Open Studio Session at Local Color Flowers

By Carling A. W. Elder
Learning a new skill can be intimidating, time-consuming, and expensive – all things we don’t want floral design to be! We love local flowers (all the flowers at Local Color Flowers are sourced within 100 miles of Baltimore), and want everyone to have access to them! A few months ago, as our team at LoCoFlo was brainstorming about new ways to give more people more access to local flowers, and we came up with the idea of Open Studio.

The concept/dream/ end goal of Open Studio is to facilitate a space where people can come together and experiment with floral design at their own pace. As a supplement to our formal design classes, which are perfect for the beginner student , Open Studio is aimed at the intermediate floral designer who wants to hone their skills and practice ‘til they make perfect.

We will instruct you individually as needed. It’s kind of like a yoga class where you can either ask the teacher to adjust your poses, or tell them to keep their hands off! Chose out your favorite flowers from our selection of locally grown flowers and your favorite vase from our collection. Make a floral design you actually like (instead of buying a premade one from the grocery store) and take it home or give as a gift!

We know you like to kick back at the end of a long day. We do too! However, we can only go to the bar so many nights a week… That’s why it’s great to try an activity like Open Studio! It’s laidback, educational and FUN! Bring a friend, bring vino, bring snacks – we’ll pump up the jams and maybe even show you a few dance moves. Since there’s no formal instruction at Open Studio, it’s the perfect place to chat, chill, or just zone out while designing. It’s a happy place. You make it what you want.

Experimenting with Flowers: The November 2015 Maryland Cut Flower Growers Meeting

by Carling Adele Wyncoll Elder

Brrr! It’s really getting cold here in Maryland (and everywhere else in the USA), which means that flower-growing season is starting to slow down for many of our flower growers. Or, at least it’s slowed down enough for them to get together and start strategizing for next year!

This morning, I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of the Maryland Cut Flower Growers. Walker Marsh, a brand new flower grower and friend, accompanied me from Baltimore, and I loved hearing about his plans for his farm The Flower Factory that he’ll start this coming year as we drove. I was also excited for Walker to meet many of the seasoned growers at the meeting and for him to pick their brains! The pool of flower farming knowledge that these Maryland flower growers possess is wide and deep, and an amazing resource for anyone who wants to learn about flowers. These growers are also friendly and extremely giving of their expertise, so I knew Walker was in for a treat!

As Walker commented on the ride home, the meeting was very “chill” and “actually useful”, a statement that I completely agree with! During the course of the meeting, we went around the room, and each flower grower shared useful tips and techniques that had worked, or hadn’t worked for them during 2014. Dave Dowling of Ednie Flower Bulbs explained how to use Limelight Hydrangea stems instead of Rebar to stake down a hoop house cover (they won’t destroy your tiller!). Eileen Stoner of Stoney Acres, demonstrated how to soak and split Norway spruce pinecones in half for use in Christmas wreaths.

Laura Beth Resnick of Butterbee Farm told of her success using a solar powered fence baited with peanut butter to keep deer out of her flowerbeds. All this information, and much more, was shared via a relaxed and natural conversation, with many interruptions for questions and comments, and of course laughter!

As Leon Carrier of Plant Masters stated, “we are constantly experimenting with cut flowers.” As all these flower growers have experienced, and I myself as a designer have experienced, there’s always more to learn about flowers, and more ways to improve growing, or designing with them. That’s why there is such a value in these meetings where we all get together, and help each other out by sharing what we know. Because when your life revolves around “experimenting with flowers” it’s nice to know there’s a bunch of smart and awesome flower growers out there who’ve got your back!

A Perfect Day for Head Wreaths at Butterbee Farm

By Carling A. W. Elder

On Saturday, July 26th, I began my day at Butterbee Farm. While the dew still lingered on the earth at my feet, I prepared to guide some ladies through the fun of designing a Midsummer Head Wreath. With the help of my talented and cheerful partners; Laura Beth Resnick, Farmer and Owner of Butterbee Farm, Krystal Masson, Owner of Esther&Harper - Vintage Rentals and Interiors, and Stacy Bauer, Owner of Stacy Bauer Photography and Local Color Flowers Designer, we set up for the class and got ready to begin!

           

Our class guests were a delightful mix of excited, adventurous, kind, and flower-loving women. As they sipped Basil Lemonade out of Esther&Harper’s delicate crystal cups, and snacked on Sweet William Shortbread, I had the pleasure of meeting each one of them. Their enthusiasm for the farm and the class was infectious, and made me feel extremely lucky that meeting new people is a central part of life at Local Color Flowers.

