95 Years in Flowers

Today we had the honor of creating a very special arrangement for the birthday of a 95 year old woman! Her son wanted to treat her to 95 different flowers-one for each year. What a wonderful gift! What else does one need or want at 95? Most gifts I give to my grandmother I get back with the following commentary "I know you'll put it to good use. I don't need all that stuff at my age." (I now only give her gifts that I will enjoy should they return to me-I've learned!) Flowers are such an indulgent gift-I think because their beauty is fleeting. Her arrangement is below-taking a picture from one side just doesn't do it justice! We even created an "index" for her to list every flower and foliage used! Enjoy-I'm hoping she does!

95 Flowers of Spring…
FLOWERS Tulip Rose Waxflower Oriental lily Asiaitic lily Hyacinth Stock Dendrobium Orchid Snapdragon Larkspur Bells of Ireland Gerbera daisy Daffodil Asltroemaria Daisy mum Boronia heather Hypericum berry Ranunculus Cherry blossom Spray rose Leucodendron Calcynia Sterling Range Brunnia Strelingia Carnation Calla lily Ginestra Caspia Pussy willow Lepto Monte casino aster Solidago Iris Queen anne’s lace Delphinium Star of Bethlehem Hydrangea Freesia Button mums Spider mums Sunflower Lisianthus Football mum Ginger Heliconia Gladiola Liatris Pink ice protea Eremerus Agapanthus Banksia Cammelia Statice Scottish Heather Dahlia Baby’s breath Peony Forsythia Flowering almond Artichoke Kale Grape hyacinth
FOLIAGE Lemon leaves Eucalyptus Sword Fern Australian Boxwood Spiderman grevilia Seeded eucalyptus Australian pine Ivy Podocarpus Selloum Kiwi vine Equisetum Ti leaf Palm Aspidistra Foxtail sprengeri Tree fern Israeli ruscus Coontie Plumose Coffee foliage Lily grass Myrtle Rhamnus Grevillia Magnolia Variegated pittosporum Western cedar Imperial fern Scotch broom Selloum Sanseveria

Scabiosa is cute too!

So it's tough to follow-up a new puppy blog, but I've got some "cute" flowers that will be headed our way for Easter! The one I am most excited about is scabiosa stellata. An unusual time of year for us to see them-they are usually available in fall. It is actually a seed head, but how adorable! And they dry beautifully-although they are fragile!

Scabiosa Stellata

And anemones, which in my opinion are close cousins of ranunculus (and you know how we love those!) Another one of those delicate whimsical spring flowers. They close at night or in the cold and open to light or warmth. Because they are always closed in the cooler, few people realize how charming they are!

Anemone coronaria

And last, but certainly not least...the first peonies of the year! No further description needed here! Paeonia lactiflora "Sarah Bernardt"

Oh-and we'll have peony flowered tulips too (tulips that look like peonies with lots of ruffly petals-what could be better?) Happy Spring!

Puppy!

Meet Annabelle!

She was listed at the Bay Area Humane Society with 8 brothers and sisters!
They opened at noon today and I was patiently waiting outside the door... by the time we left at 12:30, 4 of her sisters had been adopted!
She was listed as a Border Collie Hound Mix and we're thinking she might have cattle dog, coon hound, and beagle in her.
So far she fits in with our family pretty darn well, there's always an adjustment period.
She already made her first trip to PetSmart and made quite the spectacle, while I was making sure she didn't rip into a bag of food, her sister Mabelle knocked an entire end cap of treats off the shelf. I think they work very well together. =)

Just a few more...

I'm pretty proud of this photo, this was all accomplished with Picasa's soft focus feature. It's all the bouquets eagerly lined up in Lemondrop Studio's window.


Because it's really dreary, gloomy, doomy, depressing, nap worthy weather here today, I thought we could indulge with a few more pictures!

This bouquet demonstrates one of the trends we've been seeing lately which is white and green. It's very clean and fresh. What we have here is a mix of green fuji mums, wax flowers, white button mums and green hypericum berry.

If only you could smell this through your monitor! Hyacinth assure us that spring really will come.

Sweet little daisies studded with pearl pins.

If that didn't lift your spirits I recommend getting some more vitamin D and eating walnuts, a natural source of selenium =)

Till next time buzzers!

