Blog Talk with Susan Reimer

I started LoCoFlo’s blog two years ago. I was so excited to share information, stories and photos about what we do at Local Color Flowers. At about the same time, I started reading blogs…a lot of blogs. Gardening blogs, flower blogs, wedding blogs…One of my favorites is Susan Reimer’s Garden Variety blog in the Baltimore Sun. Susan is a great resource for all things gardening in and around Baltimore. On any given day you could be reading about how to grow hellebores, legislature that effects gardeners or info on upcoming events that all good gardening nerds will love!

This morning I was excited to head out to Valley View Farms to listen to Susan Reimer talk about her favorite gardening blogs. Turns out we had some of the same favorites including Garden Rant and Washington Gardener.  She also turned me on to some new blogs that I’ll definitely be keeping any eye on in the future including Homestead Gardens’ blog and Garden Designers Round Table. 

Do you have a favorite garden/flower/wedding blog? Let me know which ones you love and I’ll check them out. You can never read too many blogs…can you?

Treasure Hunting at The Baltimore Antique Bottle Show and Sale

The Baltimore Antique Bottle and Sale show was a little slice of quirky, unique Baltimore at it’s best. The Physical Education building at Essex Community College was filled up with bottle collectors from all over the country showing off everything from mason jars and apothecary jars, to 100 year old tobacco tins and ancient milk bottles from local creameries.

Carla and I tried to do a “once over” before we started shopping, but we couldn’t help ourselves-we started  buying as soon as we walked in the door.

Our priorities were picking up additional blue mason jars to add to our current collection as well as to find some unique bottles that we can use for some our upcoming Spring weddings.

We got crates of these cool milk bottles. Lots of which have the names of old Baltimore dairies on them.

We also got lots of unique blue mason jars as well as these Baltimore thrift jars (my fave find of the day)

   

One of the highlights, in addition to our purchases was visiting with one of our May brides, Rachel, and her dad, who have been setting up a table at the bottle show for years. Of course- I was so excited when Rachel’s dad told me I could come search through his basement collection of blue Ball jars! Can’t wait!

You know it’s a good day when you spend every penny you brought with you…and wish you had more. Next year I’ll be better prepared! Check back to see where the bottles/jars end up!

Video Blog: LoCoFlo at the Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase

Last weekend Local Color Flowers attended the 2nd Annual Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase at the University of Maryland. Put together by lori hill event productions and Balance Photography, the Green Wedding showcase brought together loads of green vendors and designers that showed off their wares to couples that were interested in fabulous green products and services. Check out the video to get a glimpse of some of the show’s highlights.

The green wedding showcase marks the official start to the season. We headed out to pick up some beautiful spring flowers including: tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, stock, lilies, star of Bethlehem, calla lilies, pussy willow, curly willow and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.

Jen and I had a great time putting together these unique, Spring arrangements-some traditional, some not so traditional. All beautiful!

Even though it was cold and snowy, it was great going out to Farmhouse Flowers, Locust Point Flowers and Plantmasters to visit with the farmers and pick up flowers.

Looking ahead to this new season, we’re excited to bring you more photos, video and stories about the work we’re doing, the farmers we work with, and the fun we are having! I hope you’ll check back soon!

Real Weddings: Karen and Brad

LoCoFlo loved working with Karen and Brad. When I first met this great couple, Karen told me she used Janell and Eric’s wedding flowers as inspiration for choosing her flower colors. I loved all the vibrant colors-greens, oranges, yellows; the textures-succulents, herbs, flowers, greens and and the sweet scent of tuberose and mint.

Karen and Brad were married at the beautiful Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace Maryland. It’s a beautiful spot, one block from the water with a charming garden where the couple was married. Karen looked just beautiful walking down the aisle with her ADORABLE son!

Every detail, including this stunning white dahlia (with a little orange asclepias peeking out) was just perfect.

Karen also chose…unique…boutonnieres for the guys-which I LOVED! yup…that’s a hairy ball boutonniere!

And check out this luscious cake!

