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.

Resilience

My Instagram feed has been filling with “Top Nine” posts, hard on the heels of posts offering bouquet subscriptions amidst the last winter offerings of paper whites, potted Amaryllis bulbs, fresh evergreens, and beautifully died flowers and foliage.  December is a usually a month of both celebration and reckoning, and while the first was more muted this year, the second seems even more vibrant as we all look back and try to make sense of 2020.  Here are three key takeaways: 

Buying local matters.  Small businesses have been promoting shopping locally and buying locally for years, but it took on additional urgency in COVID times.  When the world shut down in spring, flower markets dependent on imports shut down, too – causing many florists to turn to farmers in their own communities for product.  That, in turn, helped those farmers stay in business.  May these new relationships continue to blossom.

Small is beautiful.   Engaged couples who had spent months planning for large weddings filled with family and friends had to completely regroup.  Some opted to change their wedding date until 2021, some eloped, some hosted small, intimate weddings with or without plans for a large party next year.  What we learned is that small weddings, whether at home, in a public park, or at a private venue are lovely and deeply meaningful – made even more so by use of flowers grown and designed locally. I think any of who know or worked with wedding couples experienced this, and we will continue to see “minimonies” in future.

Flowers still soothe and celebrate. With so much shut down, people opted for flowers to brighten their homes and their moods, to thank medical personnel, first responders, and others in the thick of coping and caring for those most affected by COVID, and to offer congratulations for births, birthdays, and weddings and to extend sympathy and comfort.  From contactless delivery or pickup, to weekly subscriptions and farmer’s markets, to virtual classes, farmers and florists forged new ways of working together.

We all learned how to pivot, to be nimble, to try new ways of promoting flowers to meet demand despite shut-downs and quarantines.  None of us would have asked for such lessons a year ago, would we?  And yet, now those ideas and connections and changes are part of us, part of our resilience, like new roots and branches that will help us continue to bloom.  Happy New Year!  May we all have a kinder 2021.

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.  

Eucalyptus, ilex, paperwhite narcissus, evergreens, and wreaths, swags, and garlands.  Also ask your local growers about dried flowers and wreaths – many dry their harvest!

Care tips for Amaryllis (Hippeastrum): Amaryllis are commonly seen in December, but their wide range of colors make them a luxurious choice at many other times of the year. Cut when the buds are puffy and showing color for the longest vase life. Add preservative to the water, as that will extend vase life from two or three days to seven to ten days.

A Welcoming Community

As the seasons turn, as buds form and bloom and petals ripen and fall, we learn the lessons of letting go.  Many farmers in the area grow only in the field, which means the first freeze ends their season for many flowers and foliage.  It is good to check with several growers, though, as temperatures can vary considerably, even within the same county.  For instance, I am writing this on Veteran’s Day, yet there has still not been a freeze here.

The first lesson of letting go is that the flowers of tomorrow begin today.  My marigolds are gorgeous now, but soon I need to pull them to make way for the tulip bulbs ordered a few months back that arrived this week.  Just as florists must plan their calendars in advance, checking flower prices to prepare an proposal, ordering vases and other hard goods, scheduling weddings and events, so, too, must growers think ahead, pre-sprouting ranunculus now for early spring blooms, seeding hardy annuals such as snapdragons and sweet william in August for September and October planting, forcing amaryllis and paperwhite narcissi bulbs for holiday sales.  

What does that mean, for you, the floral designer?  It means that if you are booking weddings or other events in a specific color palette in 2021, let your growers know so they can add flowers in those colors to their planting plan.  Let them know, too, if you have more than one customer asking for the same colors in the same time-period – they may want to increase planting of those colors.  If there is a flower or foliage that you are hoping to use in August that you always purchase in June, check in now and let them know your needs so they can either succession plant, if that is possible, or let you know it’s not and suggest an alternative.

Time spent familiarizing yourself with what is available and getting to know your local growers is time well spent.  How can you do this?  There are three key ways that are easy to do, even during a pandemic.

First, visit websites. Many growers such as Cut Flowers by Clear Ridge www.cutflowersbyclearridge.com list what they offer on their website.  Some, such as www.helensgarden.net list by season.  Some, such as www.twobootsfarm.com, ask you to sign up for their e-mail list or availability list, the best way to see, week-by-week, what is locally available to you.

Second, follow growers on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram.  A great way to educate yourself as to what is available when is to scroll through prior posts and see what different farmers in your area posted in the different months and seasons.  Often, they will comment if a particular flower is flowering earlier or later than is typical, so you can familiarize yourself with bloom cycles.

Third, shop at farmer’s markets, introduce yourself, and ask questions.  While many markets have ended their season, we are fortunate to also have year-round markets in our area.  You can find information about their locations, hours, and vendors here:  

https://www.freshfarm.org/markets

https://mda.maryland.gov/maryland_products/Documents/2020-Maryland-Farmers-Market-Directory.pdf

https://northernvirginiamag.com/guides/farmers-markets/

Our region is rich with growers, and you will find them a welcoming community inviting all who love flowers to belong.  

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.  

Callicarpa, dusty miller, eucalyptus, ilex, scented geraniums, heirloom mums, looseneck goosestrife, ninebark, paperwhite narcissus, eucalyptus, evergreens, and wreaths.  Also ask your local growers about dried flowers and wreaths – many dry their harvest!

Care tips for ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius):  Ninebark offers beautiful, arching foliage that, when cut in late summer and fall, has outstanding vase life, typically ten or more days. Floral preservatives extend vase life for most varieties.