Year's End

Things end. Days, seasons, events, years – even this pandemic will end one day. December starts the countdown to a new year, but whilst we are still in 2021, let’s consider what we learned before we toast 2022.

Local connections are critical. From shortages of goods to pandemic-related delays in shipping, developing local sources was the key to smoother operations for growers and designers alike. The shortage of imported flowers provides local growers the opportunity to fill the needs of designers who may have been hesitant or unfamiliar before with the wide variety of flowers and foliage available to them in every season of the year.

Virtual can be a good thing. One of the true silver linings of gathering virtually is that anyone can attend, regardless of geography. We have seen that with our IFDA meetings – we can now welcome members from all over the nation who can attend without the expense and hassle of travel. Inclusion of more people offers interesting new takes on creativity, and I expect virtual and hybrid models of meeting are here to stay.

Flower sales are up! On a farm tour this fall, Dave Dowling, guru of American flower farms, mentioned the huge increase in sales of cut flowers last year – and that has continued this year. Being intentional about gifts that spark joy or simply wanting beauty in our homes as we cope with uncertainty has meant more flower customers buying more often. A rosy forecast for cut flower sales is good for the industry overall, providing business to designers and growers.

As we celebrate the season, we can also celebrate the many ways we have all pivoted, been nimble, learned new tricks, connected with new suppliers and businesses, and simply carried on. Let’s also remember that, while all things end, endings make room for new beginnings. May the new year be the beginning of new joys for us all.

What’s Available Locally in December: This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month. Anemones, Coral Berry, Eucalyptus, Ilex, Lilies, Paperwhite Narcissus, Sweet William, Tulips, Evergreens, and wreaths, swags, and garlands. Also ask your local growers about dried flowers and wreaths – many dry their harvest!

Care Tips for Juniperus – Juniper greens are a festive addition to holiday designs, although they can also be used at other times of the year. Their vase life is long, usually two to four weeks, depending on the cultivar. They can be dry stored at 32F for a month or more.

Abundance

The seasons are always changing, regardless of the attention we pay them. For days and weeks my Bride-to-Be Dahlias had a seemingly endless supply of buds. I basked in their beauty as I harvested buckets. And then one day there were hardly any new buds coming. That moment of realization is often a surprise, but it shouldn’t have been. Yes, we had had some days that were warm as summer, but overall, daylight hours were fewer, temperatures were lower, leaves were falling, and birds were flying overhead in huge flocks southward. Every sign was there, but I, focused on the myriad tasks of the moment, didn’t comprehend them. The change that seemed so sudden had been happening every moment, as those plants knew the shorter days and cooler temperatures meant their time was ending.

Just as with my dahlias, circumstances that began in 2020 during the pandemic have resulted in repercussions today, including flower and supply shortages. The roots of these challenges can be traced back to waves of sickness or natural disasters or both that kept crops from being sown or supplies from begin manufactured or products from being transported. This scarcity seems sudden, but its causes were days and weeks and months in the making.

Sometimes, it seems all we hear about is lack – lack of cold glue, lack of white flowers, lack of available labor – everyone working in the floral industry has their list of what is not to be found. So, instead, let’s focus on what is abundant.

First to mind is creativity. I see every day on Instagram florists learning new ways, designing with new flowers or foliage when they can’t source the tried and true, often giving locally-grown a try for the first time. Cooperation is something else that flows from all of us. When I needed some vases that I couldn’t find anywhere a few weeks ago, another florist simply said, sure, I have them, I’m out of town, but here is the code to my studio – take anything you need. Ingenuity is next on my list, and we see this all the time in flowers, even before the pandemic, as many designers committed to reducing their use of floral foam and began looking for ways old and new to support and hold flowers and foliage.

You likely can add a few more qualities to these three, as you cope with an every- changing supply scenario. I’ll end with just one more – camaraderie – the sense that we are in this together, that we have trust between us, and, together, we will make it through. Happy Thanksgiving!

