Spikey, Sticky, Sweet and Hot: LoCoFlo CSA Week 2!

It’s June 24th and it’s our 2nd CSA pick up day! While it has cooled off slightly (it’s only going to be 84 degrees today) it has been in the high 90’s for the last few days. With the heat, comes summer flowers. We’re past the transition flowers from our last pick-up like larkspur and bupluerum and we’re on to a new variety of flowers, fruit and foliage.

Today, our bunches are filled with:

• Blueberries from Greenstone Fields
• Snapdragons from Butterbee Farm
• Borage from Butterbee Farm
• Thistle from Seaberry Farm
• Hydrangea Foliage from Wollam Gardens
• Queen Anne’s Lace From Seaberry Farm
• Sunflowers from Capital Flower Growers

Since this is the first year we’re using Borage, we thought we’d tell you a little about it. If you’re looking for it in your bouquet, it looks like this!

Butterbee Farm loaded us up with a couple hundred stems in the last few weeks. Borage is also called Starflower and is actually an herb. The leaves are edible and Laura Beth from Butterbee Farm said it tastes like cucumber but Irene and I tasted it today and…it was a little gross to eat. Try it for yourself and see.

We also added thistle to our bouquets this week. We love the color but not the spikes!

Back by popular demand this week is another cold drink concocted by Eric to keep our CSA members refreshed while they pick up their flowers. This week Lemon Basil-ade! Hillen Homestead provided us with Lemon Basil this week that Eric turned into a simple syrup. He added it to lemon and water…and voilà!

In each of our blog posts on the CSA, we’ll share some things we heard people say while they were visiting. Today our best quote came from Andy: “The flowers last week were beautiful. My girlfriend just hugged the bouquet when I brought it home.

Thanks to all our CSA members, thanks to our growers and thanks to Irene for putting our bouquets together today!

Be sure to check the hashtag #locoflocsa on twitter, instagram and facebook to see more photos from the CSA. There is still time to join if you’re interested. Check out the sign-up form on our website.

Our next pick up date is Wednesday, July 8 from 4:30-7pm. See you then!

When Winter Won’t Be Stopped

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of winter days that our growers spend wrapped up in quilts in front of the fire (or space heater) pouring over seed catalogs and crop plans and farm video games. (sorry, I had to out you Butterbee Farm!).

But not this week. In order to have early Spring flowers, growers have been working around the clock in SUB ZERO temps to keep their tender plants warm. Ranunculus, stock, tulips, anemones and more are some of the many early Spring flowers we depend on for weddings and events now through peony season in mid-May.

Extreme wind and bitter cold temps are wreaking havoc on hoop houses and greenhouses across our region.

Here’s a look at one of the end walls of one of Wollam Gardens hoop houses yesterday.

Here’s a shot of tiny ranunculus plants getting a little extra warmth from these twinkle lights at Greenstone Fields.

Our growers have been hard at work to ensure all of our Spring clients have beautiful, locally sourced flowers. Keeping all the cracks filled is key! Our friend Barb Lamborne, Flower Farmer at Greenstone Fields, is seen below working in negative double digit wind chills trying to reinforce the hoop house.

Using locally grown flowers is a super personal, extremely special way of doing business. Each flower is grown with so much love and care. There are no more dedicated folks than our flower farmers! THANK YOU to all of the hard working farmers in our region. We’re so grateful for you!

Locavore Weddings!

I’m so excited that Local Color Flowers is featured in Flavor Magazine’s article on Locavore Weddings. When I actually saw the magazine recently I was even more thrilled! It’s beautiful, inspiring and a real celebration of the wonderful offerings of Maryland and Virginia.

Buying local for weddings and events is not a trend. It’s not a fad. It’s actually part of an overall lifestyle that celebrates home cooking, pride in your hometown, real relationships with farmers and small businesses and a desire to incorporate that commitment into all aspects of your life, including your wedding.

I loved reading about some of my friends from Wollam Gardens as well as learning about other great vendors that focus on providing local products and services for weddings and events. And while I’m not trying to make it all about ME-I was happy there was a focus on flowers in the article. Often times, flowers seem to take a back seat to produce, meat and wine. I’m glad the folks a Flavor highlighted so many great growers/designers using local flowers.

