Flora in Winter 2009!

Save the date folks! Flora in Winter 2009 will be at the Worcester Art Museum from Thursday, February 5, 2009 through Sunday, February 8, 2009. Thought I'd tease you with a few photos of my past contributions.

The artwork packets are in the mail, so I'm anxiously waiting to see what the committee chose for us this year. A committee goes through the museum and decides which piece in each gallery they'd like to highlight with flowers. They then send this list to the flower arrangers who then quickly compile their list of favorites and keep their fingers crossed that they get a piece that they really want.

I am usually the last one to do this, so generally end up with the artwork that no one else wants. A blessing and a curse! It's usually something "challenging" - ha! It really forces you to be inventive when it's not an artwork you love.

In addition to decorating the restrooms, and doing a piece to go with an artwork, I will also be giving a demonstration on Saturday February 7th. The subject matter has yet to be determined, so if you have any thoughts on what you'd like to see, leave me your comments!

Dahlia

I don't consider myself an artistic photographer, just a gal who takes snapshots, but these photos of a dahlia came out pretty well, so I thought I'd share.

I'm fascinated with the way the petals are rolled...

...and by how much they look like mini callas without spadices in this closeup view.

This is my favorite photo!

Dahlias, like many flowers, are named for a botanist, in this case 18th century Swedish botanist Anders Dahl who was a student of Carolus Linnaeus.

Wachusett Mountain Wedding

Our bride carried a simple bouquet of orange dahlias and white mini callas. We were incredibly lucky that last week's frost warning didn't pan out and we were still able to get fabulous dahlias!

A touch of brocade ribbon with a fall leaf design wraps the stems of all the bouquets.

The maids were in burnt orange/rust colored dresses which had a chocolate accent. While the colors were the same, all the dress styles were different, so we created a different bouquet for each - 'Friendship' roses, leucodendron, gaillardia, mokara orchids, and 'Mango' mini callas. Brown hypericum berries unify the look.

Groom's boutonniere in white mini calla and best man with 'Mango' mini calla.

Wedding cake with gum paste fall leaves and mini calla blossoms by Betty Casey at On the Rise Baking.

Centerpieces were simple fall affairs, each featuring a different main blossom. Our fave, of course, were the ones with dahlias!

Bride and groom did these neat pumpkin placecards!

I can't take much credit for this display, as it was a very last minute addition to the event due to the ceremony being moved to a tent because of the wet weather, but I thought I'd share it with you. We had hoped a few blossoms and the mountain backdrop would be all the decorations the ceremony needed, but the in laws quickly added the mum plants and corn stalks to help distract from the ski lift in the back.

We hope our flowers were a bright spot in the wet and gloom that enshrouded Mt. Wachusett this weekend. It may rain, but the wedding must go on!

Fresh from the Market

Chinese lanterns are in!

Gorgeous brown cymbidium orchids and cattails...

...and leonotis. It's beginning to look a lot like fall at Sprout!

In addition, we also have this week:

burgundy spray orchids
lady's mantle
orange pin cushion protea
sedum
amaranthus in burgundy and gold - locally grown
psiticorum
green spiders
'Athos' lime green poms
birds of paradise
bronze football mums
kochia
stock
campanula - purples and pinks
dahlias - going fast!
kale - 'Pink Crane'
sunflowers
anthurium in assorted fall colors
rainbow asters
burgundy astilbe
red ginger
godetia
mauve kangaroo paws
magnolia foliage
monstera leaves
bells of Ireland
dendrobium orchids
oncidium orchids
baby green hydrangea
white hydrangea
curly willow
cattails
'Tropical Amazon' roses - orange
rover mums
hybrid delphinium
broom corn

Happy Birthday to Us!

Sprout turns 8 years old next week! And we're celebrating!!

Thursday, 25 September
10-7pm (that's right, I'm going to stay a little later for those who have a commute!)

We'll be having cupcakes from Sweet!

And if you mention the Sprout blog that day, we'll give you 20% off your cash and carry wrapped bouquet!

Fresh from the Market

I'm going to try to do this at home from memory, so I may miss a few things!

