Living On Through Peonies

When Seaberry Farm mentioned yesterday that they had single peonies available this week, I knew right away that these were Mel’s peonies.

Before Mel Heath died, he sold off most of his plants and farm equipment. Seaberry Farm took much of what was available. Wen Fei confirmed that the peonies that were available were Mel’s. She said:

“We go around our farm everyday saying things like "go cut Mel's peonies" or  "go get Mel's tractor"…we miss him greatly.”

We miss Mel too…  but today especially, I’m thrilled to have our first peonies of the season be Mel’s peonies.

Real Weddings: Melissa and Eric

After the craziness of last week (biggest wedding of the year, record heat, power outages), it was a treat to receive some beautiful photos of Melissa and Eric’s late Spring wedding  from Urban Row Photography. Just looking at these photos make me happy!

Melissa was a great bride to work with. We created a classic styled bouquet for her to carry. It was pretty naturally shaped with a lot of texture and shades of “white”. We used peonies (that had a little pink tint), ivory calla lilies, viburnum, gooseneck loosestrife, silvery dusty miller, some pretty oregano and some green poppy pods.

Her girls carried beautiful, brightly colored bouquets filled with peonies, a few early season dahlias, phlox, campanula, astilbe, larkspur and rosemary. They looked awesome with chocolate brown dresses.

Thanks to our growers for these beautiful flowers including Wollam Gardens, Lynn Vale Studio and Farmhouse Flowers!

We’re grateful to Urban Row Photography for these amazing photos. To see more photos from Melissa and Eric’s wedding, check out Urban Row Photography’s BLOG!

Special thanks to Melissa and Eric for allowing LoCoFlo to be a small part of their most special day! Wishing them all the happiness in the world!

Real Weddings: Lauren and Brian

Lauren and Brian’s wedding was such a treat to work on! They were married on Memorial Day weekend at the Baltimore Basilica.  The bride looked amazing! She carried a beautiful bouquet filled with white peonies, blue bachelor buttons and green Solomon’s seal.

The bridesmaids carried similar bouquets with pink peonies. They looked so beautiful against their blue dresses.

Brian’s boutonniere was made with a single white and a single blue bachelor button with a little sprig of rosemary.

The centerpieces were made it two sizes of glass cylinders. We used simple vases so that the flowers were the shining stars on the table.

The cake looked great with peonies, delphinium blooms and bachelor buttons.

Thanks to Wollam Gardens for the beautiful flowers!

Special thanks to Kathleen Hertel Photography for sharing these amazing photos with us! To see more photos from Lauren and Brian’s wedding, check out our flickr site!

Congratulations to Lauren and Brian! Wishing them many years of happiness!

First Peonies of the Season

This morning I woke up early and headed out to Bridge Farm Nurseries in Cockeysville, MD. When I pulled in at 6:05 AM, Mel Heath, the owner of Bridge Farm was out cutting peonies for our order. Since Mel doesn't use greenhouse or high tunnels, peonies are his first big crop of the season.

Mel is serious about peonies. He takes such care in growing them. He loves those plants so much, he often ops not to cut them, even though he could sell the blooms, because he knows the plant is too young to thrive after a cutting. From the barn, all I could see were rows and rows of peonies, and Mel's orange cap sticking up between rows.

Using locally grown flowers means we use what's available when it's available. From week to week, we never know what it will be. This uncertainty is the key to creating unique, one of a kind arrangements. I picked up 220 pink peonies this morning, along with some beautiful apple green viburnum and bleeding hearts. These are the flowers we'll use for our Mother's Day arrangements. Check back for a look at the finished products.