 

Thanks to our wonderful growers including Belvedere Farm, Bridge Farm Nursery and Locust Point Flowers! Thanks to Jonathan Hanson for the beautiful photos.

Congratulations to Karen and Brad! A wonderful couple who deserve all the love and happiness in the world!

LoCoFlo wins WeddingWire’s Bride’s Choice Award 2011 for Flowers and Decor

LoCoFlo is so proud and humbled to have won the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Award!  WeddingWire is a great resource for couples who are getting married and want to check out vendors in their geographic area.  WeddingWire also gives couples/clients an opportunity to rate their vendors after the wedding-providing a valuable resource for potential clients.

We’re so grateful to our clients for taking time out to write a review of our services and our flowers. These reviews tell the story of LoCoFlo and the work we do from the clients perspective. These reviews are used by potential clients to help choose their wedding florist. What has been really wonderful about reading these reviews is hearing how HAPPY the the work we do makes people!  Thank you LoCoFlo clients! You Rock!

Here are some samples of this year’s reviews on WW!

“We were so lucky to find Ellen for our wedding flowers. She was a joy to work with - creative, fun, and flexible. The flowers were gorgeous and really captured the color and spirit that we had talked about.”

“My husband and I are do-it-yourselfers, and Ellen helped us realize our dream of using local and seasonable flowers and plants for our Autumn wedding. We loved being able to pick up the flowers in bulk and arrange them to our liking. We were so pleased with the rustic and natural look of our arrangements!”

“I found out about Local Color Flowers while looking for florists who used locally grown flowers. I wasn't too fussy about the way the flowers looked, I just knew that I didn't need them flown in from Timbuktu. You know you've met a professional when you can say, 'I like this this and this' and they pull together something fantastic . . . and that's exactly what Local Color Flowers did.”

What’s Blooming: February 24, 2011

You might be thinking that there is NOTHING blooming in Maryland on February 24. How could there be-right? There is snow still on the ground. We’re still wearing hats and gloves. But don’t be fooled! Spring is right around the corner and here in Maryland flowers are starting to bloom!

Here’s what I picked up today for the Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase this coming Sunday.

Tulips! Pink, yellow, red and purple!

 

Beautiful, spicy smelling Stock!

Lilies! Always Lilies!

Ranunculus-getting ready to open!

Pussy willow!

Paper whites!

Hyacinth that made the LoCoRoll smell like Spring!

Star of Bethlehem-that seem to last forever!

So if you’re feeling down and sick of the cold, remember Spring is is on it’s way. Thanks to Locust Point Flowers, Farmhouse Flowers and Plant Masters for the beautiful flowers!

Does Your Florist Compost? Local Color Flowers Does!

You might be thinking-why should I care if my florist composts? There are lots of reasons why composting is awesome and lots of reasons you should choose a florist that composts.
Floral design creates loads and loads for floral “trash”. All of the leaves, stems, branches and even flowers that don’t get used get discarded at the end of the day. We can create about 20lbs of (10 buckets, bags or boxes depending on what we are using that day) of “trash” per event. What might be trash to other florists is the fuel that keeps our gardens, and our friends gardens and our clients gardens so pretty.

Compost is really just decomposed natural refuse like plant materials, fruit and veggie leftovers, grass clippings and more. At Local Color Flowers we take all of the leftover “stuff” from your wedding flowers and we stick it in a bin with some food scraps, leaves and water and then we turn it every once in a while.
By the time your first anniversary comes around all those scraps have turned into something that looks a lot like soil. It smells fresh and it’s loaded up with all sorts of goodies that plants and flowers need to thrive. Once it’s strained (since those dang curly willow take forever to break down) the compost can be used as a fertilizer for garden plants/flowers or house plants and flowers.
What do florists do with all that stuff if they don’t compost? I don’t know. I’m guessing they just bag it up as trash and put it out to the curb for garbage pick-up. What a waste! Look at all this wonderful “black gold”!
Want to give your spouse a little bag of LoCoFlo compost for your anniversary? Just give us a call and we’ll hook you up!