Here’s what they wrote about flowers!

“Local flowers can diminish your environmental impact even further. At Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, owner Ellen Frost works only with Maryland and Virginia growers to assemble her arrangements. Inspired by Amy Stewart’s book “Flower Confidential,” which uncovers the complex and environmentally grueling international flower trade, Frost instead supports local growers, eliminating weeks between the moment a flower is pulled from the earth and the moment it touches a bride’s hands. Because Frost visits so many local growers each week, she’s able to provide significant variety. Even winter produces interesting textures of greenery, branches, and berries. She also provides couples with flowers in bulk and hosts DIY flower parties to teach attendants how to make their own bouquets.

Centerpieces can outlive the wedding weekend: “One of my couples did a lot of flowering bulbs, potted herbs, and succulents on the tables,” Frost says. “When the wedding was over, they took them home and planted a wedding garden in their yard.” If your flowers are cut, ask your florist to help you donate them to a local hospital or senior center.”

In addition to the article, Flavor has created a Locavore Wedding Resource Guide. This is a great place to find vendors and businesses for your upcoming wedding or event. Check it out!

Thanks Flavor Magazine!

Real Weddings: Danielle and Chuck

I have so much to say about Danielle and Chuck’s wedding…one blog post might not be enough!

Chef Beej Flamholz emailed me about a year and a half ago and asked me if I would be interested in working on a wedding with him. He said the clients would be a good fit for us. I met Claudia, the bride’s mom a few months later when we met for the first time to discuss the flowers. Claudia and I hit it off immediately!  Her daughter Danielle was in medical school so she was going to be coordinating the flowers in her place. They wanted multi-colored, vibrant flowers that looked “wildflowry” and natural. They also wanted to help collect antique bottles and jars that would be used for the centerpieces.

As the year of planning progressed, the vision for the flowers became more clear. They wanted a rustically decorated chuppah, a mix of potted and cut flowers and one of my favorite elements of the wedding-a Farm Stand!

As the wedding day approached, our whole team was bursting with excitement. By this time I had met Danielle and Chuck and Danielle’s uber-creative sister Nicole and I was so excited to create a beautiful wedding for them.

Danielle looked so beautiful and happy on her wedding day, I actually cried when I saw her!  She carried a naturally shaped bouquet filled with peonies, ranunculus, astilbe, dusty miller and a mix of herbs. Since Danielle was flexible with the colors of her bouquet (she wanted soft colors and shapes to compliment her dress) we were really able to get creative with what was growing locally that week.

The ceremony took place on the first floor of AVAM. The bride’s uncle built the chuppah and our talented team of designers decorated it with kousa dogwood, mock orange, peonies and curly willow. We also draped the bride’s granddad’s prayer shawl over the top of the chuppah. It was a beautiful, sacred place for Chuck and Danielle to get married.

After the ceremony guests enjoyed a beautiful farm to table dinner from Chef’s Expressions and Chef Beej Flamholz. I’m not just saying this-the tables looked AMAZING! I seriously cried when they were all decorated and ready for guests to arrive (I cried a lot at this wedding). Each detail came together perfectly-the vintage glass, the barn wood boxes, the apothecary jars…it was a perfectly miss/matched collection that looked wonderful together.

Long farm tables mixed with round tables added to the visual interest in the room.

 

And then…there was the Farm Stand! In lieu of a traditional favor table, we created an authentic Baltimore Farm Stand for Chuck and Danielle’s guests to “shop” at the wedding was over.

We filled the stand with uniquely Baltimore treats!

 

Lucy and Amelia black eyed susan seed bombs were a big hit as were individual packs of Zeke’s coffee and jams by Infused Spreads.

Nick’s Brand Backfire spices went fast as did the local strawberries, honey and McCutcheon sodas.

 

It was a great way to celebrate a couple who wanted to highlight the local goodness Maryland has to offer.

I was exhausted, but so joyful when this wedding was complete. I felt so proud to be part of this amazing team, so honored to be part of Danielle and Chuck’s wedding.

This was truly a team effort! Thanks to LoCoFlo’s amazing team of designers, farmers market/thrift store shoppers and venue setter-uppers! Thanks to to the growers who provided thousands of stems of locally grown flowers for this wedding including Seaberry Farm, LynnVale Studio, Wollam Gardens, Farmhouse Flowers and Plantmasters.

