J Schwanke’s Life In Bloom

>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

At home.

At work.

Or anytime.

CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... PassionRoses... Suntory Flowers.

>> Today we'll meet an icon in the world of flower arranging and design -- Phil Rulloda.

We'll learn about his signature style and meet his wife, Cathy, as we discover a couple of special anthurium varieties.

We'll also enjoy a cocktail with hibiscus for "Flower Cocktail Hour."

I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

"Yes, you can."

Today I want to introduce you to a flower legend and icon.

Really.

Mr. Phil Rulloda.

Phil has been arranging and designing with flowers for most of his life in a career that spans decades.

He's an educator, mentor, and friend to many in the flower industry.

His school for flower design is world-renowned.

I personally attended Phil's school in 1989, and the experience contributed greatly to my skill and expression as a flower designer.

Anytime I am working with flowers, chances are one or several of the skills I learned from Phil are at play.

Phil is a living pioneer of flower arranging and design and, as such, has been awarded with many honors and achieved many credentials.

As a mentor, he has inspired many flower professionals to seek those same credentials, and I'm no exception.

We are both accredited by the American Academy of Floriculture, the American Institute of Floral Design, and the Professional Floral Communicators -- International.

Phil has been recognized or won most every flower industry award that exists, including FTD's World Cup, AIFD's Design Influence Award, Society of American Florists' Tommy Bright Award, and the Living Legend Award.

Beyond all of that, however, Phil has created his own unique signature style of floristry, informed by his own heritage and known throughout the flower world, often imitated with great affection.

Phil is married to another flower professional, Cathy Hillen-Rulloda, owner of Avante Gardens, a legendary florist and event company in the Los Angeles area.

Both Phil and Cathy have the rare honor of each having new varieties of anthurium named after each of them, hybridized by Tessie Amore, PhD, at the University of Hawaii College of Agriculture.

So, Phil, we are here at your house, and thank you for allowing us to be guests to come see you.

You're a legend.

That's all there is to it.

There -- You are a legend.

And it -- it doesn't get any bigger than that.

And I am so thankful for everything I've ever learned from you.

>> I appreciate that a lot, J. I mean, I met you when you were just a little kind of puppy years ago.

>> It's true, it's true.

>> And you've really grown and grown the industry along the way.

So I'm very happy and pleased that you're here.

>> I want people to see what you create.

And so just a little slice of what Phil makes, and we'll talk about it as we go along, and that's what we'll do.

>> Alright, what I'm using here, my first placement, to establish the height is called New Zealand flax.

And this is what they make linen out of, J, flax.

>> Oh, okay.

>> So I'm using two pieces.

>> Is it?

>> What I'm going to do here is establish the height on this.

I've cut this in this direction so the spine's at the bottom.

Otherwise, it won't go easily, you know, into the foam.

Then here I'm cutting this on a really nice angular line, and I'm cutting on both sides so it's like a wedge and it won't twist in the foam.

Okay.

Then I'm gonna use maybe just one of this Strelitzia here.

This is bird-of-paradise foliage.

>> And you had us narrow that down.

You trimmed it down to give it that nice angular structure.

And I never would have thought to do that, Phil.

>> And I'm going to use some of these beautiful, long Hawaiian dendrobiums.

So I've kind of established the height on this, and now I'm going to establish the width from side to side.

These are these beautiful burgundy tea leaves.

On this, you can take these to loop these and push these through.

I'll do that, you know, a little bit later, you know, to scallop the back of the arrangement with these leaves to hide the foam.

Okay, now I have some of the tulip anthuriums in this lavender color.

And this is a piece of the areca palm I've woven from side to side here to add something that would be a little bit more interesting, and these will dry out beautifully.

Now, this is called -- I call this a leaf that's been woven out of the palm.

It's really cool.

>> Yes.

>> And this is like a chambered nautilus.

And I'm going to add that over to this side.

>> So, Phil, I think we'll have the formal reveal... >> Okay.

>> ...of your creation.

>> Great.

>> That's incredible.

>> It's beautiful.

>> So, in our industry, the American Institute of Floral Designers created an award that was called the Design Influence Award, and you were the impetus of that.

>> Right.

>> Because everyone who -- who learns from you and who gets the Phil experience wants to design like you.

We want to become like this.

And so they created this award called the Design Influence Award, and they bestowed it to you.

I couldn't have become who I was without the loving and caring that you do for all of those students.

