Sometimes it seems that my true occupation is to listen to people describe their distaste for carnations, lilies and even roses. Now, with heavily petaled garden roses being all they rage, even the rose, a classic symbol of romantic perfection, has also been shunned. You probably can’t imagine my joy when I was asked to …
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Constance Spry
When working with red I always think of Constance Spry, the legendary English social reformer and society florist whose heyday was in the 1930’s and 40’s. Famously introducing vegetables, weeds and found objects as vases to the art form, she was essentially to flower arranging what the sex pistols were to rock-n-roll. When discussing …
Flowering at the Thompson
This week we had the pleasure of flowering with the lovely Molly Guy, creative director of Stone Fox Bride on the inaugural party for Guest of a Guest at the Thompson. We designed a Stone Fox flower crown bar replete with antique baskets of calendula and chamomile from our farm. The event was packed with genius …
Sweet Pea Madness
Spring has arrived in Chicago, as have some exquisite projects for our studio! Gilding foliage, waves of gift arrangements for fashion editors, and samples for some brilliant clients whose taste and vision have yielded really lavish and original results. Oh, and just incase you ever wondered what 170 stems of “Misty Apricot” sweet pea looks …
Natural law
I long time ago, I went to career counseling to figure out what I was supposed to do rather than be a florist. The results of extensive testing concluded that I should be a lawyer or a farmer. Back then I was living in Brooklyn and the idea of pursuing farming was unimaginable and hilarious …
Festive Elegance
Last December, we had the honor of decking out this incredible home for the holidays decorated by legendary interior designer, the late Nora C. Marra of Nora Marra Interiors. In deference to her brilliance and the understated splendor her work, we kept the adornments to silvers and aquas with dashes of gold, citron and fuchsia. …
Notes from the Flower Field
Midsummer is here and we are dividing our days between hyper-manicured floral photo shoots and the wild imperfection of our flower farm. Sunstroke can be mildly exciting but today I had my first, “let’s-find-the-car-keys-in-the-field-day”. Thank goodness that game only lasted 15 minutes! We’ve begun battling pests organically and I applied my first super batch of …
Big Table Dinner at Garfield Park Conservatory
Some clearly brilliant women from Green City Market’s junior board are hosting a series of farm dinners in honor of urban farmers this summer in Chicago’s most incredible parks. Our friends from The Chicago Honey Co-op were on the list of course and by donating flowers from our farm we were lucky enough to tuck …
whipped frosting flowers for sale!
Dahlias have started at the farm! I feel as if I must be some kind of wizard, like I need to shop for a trailing navy blue robe with golden crescents and stars on it, and don a pointed hat to match. DAHLIAS!!! I can’t even spell the word!! They are my all time favorite …
flower farm news flash
We had our first harvest this week! We cut all white cosmos including this one above that thinks it’s a dress designed by Issey Miyake. We’ve had stellar luck with regular rain, which has been key because it turns out you are supposed to put landscape fabric down after the irrigation tubing. More on that later….