The Holly and The Ivy: The Original Holiday Décor

By Irene Donnelly

During the recent wreath making classes hosted by Local Color Flowers, I noticed that the holly hardly ever gets used.  Of all the evergreens we pre-cut and offer to students, the holly is rarely touched.  It must be the thorns that deters them.  Students tend to lean toward magnolia, cedars, firs and berries but as folklore has it, the most commonly used holiday decorations were holly and ivy.

Bringing holly and ivy indoors dates back to the 4th century when Pagan people would celebrate the winter solstice or the “return of the sun”.  It was considered bad luck to bring these evergreens indoors before the solstice (December 21st/22nd) and equally bad luck to leave them up past the twelfth day of Christmas, (January 6th, also known as Epiphany).  The hardiness of both plants was believed to ward of evil spirits and protect the household through the winter, as well as provide homes for faeries and spirits wishing to escape the cold.  These greens would give people hope and reassurance that Spring would eventually return.

According to folklore it was said that whichever plant, holly or ivy, made it’s way into the home first would predict whether the husband or the wife would run the household the following year.   Holly having associations with masculinity and ivy with femininity.  In Roman times wreaths of holly and ivy were given to newlyweds as a token of good will and good luck for the future.

As Christianity spread through Europe, pagan traditions were reluctantly incorporated along side Christian celebrations.  The ancient symbolism of both holly and ivy were altered to conform to new Christian beliefs so that people could continue to deck their halls without being damned.  While holly formerly symbolized  “protection and good will” it began to take on new meanings.  The leaves and berries would symbolize the crown of thrones worn by Jesus and the drops of blood that was spilt.  Ivy on the other hand held it’s original symbolism as representing “eternal life”. 

As time when on, holly and ivy remained the predominate evergreens in holiday decor throughout Europe and the New World. Every establishment from churches, houses, bars and schools would be decorated.  The tradition of trimming interiors grew to decorating front doors and streets.  Cards and wrapping paper use holly and ivy as a symbol of the season and there are a number of carols that incorporate the plants into their lyrics.  In fact, holly was the favored decoration for celebrating Christmas until the 1800’s when “Prince Albert popularized the Christmas Tree”.

All symbolism and tradition aside, the only green plants around my home right now are holly and ivy.  Even though I am a nut for symbolism, I think it is possible that people just used what was available, abundant and beautiful in December to decorate their homes.  I can’t think of another time of year where people emphatically decorate their homes with plants.  I guess their is some magic to it after all.

In a couple of weeks I will defiantly celebrate the return of the Sun and longer days by decorating my home with a tree, a wreath and perhaps some garland.  I’ll fold in a little Christianity and a whisper of Santa Claus and I’ll be sure to make it all disappear by January 6th.  I hope to find more people reaching for holly and ivy in our upcoming  holiday centerpieces class and open studio sessions!  Now to get rid of those pumpkins. ;)

Tulips For Valentine’s Day!

By Irene Donnelly

Valentine's Day is a day of constant motion and excitement in the floral industry.  We happily assist droves of semi-panicked lovers trying to piece together last minute gifts… all in the name romance.  As floral designers we are eager to help everyone find the perfect gesture of love for their Valentine.  For me, I tend to like helping the inexperienced, the procrastinator and the perplexed with their orders the best.  These giddy, mostly new lovers tend to be adorably refreshing and thoughtful.

Of course, not everyone is last minute and inexperienced.  There happens to be a minority of wise, generally older, married individuals who pre-order flowers for pick up or delivery a week or so in advance.  These people seem to realize the significance of the sentiment and have learned the tricks of the trade. Many have burned by long lines, florists running out of flowers and the overall mayhem of V-day shopping.  That being said, I don't want to scare anyone away from facing a floral shop on Valentine's Day, it's really not that bad but it does help to be prepared.

The panic that sets in seems to revolve around not knowing what to buy.  Take my advice. Think about your Valentine.  Are they classic? Earthy? Modern?  Trendy?  Etc.  A good floral designer will be able to execute any adjective into flowers.  Trust the designers and if you're really smart preorder! (order here).

When in doubt…locally grown tulips are sure to please. 

A short history on Tulips:  Second behind roses as the most popular V-day bouquet, tulips are clean, fresh and classy.  They originated as a wild flower in Turkey and were often adorned in Turkish turbans, hence their name. (not because they looked like "Two Lips." )

The bulbs made their way to the Netherlands over four hundred years ago, where they became such a commodity they ended up being an extremely profitable investment opportunity and everyone wanted in.  "Tulip Mania," as it was called, had many of the Dutch buying bulbs in hopes of finding a desirable genetic mutation coupled with a big cash pay out. It was a gamble to grow tulips that had a new trait unique from existing tulips.  If a Dutchman did happen to spring up the next big thing, well…they got sticking rich.  But as we know, playing the stinking rich game doesn't pay off in the long run and usually crashes an economy. It eventually did. 