There's -- There's thousands of students that have learned from you, and you are our mentor.

You are our friend.

That -- It -- Such an appreciation of flowers that you've delivered to us.

And I think that that's -- that's the most special thing in the whole world.

I'm -- I'm so excited to be able to share you with everybody who watches the show, you've been the guy doing all that.

So, Phil, probably one of the most famous things that you make is the birds.

>> Yes, they are.

>> How many -- How many birds do you think you've made?

>> Thousands.

>> So you're going to show us how to make a bird today.

>> I'm going to show you how to make a bird.

Okay?

>> Okay.

>> And I'm gonna split this down the center.

You probably want to leave, you know, 8 to 10 inches down here for the wing, depending on how long you want a wing.

>> Okay.

>> And then here you're going to try to find the center and split it in the center.

So what we're doing is we're quartering the foliage.

So there's one that's in four pieces.

And then here I'm going to do -- repeat the process.

You want to find foliage that is about the same width so you don't have... >> Right.

>> ...different sizes when you're weaving.

It just makes for a nicer bird.

Okay.

So then what I'll do is I'll start here on the left side, and I will bring this over on a right angle.

So this would be number one which will go under two over three and under the fourth one, and I'll pull it all the way down.

Then I'll take the second piece and I'll take that, and I'll bend it back and pinch it, and then that'll go under the next piece.

Under and over.

So now we have the left wing.

Then I take the right wing.

This is turned over.

So this is the natural side.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And this side is the shady side.

>> Okay.

>> Then we want to repeat the process on a right angle.

Pinch it.

And then we'll go under, over, under, just like we did on this one, except this is the back side.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Next piece, I'm going to take it and fold it back.

Pinch it.

And then I'm going to go under and over.

Okay.

Now what I'll do is I'll take this one and I'll turn it over in my right hand.

And then I'll pick this up with my left hand.

I'm going to rotate this over like this so it's kind of like a tic-tac-toe box.

I'm going to take this piece and I'm going to go under and over.

I'm weaving that together.

And this other piece that's on my right side will go over and under.

Then I'm going to pull these closer together.

This one is over.

So this one is going to be where, J?

Under and...over.

>> Over.

>> Okay?

>> Uh-huh.

>> So then on this one, this is under.

So I'll take this and go where?

>> Over.

>> Over and under.

>> And under.

>> Perfect.

We're going to join these together just like this nice and tight.

Now we're going to turn it over on the back side.

I'll take this piece and I'll pull it over to the right.

And then I'm going to take the piece on the right and I'm going to turn it over here so I have a heart.

Then I'll take this piece and go here.

And if I'm going to weave it, it's going to be what, J?

>> Under, over.

>> Under and over.

Now my left side.

And pull this piece up.

So when we weave, we're going to go under and over.

>> Over.

>> Okay?

And then I'm going to take the next piece.

And that's going to go over and under.

I'll take this piece over... and under.

>> Under.

>> And over and?

>> Under.

>> Under.

Okay.

And I'm just going to pull that one up.

And this last piece here will go under and?

>> Over.

>> Over and?

>> Under.

>> Under.

>> And over.

>> And...over.

I'll take these two pieces on my left side.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> They'll go through the big cavity that's there in the middle.

And I'll pull those through towards my body.

This will be the tail.

Then I'll take the two pieces on the right side.

>> Right.

>> And we'll take and fold those under and through the back side.

So we always repeat, you know, everything from side to side.

Now here I'll take these two pieces.

>> Uh-huh.

>> And we'll go -- You can flip it over if you like, or you can just leave it like this and -- >> Right.

>> And then I'll slowly start pulling these.

If you try to pull them all at one time, it'll bind up, so... >> Oh, okay.

>> Yeah.

>> So, yeah, pulling one at a time.

>> Yeah, slow and steady will get you ready.

>> So you made a double bird for my mom and dad.

And when my mom passed away, we cleaned out her bedroom.

And in her bedroom, tucked up on the mirror on her dressing table was that double bird from Phil Rulloda.

So, yeah.

They are very special things.

They are very special things that people keep forever.

>> Now, the simplest thing to do on this... is just to make an overhand knot.

>> Okay.

>> Like this.

And then just cut this for a little beak, and that would go on to make... >> Okay.

>> ...a girl bird.

>> Okay.

>> And then if you do it the other direction... >> Oh.

>> ...then that's the boy bird.

