Photography by Sophia Moreno-Bunge for Gardenista.
Smoke bush embraces the dark and saturated colors that autumn brings. For a list of materials and step-by-step instructions, see below.
Smoke bush leaf colors range from purple to maroon to green (though the green often has notes of maroon). In late spring, the tips of the branches start to bloom textured puffs that look like smoke.
I love the back of the smoke bush leaf; it almost has an opalescent quality.
Materials:
A dark and moody Queen Anne’s Lace. You can find these beauties growing everywhere–at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, or in a street crack in Brooklyn.
I love the shape of these; they’re wild and have that find-them-on-the-side-of-the-road beauty, but if you look closely, they’re so geometric and orderly (like all plants, really).
Base of figs on the branch. First, I filled a vase with water and made a base using the fig branches.
The branches are heavy, so make sure to space them evenly on either side of the vase to prevent it from tipping.
The smoke bush colors, separated.
I kept the smoke bush a bit lower than the fig to create air and so that the figs still would be visible.
As a finishing touch, I added a cluster of the Queen Anne’s Lace to the left side and let it trail down the arrangement to the right side.
If you’re as enamored of smoke bush as we are, see another of our favorite ways to use it indoors at Unexpected Autumnal Arrangements. Additionally, get more ideas on how to successfully plant, grow, and care for queen anne’s lace with our Queen Anne’s Lace: A Field Guide.