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.

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?

DIY Dried Flower Wreaths: MD Style

If I haven’t said it before-I LOVE MARYLAND FLOWER FARMERS!  I really love them. I love their flowers and their farms but I really love THEM too!

Last Thursday I got a phone call from Mel Heath, owner of Bridge Farm Nurseries in Cockeysville. Mel doesn’t have email and he doesn’t text. Sometimes he sends his flower lists by fax, but that is as technical as Mel gets. He invited me to come over to the farm on Monday morning for dried flower wreath making. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. All I could imagine was craft making in girl scouts.

When I got to Mel’s, he took me up to the second floor of the barn where he dries flowers. I’ve been in the barn dozens of times, but never upstairs. There were hundreds of bunches of dried flowers in dozens of the varieties. They were flowers Mel hadn’t sold in the past year including beautiful dried peonies.

So here’s what I started with: a “starter” wreath (as Mel called it) and a bouquet of dried green hydrangea and purple monarda or bee balm (which I would have SWORN was pincushion flower).

I kept it pretty simple. I only added pink celosia to my wreath…and then I was finished.

To be honest, I was more interested in chit chatting and watching everyone else’s projects than I was in my own wreath.

My great friend Kathy York of Scarborough Farm was there. Of course she had a crazy, unique, MARYLAND wreath; crabs, a crab hammer, a hot sauce bottle, shells, driftwood…and she was trying to figure out how to get beer bottles or bottle caps on there.

I also got to meet Kathy’s “Aunt Sue” who I’ve heard about for YEARS! Turns out, Aunt Sue and I have lots of friends in common-including my old friends at Epiphany Episcopal Church!

Finally, Mel and his staff, Eric and Rose Marie were so much fun and so inspiring. Mel and Rose Marie were making the greatest, wreaths with local flowers that I’ve ever seen!

Check it out! This was one of Rose Marie’s wreaths.

I’m so glad I played hooky from my “TO DO” list to make wreaths!!

Real Weddings: Shauna and Mark

Shauna and Mark were a joy to work with. When I met them back in December 2008, they were excited about their wedding, but not that interested in the flowers. They had some ideas and colors, but basically they said…do whatever-just make it look nice.  We love when couples say that!

The bouquets were made up of dahlias, celosia, salvia and scented geranium from Locust Point Flowers and Belvedere Farm. We also used nandina berries from our friend Kathy York at Scarborough Farm.  The colors looked great against the girls green dresses.

The wedding was held at the Cloisters on a perfect Fall day.

Shauna had collected over 70 pieces of depression era glassware that we used for the centerpieces and to decorate the reception area. Each table was uniquely decorated and looked perfect in the space.

The cake, decorated by Jen Bryant, was covered in deep red dahlias, antiquing hydrangeas, and nandina berries.

I guess we did good! It’s always great to get a note like this from a bride!

“I think you probably know by my reaction that I loved the flowers :)  They were absolutely stunning.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!  I don't know if you remember that when we first met I didn't really "care" about the flowers because all flowers are beautiful and I knew that whatever flowers we had would be lovely.  But I was so wrong. Probably because I didn't know flowers could be that pretty!!  And they smelled amazing.  The bouquets, the boutonnieres, the cake (oh my gosh - the cake!) and centerpieces - everything - just perfect.”

Congratulations to Shauna and Mark!

Special thanks to Carol Masica for the great photos!

Flower Growers: A Year in Review

This morning I drove to Annapolis to a meeting of the Maryland Cut Flower Growers. Bob Wollam  of Wollam Gardens said it’s like old home week for them. The busy season is finally over and the growers have time to get together and visit with each other while talking about what worked and what didn’t work for them this past year.  I’m still the new face (and I’m not a grower)-but it’s always great to see our regular growers and great to meet some new ones as well.

For the growers, in terms of flower sales at markets this past year, it sounded like it was a mixed bag. Some established markets seemed steady with a slight increase in sales. Some markets seemed to be losing steam, making flowers sales fall. Other markets seem to be busy, but less people were spending money on flowers.  Sales to retail florists were universally down. One grower reported that he sells to 14 retail florists and that sales to all of them were down. One florist that he worked with regularly event went out of business. I can’t resist a plug here. Buying locally grown flowers matters-in a real world way. Not only are you getting a great, unique, seasonal product you are supporting local farmers and the local economy.

Now…back to the meeting…

While the growers seemed….concerned-they were also optimistic. Kathy York of Scarborough Farm and Suzanne Montie of Red Chimney Flower Farm  were in collusion about how they could get in on a Kordes rose order for next season.  Everyone was impressed with Bob and Andrea’s test crops this year including LoCoFlo!

Andrea Gagnon of Lynn Vale Farm was excited about the recent number of requests from brides for local seasonal flowers. She also gave a great demonstration on how to make holiday wreaths with local greens, local fruits and the this wreath making contraption.

I’m looking forward to the next meeting in January. On the agenda…seed saving, what’s new for 2010 and a presentation by your truly about the importance of internet marketing and social networking!

“You’re one of us now…”

That’s what John McKeown of Locust Point Flowers told me last Saturday morning at 6:30 am-when I went to pick up flowers from him. His comment was prompted by a hair brained plan I explained to him….On Wednesday at 5pm, I would leave Baltimore with Kathy York, my great grower friend from Scarborough Farm in Southern Maryland and we would drive to Long Island for ONE DAY of the National Conference of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers.

On Thursday at 4pm after a full day of learning, we would drive back to Baltimore (Kathy to Mechanicsville) and then Friday we would both begin work on the weekend’s events-an event at Gertrude’s and a wedding at the Cloisters for me and two weddings for her. That seemed normal…right?

I guess I might also have mentioned how I was looking forward to the winter…when I could catch up on everything I have neglected since March…like sleeping…and going out to new restaurants, seeing movies, reading books, doing laundry, gardening, house projects…

I guess I am one of them now…not bad huh?

Dahlia Love

What is there not to love about fall dahlias! These beauties came from Scarborough Farm, Belvedere Farm and Locust Point Flowers.