Historic Flowerpots - For the Garden Geek!

Husband and I went to Old Sturbridge Village recently. If you are a bit of a garden geek, they have a nice little exhibit going on right now though December called - Taking Root: The Growing Business of Gardening in the 1800s.

The new wealth of a young nation fueled a gardening obsession in early 19th century New England. There was a growing demand for plants, greenhouses, gardening tools, gardening catalogs, and flowerpots. Who knew?!

The exhibit includes a selection of New England made redware flowerpots, much like you can see being made in the village itself.

An assortment of handtools which are not largely different from what we use now. OK, those hand shears kind of scare me - we saw a village interpreter shearing a sheep with something very similar!

There are also some novelty pots. Don't you love the hedgehog crocus forcing pots?! Wish they had those in the gift shop. Will have to Google them. :-)

I adore this print of a sweet little outfit to garden in! Gardening for pleasure was definitely for the leisure set.

Check this out if you're going to Sturbridge Village, and FYI there are discount admission coupons available at MassVacation!

Quick Pic - Graduation Flowers

Quick shot of some flowers we did for a recent graduation held at the Hanover Theatre. It always seems when it comes to large scale event work, no matter how large a piece looks in my shop, it can always be bigger!

DIY Bride

We have our first DIY wedding today, or at least the first on this scale. I'm sure we must have had one here or there before, but this bride needed flowers abundantly!

These quick shots are the "before" pictures of her flowers. (I hope she'll send me some "after" shots!) If you're DIY-ing it, your flowers are probably going to come in bunches much like you see here, so you're going to have to load up on buckets to keep them in until you're ready to use them.

Our bride picked up her blossoms yesterday - she was one of the most laid back brides I've ever worked with, which is certainly to her advantage. Doing your own flowers for a wedding can be rather stressful as everything is generally done only the day before, very last minute. I don't know, maybe she has a team of stressed out friends and family who are frantically putting flowers together while she calmly sips a cocktail and watches the beauty unfold!

Best wishes on your day Liz!

Sample Centerpiece - A "Tropicana" Wedding

Quick pic of a recent sample centerpiece for a "Tropicana" wedding coming up. A bright ray of much needed sunshine!

Sprout Yard Sale!

Having a yard sale tomorrow people! Saturday, June 27, 9-3. I've run out of room and stuff must go away!!!

Everything will be really cheap - Francoise is doing the pricing and she has flea market genes in her family. ;-)

There are vases, some plants that need more love than I have to give them, all kinds of containers, ribbon, Tibetan flags (I know! How did I end up w/those?), birch bark and birch logs...I can't remember what else!

Weather should be dry, so when you take a break from mowing the lawn, check us out!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

"One day event insurance" - like for when it rains on your wedding day?!

(Spotted on the way to one of our rained upon weddings...)

Pretty in Pink Wedding - Zukas Hilltop Barn

This wedding, while on a gloomy and misty day (it's beginning to feel like Seattle here!), made for good light to take these bouquet shots. The bride was simple and unfussy in her tastes and requested peonies and freesia, and a bouquet in numerous shades of pink, with just a little white.

Contrast this with the maid of honor bouquet which, like the bridesmaids was more white than pink.

Peonies of all sorts, 'Vendela', 'Hot Escimo', and 'Escimo' roses, sweet pea, freesia, and oops - I forgot the name of the hot pink rose!

Could anything be more girly than lots of pink? And peonies?! And, yes, this bride likes carnations and asked for them - happy to oblige!

Detail of the bride and groom's chairs. Just a little something I added at the last minute to finish things off. :-)

Again, not so great lighting here, but a little taste of how the Zukas Hilltop Barn tent looked. I have to say, everyone on the staff remarked on the simple, classic color scheme of navy with pink. Hope the bride was as pleased as they were!

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

One year of blogging!

How time flies when you're noodling around on the interwebs! A year ago blogging seemed like huge a stretch for a Luddite such as myself, but I am in the recovering Luddite phase and now I Twitter and Facebook too. I knew I had a lot to say, but never thought I'd have 202 posts in a year - whew!

Here's to another year of our flower conversation!!!

Wedding - Newport RI

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - I've had computer issues, Picasa (photo program) issues, internet provider issues. Bleh.

We've been doing tons of event work, but much of the time I've been getting there before the venue was ready for us and had to leave the flowers in boxes, or I've had to set up in the dark, or there just hasn't been time to snap any photos. It's been a busy spring!

But at last, things are coming together a little bit, and I'm backed up with posts. Finally!



Today I bring you a few photos from a wedding we did in Rhode Island this weekend. No time to photograph the wedding party flowers, time just evaporates when you have to factor in a 2 hour drive, missed road signs (it was foggy!), and stopping at the wrong hotel. Hey, it was nearly identical to its sister hotel across the road whose sign was hidden! The flowers did get there!

This venue had lovely ocean views with windows on three sides. Sadly, there were no lights on so these photos were the best of the bunch. We had half up and half down centerpieces. I was hoping for a photo that would capture that look for you, because it's a good option for folks who like to see flowers at every level, but it was not to be.

The cocktail area did have lights on, but we had to share a table temporarily with the dessert vendor as we were both pressed for space. Any how, bright colors sure made the very neutral room pop!

Petal Pusher!

How sweet is this? Spotted this bike at my nephew's high school graduation as we left the football field. Pretty snazzy painted up in Murdock High (Winchendon MA) blue!

I have a 1961 Raleigh 3 speed in the garage which I've used as a display in the shop, but it never occurred to me to give it a paint job!

Wedding Survey

I've found myself involved with a forum for professional florists lately and as you can imagine there is much discussion about brides and weddings!

