Good morning, my friends! So much for getting back to regular posting, right?!
I am an avid fan of fresh flowers and plants in my house year round. I’ve used branches from shrubs and trees in the yard, and flowers from the market for our home most of my married life. I also have several living plants in my home. Ivy topiary, Peace Lily ‘spathiphyllum’ and a large pothos live in various rooms of the house. When Christmas rolls around I’m happy to use faux garland, embellished with live cedar and pine.
So it was with some hesitancy that I returned the kind email I received from Silk Plants Direct. They were offering me a shopping visit of their site, where they would ship a product of my choice (with a generous pricing limit) for my honest review. Still doubtful, I visited the link and found many of their plants to look very believable. The item I selected reminds me of bittersweet, something that is sold live per stem by florists this time of year in our area. I’ve always loved the look of bittersweet in autumn arrangements and wreaths, but couldn’t always find fresh stems.
I emailed my contact with Silk Plants Direct and was thrilled with the speedy delivery and the quality of the stems. The flowers filled the large porcelain blue and white vases and finished the mantle decor for the season for me. Thank you Silk Plants Direct!
Silk Plants Direct, a Silk flowers and plants retailer, has a user-friendly site and provides a column on their home page that allows shoppers to narrow their search by topics such as category, size, price, color, variety and season.
If you’re a die hard fan of real live plants and flowers, as I consider myself to be, you may be in for a surprise. I urge you to take a look at Silk Plants Direct.
Disclosure: I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The honest opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Reviving Charm said:
I love fresh flowers in the home also. I often try to bring fresh flowers to display in the living room. I also like keep a bud vase in my bathroom filled with flowers from the garden as often as I can as it’s nice to enjoy while getting ready each morning!. We also have a couple of pothos as they are so low maintenance and provide nice greenery. Low maintenance is key and that’s a definite advantage of faux flowers. However, I have never been a fan of faux flowers but am very impressed with the selection you picked. They really look great on your mantle and are the perfect fall decoration. You just may have me reconsider my position on faux to consider branch varieties! Thanks for sharing a resource.
Karen B. said:
I agree 100%. I’ve always stayed away from faux, but the autumn offers opportunity for real looking seeds and branches. These reminded me so much of bittersweet, which when I’ve found it for sell is often past its prime and pretty pricey. Thanks for complimenting the chosen stems, it means a lot coming from you! 🙂 xo, Karen
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 3:27 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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After Orange County said:
Well, I do not have a green thumb at all when it comes to houseplants. I do OK with my outdoor garden, and like you, often cut flowers and greenery to use indoors. But, that doesn’t last long. So, knowing about a great source for silk florals is something I appreciate. Thank you!
Karen B. said:
Celia, Thank you. I am enjoying these and because they are so seasonal it makes life simpler (is that a word?!) The vases usually go without flowers since they are so large, but now I’ll have something I can use each autumn. xo, Karen
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 7:35 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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leslie carney said:
Hi Karen, I too enjoy fresh foliage and flowers year round. This site looks interesting and I’ll head over to take a look! Your home looks beautiful as always and I love what you picked. The branches would be my first choice if choosing a faux bouquet.
Happy humpday:)
Karen B. said:
Thanks, Leslie. I truly have been pleased with the item I chose. Silk can sometimes not even resemble real. Happy humpday to you too. We working folks know it’s downhill from here for the work week! 🙂 xo, Karen
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 8:35 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Vicki said:
Great choice, Karen, they look fabulous in your vases. Your mantel is so pretty! With smaller blossoms especially, it’s very hard to tell when they’re faux. I like to do a trick I learned from my Grandma and supplement real arrangements with faux stems. Right now I have a succulent bowl that looks better than it should. 🙂 Thanks for suggesting a good source!
Karen B. said:
Vicki, I agree with your grandma. I use faux at Christmas for indoors and supplement with real for the wonderful pine scent you gain from pine branches. xo, Karen
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 8:37 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Linda Coble said:
Karen,
I’ve always loved fresh flowers and plants in my home. Sadly, it’s hard to find them in my area of the country. Whenever I visit California, I’m amazed at the quality and the health of house plants. I only wish I could take some home with he. Silk Plants Direct seems like something I need to check out. Having seen the bittersweet “up close and personal” recently, I know how life-like their products look. Thanks for aa great new resource!
Karen B. said:
Linda, Thanks so much. I know we share our love of live houseplants, but when they’re scarce, having a few faux plants or vines will help give us the look we’re after, right? 🙂 xo, Karen
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 2:08 PM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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D'Arcy H said:
Hi Karen – These flowers look great in your blue and white vases! When you mentioned bittersweet, something different flashed into my mind. I remember stems of orange dried berries when I was a kid (my grandma was a florist and used it in her autumn arrangements. I’m pretty sure it was real, because they didn’t have faux flowers in the 1950s … except for plastic fruit!) I looked up bittersweet and it has purple flowers and red nightshade berries (woody nightshade), so that’s definitely not what I remember. Whatever it was, thanks for the memory! Silk flowers have come a long way.
Karen B. said:
D’Arcy, I’m with you. In the shops that sell what they label as “bittersweet” it’s always orange-ish berries surrounded by Amber colored details. I’ll have to look this up now. The stems they sell are $7.00 per stem and up. These faux pieces have silk flowers, but overall they remind me of bittersweet that I’ve seen this time of year. Karen
Sent from my iPad
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anniediamond1 said:
Karen,
I agree with you on fresh flowers and branches, but I have to say…your bittersweet looks very real! It wasn’t until I read the post and realized that they are silk! Wow! Silk has come a long way! Gorgeous and no mess!
annie
CINDY HATTERSLEY DESIGN said:
I am going to order some of that bittersweet. I was looking for something like that! Thanks for the recommendation!!
Karen B. said:
Hi Cindy, I really do like it. It’s not truly bittersweet, no berry on it, but from a short distance it definitely looks like bittersweet. It has a very fallish feel to it. Thanks for stopping by. Karen
On Sun, Oct 23, 2016 at 7:56 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Gretchen said:
I love having fresh flowers and live plants in my house too, but I’m not opposed to using silk if they look as real as your bittersweet! I have a number of silk ivy plants on top of my armoire and China cabinet since I found it difficult to keep real ones alive. It sounds like Silk Plants Direct is a great resource. Thanks for the recommendation.
Karen B. said:
I agree, sometimes it helps to use a few imitation plants to fill in those spots that can’t support live plants either due to natural light or inaccessibility. Thanks, as always, for stopping by. xo
On Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 10:23 PM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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anitapelayorivera said:
Hello Karen! You have spruced up your home for sure! Don’t you just love every season? Each one has its own specific touches and it’s fun to change them out. Lovely plants for not being real! And thank you dear Karen for coming to visit. Blessings to you!
Karen B. said:
It’s always a pleasure to discover an email in my inbox that tells me you’ve posted. I’m always happy after ready your lovely posts. Happy November, my friend. xo, Karen
On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 1:36 PM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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