Not Your Mother’s Rose Bouquet

Our friend Louesa called earlier this week and said, "The roses are ready. When can we shoot?"

Louesa Roebuck, our fearless Contributing Forager, had spent the last two weeks on rose watch, anxiously eyeing her friend Sam's garden, awaiting the perfect moment of full bloom. Sam is a private chef (her most notable client being Alice Waters) who happens to have one of the most outstanding collection of roses, many heirloom, in her Berkeley garden. With more than 80 different types of roses to choose from, Louesa had found her moment, just in time for Mother's Day. I headed over to join Louesa in Berkeley and asked her to put together a couple of bouquet ideas. As usual, she did not disappoint: her arrangements feature mint, lemon verbena, and rose geranium with the wildest selection of fragrant roses.

To see Louesa's creations and how to put one together for the matriarch in your life, check out the DIY video I shot on my iPhone at the bottom of this post.

Above: Sam lets her roses grow tall and wild so she can feel surrounded by them; her back garden includes roses in shades of purple, red, and peach colors.

Above: Roses with scents of clove and cinnamon are mixed with lemon verbena. The rose petals can be eaten and the rose geranium used for a tisane.

Above: Louesa mixes mint and lemon verbena with a medley of red roses.

Above: Louesa uses brown waxed paper and vintage school writing paper to wrap the flowers, which she then ties together with waxed linen twine.

Remodelista's Renegade Roses from Remodelista on Vimeo. To see more of Louesa's, work go to Louesa Roebuck.