The Power of Flowers
By Babs Rodriguez
Photos by Meda Kessler
Floral designer Madeline Ricketts Hall and her five-person Trophy Blooms team stand ready to light up your holiday tables or deliver joy to any gathering. As conversant in wildflowers and dried natural materials as she is in classic blooms, Ricketts Hall is excited to work with a customer’s vision that pushes her in new directions.
Advance orders are best, but they’ll work with you on last-minute needs, too. The shop also carries fair-trade gifts, the sale of which improves the lives of women around the world; items include stone hearts and stylized birds handcarved by tribal women in Kenya. Did we mention that the energetic owner of the shop (open in Southlake Town Square since the summer) enjoys a challenge? When we asked her — two days before her wedding — to create three arrangements to carry us into the new year, she never broke a sweat. — Babs Rodriguez
Quiet glam
A timeless centerpiece is equally suited for a Christmas dinner party or a New Year’s fete. Quicksand roses, white ranunculus and hydrangeas define elegance, while Madeline Ricketts Hall’s chosen accents of gunni and silver dollar eucalyptus add texture and movement. Gilded bunny tails grass adds a wink of fun and works with natural pampas grass to balance the shine of the gilded vase.
Classic, naturally
Traditional, with subtle surprises, this autumnal design offsets wintry whites with rusty reds and sky blues, while a vase wrapped in birch wood provides a foresty backdrop. Real apples are companionable with most flowers, as are dried leaves. Antique hydrangeas in red and green tones warm up the glacial vibe of blue hydrangeas. White roses, ivory ranunculus, snowy hypericum berries and sage green gunni eucalyptus — the miniature leaves offer more rustling texture than the silver dollar variety — are among the florist’s favorites for winterscapes. Dyed pampas in a rust shade (one of many colors of the grass on offer in the shop) adds a finishing flourish.
Big bang
Festive family fun calls for colorful florals. Ricketts Hall says this arrangement reminds her of Christmas lights and bright candies. She lights up the design with yellow tulips, green hydrangeas and a confetti mix of roses and gerbera daisies in hot colors, as well as exotic flashes of calla lilies and bold purple dahlias. The orange ranunculus and spires of purple gayfeather add yet more fireworks.
THE DETAILS
Trophy Blooms The shop tags its work “floral couture,” which seems just right. Call to place advance orders; visit the website for more information. Southlake Town Square, 335 N. Carroll Ave., 817-271-0250, trophyblooms.com Social media facebook.com/trophybloomsflowers and instagram.com/trophyblooms