>> "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... Dollar Tree.

♪ >> Today on "Life in Bloom," my affinity for Cocker Spaniels is in the spotlight.

We'll review collectibles, including vases and containers, arrange flowers in them, and create a collar of flowers, cast a pawprint stepping stone for the garden, and make a minty frozen treat.

♪ ♪ I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

Today, we are again going to the dogs -- specifically, these dogs, Cocker Spaniels.

Yeah, I know.

I have been fortunate enough to have four Cocker Spaniels that have graced my life, currently, with these two, Eleanor and Ladybird.

Many feel that once you've discovered a favorite breed of dog, you stick with them.

Whether you prefer Labradors or Great Danes, Chihuahuas, or these, known as patron saints of merriment.

Most will agree that dogs add immeasurably to our lives, including my life, lived among flowers.

♪ You've seen our Cocker Spaniels Eleanor and Ladybird on the show several times.

And Cocker Spaniels are collectible for me.

The Cocker Spaniel was the number-one breed of dog for over 25 years, starting in 1936.

According to the American Kennel Club, a black Cocker named Brucie helped popularize the breed by twice winning Westminster's Best in Show, in 1940 and 1941.

Here's an example of an ad that features Brucie, the one that won the American Kennel Awards.

Ads like this are available, and you can frame them and hang them as art in your home.

But the Cocker Spaniel heyday came in the 1950s.

The Cocker was the AKC's most popular breed of the decade.

American pottery figurines of several breeds by several different makers enjoyed a golden era from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Here's an example of the Shawnee Pottery.

These Cocker Spaniels come in several different colors.

And they're a planter, so you can plant them or make arrangements.

I love paint-by-number collectibles, and I found this one of a black Cocker Spaniel.

It looks just like our first Cocker Spaniel we had, called Lucy.

Daniel the Cocker Spaniel was the subject of a children's book in 1955.

We've got an actual copy of "Daniel the Cocker Spaniel."

It's wonderful Golden Book, and you could frame it or pass it along to your children as a keepsake.

This is a fun gift from a friend.

It says, "San Spaniel de Cocker, the Patron Saint of Merriment."

And whenever I think about a Cocker Spaniel, especially Ladybird, I know her tail's always wagging.

She certainly is a patron saint of merriment.

So, let's take one of these vintage Cocker Spaniel planters and create a flower arrangement in it today.

♪ We're creating an arrangement in a Cocker Spaniel planter.

It's one of my favorite collectibles.

This is a Shawnee Mission Pottery one, and it's on its little haunches, kind of the downward-facing dog.

It's a great container, and I love the yellow coloration.

Obviously, we've got more than enough flowers, so we're gonna use a few stems of flowers and create our bouquet, and then we'll have other stems that we can put into a vase or use for other projects.

But it's a fun way for you to use something like this.

This is a planter, and typically, they would plant it with plants.

But I've taken a piece of foam, soaked it in my flower food water, I've cut it for shape, and stuck it down in there.

I'm also gonna bevel it, 'cause that's one of the things we always do with the foam.

'Cause when we bevel it like this, we're creating a smoother surface to put flowers in.

You can see on this side how now I have a surface here and here and here where I can insert flowers.

That's much easier than just inserting here or here.

Gives me another surface area, and it's gonna give me a nice, rounder bouquet.

Since this is a mid-century modern container, I'm gonna do a mid-century modern design in it.

We'll do an asymmetrical arrangement.

That's a very traditional American-style bouquet.

It's an asymmetrical triangle that has a very strong vertical thrust in the middle.

We'll use that central vertical axis and create it with the mini carnations.

We'll start with the middle insertion and then graduate our placements all the way around the middle.

Then we'll add a stem of our Solidago.

People used to call this a filler flower, but I like to call it an accent flower 'cause I think filling up a bouquet doesn't really sound very pleasant.

This flower accents the other flowers that are in the bouquet.

So that's what I choose to say -- an accent flower.

♪ Then, we'll add our yellow spray chrysanthemums.

They're so vibrant in color, and they're a great contrast to the container.

They bring out the deep yellow inside of the mini carnations, too, and we're simply filling in between.

If you wanted to, you could do a tight cluster of flowers, just almost like a hump on the back of the Cocker Spaniel.

That's another way that you could arrange this.

But I thought it was fun to stay true to form and make it a mid-century-style design.

♪ Now we have a our beautiful little Cocker Spaniel that we can place just about anywhere.

♪ I love plants, and I think it's fun for us to use the plants to create a fun thing that would include part of our Cocker Spaniel collection.

We'll start with the little greenhouse.

This is great 'cause it has a little door that opens up.

So, we could start with a prayer plant.

That would be fun.

And we'll place it in the back.

Can put our little heart plant in front of it.

Got a little fern.

This is another type of fern.

It's a rabbit's foot fern.

♪ So, now we've got our little plants all arranged inside our greenhouse.

And then our figurine can sit inside.

So, our little greenhouse is finished.

Now let's look at a terrarium.

This is an actual terrarium that is enclosed.

Has a couple air vents on top, and we could work inside here, but we'd need really tiny plants.

