FLORESCENCE

What amazingly fun news I received today.  I got invited to take part of one of the most gorgeous and prestigious floral events I have ever been to, Florescence, a national competitive Houston flower show sanctioned by the Garden Club of America.

The purpose of a flower show is threefold: to set standards of artistic and horticultural excellence; to broaden knowledge of horticulture, floral design, conservation, photography and other related areas; and to share the beauty of a show with fellow club members and with the public.

The Garden Club of America Flower Show and Judging Guide, 2014 Edition

For the last 10 years I have looked forward to this biennial event,  I attended eagerly to see the amazing designs and the gorgeously crafted botanical specimens.  It is one of the most gorgeous things that I have seen and incredibly underrated.  If it weren't for one of my co-worker many years ago introducing me to the event, I would have never known.  So in effort to bring attention to this gorgeous event I here write to introduce you to Florescence.  And the images are all images I took of the event several years back.  Meanwhile dreaming of the one day I would get a chance to be involved.  And the day finally arrived!! Eek!

For more information:  Go to their website HERE. Hope to see you there! April 2015. 

gift guide

Some people are difficult to shop for.  One of those types of people might be a floral designer.  We are simple people that love pretty things, but we are hard workers and tend to already have most of those items that we want.  I can guarantee any floral designer in your life would love to have any of the following items.

Click on each image to purchase:

Canvas Apron- durable, easy to clean, particle and a must for any floral designer. Make it personal with a little monogram.

Flirty Fleurs- A magazine with fresh ideas, amazing designers and endless inspiration.

Swiss Army Knife- a must.  We lose them all the time and always need an endless source.

Fiskars- an amazing company that makes fancy clippers that are a must and something we are in constant need of

The Florist Scissors- comes highly recommended from some serious floral designers.  Can't say I've ever used one, but I believe the hype and have my fingers crossed this one is in my stocking! 

Floral Intensive Workshop- THIS! The ultimate floral designers gift!! DO IT! It's what we all dream about.  I promise. 

making of a photoshoot

Many a creative have approached me to help them create designs for their photo shoot.  Several years ago I agreed, passionately, blindly and with a sincere curiosity.  I feel in love with the process and it allowed me to work and meet other creatives.  The day is long but the work is fruitful.

As of late I have reconfigured my approach on photo shoots.  After many thousands of dollars spent, hours processing flowers and, days and nights designing, I decided to update the process.  First let me tell you what all goes into the shoot even before the day we actually do the shoot.

Concept Design: several hours of sketching and scrolling though inspiration images. Decisions on color, vases, ribbons and many fun details. Even though some creatives bring me their design concept, I still must make them my own.

Floral Selection: deciding what kind of flowers I want that will create the look we decided on.  Making sure every flower is in season and available at the local market.  Running around town to pick up the flowers, which the markets are unfortunately far apart and then the Houston traffic! 

Floral Market: the expensive part!! Going to shop for flowers or ordering flowers from farmers/markets in other states.  Typical shoot can cost from $250-$1500 (just for wholesale cost of flowers). 

Floral Processing: this might be the least favorite part, but must be done.  Several hours of striping roses, cleaning greenery, cleaning buckets, filling water buckets with plant food and fresh water and conditioning the flowers.

Floral Design:  the fun part!! 2-5 hrs depending on complexity and design elements it could take a lot longer.

Delivery: most nerve wrecking part.  Everything can so wrong here, even with the best of circumstances.

Set Up and Styling: my favorite part.  This is where all the creatives are actually together and you can feel all the love that has gone into every single detail.  

SO as eagerly as I agreed to create these designs in the past, my pocket book took a hit and I had to make some decisions that have made an impact on what I can agree to.  If you happen to be one of those creatives that caught me after this realization, I hope that we will work together in the near future.  I love what I do for a living and on the top 5 favorite parts of my job is working with other creatives.  I look forward to many more photo shoots and only hope this helps to explain to others why I have taken a bit of a break lately.  But I promise to be back soon!  

footed bowl feature

Amy from Botanical Brouhaha has created a blog full of inspiration, love and endless floral amazingness.  Scrolling through her blog every morning is combined with my coffee as one of the most regular things in life.  I love her passion for flowers and have found endless inspiration from her sweet blog.  Today in my daily scroll I came across one of my designs!!! Eek...  I paused and was immediately happy and reminded how grateful I am for other flower lovers.

Here's the image she posted. 

top 5 favorites

I very frequently get asked: What's your favorite flower?  Here is my top 5, and reasons they each have a place in my heart.

5. Flowering Branches

Not technically one flower as there are many blooming branches, but on my! These bad boys are just a mystical and romantic flower.  Combining the masculinity of the wood element of a branch and the soft and feminine element of the bloom, the blooming brach has the best of both worlds. A little tricky to use in bouquets, but can be used in all different sized arrangements and particularly by themselves in a large vase is my fav.  Pictured bellow is a flowering Quince branch.

View fullsize

4. Tulip

I recently fell in love with the parrot tulip, if you don't know her give her a quick Pinterest search, you will be happy you did.  But all her sisters and brothers, the California tulip, French Tulip, feathered tulips and a many large variety of other tulips are just as divine.  A favor them alone in a vase or in larger arrangements to give a soft hanging feel.  

3. Garden Rose

Oh this guy.  She's had a bit of a comeback in the past couple years after some high-end floral designers decided to bring them back.  Thank God! With dozens of varieties and sizes, from spray roses to full size blooms the garden rose is a British classic.  Romantic, soft, and a year around pleasure.  Perfect in a bouquet or a centerpiece this guy is a keeper.

2. Ranunculus

This delicate gem is truly like no other.  The variety of such soft billowy colors and sharp bright ones is something of the likes of a Dutch Master's painting.  Completely out of this world.  I love to work with these in bride's bouquets and smaller intimate table arrangements as their dainty size can unfortunately get lost in larger arrangements.  Available all year around 

1. Peony 

This insane flower is just as beautiful as it gets.  The fragrance, the petal count and the variety of colors is why this one wins the #1 place.  It has such a gorgeous metamorphosis from a tall ball the size of a large marble to a full bloom in the size of a grapefruit, it truly is one of natures true beauties.  Only down side, it's only available two times a year, November-December & May-June.  (Sometimes if the season has been amazing those dates extend to other months)