Thursday, July 28, 2011

Real Weddings: Joanie and Mike

Joanie and Mike were married on a beautiful May day at the Rusty Scupper in downtown Baltimore. What a great place for a wedding. The views of the Harbor were unbelievable.  The day was breezy but wonderfully sunny and warm. Perfect for a spring wedding.

Joanie looked so beautiful! She carried a lush bouquet filled with pink peonies, tulips and ranunculus. Splashes of bright green Solomon's seal can be seen peaking through. Simple and beautiful.JM2_6531

JM2_6751The tables at the Rusty Scupper were named with some of the couple’s favorite spots including Magerk’s in Federal Hill. The centerpieces were made in low, glass cylinders and filled with peonies, tulips, ranunculus and Solomon's seal. The pink of the centerpieces  looked great with the crisp white linens and the cobalt blue glassware.

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Thanks to Wollam Gardens and Farmhouse Flowers for the beautiful flowers. Thanks to Eric Stocklin Photography for the beautiful photos.

Special thanks to Joanie and Mike for choosing Local Color Flowers. We loved working with you. Wishing you both much happiness in the years to come. Congratulations!

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Dahlia Fest Coming to Wollam Gardens!

IMG_0758When I first met Bob Wollam, owner of Wollam Gardens, I liked him instantly. He is ridiculously passionate about flowers and his enthusiasm for all things flowers is infectious. He has also been a huge supporter/cheerleader/fan of Local Color Flowers since we began 4 years ago. But what I really love about Bob-is that he thinks big! He’s wiling to try almost anything at the farm…including growing 10,000 dahlias to show off to the world!


That’s right- 10,000 dahlias will be on display at Wollam Gardens’ 2nd Annual Dahlia Festival this summer. Wollam Gardens on a “normal” day is a farm not to be missed. Located in Jeffersonton Virginia, the farm is made up of 11 acres dedicated to cut trees, bushes, bulbs, perennials, and annuals. It’s beautiful…but Dahlia Fest takes it to a whole other level.


This year, Dahlia Fest will take place at the farm on August 27, 28 & September 3, 4 & 5 from 11am-5pm. The festival promises to be entertaining for guests of all ages. Flower enthusiasts can revel in the simple beauty of the many flower varieties on the farm, cut their own flowers, attend floral demonstrations, get first-hand gardening advice from Bob Wollam, and even participate in a tour to learn how a flower farm works. Children’s activities include garden-related story time and crafts, garden planting demonstrations, and face painting.


Local artisans will be on hand displaying their many talents, from jewelry, quilts, spices, and more. Guests are invited to picnic on some of Karen Wollam’s homemade delectable treats, available for purchase onsite. Hayrides, live music, and even flamenco dancing will round out the festivities.


This festival is not to be missed. Each day of the festival will be great-BUT if you come out on Saturday, August 27th you can see floral design demonstrations by…Local Color Flowers! I’m so excited to head down to Virginia to Dahlia Fest and see all my friends at Wollam Gardens! I hope to see you there too!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

It’s So Easy Being Green

national conference I’m super excited to be one of the speakers this year at the 2011 National Conference and Trade Show for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers! This year the conference is in November in Reston, Virginia. My presentation is entitled “It’s So Easy Being Green: Planning Eco Events”.  It’s going to be a great talk about how growers and designers can plan, implement and market “Green” Events. The focus will be on flowers (of course!) but there will be lots of tips on networking and teaming up with other sustainable vendors and suppliers.

The National Conference is really an amazing event bringing together cut flowers growers from all over the country for learning, networking and socializing! In addition to the conference presentations, there is also a Grower’s School for newbie flower growers, a floral design contest, great tours of local farms include Wollam Gardens and Farm House Flowers.

While I’m not a grower, Local Color Flowers relies on the  hard work and beautiful flowers of dozens of local growers. We also have been so fortunate to connect with other ASCFG designers who are always willing to share ideas and techniques which make our work better. I feel so fortunate to be part of this Association! I’m definitely looking forward to November!

Real Weddings: Rachel and Mike

I met Rachel after I met her sister at Black Ankle Vineyard one afternoon when I was out there selling flowers. Rachel was wonderful to work with! She had a vision for her flowers-colors/style-but was excited to let us create bouquets and arrangements that would compliment her style and personality.

The bride’s bouquet was made up of white tulips, ranunculus and deutzia with splash of pink ranunculus and Gerber daisies.

254320_1985838438411_1016776130_2345432_6460121_n The girls carried bouquets filled with spring flowers in all shades of pink.

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The reception was held at Overhills Mansion in Catonsville. The centerpieces were made in vases picked out by the bride. They were really unique and fun to work with.

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We filled each of them with double cherry blossoms, hyacinths, tulips, hellebores and stock.

 247861_1985808357659_1016776130_2345407_2008467_nThanks to Farmhouse Flowers, Wollam Gardens and Plant Masters for the beautiful flowers.

Thanks to the Pro’s for the beautiful pictures!

I had lunch with Rachel after the wedding and she told me that everything about the day was perfect! Who could ask for anything more – right? Thanks to Rachel and Mike for letting Local Color Flowers be part of your special day!

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Real Weddings: Katie and Adam

When I met Katie and her soon-to-be sister-in-law, they were very excited (as was I) about the flowers for Katie and Adam’s upcoming wedding. They had planned a fun, spring, picnic/bbq wedding at Historic London Town Gardens. The natural beauty of London Town combined with checkered table cloths, hanging lights and lanterns and loads of the mason jars filled with flowers-the venue could not have been more beautiful!

The bride carried a bouquet of lilacs and Solomon’s seal. The groom’s succulent boutonniere was a hit too! (it’s now planted at the couple’s home as a wedding keepsake!)