It's beginning to feel like fall both weather-wise and flower-wise, so brown sunflowers fit right in! Picture to come tomorrow after they've opened a bit. A lot of flowers don't look their best until they've rehydrated for a day.

In addition, we also have:

more sunflowers - yellow with brown centers and yellow with yellow centers
rainbow asters - hot pink and purple, really cute baby asters
beauty asters - purple
broom corn
burgundy hypericum berries
red ginger
dahlias - getting to the end of the season
zinnias - ditto
dendrobium orchids
bells of Ireland
'Athos' poms
green spider mums
peachy mini callas
'Miracle' roses - orange color
2 shades of hot pink spray roses
'Shocking' lilies - creamy yellow with cranberry throats
oncidium orchids
cymbidium orchids
psitcorum
white hydrangea
blue hydrangea
stock
birds of paradise
saracena lilies
tweedia
song of India
a burgundy orchid, the name of which escapes me!
leucodendron - two shades of burgundy
sedum
local hydrangeas in the sage green, blue, plum tones
white wax flower

I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff, so I may need to revise this list tomorrow!

Wedding - Tower Hill Botanic Garden

This week we had a wedding at Tower Hill Botanic Garden which featured lots of herbs, but with a more casual gardeny look as compared to the wedding we did last week.

The bride's bouquet was a delicate combination of dainty white and blue flowers - ranunculus, freesia, veronica, lysimachia, lavender, bay leaves, tweedia (the pretty star shaped light blue flower), candy tuft, rosemary, variegated geranium leaves, and sweet pea.

Close up of the bark covered wire we used to wrap the stems of the bride's bouquet - a rustic touch!

The maid of honor had a similar bouquet to the bride's, but with blueberry colored ribbon on the stems, and next to that is the mother of the bride's nosegay. More and more mothers are opting for something small they can hold in their hands as opposed to the more traditional corsage. A lot of dresses really don't lend themselves to a pin on corsage - either the fabric is too delicate to bear the weight of flowers or the cut of the dress doesn't lend itself to flowers.

The aisle was lined with herbal clusters of rosemary and bay leaves tied with blueberry satin bows.

Heirloom pumpkins, herbs, and ivy plants adorn the massive stone mantle in Tower Hill's Great Hall.

Each table had a different herb plant, an arrangement of herbs and flowers, miniature pumpkins, vines, and ivy.

The guest's placecards were also herb plants. They needed to match the plant with their name on it to a table with a corresponding plant. The bride and groom were very specific in their desire to have all the plants in recycled pots which were a bit crusty and dirty.

Empty terra cotta saucers await the placecard plants. This was definitely one of our earthier weddings!

Fresh from the Market

Sedum is finally showing color this week. Until now, it's been rather green. It's a nice warm shade of pink that complements the fall colors that are starting to come in.

Really liking the sedum with this 'Jester' leucodendron!

I also just had to pick up a few of these banksia. They kind of remind me of giant fuzzy acorns and the foliage is just as cool as the flowers. Banksia are in the protea family and are named after the botanist Joseph Banks who was with James Cook on his first expedition to Australia. Blossoms are 7-10" long!

In addition, we also have this week:

tweedia
dahlias - 3 colors
dendrobium orchids
large sunflowers in the "classic" yellow with brown centers and with yellow centers - from New Jersey
'Orange Unique' roses
coxcomb - hot pink and red
spray roses - orange and 2 toned pink
calcynia
spring asters
psiticorum
banksia
leucodendron
sedum
dianthus
red ginger
light green spider mums
'Athos' poms
godetia - 3 colors
matsumoto asters in cherry red
yellow kangaroo paws
kale - purple and white, Dutch
bouvardia - purplish pink
broom corn
campanula - pink and purple
cymbidium orchids - brown and lime green

A Painterly Approach

Sometimes we get asked to do something really interesting! A client was having an opening of a showing of her artwork and asked us to create a painter's palette for the after party.

The flower paint splotches are purple and magenta asters, yellow, orange, and red zinnias, and lime green poms. The brush has a bamboo handle with bear grass bristles. For scale, the palette was about 2'x3'.