And we just make, like, this overhand knot, except on this one we'll pull it up like this real tight.

And then I'll just shred this out real fine so... >> Oh, okay.

>> Then here on the wings... >> Okay.

>> ...I'm just going to cut this out.

>> And you created... >> Oh, my God.

>> ...a double bird for Kelly and I.

>> Yeah.

>> That's -- It's amazing, Phil.

So now we have a treasured keepsake, as well.

>> Hey, there you go.

>> It's wonderful.

So we have a very special Featured Flower this week.

We always do a Featured Flower.

We talk about trivia, but we have never had a flower that was named after someone nor had the someone that the flower is named after on the show with the flower.

We have the Phil Rulloda anthurium and the Cathy Rulloda anthurium.

How does one get a flower named after themself?

>> I guess you get kind of lucky, and if people know that an anthurium's your favorite flower, then it kind of ties together.

>> Dr. Tessie Amore developed these two breeds, correct?

>> Correct.

>> She's at the University of Hawaii, and she has a research facility.

And she did the hybridization and culturing of these two flowers.

And so people know about the anthurium.

This is the flower part.

And this is the -- this is the -- the... >> Spathe.

>> ...the spathe, yeah.

So the spadix has those little flowers on it.

Is this an obake?

>> Yes, it is.

>> Variety, which means?

>> Ghost flower.

>> It's very large.

And how beautiful.

And it's like that -- It's a -- It's a wonderful rich -- Is it, what, crimson?

Would I call it crimson?

>> Cardinal, crimson.

Very, very rich, gorgeous deep tones.

>> And so Cathy is a cherry-colored.

I love that.

It's -- It is a really pretty red color, isn't it?

>> Bright red.

>> It's kind of like -- Yeah.

It's like lipstick.

>> Sassy.

>> [ Laughs ] >> I like it.

>> One of the things that we do when we talk about Featured Flowers, what's -- what -- what are some of the characteristics of an anthurium?

>> Anthuriums would normally last anywhere from three to four weeks.

This one lasts more than six weeks, Cathy?

>> Yes, that's the baseline.

>> Wow.

Yes.

Wow.

>> Of course, if you're a romantic, then the heart shape is about everything.

>> Well, the other thing is the texture, and, you know, because it's so glossy and shiny, I mean, people do really still, some that don't know the flower, think it's not real.

The one thing that we think of anthurium is to give them space.

>> Right.

>> Because they -- they are just -- you know, they need -- >> It's a statement flower.

>> It is.

It is.

>> Yeah, yeah.

For "Life in Bloom," we always make a flower crown.

So I have a few Cathy in... >> Oh, hey!

>> ...a flower crown.

>> Oh, my gosh.

>> Alright?

>> Oh, goodness.

>> Who is that?

Can I kiss the bride?

>> You may, you may.

[ Laughter ] That's wonderful.

So this is blending of two cultures.

>> Yes.

In honor of Phil's parents.

>> Okay.

>> His father was born in the Philippines, and then his mom's family was from Poland.

So there's a very famous dish from the Philippines called pancit.

>> Okay.

>> And it's basically a stir-fry with cold noodles.

Instead of using a traditional protein like a pork or chicken... >> Uh-huh.

>> ...we're going to use a Polish sausage, kielbasa.

>> I remember Phil would always talk about, "I'm Pol-ipino."

>> Yes.

>> So this is the first -- >> It's the mash-up of Polish and Filipino.

So to start out, we used just a little bit -- I mean, 2 tablespoons of oil.

We're going to add in the kielbasa that I have already sliced into quarter-inch pieces.

So it's going to mix in very nicely.

And you want to get this to the point where it's just slightly brown.

>> So we have five cloves of garlic chopped up in there along with the kielbasa.

>> Yes.

Chopped onion.

>> A whole chopped yellow onion.

>> A whole chopped yellow onion.

>> So this takes about 10 to 12 minutes.

>> Altogether, maybe 15.

Don't rush it, because you want a tiny bit of char on the kielbasa because it just gives it a much better texture.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> I think time to add the soy sauce.

And I'm just gonna add that in and let it cook for a moment.

We have chicken stock.

We're going to use a cup.

And then we have our carrots.

And I just used some shredded carrots that were ready -- already made at the supermarket.

If you're going to use the shredded carrots, you do want to make sure you get your cabbage similarly in size so that they cook -- >> So they get done at the same time.

