Tulips, Orchids and More — Florists Put on a Lively Show for the Dead

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

It’s not often you get to do something for the dead. But every year around this time, florists in San Francisco’s East Bay are invited to put on a show to benefit the Friends of Mountain View Cemetery, a famous old cemetery at the top of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. My favorite floral arrangement was by Heather Dunne and Mari Tischenko of  the Orinda Garden Club — “Branch of Life,” with scarlet tulips floating above a gnarled branch.

Also pretty cool was a concoction by Connie Hubbell and Gale Emigh of Connie Hubbell Arts — bright rays of yellow tulips shooting from a mid-century modern desk lamp.

The arrangement I’m most likely to try at home, however, was a bouquet of white tulips and orchids by Michael Delaney of Lyal Nickals Florist. It calls to mind the exquisite, tightly packed creations you see all over Thailand.

Too bad the florists weren’t given an opportunity to identify the flowers they used in their arrangments. Maybe next year.

Photos by Barbara Falconer Newhall