After sharing a brief history of Head Wreaths and Floral Crowns (did you know Head Wreaths started being worn at weddings in Ancient China?), I turned the floor over to the owner of our gorgeous venue, Laura Beth. Laura Beth then led us all on an informative and interactive tour of her farm. Stopping at different flower beds, Laura Beth let us touch, smell, even taste, and harvest flowers for our Head Wreaths. She also told us about her farming practices and plans for the future of Butterbee. After the tour, traipsing back to the work tables with handfuls of just-harvested flowers to use in our designs, I thought you really can’t get more farm-to-vase than this!

Once we went through the basics of making a Head Wreath, my “students” dove into making their own designs. Some ladies chose bold, bright colors, while others opted for more subtle, muted tones. One of the best things about making a Head Wreath, especially when it’s for yourself, is that there really is no wrong or right way to do it. At it’s core, all you really have to do to make an awesome Head Wreath is to have a blast playing with flowers, and to make something that you love, which I believe all of our guests did!

By the end of the class, each guest wore a stunning Head Wreath atop their head. Posing while Stacy took their portrait, each guest looked happy and beautiful wearing their creation. The variation among the Head Wreaths perfectly reflected the designer’s personality and style. I loved seeing the different details each person chose, from ribbon color to how they positioned the wreath on their head. All were perfect.

     

     

This design class was Local Color Flowers’ first ever design class at one of our grower’s farms, a dream of Ellen’s for many years. As I admired the Head Wreaths of our guests and looked out over this vibrant flower farm, I felt the joy of a dream fulfilled settle over me. I couldn’t believe that just a few months ago, I had stood in this exact same spot and looked out this same field, resting empty and barren. Now, just like the Head Wreaths we had made, this farm and this dream had come to full circle, brimming with flowers and life.

I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning.

To see all the gorgeous photos from our Head Wreath Class taken by the amazing Stacy Bauer of Stacy Bauer Photography, check out our Flickr page.

CSA 2014: Week 4

It’s summer, it’s hot! To help relieve the heat, we wanted to offer a little something to our CSA members in addition to their flowers this week!

Too help cool off, Eric and Carling teamed up to make limeade with locally grown basil simple syrup.  The basil came from our friends at Hillen Homestead!

Basil Simple Syrup (adapted from Cooking with Flowers)

• 1 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (washed)

Dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches a simmer. Place basil leaves in a nonreactive bowl (glass or stainless steal) and pour hot syrup over top. Let sit 30 minutes, or longer. Strain out basil, and pour into sealable jar ( a mason jar works great!).

Ideas for Basil Simple Syrup:

• Mix with fresh lime or lemon juice, water, and ice for limeade or lemonade.
• Mix with gin, ice, and tonic or club soda for a refreshing cocktail.

Carling also made Sweet William Shortbread

Sweet William Shortbread  (recipe from  "Cooking with Flowers" by Miche Bacher of Mali B Sweets Available for purchase at Mali B Sweets online.

For those of you that are not familiar with Sweet William or Dianthus, it represents love, fascination, distinction, and pure affection. Culinary Uses: dianthus is sweet, with a slightly clove like aftertaste. The petals are an ingredient in the liquor Chartreuse.  Our sweet william this week came from Butterbee Farm

Of course, we’ve got flowers too! This week we’ve got:

• Sunflowers, Lisianthus, Sunshine Daydream Perrenial Sunflower Capital Flower Growers
• Mountain Mint, Celosia, Tansy Belvedere Farm
• Scabiosa The Hillen Homestead

Hope you enjoy your flowers and treats this week!

Farming with Hillen Homestead!

Last week we took a field trip to Baltimore City flower farm, Hillen Homestead. Hillen Homestead, run by Maya Kosok and her lovely husband Max and their adorable baby girl,  is literally just 2 miles from Local Color Flowers studio. Do you know how lucky we are to have a flower farm so close by? VERY lucky!

Hillen Homestead is located in central Baltimore City on a vacant lot where rowhomes used to stand. It’s not gigantic and it’s not overly picturesque…but man is is productive! It’s a perfect example how urban farming can be a great option for small flower farmers. This will be our second year buying from Maya and we couldn’t be more excited.
Carling and Stacy started by tilling beds and spreading compost from Chesapeake Compost Works.