What’s Available Locally in November: This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month.

Cabbage Roses, Chrysanthemums, Dusty Miller, Eucalyptus, Ilex, Paper White Narcissus, Rosemary, Sage, Evergreens, Dried Flowers

Highlighted Bloom: Whenever I look up Chrysanthemums in certain flower books, I am shocked when it isn’t there, and I feverishly turn the pages to Mums, and then the index – where I again find the scientific name is Dendranthema. Mums come in every gorgeous color, type, and stem-length, and they fill a critical need for focal flowers after frost.

Care tips for Chrysanthemums: Mums have a terrific vase life, often two weeks or more. While some varieties might last a little longer with flower food, the vase life is excellent even without it. Leaves may yellow before flowers fade; to prevent this, store in the dark at 34 degrees.

Grace

Worried.  The world has been worried for so long now – worried about our children, our parents, our neighbors, our selves.  Worried we should isolate more or isolate less, worried we should gather, then worried if we do gather.  Worry has kidnapped us all.

Despite the particular difficulties the pandemic has presented to those who work with flowers, whether growing, designing, or selling them, I think that those in the floral world are, in some ways, better equipped to adapt.  After all, when you are dealing with a perishable product and life’s most important moments, worry is part of the business, even without a pandemic.  Growers worry the flowers won’t be ready at the right time, or, if they are, there won’t be enough, or there will be too many, or they will be the wrong color.  Designers worry their order will be incomplete, or the prices will go up, or the flowers won’t hold.  Peek behind beautiful designs and you will find layers of work and worry.

You will also find grace, infused in every petal and leaf.  Wearying as the pandemic is, there is unexpected kindness, acceptance, and generosity.  So many of us are giving grace and allowing it to be given to us.  With weddings especially being disrupted, reconfigured, and then reworked again, we have an opportunity to examine what the meaning of the day is, beyond wanting a specific flower or foliage.  When flowers are scarce, turn to your local growers, who can supply, especially this time of year, the most glorious flowers.  They may not be roses, but they are lovely, and, if you look at the meaning, isn’t that what weddings are about – a celebration of a new union, and a new commitment by two people who have negotiated and compromised to get to their wedding. Two people coming together with a wedding looking different than first envisioned, but perfect nonetheless?

Just like flowers.  Every flower can create a gorgeous feeling of joy and celebration or solemn remembrance, if we let go of one vision and welcome another.

What’s Available Locally in October:  This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month.  

Ageratum, Anemones (Fall Blooming), Basil, Caryopertis, Celosia, Cosmos, Dahlias, Gladiolos, Limelight Hydrangeas, Marigolds, Rosemary, Sage, Salvia, Sunflowers, Tuberose, Zinnias

Highlighted Bloom:  Every Fall for three years I asked my friend Diane Lutz at Dilly Dally Garden what that gorgeous blue was, and every year she would tell me Caryopteris.  I finally planted my own, and the blue is so welcome for autumn designs.

Care tips for Caryopertis: Caryopertis has outstanding vase life, typically 10 days or more. Often harvested when the first bottom blooms have opened, it is better to wait until more have opened, as they ones unopened don’t open much more after being cut. It can be tricky to hydrate, and hot water is recommended to help.

Stages of Beauty

Circle around, circle in, circle back – so many figures of speech use the image of a circle, and so it is in the floral world.  Flowers or colors trend then fall out of fashion, the Pantone color of the year may take months or even years to become a favorite in your locale, and techniques that are all the rage one summer may suddenly look dated the next.

Circling back in these days are dried flowers.  Popular in the eighties and nineties, designs featuring “everlastings” then fell from favor for a time.  In recent years, we have seen a welcome resurgence in interest, as there is much that dried product offers the designer.