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IMG_2538 The tables were decorated with wide variety of spring flowers in pastel shades including: lilacs, hyacinths, viburnum, hellebores, ranunculus,  tulips, peonies and more.

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With over 100 jars of flowers, there were plenty for guests to take home. And take them they did! Along with the guests, one server took flowers home for her son’s communion the next day. Another server took several home to give to friends and neighbors for Mother’s Day the next day! Our friend Mike who attended the wedding decorated his sister’s front porch with flowers. What great stories about reusing/recycling and sharing local flowers!

Thanks to Mike Sullivan for introducing us to this wonderful couple. Thanks to Farmhouse Flowers, Wollam Gardens and Plant Masters for the beautiful flowers. Thanks to the bride, for connecting us with her friend and photographer Kylie. Since the wedding Kylie has become part of the LoCoFlo team-helping out whenever her schedule allows.

Congratulations to Katie and Adam! Wishing you much joy and happiness in the years to come!

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Visit Southern Maryland Flower Farms!

I’m so excited that the University of Maryland Extension Services is offering a day long tour of three Southern Maryland flower farms. If you’ve ever wanted to see a flower farm first hand-now is your opportunity.  Check out the agenda which includes visits to 3 diverse flower farms, a visit to the new Loveville Produce Auction as well as presentations by the great staff at the University of Maryland Extension Services.scarborough farm

If we’re lucky, my great friend Kathy York, Owner of Scarborough Farm in Southern MD will make a guest appearance!

I’ll be there! Will you?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

You Deserve A Bouquet Today!

 5805952352_20688d8514_z[1]Our customers send flowers for all sorts of reasons: appreciation, sympathy, love, congratulations, special occasion, fun, you name it. The small note cards we attach to the bouquet  have such creative, poetic, funny and heart-felt sentiments from the senders. We always wished we could share the stories of folks receiving flowers.

Then we thought of a way! We have started a contest called You Deserve a Bouquet Today to encourage visitors to our website to share their special reasons for sending flowers. Here's how it works:

  • Submit a nomination on our website.
  • Write an original, romantic, funny or other notable reason why your nominee deserves a bouquet of local flowers.
  • At the end of the month, we will select submissions to post on our website for public voting (all posts for voting are anonymous). At the end of the voting period, the nominee with the most votes receives a free bouquet with free local delivery. (See complete contests rules )

So now is your chance to to send in your nominations! And feel free to share this link with your friends and family. They can nominate someone too!

Looking forward to our first winner!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Terrariums Part 1: Bits of Nature Under Glass

I’ve been wanting to try to make terrariums for a while. This weekend I assembled everything I would need to start some simple, fun terrariums. First, I picked out some vases/vessels that I thought might work. The only real requirement for a terrarium vessel is that it be glass. It can have a lid or no lid-both work.

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I didn’t realize when I chose them that most of these vessels are pretty small. So Part 1 of my terrarium adventure was making SMALL terrariums.  Large terrariums will come next.

I bought most of my materials (sand, charcoal, soil, stones) at Valley View Farms in Hunt Valley. In addition to the purchased materials, I foraged for material (bark, pine cones, moss, twigs, rocks) in the yard, in my neighborhood on my evening walk and on this weekend’s bike ride.

The plants (air plants, succulents, ice plant, begonias came from Valley View, Breidenbaugh Farm, Plant Masters and from my yard.

So…this was my first terrarium. I loved it because it was made in a traditional “fish bowl”vase  filled with two types of sand, several kinds of stone and one lovely/lush succulent. Simple but very cool! IMG_2783 

This was my fave! I feel like a Killers song should be playing in the background!

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This one would look great on a mantle with candles and other potted pieces.

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This is a woodland scene inspired by our bike ride/hike through Robert E Lee park today. The cube is filled with blackened charcoal and sand and is planted with several types of moss.

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I got this vase at Ikea years ago and it was always to skinny to use for much. This is a great little spot of nature to put on a window sill or office desk.

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I had to use at least one Ball jar. This was a short, squat one filled with charcoal, moss and bark.

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This was the last terrarium of the day. It was in a sideways spice jar filled with sand, bark, stones and moss.

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I’m really excited about these terrariums because I think they are going to be great for centerpieces, home or office decor or for gifts. They’re customizable and require little to no watering. What could better? Who wants one?

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Real Weddings: Jane and Sik

I was really excited to work on Jane and Sik’s Baltimore Wedding celebration. Jane and I went to graduate school together at Loyola so it was extra fun to be a part of this special day. Jane and Sik were married in Korea back in January. In April they celebrated here in Baltimore with family and friends.

The celebration took place on a warm spring evening at the Valley Mansion. The room was decorated with lush, green viburnum, beautiful pink and white ranunculus, tulips and gerber daisies, cherry blossoms and curly willow.

We wanted two different styles of centerpieces to catch your eye as you walked in the ballroom. The first was a cube vase filled with river rocks and viburnum, ranunculus and tulips.

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The second was a collection of vases with river rocks, floating candles and submerged tulips. The look was modern, clean and very romantic.

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I loved the cake! (I  think that’s becoming a theme!) It was so elegant and classic and perfect for spring!  Decorated with simple blooms that matched the ribboned tiers, the cake complemented the centerpieces perfectly.

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Thanks to Farmhouse Flowers, Plant Masters and Wollam Gardens for these beautiful flowers!

Thanks to the amazing Heather Ryan for these beautiful photos! To see more of Jane and Sik’s photos, check out Heather Ryan Photography’s blog.

Congratulations to Jane and Sik! I’m so happy for you both! Wishing you much love and happiness in the years to come!

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