I planted lots and lots of basil…and ageratum and zinnias.
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We passed our time talking about flowers and farming and designing and business.  What could be better? It was a fun morning for all of us. Not only did we get to spend a day outdoors helping our friends, we also got to have a direct hand in the flowers we’ll be using this summer.  It was another amazing way to connect with our farmers and the flowers they are growing.
Thanks so much to Maya and Max for letting us come help.
Happy Spring and Happy Planting friends!

What Locally Grown Foliage Looks Like in the Winter

Yesterday, Carling made this beautiful arrangement for a dinner party and posted it on Facebook. We received a comment/question  from a woman who has taken a few of our design classes and is enthusiastic about improving her design skills.

“I was just wondering today if I could mix winter greens with spring flowers? This picture answers the question.”

It was a great comment, and one that deserves some attention. Local Color Flowers is proud to use locally grown flowers in all of our arrangements. What you may not know, is that we also you 100% locally grown foliage as well. In the winter, most of the foliage we can get from the local farms is evergreens including boxwood, magnolia, fir, pine, cedar and camellia along with lots of “sticks” including pussy willow, curly willow, fantail willow, flowering branches and more. On a rare occasion, we can get our hands on dusty miller and eucalyptus.

Our designs are unique because we are designing with what is available locally-flowers, foliage and branches. Using evergreens gives the arrangement a “winter’ feel. Combined with tulips and iris, the arrangement perfectly reflects the season, as we think it should…cold, crisp, green, brown…with the promise of spring ahead.

Make Tribe’s Make It Merry

By Carling A.W. Elder

By Almost exactly one month ago, I had the pleasure of attending perhaps one of my most favorite holiday events of 2013. Make it Merry, hosted by the lovely ladies of Make Tribe, was an incredible night of crafting, chatting, friending, and learning at Artifact Coffee in Clipper Mill. The event was a collective effort of Make Tribe and eight other talented vendors including Priya Means Love, Almanac Industries, C. Connor Rasmussen and the Bar at Woodberry Kitchen, Karson Butler Events, Laura Hooper Calligraphy, Esther & Harper, Hex Ferments, and yours truly, Local Color Flowers.

As Christmas tunes wafted through the beautifully decorated Artifact Coffee, guests were split into groups of ten. The groups of ten then circled the room and completed a holiday craft at each vendor’s station. While they crafted, guests sipped seasonal cocktails and chatted with each other, happily making new friends, or reacquainting with old ones.  By the end of the night, each guest had made many different crafts including cocktail bitters, a leather bracelet, a coffee body scrub, paper bows, and a holiday swag. Needless to say, the wire baskets holding each guest’s creations were overflowing!

I’m always finding myself in awe of how we can all be given the exact same materials, and yet create something so unique, and so undisputably, ours. Swags are a perfect example of this. Ellen and I came to the event loaded with all varieties of evergreens, including cedar, white pine, juniper, and holly. We also brought tons of decorations such as shiny jingle bells, bright Christmas ornaments, gold and silver pinecones, and sparkly and natural colored ribbons for everyone to use. 

Once a group of ten guests had gathered around our station, I began instruction. Swags are fairly easy to make, but can still be a bit intimidating. After basic instructions, I was more than happy to see each guest attack making a swag with excitement and creativity! As a result, each swag turned out beautiful and unique as a gorgeous decoration for a front door, or a lovely gift to give.

 

At the end of the night, each guest left Make it Merry with a brimming basket of completed crafts. These crafts were a beautiful reflection of each guest’s own taste and personality; as well as a mini reflection of the vendor who dreamt of the project.

This combination of camaraderie, crafts, and collaboration made Make it Merry a wonderful event, and the perfect way to kickoff the holiday season! Many thanks to Make Tribe for including Local Color Flowers!  Check out more photos and video of the Make it Merry Event!

Be sure to stay tuned Make Tribe’s social media sites (Facebook and integral), and maketribe.com to be in the know when they announce their events for 2014!

Makers Alley 2013

By Carling A.W. Elder

On December 14th, 2013, Local Color Flowers hosted the first ever Makers Alley - A Pop-Up Gift Market at our studio, and it was a great success!

Waaay back in the summer, as we began planning for the holiday season, the LoCoFlo crew started daydreaming about hosting a small, intimate, fun, & friendly holiday market in our studio. As we brainstormed, we grew more and more excited about the idea of a holiday market where it would be really easy (and fun) for our friends, families, and communities to purchase locally made gifts for the holidays. We decided there really was a need for a gift market where you could buy handmade food and crafts before the holidays, and so, Makers Alley was born!

The first step was to invite some of Local Color Flowers’ talented friends and partners to participate. Luckily, Rat Czar, Priya Means Love, Charm City Cook, Kinderhook Snacks, Snark Machine, Two Back Flats, and Highway to Hill responded to our invite and said they would love to join our vendor list. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have each of these amazing people and their products at Makers Alley!

The weather for the day of Makers Alley was predicted to be snow and “ice pellets.” Luckily, the snow held off and the “ice pellets” were remarkably absent. Precisely at 10 AM,  guests started streaming into our studio to shop at Makers Alley. The guests sampled Charm City Cook’s silky caramel sauce, pinned Two Back Flats’ fascinators to their heads, chose a Locoflo wreath for their door, grabbed Rat Czar’s BALT bumper stickers for their friends, munched on Kinderhook Snacks' savory cheese stamps, spritzed Priya Means Love’s fragrant perfume on their wrists, modeled Snark Machine’s colorful rubber band necklaces, delighted at Highway to Hill’s witty graphic prints, and shopped and visited!

One of the best things about Makers Alley was the feeling of support for all the vendors from everyone who chose to shop at Makers Alley. Deciding to spend your money locally isn’t always an easy choice, but it’s an incredibly impactful one. It was humbling to see so many impactful and conscious choices being made at Makers Alley by both guests and vendors alike.

(Cool) Projects

(Cool) Projects: by Carling A.W. Elder

Back in August, Ellen and I had the pleasure of meeting with Heather Weisse Walsh, Editor of (cool) progeny, to hear all about this fun, family-friendly publication, and to see why Local Color Flowers might want a dose of (cool).

Started by Heather and her husband a few years ago, (cool) progeny is an online resource for parents that is dedicated to “putting (cool) back in to the crazy, upside down world of modern parenting.” Heather told us that when she and her husband became new parents, they kept striking out while searching for information about family-friendly events and activities in Baltimore. So they took matters into their own hands, and (cool) progeny was born!

(cool) progeny is bursting with good stuff! The website is divided into seven main categories of: eat, play, learn & create, style, parents, party, and out & about. Each category features articles from guest contributors who are all experts in different fields. When Heather asked if Local Color Flowers would like to partner with (cool) progeny as “Floral Experts,” we thought it might be fun to come up with some kid appropriate floral projects. So we began brainstorming…

The first project was Halloween Terrariums.  It was easy to get the kids involved in building a terrarium. They could layer the ingredients of their terrariums (rocks, charcoal, and dirt), plant the succulents, and then have a blast decorating their terrarium vessels! The Halloween Terrariums gave the kids some of their first experiences caring for plants, and they turned out so fun! 

Our second project with (cool) progeny was a “Thankful Tablescape”  For this project, the kids got to forage for natural elements such as mini pumpkins, seed pods, and Indian corn to place on their family Thanksgiving table. They also got to write what they were thankful for on the gourds and pumpkins. At the same time, the adults could design a seasonal arrangement in a large pumpkin as a centerpiece. The kids had a great time picking out their favorite natural elements for this project, and it was an easy way to include children in Thanksgiving decorating.

The third project was Holiday Swags.  A swag (a bundle of greenery that hangs on your door) is perhaps the easiest holiday floral project you can make! I loved working with Lila (Heather’s beautiful daughter) on this project. It was so fun to show her the different evergreen and berry varieties as we made her swag, and to see which decorations she chose. I wasn’t too surprised when she chose a sparkly silver ribbon and shiny Christmas ornaments :).

In the floral industry, we don’t often get to work with children. We mostly work with Brides, Wedding Planners, and well, other adults. As is necessary, conversations are often centered around details, time-lines, and requirements. There’s not much opportunity to just play with all of our amazing plants and flowers and see what comes out of unbridled creativity.  Working with the kids and seeing the flowers through their eyes was so much fun!

What I loved most about our projects with (cool) progeny was the chance to create and have pure fun with flowers and these cool kids. I’ve worked with evergreens a million times, but I don’t know if Lila ever had. I could see her curiosity as she felt the different branches and sniffed their spicy scents. Making these floral projects was a first-time experience for these kids, and it was exciting for them. Their excitement was exciting to me.

It makes me so happy to have had a small part in these kids’ first exposure to the floral world. I’m grateful to (cool) progeny for recognizing the value in teaching children early about the world of flowers, and for creating the online space to share these teachings with others. More (cool) progeny and Local Color Flowers collaborations are in the future, and I can’t wait to play some more!