And then, it closes, and the humidity creates a perfect environment inside there for our plants.

But sometimes, we have bowls that don't have tops.

I love these beveled containers like this.

And this is gonna allow my bigger plants to be part of this dog-park terrarium.

So, we'll start with rocks in the bottom for drainage.

This allows someplace for our water to go when we water it and so that the roots of the plants don't sit down in water.

Then we'll add potting soil.

And I put in just a little bit to cover up the rocks.

Then, we can add our plants.

This little tiny palm tree will go in the back.

Look at how that sets up and is gonna stick out of there.

We'll add another one on this side.

♪ I want to add some soil now so that I'm getting soil all the way around those plants.

See back there?

I want to make sure that I get soil into that spot, too.

We want to make sure that we're bringing that soil up to the same soil level... on our little potted plants.

♪ These little pots have moss on top.

The moss is super helpful, because what happens is, it holds the moisture in once the plants have been watered.

So I'll make sure that that moss sticks around inside there.

If I want to add some decorative pebbles, I can add those right now in the back.

♪ Notice how I've tucked it in right up to the soil level right here.

And then, we'll add additional soil to the front.

♪ And there's our little moss that's gonna help keep that moisture on those plants.

♪ The rocks will do the same thing.

The rocks are gonna help retain moisture in the soil.

So, now that we've got out landscaping all done, we can go ahead and water in our plants.

I like using a bottle of water or even a turkey baster because it allows me to direct it right on each plant.

♪ This way, we can monitor each of the plants and keep track of them.

Each plant might react differently and need water at a different time.

Now it's time for a little Cocker Spaniel statue.

One of our first Cocker Spaniels was Lucy, and she looked just like this statue.

She was all black, and there's a perfect little dog park to think about her.

Having fun and playing.

Another great way for us to include our collectibles and create a life in bloom.

♪ Today, we'll be making a pawprint stepping stone for the garden.

I have stepping stones like this for my other dogs, and so I wanted to make sure that I make one for Ellie and for Ladybird.

so I made one for Ellie the other day so that you can see what it looks like when it's finished.

We've placed stones inside here to form flowers, her pawprint's in the center, and we wrote our name across the top.

So I thought I'd go through the process with you and show you how easy it is to do this.

They make kits that come like this, or you could use quick-set concrete and your own form to create your own stepping stone.

I like to think about my stepping stones first.

I'm gonna do flowers again with the marbles.

And I think, for this one, we'll do the flowers across the bottom.

♪ And then, I think the pawprint will go here in the center.

And then, we need to leave room for her name up here.

And I think we can get one more flower up here on the side.

So, there we go.

Now I've got a plan.

So now I'll show you the whole process.

One of the things you need to remember is, it doesn't have to go as fast as you think.

When we're working with cement, we think, "Oh, hurry.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

But I've noticed that the longer that you take to do it, about 30 minutes is the period of time you have, then it makes it easier to write in.

You want to have it settle a little bit before you start to write, or your writing areas will fill up with water.

I suggest that you do this outside, or if you do it inside, make sure you wear a mask when you're emptying the dry concrete into your bucket.

♪ I like to use a small bucket so it's easy to move around and pour into the mold.

We'll go with a cup of water first.

♪ Now we'll mix it up.

It's always good to start with a cup of water and then go back in and add extra water about a tablespoon at a time.

Now, make sure you get to the bottom and get all the dry powder wet.

Depending on your humidity level, you'll need less water or more water, but this looks great.

It should be about the consistency of cookie dough.

We're gonna place it inside this mold.

Now, this mold isn't very stable once it's full of the concrete, so I've placed it inside the box to give it more stability so I can move it around.

We want to let it set for about two days before we unmold it.

So when we do that, this makes it easy to move about without shifting it around.

So now we're gonna pour our concrete into our mold.

This is a point that I worry, 'cause I thought, "Now, how am I ever gonna get this all straight and even?"

But once we get it pushed into all the corners, then we can tap it on the table and shake it back and forth.

♪ Again, you have plenty of time to do this, so don't panic and be like, "I have to hurry up and get everything done."

'Cause it's still quite watery.

And we want to let a little bit of that saturate in before we start to make our printing and also make our pawprint.

So this is a great time that we can add our marbles and make our flowers.

So I'll start with an orange one in the center.

We want to make sure we push them down far enough so that they will adhere in once it sets up.

If we set them on top, they'll pop off.

♪ So, this is Ladybird, and she's gonna do the pawprint.

One of the things that I would suggest for you is practice with your dog, you know?

I mean, we want to make sure that they know what they're gonna do and what's expected of them, and that's really important.

And we always tell them what we're gonna do so that I can tell her that we're gonna put her paw in something.

So, we're gonna put your paw in like that.

Yeah.

We're gonna put your paw in like that.

And that gives her an idea of what we're gonna do so that it's not a foreign idea.

Also, they're Cocker Spaniels, so we trim their paws to make sure that there's not a lot of hair down inside there so that we can get a really good impression when we deal with it.

