Carolyn Kulb’s glorious hellebore dress, designed with Washington-grown hellebores for American Flowers Week 2021
The nuanced spectrum of hellebore petals brings shimmer to the season
The hellebore is one of the first early-season flowers to emerge from the wet, bare earth, delivering a bouquet of beauty at the most unexpected time of year.
Cold-loving, hellebores even tolerate snow, a fact that prompted Seattle floral designer Carolyn Kulb to fantasize about a futuristic hellebore dress photographed in a snowy setting. “Most of the time we see hellebores portrayed in woodlands with moss or ferns. I wanted to see how these flowers would look showcased somewhere strange and different — where you wouldn’t even expect to see flowers.”
Owner of Seattle-based Folk Art Flowers, Carolyn is a farmer-florist whose garden is filled with countless hellebores. She acknowledges that hellebores are a precious and relatively rare option for floral design, mostly due to their limited availability as a cut flower. That’s why she started growing the perennial in her own garden.
The origins of Carolyn’s gorgeous garment began earlier this year when I invited Pam Youngsman to give a hellebore presentation for Slow Flowers members. Through her company PoppyStarts Inc., Pam sells starter plants to growers, specializing in hellebores and other perennials. As she treated us to the many details about the form, habit, and petal colors of hellebores, my imagination was sparked.
What about an American Flowers Week botanical couture look expressed in hellebores? I asked Pam if she would collaborate with a floral designer to create a hellebore garment. The plantswoman was instrumental in sourcing hundreds of flowers for this project, both from her own garden and from others in the nursery trade.
“To see the hellebore celebrated in this way is so fun,” Pam says. “It’s great to give this flower the spotlight it has deserved for so long. I’m seeing a lot more demand for hellebores as a cut flower and thankfully more growers are adding them, which should help increase availability of cut hellebores to the floral marketplace.”
Pam says she recently spoke with Brad Siebe, general manager of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, who told her that demand for hellebores has doubled each year – from 2019 to present.
Most of the flowers used for Carolyn’s dress are from the Heuger Gold Collection (HGC), including Red, Rose, and White from the HGC Ice N’ Roses series, which has been named ASCFG’s 2021 Fresh Cut Flower of the Year.
It’s great to give this flower the spotlight it has deserved for so long. I’m seeing a lot more demand for hellebores as a cut flower and thankfully more growers are adding them, which should help increase availability of cut hellebores to the floral marketplace.
Pam Youngsman, Poppystarts inc.
Insisting she isn’t a seamstress, Carolyn looked to couture for ideas. “I started with a mood board and was drawn to runway images with high-fashion silhouettes. As I sketched, I thought about big shapes and big shoulders — something futuristic. I wanted a woman who looked like she just landed on this planet.”
Carolyn repurposed a little-worn dress from her closet, reconstructing it as the base garment. “I sewed another piece of fabric over the sleeves and stuffed them with poly-filling, which is used for pillows. I wanted to give the sleeves structure, otherwise they would collapse under the weight of the flowers.”
I loved taking the hellebores, which are unusual and grow in the snow, and using them on a garment that’s also unusual and structural.
CAROLYN KULB, FOLK ART FLOWERS
The dramatic shoulders and simple silhouette provided Carolyn with a smooth surface for attaching the hellebore flowers, approximately 500 of them. She glued the blooms one at a time in bands — from dark red at the shoulders to pink, blush and greenish-white at the waist, and transitioning to mauve-purple flowers at the hem. The mostly single-form flowers give the dress a shimmery texture resembling paillette-style spangles. A keyhole neckline detail adds a delicate contrast against the oversized shoulders.
“I loved taking the hellebores, which are unusual and grow in the snow, and using them on a garment that’s also unusual and structural,” Carolyn says. “Adding a headpiece makes the look even more otherworldly.”
Constructed on a rustic wire head band covered in silver bouillon wire, the headpiece features a gradation of hellebores — from tiny buds that float at the tip of each silver strand to larger buds and eventually the full flowers attached at the hairline. “Playing with that scale was really fun,” Carolyn notes. “I wanted this piece to be crown-like, but not a literal crown.”
She tapped into her wedding vendor network of hair and makeup artists for their creative talents. “I gave our makeup artist my mood board and sent her photos as I was constructing the dress and the headpiece, but I wanted her to use her own creativity. I didn’t tell her to add the petal-like makeup effects, but it came out looking amazing.”
After brainstorming with photographer Missy Palacol, Carolyn styled the model with booties and gave her a glass lantern as a prop, in keeping with the story she wanted to tell. “She’s from the future, from another world. I wanted to envision what she might have on her journey. I loved her little booties, not only because they keep her warm, but to convey she’s ready to walk. If she’s from another world, maybe she’s looking for places where she can grow things like her hellebore dress. Maybe she’s the guardian of these magical flowers that grow in the snow — and she’s looking for a place to plant more of them.”
Creative Team
Floral Palette: Washington-grown hellebores
Production support: Pamela Youngsman, PoppyStarts, poppystarts.com, @poppystarts
Designer: Carolyn Kulb, Folk Art Flowers, folkartflowers.com, @folkartflowers
Model: Tasia Baldwin @_tasiajb
Hair/Makeup: DeLeana Guerrero, Luxe Artistry Seattle @guerrerodelavida_artistry and @luxeartistryseattle
Photography: Missy Palacol, missypalacolphotography.com, @missy.palacol
Location: Hyak Sno-Park, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington