 Hi, I'm Mary Harrell for Tan Books. If you want to put a twinkle in the eye of a Catholic lady in your life, tell her that the next theology of home volume is out, and this time it's about flowers and foliage and the beautiful balance of faith and flowers in our life and the life and seasons of the church. Theology of home for arranging the seasons is by the gifted Emily Malloy, who is joining us today. Emily is a longtime floral designer and mom, and she is a critical part of the theology of home team along with Noel Meringue and Kerry Gress. Emily, thanks for being with us today. It's a pleasure to be here. Emily, it's one thing to have this incredible gift that you have for arranging flowers, foraging for foliage, finding anything alive and making it into a beautiful cohesive arrangement. But it's quite another thing to write an entire book about it and then photograph that entire book. So how does it feel to now be a published author? It's a little bit surreal. I'll be honest. And I turned it in a little bit ago. I'd say it was the feast of our of the little flower and which was such a perfect day when that day came back. Because when the book was due, I thought, oh my gosh, it's all in God's design. And it was gosh, let's see, that was over a year ago, almost a year ago. And I had forgotten kind of everything about it. All I had written, all that I had done. And when the book finally arrived and I held it in my hands, I thought, oh my gosh, this really wasn't entertaining. And there was a lot that went into this. And so it just made it real, even though I had seen it on a screen. It takes a whole different form in the physical. It's been pretty amazing. Absolutely. And it's really quite a substantial book. I mean, it's a hardback. It's a it's a coffee table book, but not just a coffee table book. You want to read this one, pick it up, flip through all the seasons, find the flowers that are in your yard. I did that when I first got it. It's an amazing accomplishment. So I'm sure people ask you this, but every season has such beautiful facets. You go through each season, each month of the year. But for you, which one would you say is your personal favorite and your favorite flowers of the season to decorate with? You know, it's funny. I get that question a lot. And I used to, without fail, always say the fall. And what I came to realize is I wrote this book that I don't have one. And that sounds like such a cop-out answer. And I, but I mean it in earnest. Every season comes with something so extraordinary, even winter. I came to realize how much I love winter and the fast, right? We're fasting from flowers for the most part, unless you live in, you know, a more tropical region. But even, even they have their own form of strange behavior, you know, of the weather that happens that kind of differs from the other seasons. And I, every season has its own amazing thing. And what's so important that I think about winter is in the fast as you go into the spring and those first bulbs come up and the pastures start to turn green. There is that reawakening of your senses and it's really exciting. But, you know, winter, but then in hindsight, as you look at winter, you recognize that, that, that, that like hayish color of the grass and the blue skies and the fact that you can see past all the trees that have lost their leaves. I honestly think I would say my favorite seasons are, and I write about them in the book are those, those months within which there are the two seasons. So you're watching sort of the falling from one season into another. So in March, you know, you're watching that crispness of the winter colors and everything take on that verdant color. And then, you know, as spring falls into summer and summer falls into fall and fall falls back into winter. And, you know, I used to, without fail, I would say fall. But I love hydrangeas. I love how they start fairly early in the season, continue through and change throughout the season. You know, depending on the variety you have. So one of my old houses that we had in Pennsylvania before moving had this extraordinary huge hydrangea bush. And by the end of the season, it was this deep purple, absolutely gorgeous. But as it started, it had that green in the beginning as the flowers would start to open and then it would mature into a blue. And then throughout the summer, just almost go into this, I hate to use the word dying because that's not true. It's meeting its full potential, but going fully into a maturity into that, that, that vibrant purple. And then it would stay and dry throughout the winter. So I think it's easy to say that that's my favorite, but it's like picking a favorite child like you can't do it. You know, I don't know. It's so hard. Your children are very relieved to hear you say that. It's just like the same thing. You're all special guys. Does it ever, this seems kind of a silly question, but does it ever hurt to cut something off a bush and bring it inside? Because just like you say, flowers grow and change, not everything. It's like a, you know, a daffodil that's just done and it kind of drops. Does it hurt to bring those inside and shorten that lifespan a little bit too? Well, I write about this in the book. So I talk about this tension between a florist and a gardener. So I, a florist before I became a gardener, a gardener wants to see everything as it grows and as it stays and it's in its splendor in the garden. And a florist is like, well, snip, sip, sip, sip, sip, you know, I'm going to work with that. So, you know, it's, and being now sort of in both worlds of being a gardener now that I'm not in the flower shop and I'm trying to grow everything that I cut, there really is this tension. But one thing that's really interesting is in, like you mentioned the perennials, they come back, you know, and sometimes the cutting is good for it. It fosters new growth with the annuals. That's where I have a hard time because I would like to at least leave some on, on, on the stems in the ground to go to seed and so that I can plant them again next year. And the beauty of that is then after they go to seed and live in my garden, then they become more adapted to the climate and the sun and everything about my garden and do even better next year. So it really is difficult. I will be honest. So I have my own little rule of thumb where I do 50%. So I cut, unless I like really love it and I have to have it, then I will just simply go to town and buy new seeds next year. So, but there is that, that restraint that has to happen. And it's been a learning curve. I think every year I cut less and less. So I'm not sure what to make of it, but there's definitely a difference in the two sort of flower enthusiasts. That's what the Lord, the Lord helps us grow and then he prunes us. That's it. That's absolutely theologically true. Painful as it is. Emily, let's go to one of the, I would say, maybe most well-known photo that has is featured on your Instagram page. But also I know it's gone around Pinterest a lot. People see it and they go, oh my gosh, this is gorgeous. And this home altar in your home, which has a beautiful story behind it. People say, where can I get that? And you say, you can't. It's so tell us about how this whole home altar came about, how you made it, and then how you construct these beautiful cascading arrangements to honor our Lord and our Lady through the year around it. So that frame has taken many iterations throughout the years. I'll have to someday share, you know, sort of its evolution. And I wanted to create a prayerful space in our home where, you know, we would kind of orient ourselves toward it as we prayed and also just as that reminder of the house being a domestic church. And I went to this barn sale from this woman who goes all around the United States and salvages different things. And I knew that I wanted a frame and I knew that I wanted to put a crucifix in the middle. But I wasn't entirely sure what it was that I was looking for. So I went and it was hanging high on the wall in the barn and I pulled somebody aside and I said, that's what I want. I need that. So I had to come back like a month later, after long after the barn sale when they could access it, bring it down. And I hung it on the wall, put the crucifix in and, you know, knew that I wanted to have the Sacred Heart Immaculate Heart images there before I used to have it on the inside of that frame. And it even actually it has updated since we've moved to the house that we live in now. And I haven't shared that because it's kind of still in process, but it's just funny how it's evolved over time in accordance with devotions, the space that it's in. So as you see in this image, we had just started renting this neat historical home and we had they had like a spare living room and we decided we wanted to turn that into a chapel. So we hung it there and we put the crucifix that we had been using there and I just thought, you know, I need to find something bigger, but I just let it go. I thought, you know, it is what it is. And there's this gentleman who salvages religious pieces from monasteries in France and Belgium and he lives not far from where we are here. He's just outside of New Orleans and we I've been dying to get there and I went there and he had this and it had been in a monastery in Belgium, the crucifix. And I thought that's that's it. That's what I need. So got that and put that in there and and eventually, you know, put all of these different statues around them and had a table up against it where, you know, we could have other little, you know, devotionals placed. And then it was it was at Kurt's house that I found that votive candle, the hanging votive candle. And it's just been a really fun process of sort of having it develop. And it's fascinating to see how it still changes even to this day. But to answer your question about that that installation, so it is a really fun process. It actually uses I use chicken wire for that a lot of florist like a caged oasis, you know, with that floral foam. But modern floristry has kind of moved away from that and utilizes, you know, mosses or, you know, other sorts of way of keeping the flowers fresh. So I went because we have lots of chickens. So we have chicken wire and I went and I cut all kinds of chicken wire and I shaped it into sort of cones and and used three m strips because, you know, I didn't want to mess up the walls. So the three m strips of the hooks and I hooked them all around and and then tucked all of those flowers in. And actually this is something I haven't said to anybody before, but this is my second that was my second attempt. The first attempt I did Easter morning and I had all these flowers and I was really excited because it felt really poetic for me, even though it wouldn't necessarily be in the book at Easter. And for summary, I guess I was too hasty when I put on the three m hooks. It all crashed right after I had put it up and I just thought, oh gosh. But God and His Providence, I took all those flowers that, you know, were the stems broke and and everything. And I made a long table, a range of clusters of flowers and laid blooms. And that ended up making the book as well as, you know, sort of like a different way of doing a centerpiece. So it just goes to show that God has better plans than I do. And I just had to follow His lead because, you know, this kind of just happened. I didn't necessarily think, you know, this weekend I'm going to do that big install that I've had my heart set on for months. I had to wait another month or two until I could until I could do that. So it was, I think it was well worth the wait. Well, it's just, I mean, I think people see that that image. And it, it looks like if it was something secular or pagan people would say, oh, maybe I could take that and somehow put it in my home. And then you see this that is so deeply religious. So such a deep tribute to our crucified Lord, to the images around Him. And it really hits people differently, I think, to see that kind of devotion in a home, a home altar here for you. So just an amazing piece to have featured in the book. Speaking of our Lord and all in the pages and how your faith features in this book. I love all the theology that's woven in. And you have this line about the Garden of Eden. You say, we were formed to reside with God amid the splendor of the garden and