Thanks to the super-talented Beej Flamholz for pulling everything thing together. Beej is an amazing chef and his planning skills are to be commended.

Thanks to Eli Turner Photography for these spectacular photos…which…as you can probably guess…made me teary-eyed when I saw them. To see more photos from Danielle and Chuck’s wedding, you can check out Eli’s blog and our flickr page.

Finally, special thanks to Chuck and Danielle and their families. You were truly a joy to work with!  Congratulations!

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: Shauna and Brent

Shauna and Brent were married on a beautiful September day at one of my favorite venues: Historic London Town and Gardens.

Shauna carried a classic white bouquet made with locally grown dahlias and scented geranium. A beautiful, jeweled broach added a pop of color to the bouquet wrap.

The wedding colors were shades of orange, gold and green. The style of the wedding was rustic and natural. (My favorite colors and style!)

The guys boutonnieres were made of small succulents, orange gomphrena and a little splash of white statice.

Two lush ceremony arrangements were placed on the deck where the couple said their vows. The colors looked so vibrant against the blue of the sky and the Bay.

Sweet, pint sized mason jars filled with dahlias and zinnias hung from the ceremony chairs. A great added touch for the center aisle.

The reception tables were decorated with potted herbs, succulents and in this case, salad greens.

Even the cake got gussied up with flowers! Orange dahlias and zinnia added a great pop of color to this classic, beautiful white cake.

We’re so grateful to all of the growers that provided flowers for Shauna and Brent’s wedding including: Locust Point Flowers, Belvedere Farm, Plant Masters and Wollam Gardens.

Special thanks to Nathaniel and Rissa from Balance Photography for these beautiful photos. I can’t  tell you what a joy it is to work with this super talented couple.

Finally, congratulations to Shauna and Brent. Wishing them a lifetime of happiness.

Real Weddings: Jodie and Roddy

This Fall, I was excited to be able to work with Jodie and Roddy on their wedding flowers. Their style and creativity were inspiring. They both were excited to use succulents throughout the wedding and we had loads of options from Plant Masters to work with.

Jodie carried a bouquet filled dahlias, succulents, herbs and a variety of greens. It was a beautiful, natural look for October.

Jodie also added succulents to her hair for a creative, natural touch.

The centerpieces at the Pete Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park had a botany theme.

 

We used test tubes and chemistry beakers as the “vases”. We filled them with hydrangeas, herbs, dahlias and sweet smelling tuberose.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Thanks to Wollam Gardens, Locust Point Flowers and Plant Masters for the beautiful flowers.

Thanks to Carl Gunhouse for sharing a few of his gorgeous photos with us.

Congratulations to Jodie and Roddy! Wishing them a lifetime of happiness together!

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!

Real Weddings: Leslie and Michael

I love clients that love flowers! Leslie was a joy to work with leading up to the wedding day. She was super excited about the flowers – and so was I…which is the perfect combination!

Leslie looked stunning at her wedding. She carried a garden style bouquet filled with dahlias, lisianthus, salvia, beauty berries, eucalyptus, lavender and mint.

We lined the center aisle with these overflowing chair hangers. They were filled with mint, lavender, eucalyptus, tuberrose, ageratum and dahlias. They were perfect for adding great, natural fragrance to the ceremony.

 

Leslie collected an eclectic assortment of glassware for us to use for the table centerpieces. They ranged from a vessel that looked like a disco ball to a vintage measure cup. While each table had the same types of flowers, they were each unique as a result of the beautiful selection of vessels.

 

We had such fun working on Leslie and Michael’s wedding. Thanks to the great folks at the Josephine Baker Parks Center and to Chris at Ridgewells Catering for making set-up so easy!

Thanks to our amazing growers for always working with us to get just the right selection of flowers for each individual client! Flowers this week were provided by Wollam Gardens, Locust Point Flowers, Talmar, Farmhouse Flowers and Belvedere Farm.

Thanks to Erika Freber Photography for these beautiful photos!

Special thanks to Leslie and Michael for choosing Local Color Flowers! Wishing you much love and happiness in the years to come.