thick of it! The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. We thought the best way to pass this time would be to pair some of our favorite pooches with pretty petals!

Miniature poodle Sherman is celebrating with flowers!

The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major or Great Dog.

Layla enjoyed her visit to Steins!

The Ancient Greeks thought that Sirius's emanations could affect dogs adversely, making them behave abnormally during the "dog days," the hottest days of the summer. Their excessive panting in hot weather was thought to place them at risk of desiccation and disease.

Those cats are interfering with my flowers!

According to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria, 1813, the Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."

If you can tolerate an outdoor picnic during the dog days 
of summer, don't forget to pack your poodle!

Here at Stein Your Florist we have a mixed bag of feelings about the Dog Days of Summer… Some of us love it, enjoying every second they can in the heat, reveling in a visit to the beach, basking in the sun’s rays and holding joyous backyard barbecues full of levity and fireworks…

Leo loves his rainbow roses!

Others not so much, longing for the days of winter, stating “those snowstorms weren’t so bad,” lamenting over how hot it’s going to be when they get in their cars to go home, complaining about their summer wardrobe and emphatically stating that the flowers just don’t like it!

That's one patriotic pooch!

Like it or lump it, it is what it is. The Dog Days of Summer are here, but autumn’s relief will arrive soon enough and we may find that we miss summer’s verdant hues and that devastating feeling of passing out as soon as you step outside.

Elliott is looking good in his floral anklet!

Sherman is stylin' in his collar of black-eyed Susans!

It's hot out! Stay inside and pamper your pooch with 
peonies and a PETicure (wow, that was a cheesy pun even for us).

Jah Rastafari!

For those hot summer weddings when you 
ask, "why didn't we get married in the spring?"

Art in Bloom 2015

"Prayer Rug 1" by Karen S. Davies interpreted by
Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

The Cheltenham Art Center once again invited our floral artists to their annual Art in Bloom, Floral Interpretations of Paintings event. The event is a fundraiser benefiting many of the wonderful programs that take place all year at the art center. Six of our talented designers took to their workbenches to create their floral versions of beautiful paintings by local artists.

Stein Your Florist Co. owner/operator and designer Patrick Kelly chose to interpret “Prayer Rug One” by Karen S. Davies. Patrick chose a heavy stone container as the base of his arrangement and added matching pebbles to the surface of the pedestal to accent the dark blacks and grays of the painting. All the flora is dried and preserved, including:  millet, hydrangea, Spanish moss, branches, grasses, berries, seed pods, limonium, and heather. The dried materials have a wonderful textural look, which complimented the painting’s dimensional qualities perfectly. The painting’s artist was so impressed with Patrick’s interpretation that she made a donation and bought the piece herself! She said she simply couldn’t picture the painting without it! 

"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Patrick also hosted a live demonstration during the event, designing his interpretation of “Chaos in Purple/Blue” by Norman Soong for the attendees. He created a chaotic purple/blue design of his own with delphinium, agapanthus, statice, and novi belgi asters, while also picking up on the painting’s flecks of orange with hypericum berries. The arrangement is seated in a classic cobalt blue vase and accented by a bit of ming fern. The painting’s artist recorded the entire design process and the arrangement was awarded to the night’s lucky raffle winner, who was thrilled to take the floral creation home with her!

"Avelthorpe" by Dera Kapnek interpreted by
George Emberger of Stein Your Florist Co.

Stein Your Florist Co. designer George Emberger chose to interpret “Avelthorpe” by Debra Kapnek. He said was drawn to the trees in the painting and created a dark forest of his own with white branches and deep blue delphinium with pops of golden yellow solidego asters and wispy accents of bear grass. He completed his forest floor with sheet moss and dark gray river rocks. George was awarded Best in Show for Fun and Fantastic Design for his interpretation.

"Love Lies Bleeding" by Gail Fox interpreted by
Jessica Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location and designer Jessica Kelly chose to interpret “Love Lies Bleeding” by Gail Fox. Unintimidated by taking on such a large painting (it was more than five feet wide), Jessica chose a large clear glass cylinder for her design, which she filled with stones and soil, wanting to display the unseen “underground” layers. In the center of her arrangement she used red ginger, purple liatris, and birds of paradise to capture the colors and the height of the painting. At the base of her design she planted succulents and tropical plants and accented them with cut tree fern, ming fern and hypericum berries. Jessica’s interpretation was purchased by one of the attendees.

"Baggage" by Nicholas Burns interpreted by
Jennifer Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Jennfer Kelly, Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location, head of social media and designer, chose to interpret ”Baggage” by Nicholas Burns. Jennifer wanted to capture painting’s theme baggage, so she used several vintage suitcases to stack around the design as well as to create her arrangements in. To capture the flow of the painting she used a bundle of curly willow, draping foliages like hanging eucalyptus, springeri and Thai leaves and clusters of raffia. The flowers used are delphinium, solidego, hydrangea, spray roses, hanging amaranthus, white agapanthus, calla lilies, a pink antherium, and bird’s nest fern. She accented her bouquet with newspaper, which was also present in the original painting. Jennifer was awarded Best in Show for Mixed Media Design.

"Your Majesty" by Edwina Brennan interpreted by
William Kirk of Stein Your Florist Co.

Floral designer William Kirk interpreted “Your Majesty” by Edwina Brennan. William said that the painting reminded him of his own, sometimes chaotic, way of thinking and he thought the painting suited his design style perfectly. He choose bright blooms of bells of Ireland, dendrobium orchids, blue roses, lisianthus, and miniature carnations to pick up on the painting’s colors and captured the black swirling strokes of the painting with rings of dried grapevine. The painting’s artist was there to see William’s interpretation in person and she was touched by his vision.

"Rhythm" by Gerry Tuten interpreted by
Carl Mishinski of Stein Your Florist Co.

Our final representation from Stein YourFlorist Co. was created by apprentice designer Carl Mishinski who interpreted Rhythm by Gerry Tuten. Carl built a freestanding armature on which to create his design from Guatemalan river cane. He envisioned the painting as a tropical rainforest and covered his structure with Thai leaves, hanging eucalyptus, hanging amaranthus, leather leaf fern, ming fern, blue and black roses, and king protea. Carl is also a graffiti artist so he called upon those skills to tint some of his flora to mimic the colors of the painting. His work was one of the largest pieces at the show and its’ impressive stature created quite the buzz!

Our designers have been invited back to participate in the CCA’s event once again next spring. Two weeks prior we will draw for spots to select from the art on display and plan our designs. We are looking forward to another inspirational affair and we hope you will join us.

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"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
live by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.