Another Florist Bites the Dust

Frank's Flower Shop on Grafton Street has closed.

I can think of at least 6 flower shops in Worcester off the top of my head which have closed (or been absorbed by other shops which is the same thing) in the past 8 years since I opened Sprout - Houston's, Milton's, Frank's, Marche Marche, Fresia, Early's.

This is part of a sad national trend in how flowers are purchased. I just read on another florist's blog, that the Society of Ameican Florists has released some statistics - the number of retail flower shops is down from 1996-2006 by 24.3%. This is HUGE.

This is an industry sea change. Flower sales have been flat, so the size of the pie hasn't changed, but retail florists are seeing a smaller share of the pie as folks do more and more of their buying at big box stores.

I know at Sprout we try to compete on quality, creativity, price, and hopefully a more engaging shopping experience. But as people continue to shop with their feet or cars really, is it any wonder we're lacking a vibrant urban center?

Why would anyone want to open a mom-and-pop store right now?

Wedding at Harding Allen Estate - Barre MA

One of this week's weddings was out in Barre at the Harding Allen Estate. We had another wedding earlier this week, but it was barely done before it was out of the shop, so no photos. :-(

Bridal bouquet all in shades of ivory, featuring 'Vendela' roses, white dahlias, Queen Anne's lace, pieris (that's the stuff that looks a bit like lily of the valley), alstroemeria, mint, sage, freesia, phylica (that soft furry looking stuff), and seeded eucalyptus.

Close up of the ribbon treatment on the bride's bouquet. A little more embellished than most bouquets.

The maids were in burgundy gowns, but the bride wanted to keep the flowers bright. We have assorted colors of dahlias, ladies' mantle, roses, statice, zinnias (on the other side of the bouquet!), and sage foliage.

Herbs were a special touch that this bride wanted in all of her floral pieces. I love working with herbs! Customers are always commenting on how terrific the flower shop smells when they walk in, but when you work with flowers all day, every day, you get desensitized to the smell of the flowers to the point where you can barely smell them. So anything that's not a floral scent, like herbs, really stands out to me!

The couple are going to Italy on their honeymoon and wanted everything to have the feel of Italian abundance. We decided the centerpieces had to have sunflowers, lemons, and herbs! There were also dahlias, magenta godetia and roses (which sadly photographed orange here), 2 kinds of orchids, 'Jade' trachellium, hypericum berries, and 'Athos' poms.

Cake with a folk art look by Something Sweet by Michelle. It photographed a little darker than it was in person - the decorations are in a burgundy that matches the maids' dresses. Bride and groom cake topper is a family heirloom.

Abbondanza!

A Fair to Remember

Went to the Spencer Fair on Labor Day - after the poultry house and the sheep shearing we were ready for flowers! Blue ribbon marigolds in the youth category. From the next generation of flower lovers...

Champion dahlia - Wow! Came the last day of the fair and it's still going.

Zinnias - because you know I'm obsessed! Sigh...no room on our deck to grow them myself...

Husband wants to know how he can be a fudge judge on the country fair circuit. He wasn't as interested in this confection though as some of the more classic chocolate fudge varieties!

Fresh from the Market

This week we have some fabulous anthurium in two shades of green. The larger ones are a soft green with pinky-peach. The solid green are more medium sized.

In addition, we also have:

blue iris
lavender stock
white freesia
red hypericum berries
godetia in several colors
‘Jade’ trachellium
bells of Ireland
dendrobium orchids
oncidium orchids
‘Starfighter’ lilies
‘Yelloween’ lilies
green poms
dahlias in lots of colors
large sunflowers
mini callas – peach
alstroemeria
celosia
coxcomb
matsumoto asters
spray roses – Veriflora – sustainably grown
sedum
zinnias – because you know I can’t resist them!
quaking grasses
leucodendron
psiticorum
green spider mums
Dutch houttuynia foliage
sarracena
red ginger
purple campanula
gypsy dianthus
hydrangeas – seasonal plum-ish tones