Also, you want to be sure that you have a wash rag ready so that once you take them out of the cement, you can wipe off their paw right away.

You don't want them licking off the concrete.

Here we go.

Okay.

So, we're gonna put your paw in here.

There we go.

Good job.

You're doing so good.

Ta-da!

That's great.

My goodness sakes.

So, now, it's still not quite ready to write in, so you're gonna want to let it set up for a little bit longer, and then you're gonna let it dry for at least two days.

Then, we're able to pop this out, and we've got a wonderful stepping stone that can go right into the garden.

In about 30 minutes or so, I'll go through here and write her name in there, and then, also, add any other details that I want with my skewers.

That's the detail part.

And, again, just keep an eye on it.

Don't get too distracted, and come back and write those names in there.

Then, we'll place this in the garden, and we'll have a lifelong keepsake with a pawprint on our garden path.

♪ ♪ ♪ Flowering dogwood is a species of flowering tree native to Eastern North America and Northern Mexico.

The tree is commonly planted as an ornamental in residential and public areas because of its showy bracts and interesting bark structure.

The flower head is surrounded by four conspicuously large white pink or red petals that are broad, rounded, and often with a distinct notch at the apex.

While most of the wild trees have white bracts, some selective cultivars of this tree also have pink bracts, some even almost a true red.

They typically flower in early April, in the southern part of their range, till late April or early May in northern and high-altitude areas.

Blooming branches may be trimmed and used for arrangements.

Cut the branch with a bypass cutter.

Make a clean cut at a 45-degree angle for easy uptake of water.

♪ This dog treat has the benefit of mint as an ingredient, and it'll keep your dog's breath fresh.

We'll start by chopping up a Granny Smith apple, and we'll set that aside.

♪ Then, in our mixer, we'll add 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of coconut oil, then we'll add 1/4 cup of mint leaves.

Make sure they're organic.

And 1/4 cup of parsley leaves.

Again, organic is best.

♪ We'll blend those up in our blender until they liquefy.

♪ Then we'll add our chopped apples to the mixture.

We can pour the mixture out into a tray.

You'll want to freeze this overnight or until they're completely solid.

♪ Make sure you store the frozen treats in an airtight container in your freezer.

I create smaller ones for my dogs, but you also have the opportunity to use silicon trays and make ones that are a pawprint or a dog bone.

It's a great minty treat, and it'll keep your dog's breath nice and fresh.

♪ ♪ So, I thought it would be fun for us to make flower collars for our Cocker Spaniels.

And there's a really easy way to do this.

It's very similar to the way that I make the flower crowns here on "Life in Bloom," and we're simply going to use a collar as our base.

I created one already using artificial flowers, and it's all wrapped around this, and it's ready to be fastened on them.

And we'll do it now today with some zinnias.

So what we need are some fresh flowers, and we also need our bind wire.

So, this is a wire that's covered with craft paper.

And it's delicate enough so that it won't cut through the flowers.

We're actually gonna use the flowers short, so we don't need too much of a stem.

But don't make them too short.

You want to give yourself probably about 4 to 6 inches.

♪ So we'll start.

And what I like to do with my bind wire is, I pull it out of the center, so I put it down on the floor so that I'm always pulling it up and it's not gonna get tangled in anything else.

We'll lay about 6 inches of it down and wrap it around so that it's nice and secure.

This piece that heads down here will be bound into it, so that'll keep it secure, as well.

We'll lay our first zinnia on top and simply wrap our bind wire around it.

Next one goes on top of that, and we'll wrap our bind wire around it.

Next one.

We're just gonna continue to do it this way, all the way down the collar.

♪ You notice that I'm putting all of them on top and not on the bottom of the collar.

That way, it's not gonna change the size of the collar so it will still fit them correctly.

♪ The number of flowers are gonna be determined by the size of the dog and how big the collar is.

♪ ♪ When we get to the end, leave yourself about a foot and a half of the bind wire.

We're gonna trim off these stems.

We'll wrap this around to secure everything.

Then I make a loop with the bind wire.

That way, I can bring my wire from the other side... and secure it and twist it together so that it doesn't come loose.

I like to coat it with an antitranspirant so that we can coat it, to make sure it lasts as long as it possibly can.

It's not gonna last as long as our permanent one.

Obviously, this has no concerns.

But this one, depending upon the heat of the day and how long you have it on them will affect how long it's gonna last.

♪ ♪ Thank you for indulging me with a show featuring one of my favorite dog breeds, the Cocker Spaniel.

Try translating these projects and ideas to your favorite breed and celebrate them, along with flowers.

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

♪ >> Got it.

Got it.

♪ Ladybird.

[ Whistles ] We got them.

Good.

♪ >> There's a good girl.

>> That's a good girl.

That's a good girl.

♪ Oh, that's nice, Ellie.

>> [ Laughs ] >> There you go.

Good job.

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

>> Visit J's website, ubloom.com, for flower projects and crafts, complete recipes, behind-the-scenes videos, J's blog, flower cocktails, and more.

♪ "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... Dollar Tree.

♪ Closed-caption funding provided by Holland America Flowers.

♪ ♪