One of the recent subjects was about how florists with retail bricks and mortar stores can distinguish themselves from home based businesses selling flowers out of their houses. Rather than just knock them for not putting in all the effort and expense we do to maintain retail stores, we hope to come up with some ways that make a retail florist a better choice.

To that end, I'd thought I'd survey any brides who come to this site and ask what's the number one quality they're looking for in their wedding florist. I know we're all hoping creativity comes out on top, but I honestly think that there are many factors in the decision and won't be too surprised if it's something else!

Technical Dependency

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been without broadband for days now and dial up just doesn't cut it - no uploading of photos to Blogger, no Twitter. It's just no fun talking about flowers without photos!

To say Charter has been less than helpful in resolving the issue would be quite an understatement.

I have not forgotten you!

Preservation Worcester House Tour - Worcester's Best

Preservation Worcester held its aptly titled "Worcester's Best" house tour last weekend and we were delighted to be asked to participate by creating a few pieces to add to the decor of some of the homes. This piece was in in the, ahem, formal foyer of one of the homes. Our charming tour greeter certainly knew how to dress for the occasion!

As close as I've ever gotten to creating a Flemish still life! Just needed a book, a magnifying glass, and a little beetle to finish off the display. ;-)

I have to say this was one arrangement that looked far better on location than it did in the shop. I wasn't too crazy about it at work, it seemed blah and kind of meh. But the lighting and colors in this space really brought it to life and it seemed like I must have had the carpet right under me while designing it.

No one knew what to call this tiered flower dish. Is it an epergne? We're not sure, but we decided that filled with flowers this definitely looked like some kind of wedding cake. I like when the home owner gives me the chance to play with something different.

And in the library on the leather coffee table, just a simple bowl with a few spare branches of tulip tree and a couple 'Athos' poms and stones to cover my mechanics. I'm not sure I've ever seen tulip tree as a cut flower before, and I was a little nervous about how well it would hold up. I purchased it on Wednesday and this pic was taken Sunday and I have to say that I am well impressed. I had no buds drop and in fact, many of the buds opened. I would definitely get this again!

From an elegant c.1900 mansion, to a more modern home. I did not get to see this house in advance, only got a bare bones description of it and some suggestions of what might work from a committee member via an email. Well, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the flowers went with the decor!

I was told they had contemporary art, including a red gas station Pegasus on one wall, but no one mentioned the Keith Haring pieces. This dark, back lit photo shows how a strong gesture can be just as important as color and texture in a floral arrangement. Who knew my wavy container and leaves would be right on with the Haring men's movements?! So cool!

View from the other side, here you can see the colors. This arrangement was made in 3 pieces - the black base, and two separate flower elements. I conceived the flowers placed differently than they are shown here, but the instructions I sent for set up were mislaid somewhere along the way and this is how the home owner placed them. And it still works!

BTW, the black base - a wooden wine rack. A very last minute (like 30 minutes prior to designing) inspiration. You never know what will grab you and give you the direction for an arrangement!

Fresh From the Flower Market

I have a thing for super seasonal flowers, which this week includes foxgloves. Completely old fashioned, been around for centuries, and also known by the Latin - digitalis - yes, like the heart medication. I know digitalis makes my heart flutter! As do the fab mini callas (really maxi callas, as they're pretty tall).

I'm also loving the bearded iris which are out right now. I think I bought 6 different colors, because you know I had to have them all!

In addition, we also have:
ginger - red
light green spider mums
'Athos' poms
white oriental lily
blue, white, and green hydrangea
peonies!!! from New Jersey
stock - California
iris - California
dusty miller - California
lisianthus - California again
phlox - Israel
bells of Ireland - California
green kangaroo paw - California
gallardia - NJ
aspidistra
umbrella fern
tuberose - care to guess where from?! CA
sunflower - three sizes/types
gerbera - Canada
campanula - CA
chocolate artichokes
dendrobium orchids
saracena lily
james storeii orchids
scabiosa atropurpurea
dogwood
hosta
pincushion protea
scented geranium
monstera
allium
alstroemeria
rainbow asters
birds of paradise
hypericum
mokara orchids
posey callas
daisy poms
roses - orange and yellow
sweet william
trachellium
vanda orchids
feather fern
snapdragon
godetia
delphinium
'Yelloween' lily

All A-Twitter! Or...The Early Bird Gets to Tweet

Signed the shop up for Twitter, so you can follow us there. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it yet, especially since I'm limited to those 140 characters. I have a thing for punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc., but on Twitter it seems like you need to leave those things behind to make the best use of your tiny space. Sigh... not sure I can do that. I struggle with typing to begin with, you have no idea how many typos I generally have, so to give it all up to Twitter....sigh again...

Sorry there have been no more recent posts. I've been struggling with sleep lately. Actually, I always struggle with sleep, but more so this past week where I've been waking up at 3:30 - 4:00 with the birds and not able to sleep well after that. Damn city birds, they don't know it's still night! I actually read last year that urban birds can't compete with daytime city noises and will sing all night. Any how, that would all be OK, if I were a farmer and went to bed at 8:00pm, but I'm no farmer and I don't get to bed that early.

Back to Twitter! Another technology thing for me, the recovering Luddite, to learn! I want to figure out how to re-tweet, because I see some interesting flower tips with the folks I've started following.

I don't know, I might be too long winded for Twitter! Do you Twitter? What do you want to see on Twitter? What types of things would you like me to post about? Should I refer back to my blog posts or is that redundant? Is re-tweeting something just repetitive? Or is it that cool internet world wide web connectivity thing that we love?!