At Local Color Flowers we will have tulips from Van Dyke Brothers Farm in New Jersey.  While they are the farthest farm from the shop that we buy flowers from, they are still comparatively local when you think about the greater scheme of valentine's day flowers.   (114 miles) In addition to tulips, we'll have the usual hyper local magic we normally have this time of year including snapdragons, paperwhites, flowering branches and locally grown evergreens.

We will have bouquets of tulips (and other local goodness) ready to "grab and go" at three locations on Valentine’s Day :

The Quintessential Gentlemen located downtown at 31 South Calvert Street from 11am-2pm

Chesapeake Wine Company at the Can Company in Canton from 11 until …the sell out!

Our  shop in Charles Village all day until 7pm. We’re located at 3100 Brentwood Ave. PLEASE call before you come by to make sure we can accommodate your request!

Wondering what the most remarkable and distinguishing fact about the Tulip is? It continues to grow once it's been cut from the bulb.  

That means long after you give your tulips as a gift, your lover will be able to watch these flowers grow taller and taller and higher still.  Other flowers may open and change but no others will grow as dramatically tall.  Isn't that a nice symbolic sentiment to give to your Valentine?  That your love grows?

Beaming with Pride

I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this story from the Friends School of Baltimore Magazine this month.

The story, written by LoCoFlo designer Carling Elder is the story of two Friends School alums that came together to create something amazing in Baltimore and along the way, became fast friends. The two friends are no ordinary young women. Laura Beth, my dear friend and founder of Butterbee Farm is a passionate, driven entrepreneur who is creating a sustainable flower farm in Baltimore. Irene Donnelly, also one of LoCoFlo’s designers, is a skilled floral designer, a creative artist and business owner (check out Snark Machine) and a truly joyful soul to be around.

Carling got together with Laura Beth and Irene and interviewed them for this article. In addition to being a fabulous designer, Carling is a great writer (as evidenced by her recent Honorable Mention Award from the City Paper in their annual poetry contest). The article, beautifully captures so much of what we are trying to do at Local Color Flowers. We’re working hard to help support new growers, connect like minded folks around the business of growing local flowers and have fun while we’re doing it.

I’m so happy that LoCoFlo played a supporting role in bringing these three women together. They inspire me every single day. I’m so grateful that for their contributions to our business as well as their passion and commitment to local flowers and farmers. Way to go team!

Vacation to Maine = Shopping Trip for LoCoFlo

By Irene Donnelly

I went to Maine last week for Vacation. Ellen, always ready to pounce on opportunity, gave me some spending money and a quest to find all things milkglass, mason jar and cans.  In other words:  vessels for the shop.   

We speculated that Maine would have mountains of killer finds.  I can't speak for Ellen but I imagined Maine as this rural, out of touch place for cheap desirable antiques. A place where I would be able to find warehouses full of Americana that no one found valuable except me.  In reality the vintage landscape was comparable to Baltimore and my quest did not exceed my pillaging expectations.  However, I did learn some valuable lessons. 

Frist, the Flee Market is king for treasures and deals.  Check out the ridiculous items my partner in haggling and life found.

Secondly,  if Flee Markets are going to be my main source for finding vessels in the future, I had better work on my negotiating skills.  It was rough having to go through a financial debate every time I was ready to buy.  The process made me feel iky inside and I didn't get my usual "I found a something really sweet!" high.  It made me miss my thrifting days in Baltimore. It made me think…"price labels…  what a convenient innovation."  I will never take seeing something I like with a price on it for granted again and kudos to me if it happens to be half price day at the Value Village. 

Then again, some sellers I encountered were just easier to make a deal with than others.  For example I got all of these early 19th century medicine and elixir vials for a steal.  Great for a grouped arrangement!

I also found this half gallon Blue Masson Jar for $5.  That was a real deal considering, the quart sized go for about $12 and don't have the pretty glass lid.

Back to nightmare haggling. This woman owned a junk shop on rt. 1 in Maine.  I think it was call All in the Family or Family Antiques but who cares.  She claimed she owned an antique store but her display could have used improvement and imagination.  The words of Carol Caggian0, "perceived value" are currently flashing above my head.  Again, it was a junk shop where everything I picked up  was not quite right and over $12.  Oh my! Way over of my self imposed budget of $4, per vessel.

I did however manage to score these two unmarked cheese boxes.  Haggling ensued and two days later the night sky displayed a magnificent blue moon.  Strange coincidence.

Finally, it has recently become my mission to convert all the rustic Americana folks out there from Masson Jar to Cans.  I mean, just look at the awesome graphic quality's in the labels.  Imagine all the fun we could have displaying complimentary flowers in them. The humor!