>> Yes.

>> So I'm going to mix this up nicely, and let's add our green onions.

>> Okay.

>> You take three green onions.

>> Got it.

>> This is not a traditional ingredient for a pancit, is the hoisin sauce.

It's an Asian sauce.

You can pick it up at the supermarket already done.

We just want to add a little bit.

It's a little thicker, a little tiny bit of sweet.

You could do 1 to 2 tablespoons.

>> Okay.

>> And this should cook down in 3 to 5 minutes at the most.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> These are Thai rice noodles that I had precooked these.

>> Okay.

>> Normally you would want to take them straight from the rinsing them and putting them in.

You do want to add them in just a little at a time.

>> So now this is ready.

So shall we make a cocktail?

>> Perfect.

>> So it's truly Flower Cocktail Hour.

And our flower today is a hibiscus.

They're in a simple syrup.

>> Yes.

>> So we're going to do some vodka.

>> Yes.

>> 'Cause this is a martini.

So we use 2 ounces of vodka for each person.

We are going to use a few drops of bitters.

There we go.

And we're going to do a little squeeze of lime in there.

>> Yep.

>> And then we're going to shake it.

Alright.

>> You're going to see the color develop there.

>> Oh, I love it.

>> Isn't that pretty?

>> It's so pretty.

>> Kind of pretty in pink.

>> Oh, they're beautiful.

They're such a pretty color.

>> We only have one more thing to add.

>> Okay.

I'm ready.

What is it?

Oh, stop.

>> Real hibiscus flowers... >> Reddish hibiscus.

>> ...which are edible.

>> Yeah.

So let's taste.

Cathy, this is so good.

I love it.

>> Love these kind of flavors.

>> Mmm!

This is so good.

Okay, so shall we try a hibiscus... >> Yes.

>> ...martini?

>> Yum!

>> Cheers, my dear.

>> Cheers.

>> Thank you for all your hospitality and for your friendship and all the love that you and Phil share.

It's just wonderful.

It's -- I love you guys.

>> Oh, love you, too.

>> Oh, that's yummy.

>> I think it's good.

>> Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

And now it's time for my favorite part of the show, "Flowers from You" the viewers.

Today I have arrangements from viewer Cheryl Hayes of Portola Hills, California.

Cheryl is a graduate of Phil Rulloda's design school and watches "Life in Bloom" on PBS KOCE and Create TV on KCET.

And she sent in these remarkable arrangements.

I love the vertical orchid arrangement.

Cheryl tells me that she grew the orchids on her kitchen windowsill.

This tropical arrangement is her first, and I think she knocked it out of the park.

Wow!

Cheryl was inspired by one of my YouTube videos for this horizontal asymmetrical arrangement... and this contemporary green anthurium arrangement, using some unique foliage techniques she learned from Phil and Cathy.

These are simply exquisite, Cheryl.

You're an amazing flower designer.

Thank you.

I love to see flower arrangements created by you that were inspired by "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom."

We call them "Schwankes" after a viewer's nickname.

Send them to [email protected].

That's the letter J at the letter U-Bloom.com.

And watch for more Schwankes on upcoming shows.

What a special treat to spend the day with Phil and Cathy.

I sincerely hope you found some very special flower inspiration from our visit.

I know they both continue to inspire me.

For "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.

Phil made shrimp cocktail for us.

>> Oh, wonderful.

>> As only Phil can.

Right?

It's a little woven shrimp with the little papyrus.

He's -- So I still have the shrimp he made for me when I went to his school in my -- in my toolkit.

>> Oh, wow.

>> Yeah, and he made it for me, like, one late afternoon.

He goes, "Here, and you can also make shrimp."

It was, like, awesome.

So, yeah, it's -- Look at how cute it is.

>> Out of hala from Hawaii.

>> Yeah.

>> That's great, too cute.

>> It's amazing.

So we have shrimp cocktail to start with.

>> Shrimp cocktail.

I would not recommend eating it, but it's certainly something -- >> It's decorative.

>> Feast for the eyes.

>> Feast for the eyes.

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

>> Visit uBloom.com to access all episodes of "Life in Bloom" plus exclusive flower videos, J's newsletter and blog.

Find recipes, flower tips, techniques, and much more.

Be sure to follow "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" on social media.

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

At home.

At work.

Or anytime.

CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... PassionRoses... Suntory Flowers.

Closed caption funding provided by fabulousflorals.com.