As a wedding floral designer, I work with exotic flowers from all over the world throughout the year, but I'm still thrilled when the wild violets bloom in my garden each Spring. I have patches of almost every color ... violet, deep blue, spotted, and white.

I love to gather small bouquets to fill little vases in my home, and each May Day, I hang a paper cone filled with violets framed with wild ginger leaves, on my mom's front door.

Wild violets are abundant, but the season is short, usually mid April through mid May. One of my favotite projects is to weave fresh violets into a lovely braided garland, to accent a birthday or Mother's Day cake. A few years ago, Martha Stewart published a recipe for sugared flowers ... pansies, Johnny - jump - ups, nasturtium blossoms, unsprayed rose petals, and, of course, violets, can be candied. I decided this would be the perfect complement to the violet garland, and have been making them ever since.

Last week,early on a gorgeous but very chilly morning, Heather Krakora, who is just an amazing photographer, met me at Hoyt Park. We found a rustic stone table in the woods, and staged an imaginary occasion inspired by the season ... perhaps a small backyard wedding? Heather captured these wonderful images.

Chris Olson, owner of Chris' Confections, provided the exquisite (and delicious) cake, covered in dotted fondant and layered with blueberry and lemon fillings.

We only needed a few scattered sugared violets and sweet Melissa leaves on top, and the fresh violet garland circling the base, to create this presentation

To complete the picture, I designed an early Spring wedding bouquet in shades of blue, lavender, violet and white, using locally grown tulips, ranunculus, muscari, forget - me - nots, heleborus, tiny roses and lambs ears. I finished this bouquet with deep blue - violet hand dyed silk ribbon, for a romantic yet modern touch.

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To Make Sugared Violets:

- Gather fresh wood violets (not african violets!), gently spray them clean, and set them out in a vase of water overnight, to dry.

Other edible flowers include pansies, Johnny - jump - ups, nasturtium blossoms, chamomile, rose petals and stock blossoms, as well as mint, lemon balm (sweet Melissa) and sage leaves ... pesticide free, of course!

- Hold the flower by the stem, near the blossom (or, cut the stem off and hold the blossom with tweezers).

- Using pasteurized liquid egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites or merangue powder, and a tiny brush, gently paint all surfaces of the blossom (front and back) with a thin coating of egg white.

- Sprinkle superfine sugar all over the flower, covering every bit ... if the sugar does not stick in any spot, recoat with egg white and sugar. Any area not covered will turn brown. A light coating of sugar will allow the flower's color to show, while a thicker coating will produce a more sugary appearance. You can see both effects on our cake.

- Place the blossom on a tray covered with waxed paper or parchment. If you left the stem on, pinch it off as you lay the blossom on the paper.

- Allow to dry for twelve to twenty - four hours.

- Store in an air tight tin for up to one month.

To Make a Braided Violet Garland:

- Pick fresh violets with the longest stems you can find.

- Give the stem ends a fresh cut, and keep the flowers in a glass of water while you make the garland. Try to work in a cool or shady place, to help keep the flowers from wilting while you braid them. You can mist the braid with water every now and then.

- Beginning with three violets,start to braid the stems together.

-Add another violet each time you bring a side stem over the center stem. You will be braiding two or three stems at a time.

- Soon, the braid will start to hold together. By adding new violets in, you will always have some long stems to braid as previously added stems become too short.

- You can add extra violets into any bare spots.

- Make the braid long enough to go around a cake pan the same size as your cake.

- When the braid is long enough, secure the end stems with a small rubber band.

- Mist the braid with water ... violets can absorb water through the petals.

- Lay the braid in a circle, on a damp piece of paper towel, on a plate. Put the plate in a sealed plastic bag, and place it in the refrigerator for an hour, or overnight.

- Once placed around a cake, the braid will stsy fresh for two or three hours in cooler temperatures. Outdoors, on a warm day, place the braid around the cake immediately before serving ... it's just for the presentation!