Bouquet of the Week: Game of Thrones Returns
As part of our recurring Bouquet of the Week series, Garden Collage continues to present a weekly inspirational bouquet that incorporates intriguing new elements into the traditional practice of flower arranging. This week, Garden Collage styles a bouquet in honor of the hit TV series Game of Thrones and the five key players going in to season six.
I distinctly remember when I first read about Game of Thrones. My latest issue of Entertainment Weekly had arrived in the mail and I had brought it with me while my mom was grocery shopping. I remember being in the vitamin aisle of Whole Foods when I flipped to the cover story– a multi-page spread hyping HBO’s newest fantasy show. I remember finishing the article with excitement, and returning home to scour the internet for anything else I could read about it. That summer I devoured the book series as I waited for the series to return.
With its premiere this Sunday, April 24, Game of Thrones promises even more high fantasy drama and lavish visuals. This season marks the beginning of the show outpacing the books, as George R. R. Martin’s Winds of Winter (the sixth book in the series) continues to suffer delays. In honor of the new season– and this venturing into uncharted territory– we styled bouquets in honor of all the big players going into the premiere.
House Targaryen
Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen is the last of her house, as far as is known. In honor of the dragons featured on the Targaryen sigil– and of course, Daenerys’s own “children”– I chose a toothy shrub that emulated the dragons’ sharp spines and added red protea for its scaly effect. The ginger root and black calla lilies capture the Targaryen house colors of black and red, as well as the otherworldly quality of Essos where she currently rules. I also mixed in variegated greens with yellow tips to evoke the fiery doom that awaits enemies of the Targaryen house.
House Stark
Perhaps the most tragic of the houses, the Starks are best known for the austere North they call home, which is reflected in the quiet, serious character of the family. Blue thistle captures the rough beauty of the house and its land– the Starks have endured many generations in their isolated realm (though not so much as of late). The white peony and small white lisianthus were added to evoke both the literal snow (the infamous Stark words are “Winter is coming”) and metaphoric snow (the bastard Jon Snow), as well as the gentleness of the Starks (Sansa especially) in spite of their stern, harsh homeland.
House Martell
Though introduced later in the game, the Martells have proven themselves fearsome opponents in the clash for power. The bird of paradise evokes the Martells’ seat of power, Sunspear, and it is easy to imagine the exotic, spiked blooms growing along Prince Doran Martell’s beloved water gardens. The deep red ranunculus, which seem to curl in every direction, never staying the way you want them to, parallel the Martells’ separation from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms– they do things their own way and remain distinctly apart from Westeros. The color of ranunculus is borrowed from the red sun of their sigil, while the lemon leaves add a Mediterranean flare (Dorne is loosely based off of Spain).
House Tyrell
The Tyrells spend much of their time plotting in the gardens of Kings Landing, shrouding their secrets and conspiring among the lush, vivid greens. To complement this landscape, I decided to surround the white rose of their sigil with the common flower alstroemeria. Their bouquet is simple, using only two types of flowers, but there is a business such that one isn’t totally sure where to look– a metaphor for the skillful plotting of the house itself.
House Lannister
The Lannisters are known for their wealth more than anything else. With its rich texture and golden color, the celosia honors the unofficial house words “A Lannister always pays his debts”. The bottlebrush– in the signature red of the Lannister sigil– creates additional texture within the bouquet, a flash of regal opulence. To round everything out, I chose true fern to give the bouquet a lush, softened effect– the Lannisters live luxuriously, their world cushioned by all the gold of Casterly Rock. Splayed out, the ferns look almost like the mane of lion, which is the animal featured on the Lannister crest. The shape of the vessel evokes the angular faces of the Red Keep, the Lannisters’ seat of power– for now at least.
