BOOKCLUB! Coming Soon to Local Color Flowers in 2014

Love to read? Passionate about nature? Think Buying Local is cool? If you said yes to any of these questions, then you’re going to be SO excited about LoCoFlo’s new Book Club starting in 2014!

The idea: Read fiction and non-fiction books about flowers, gardening, nature, farming, small businesses and more! Bring snacks and wine and discuss!

When: We’ll meet 6 times in 2014 at LoCoFlo’s studio in Charles Village (3100 Brentwood Ave) from 7pm-9pm each meeting. RSVP’s welcome (email ellen@locoflo.com) but not necessary.

Here’s the list:

• Monday, February 24, 7-9pm Flower Confidential By Amy Stewart (the book that started it all)
• Monday, April 28, 7-9pm The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Monday, June 30, 7-9pm My First Ladies by Nancy Clarke
• Monday, August 25, 7-9m The Language of Flowers Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• Monday October, 27, 7-9pm Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf
• Monday, December 15, 7-9pm Gaining Ground: Forrest Pritchard

Be sure to put the dates on your calendar! Happy Reading!

Giving Thanks

thought about this ee cummings poem today and thought I would share it for thanksgiving.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

The Holidays are Coming to LoCoFlo!

It’s November. We’re just about finished with weddings for the season. Know what that means? It’s holiday time!! This is our first year in our new space and we are SO excited for everything that we’ve got planned!

For those of you who want DIY your holiday centerpieces, holiday wreaths or holiday gifts, Local Color Flowers has some super fun design classes for you.

• Terrific Terrariums! Our next terrarium class is Saturday, November 16th at 10:30. Sign up today!
• Thanksgiving Centerpiece Class! Want to wow your guests with homemade centerpiece filled with locally grown flowers, foliage, succulent, berries, dried elements and more? Sign up for our Thanksgiving Centerpiece class!
• Wreath Making Class! Who needs a generic, grocery store wreath? Not you! Come make your own, personalized wreath filled with locally sourced greens, dried goodies and more!
• Holiday Terrariums! Our holiday terrarium class will include designing a holiday themed terrarium AND a holiday ornament!
• Christmas Centerpiece Class! Like our class at Thanksgiving, you’ll feel just like Martha when you wow your guests with homemade centerpiece filled with locally grown flowers, foliage, succulent, berries, dried elements and more!

No time  for DIY? Local Color Flowers has LOADS of centerpieces, wreaths, holiday gifts and more available NOW on our website. Order today! 

We’re also offering gift certificates that can be used for flowers, our 2014 CSA, subscriptions and classes. A perfect gift for the flower enthusiast or locavore in your life!

Local Color Flowers is so excited to announce our first holiday pop-up market- Maker’s Alley!

This is going to be such a fun event and the perfect place to purchase unique holiday gifts! Our AWESOME vendors include Rat Czar, Priya Means Love, Two Back Flats, Charm City Cook, Snark Machine, Highway to Hill, Kinderhook Snacks, and Byrdie!

Be sure to buy local this holiday season! See you soon!

2013 CSA…Success! Looking Ahead to 2014!

One of our goals here at Local Color Flowers is to help more people enjoy locally grown flowers on a regular basis. Finding locally grown flowers at the grocery store isn’t always easy and in some communities, it’s nearly impossible. The thought behind our 2013 Flower CSA was to connect urban folks with flower farmers so that they could experience flowers throughout the seasons.

As with any new project, we weren’t sure what to expect. The plan was to provide mixed bouquets twice  a month for 5 months. Each bouquet would have a tag describing the types of flowers that were in the bouquet and what farms they came from . We started with peonies in early June and finished up in October with some of the most beautiful dahlias I’ve ever seen.  We partnered with JHU’s Space Telescope Science Institute to have a drop of location at Hopkins main campus. We also let people pick up their bouquets at our studio.

Well, the CSA turned out to be SO MUCH FUN! Members were so excited to see what each new bouquet would include and we were excited to tell them all about the farms, farmers and flowers.

“ My wife and I were absolutely delighted with the flowers we received as part of the CSA this year!! We loved the variety of flowers and the arrangements you put together.”

                                                                    - Steve

“the csa was a bright spot in my summer!”

                                                                    -John

Since we liked it so much, we’re excited to announce that sign up is now open for the 2014 Local Flower CSA! If you sign up before the end of the year, you get a 10% discount (great holiday gift!). All the details can be found on our website.  We’ll be adding a couple new/fun features to the CSA this year. Each week we have a bouquet pick up, we’ll do a blog post about the bouquet, where the flowers came from, who grew them and more. Also, at the start of the season, we’ll offer a discounted design class for all CSA members to help them make the most of their bouquets throughout the season.  So much fun to look forward to!

Meeting Amy Stewart

What a way to usher in my 41st year than with an evening  at Cylburn Arboretum with Amy Stewart! For those of you don’t know, Amy Stewart is an amazing writing of books, blogs and all things gardening. On this night, she was at Cylburn to read from her most recent book, the Drunken Botanist. For me though, Amy is most known (and loved) for authoring the book: Flower Confidential.

Flower Confidential, which was published in 2007 played of pivotal role in our decision to start LoCoFlo. It was, and still is, one of the most comprehensive looks at the global cut flower industry. It came to me at the perfect time. I was working part time on a farm, meeting flower farmers, starting to try my hand at floral design and feeling restless in my day job. It sparked something in me, something that let me know that there was an opportunity within the cut flower industry for something different, something unique, something sustainable…something local.

So, while we were standing in line to meet Amy, Eric kept telling me not to burst out crying…which I almost did. I was just so excited! I wanted to tell her everything about LoCoFlo and how grateful I was and how because of her, we were really changing the industry in our little corner of the world. Instead, with a line of people behind me, I told her a little of everything in a hurried, jumbled, tear filled shpeal. She was gracious and excited to hear my story and hopefully didn’t think I was too much of a flower stalker! What I really wanted, was to sit on a little sofa and have a cocktail with her and talk about flowers.

The Drunken Botanist reading and discussion was awesome and super interesting for plant nerds, cocktail nerds  and normal people alike. I got to visit with friends (thanks Chesapeake Wine Company) drink yummy cocktails (thanks Rye) and enjoy my birthday in the best way possible!

Local Color Flowers On Debra Prinzing’s Slow Flowers Podcast!

Debra Prinzing, for those you don’t know, is one of my flower idols! She has an amazing career as a garden writer and recently published two AWESOME books called  the 50 Mile Bouquet and Slow Flowers.

             

I don’t know Debra, not in person, not yet…but I  KNOW her. We share a passion for local flowers and local flower farmers. The work that she is doing to bring attention to American Grown flowers and the people that grown them and the people that design with them is truly inspiring.

Recently, Debra started this really cool podcast called Slow Flowers which you can subscribe to/download on Itunes.  It’s a wonderful look at the American flower industry including farmers, designers and enthusiasts. Listening to these interviews is definitely a treat and makes me feel part of extended community of amazing flower folks.

This week’s podcast features none other than Local Color Flowers! It was such a treat to talk with Debra and share the story of LoCoFlo with her listeners. If you want to give a listen, you can go to Debra’s website or you can find it on Itunes!

Thanks for listening!

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!