One of the most important features is adding an additional stage of beauty which extends the life of the design – most helpful in the winter months when fresh product locally is not as plentiful as in other seasons.   Carol Carrier of Plantmasters Flowers gave us all much to consider with a February presentation on this topic, and it is fascinating to consider how many different blooms and even foliages can be dried to beautiful effect.    

If there are flowers you seek for drying, consult with your local growers and ask them to grow the desired color of celosia or statice or strawflower.  Take time now to learn about what flowers dry well, or just start experimenting.  Check your local library or Amazon for the vast array of books on dried flowers; two of my favorites are Everlastings:  The Complete Book of Dried Flowers by Patricia Thorpe and Everlastings:  How to Grow, Harvest and Create with Dried Flowers by Bex Partridge.

Our own IFDA members have created thoughtful uses of dried flowers depicting creativity and intelligence, which will be shown on our website and public Facebook page.  The gallery of images will inspire you to add another stage of beauty to your designs, another part of the circle of life.

What’s Available Locally in February:  This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month.  

Paper white narcissus, hellebore, quince, forsythia, pussy willow, hyacinth, and all kinds of dried flowers!

Care tips for Annual Statice (Limonium Sinuatum) If harvested when a little less than half the flowers are open, annual statice is fresh for about a week – but lasts indefinitely dried. One of the easiest flowers to dry, you can hang upside down in bunches, or simply leave in a vase with no water. I find stripping the leaves when fresh is helpful, as they will sometimes yellow as they dry.

Seeing

A palette of gray and muted green and white greeted me this morning – a winter sky above a winter ground dusted with snow and glazed with ice. As I walked, I thought how January forces us to look closely, seeking signs of growth, reminding me of the old grade school reading books commanding us to, “Look!” So look I did.

And I saw daffodils sprouting, impatient to grow so they can show off the yellow gold and creamy white and bright orange blossoms that lift us up in early spring. I saw hellebores blooming despite the frigid temperatures – welcome spots of color in a frozen landscape. I saw the green foliage of field grown ranunculus and anemones, and it was reassuring to see they have made it this far into the winter. Likewise with the scabiosa and bells of Ireland and other cool hardy annuals planted last fall, confirming they are doing their part to fulfill the promise of spring.

It was a close look that helped birth the locally grown flowers movement. As consumers began thinking more about origin for their food, they also began thinking about origin for their flowers. Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart’s thorough analysis of the global floral industry, published in 2008, fueled this movement. Today, many florists are considering how they can source and design more with locally grown flowers.

A close look at the winter work of flower farmers and florists finds commonalities. Both are doing the necessary work to plan and prepare for what we hope will be a more regular season of weddings and events. What is it that farmers are doing now? Finalizing crop plans, starting seeds – I’m looking at you, growers of Lisianthus! - succession planning, creating or updating websites, completing vendor applications and agricultural grant forms, planning Instagram and other social media feeds, plotting weed control – so many of the details that lapse a bit during the hectic growing season.

Farmers are busy, even in winter, but January and February offer more time for florists to speak with their growers about upcoming needs. If you don’t know a grower, take a moment to introduce yourself via e-mail, Instagram message, or website contact form. Ask questions about availability, pricing, and delivery, and share your wish list, too. You will find a ready response.

Close looks at nature are encouraging, as the pandemic news is still scary, even as vaccines have begun to be administered. The earth is turning, and, beneath our feet, so much is already stirring. And each of us will harvest what we are seeding now.

What’s Available Locally in January: This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month. Paper white narcissus, ilex, hellebore, quince, red twig dogwood, forsythia, pussy willow, and all kinds of dried flowers!

Care tips for Helleborus: There are many varieties of Helleborus, and some begin blooming in December, with others flowering in January, February, or March. The older the flower, the longer it will last. The most critical point is to ensure blooms are harvested when the seed pods have formed, and then they will last for two to three weeks. If harvested too soon, they wilt very quickly. Some prefer to use a knife to cut these, although I have not seen a marked difference between a knife and snips.