Wedding Show Lovelies

The classic red rose bouquet with gold bullion threads twirled throughout.

A cheerful bouquet of yellow roses and shades of ranunculus

A vibrant mix of pin cushion protea, roses, wax flower.

A soft and subtle mix of lavender roses, purple freesia, and blush pink wax flower.

We had a great time at Appleton's PAC. What a gorgeous space! There were a lot of really wonderful vendors there and of course delicious cake! mmm...cake

The excitement that each and every bride has for her big day is contagious. After every wedding show I leave wanting to get married all over again (to the same man, of course). I would really like the next trend in weddings to be 4 seasons weddings, I think every bride should get to have a wedding in every season. Although I had an autumn wedding, which I loved, I would love to have a spring one with loads of tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, peonies, oh my!

Meet Ranunculus

Meet ranunculus...swoon...one of my favorite fleurs

This is one of the many flowers we will be showcasing Sunday at the Fox Valley Wedding Show.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
10:30-4:00

Come visit us!

A sad day...

It was a sad day... our pet snail Mr. Pokey died. We don't know much about Pokey, but we know that he was very easy going, a vegetarian and a bit of a hermit. This is my dear husband, Bubba giving Pokey a proper burial in our front garden. Mr. Pokey, you will be missed.

This is not an arrangement from Pokey's funeral...

This is one of our arrangements that went out earlier this week. Just a cheery mix of Gerbera daisies, spider mums, alstromeria, waxflower and kiwi vine. What's your favorite type of arrangement:

a) all one flower
b) compact and mounded
c) whimsy and unique
d) traditional
e) something else? do share

Good Morning!

My first blog entry! At 3 am! Yes-I'm a morning person, but I wonder when being a morning person crosses into not being a sleeping person? Early morning is when I find my quiet time and I usually find I get more done before many get up! So you'll see my posts at the odd hours...

This morning I am browsing through the availability of a new Dutch wholesaler. It is the classic "kid in a candy store" scenario! So many beautiful things! And complicated by spring fever-we are now seeing peonies and lilacs available (tulips and daffodils are already old news for me-sad, huh?) I want to order it all! Especially these boxes of beautiful cymbidium orchids that are at a really great price (though they are still expensive)! That is one of my favorite things about wedding season-opening those boxes of perfectly packaged orchids. It is the floral shop equivalent of a box of chocolates! This wholesaler also lists all of the varietal names (which I love in a dorky plant sort of way!) Who wouldn't love a cymbidium orchid named Mrs. Britney Brown?

In Joplin (shop kitty) news, a big development! We recently splurged and purchased a "furminator." Should have done that months ago! Wow-what a difference! Much less shedding-which is hugely important to me as he is a white kitty that loves to snuggle and I love to wear black!

And lastly, I just want to say a huge thank you to all of those wonderful local artists that are kind enough to share their wares in our store! I always thought it would be "cool" to sell locally produced stuff in our store but didn't really know how feasible it would be. Where would we find these people? What would the "stuff" be? But you ladies make such amazing things and are so wonderfully easy to work with. And Ang does such a good job of tracking you down! So thank you-your "stuff" is the stuff our customers talk about and come back for!

Time for more coffee!

Spring!

Billboard bags are coming! If you're local you've probably seen them around at the Farmer's Market both the Saturday one and the Wednesday one on Broadway.
Essentially Andrea, of A Design Studio creates bags from billboards that were destined for the trash. They are both visually intriguing and totally green!
Andrea is very committed to finding new uses for old things and it certainly shows in her work.

Little Orange Kitchen has also supplied us with checkbook covers and the most amazing handmade envelopes. I am a lover of snail mail through and through. When I first moved away from home, my sister sent me notes almost everyday, nothing elaborate just a simple note to say I'm thinking of you. I can't think of any better way to elevate a little note than with a gorgeous and colorful envelope from Little Orange Kitchen.

We're gearing up for Spring! Come visit the shop where you can sip chilled lavender lemonade while browsing the shop. We're jumping at the bit to get outside and dig in the dirt! We can't wait to have our front garden teaming with native plants and flowers. There will definitely be more on that and pictures to as we get started!