flowers represent all that is good and wonders in nature. And in turn, they serve as a powerful representation of the gifts we receive from God. Wow, you're a floral arranger. How did these deep truths come out and find a place in this book? When did your passion for flowers turn into something so much deeper that you could write about? Well, it, you know, I am sort of an accidental florist. And my time in the flower shop was was very formative as far as aesthetics are concerned. But it wasn't until I left the flower shop and started growing and cutting and doing all that that I came to realize that there's really deep theological truths that can be found in the garden. And it's it's nothing new, right? Throughout salvation history, when we think of the stories that they tell of Solomon's temple and how the inside was painted like Eden and how continuing on through there that our salvation started in the garden. Right. That the agony in the garden. We meditate that every Tuesday and Friday and then continued that Mary Magdalene first encounter Jesus and mistook him for a gardener. And so we just think of that. And even that our side, you know, that we were taken from ladies are taken from the side of Adam. But that Adam was formed from that same ground that garden, you know, that the garden comes from. There's just this rich story in that. And I felt like every time I would go into the garden, the Holy Spirit would reveal just a little bit more and a little bit more to me. And I thought, oh, my goodness, you know, this is this is our story. Our story is starts in the garden with flowers and the Lord in his mercy, you know, flowers are just extra, right? They're all extra. You we grow the garden for food and for sustenance and flowers just seem extra. But the fact that they were there in the beginning, they they hold a huge importance. And so it was just a matter of sitting and praying with that. And the Lord revealing, you know, through just thoughts or recognizing, you know, as I talk about in the season, just how each season speaks of something in our own lives that I came to realize that there's there's a great deal to meditate upon. That's absolutely true. And you just you put it so beautifully in every chapter. The book is a beautiful balance of beautiful words, beautiful photos. But it's not all reflections. Some of it is wonderful, very instructive, how two pages and one that I found especially helpful, how to make a boutonniere. What a great thing for any woman, mom to be able to do, mother of the groom, mother of the bride, a great skill. Was it hard to take those tasks that I'm sure are pure muscle memory for you at this point? You've done them hundreds of times and then translate that into words and step by step photos. Yes, you know, it was interesting. You take things for granted when things become second nature to you. And, you know, as far as trying to illustrate it and hold your hands in a certain way so that it can be seen, all ended up being an interesting challenge. And then having my actually my son, my nine year old took all those photos. Oh my God. You know, make sure that the squares are on this part. And, you know, how did that look or, you know, there are a couple of times where I realized it was super out of focus. And I thought, OK, I've done do it and start over. But it's, you know, what's what I love about boutonniers and why I decided to feature that is, like you said, so often we are making or we go elsewhere, you know, to have a boutonnier made. And sometimes there's that panic at prom season or or any other time and or even, you know, if you're having a special event, right? You know, I've had to make boutonniers and corsages for events that different organizations are having. You know, being able to have that skill translates into so many other things. You know, it's similar principles to a bouquet. But you can do that if you make a bunch of little boutonniers and you can make a flower crown. It's just a really universal skill that can can just explode your creative possibilities. I love that makes you very popular in your friend group. If you say, I'll make the boutonniers for a prom this year, I'll do that a little. You just go outside and snip, snip. Right. Incredible. I love that. Emily, last question for you for anyone picking up this book, this beautiful volume, whether they're a gardener or not, whether they have a great eye for floral arrangements or not. What do you want them to take away from the book and use through their lives throughout the year? Well, just that recognition of the importance of flowers in our lives and bringing them into our homes. I think all it takes is somebody bringing you a bouquet of flowers and you throw them into a vase and you can see that it has this ability of rooting us into the present and making us very recollected. And I think it is, you know, I think once upon a time I would have said, oh, it's just a fun bonus to have. But I think, you know, as I'm getting older and deeper into my floral design career and life as a mom and a gardener, it's, I think it's indispensable to the home to just give these things where there's chaos around you and you look at that base and you think, okay, I am here, I am present, I'm recollected. And sometimes that's when that still small voice comes in or just the, I think the greatest reality or the greatest truth I came to recognize was even though these flowers are so perfect and so extraordinary, God sees us as the pinnacle of His creation and it is extremely humbling. And I think if people have a bouquet that they put into a vase or, you know, the little dandelions that the kids snip and you throw into a little yoga cup, just that recognition of how beauty slows us and stills us and changes our countenance for the entire day and those that encounter that beauty. Absolutely. So true. Again, the book is Theology of Home for Arranging the Seasons. You can find it here at tanbooks.com or at your local Catholic bookseller. Emily, congratulations on this beautiful project. I'm excited to get out my chicken wire and my wide mouth base. Go to work with your tips and make something beautiful. So thanks so much for joining us today. God bless.