Good Bye Spring! Summer is Here!

Summer has finally arrived here in Baltimore! It came in with a rain storm...but at least it's here. Using locally grown cut flowers for our arrangements means that every season (and sometime every week) there are new flowers, greens, herbs, berries and tidbits to use in our arranging.

With the passing of Spring, we say good bye to some of our favorite flowers: ranunculus, tulips, calla lilies and peonies.

Here are some of our favorite pics from this past Spring.

But with summer comes some more of our favorites: lisianthus, hydrangeas, zinnias, sunflowers, crocosmia. Stay tuned to see what summer brings!

Celebrating Balitmore's East Side

Playing Checkers By Ken Royster

Have you seen the City Paper this week? The cover article profiles a new exhibit at the Reginald Lewis Museum called "East Side Stories: Portrait of a Baltimore Neighborhood Then and Now". The exhibit, as well as the book by the same name takes an in-depth look at the East Baltimore community over the past 100 years. Photos, videos and audio stories create a unique experience that all Baltimoreans should check out. The exhibit runs until July 26, 2009.

LoCoFlo was fortunate to work with Save Middle East Action Committee to provide boutonnieres and corsages for all the folks that contributed stories and photos to the book and exhibit. The flowers were presented to them at the opening reception on May 30.

Wednesday Market Starts Today!

The Mt Washington Whole Foods Farmers Market starts today! Located in the Whole Foods parking lot, the market runs 4-7pm every Wednesday through the end of October.

While I think it's a little weird for a grocery store to host a farmers market, I love this market because one of our favorite flower growers is there: Bill Harlan of Belvedere Farm.

All summer and fall you can visit Bill's stand and be treated to some of the most beautiful cut flowers in the Baltimore area. For the first week Bill's stand was full of awesome Bells of Ireland, early Sunflowers, red and white Sweet William and red and white Lilies.

We'll be using the Bells of Ireland and Sweet William for weddings this weekend and the sunflowers and lilies for weddings next weekend. Be sure to check back this weekend to see how we use them!

Real Weddings: Samantha and Brian

On April 4th, Samantha and Brian wed in Baltimore's Mt. Vernon neighborhood. The cherry trees were blooming on a windy yet beautiful sunny afternoon. Brian and Sam like to brew their own beer, so it seemed natural that they picked The Brewer's Art on Charles Street for their ceremony and celebration. Frank Hamilton is the photographer who beautifully captured this day.

When I talked with Sam, she said she wanted the flowers to be all spring colors and flowers. She had 13 bridesmaids, each able to choose their own dress, color and style. When we delivered the flowers to the Peabody Court Hotel, I heard one bridesmaid comment that it was amazing that we had managed to have every dress color represented by a flower color in the bouquets.

Sam's cascading bouquet was filled with tulips, gerbera daisies, ranunculus, anenomies, daffodils, bluperum, veronica and amaranth.

The bride's maids bouquets were hand tied with celadon ribbon, utilizing the same flowers that were in Sam's bouquet:

Brain and Sam's wedding was our first for our 2009 season, which was fitting, as they were referred to us by our first ever Locoflo wedding, Leanna and John.

Real Weddings: Nathalie and Cory

Nathalie and Cory are both artists who were interested in having a Green/DIY wedding. With a great eye for color and texture, Nathalie shared with us her vision for her bouquets. Mostly green with some splashes of yellow, purple and white; succulents; herbs; very textured and natural.

For the bouquets we used yellow gerbera daisies, white and purple stock, iris', hens and chicks, rosemary and lavender.

The table arrangements were in vintage mason jars on top of wood slices cut by Cory's dad.We used the same flowers, herbs and succulents in the mason jars as in the bouquet with the addition of yellow lilies and hosta leaves.

The wedding took place on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in April at the beautiful Woodend Sanctuary. The photographer, Jocelyn Mathewes of Studio Mathewes perfectly captured the love and natural beauty that surrounded this couple on their special day. Check out Jocelyn's blog to see some more pictures and video of the happy couple.

Viva la Mexico!

I love Mexico. I've only been there once, to Mexico City and Zihuatanejo, but I loved it. I loved the food, the people, the language, the flowers.

Today Marina and I worked on a really cool gig with one of our fave green event planners, Lori Hill. The event was called Experience Mexico Meetings. It was a party of sorts to encourage meeting planners to plan meetings in Mexico. We were asked to provide 3 large banquet arrangements.

What struck me most about this event was the location. The Mexican Cultural Institute on 16th St in DC is a jewel. I felt a little like I had just walked into the Palacio Nacional with all the beautiful murals, and carved wood and tile. I actually think I was teary for a minute-I loved this building that much.

The first arrangement was a bouquet of white viburnum, purple baptisia, sunflowers, calla lilies, gerber daisies, snap dragons and stock. This arrangement stood about 3 feet high.

The second arrangement was actually my favorite. All the same flowers were used, but it stood about 4 feet high and was made in a coppery, bird bath.

The final and largest arrangement was placed on top of a glass "vase" that was filled with lemons. (not grown locally but grown on the east coast and purchased locally).

We left before the party started. Too bad, because I remember in Mexico City, folks sipped tequila with orange slices after lunch. That would have been a great way to spend the afternoon, but we had to get back to Baltimore to start preparing for a wedding on Sunday.

Charm City Bride

I came across a great new blog recently called Charm City Bride. Lauren Wenchel is creating a one stop shop for all things weddings in the Baltimore area. Charm City Bride is a great resource for anyone planning a wedding in Baltimore. It includes vendor referrals, stories of real weddings and loads of wedding planning resources.

You can tell that Lauren had a design background. Her inspiration boards are gorgeous! Colorful, creative and inspiring, Lauren has collages for everything including cupcakes, shoes, cocktails, dresses and flowers! (Check out the LoCoFlo collage she made!) I can tell you that Marina and I are envious and can't wait to meet with Lauren to get some ideas on how we can do our own electronic inspiration boards. Be sure to check out Charm City Bride!