Big and Beautiful

The Dinner Plate Dahlia with summer flowers

Every season seems to bring its own big beautiful flower that we love to use in centerpieces and bridal bouquets. Cut amaryllis is our workhorse during the winter. It comes in many colors and is available from the Christmas holidays until spring. 

White amaryllis with red velvet throats alongside spring hellebores

Gorgeous Coral Charm peonies with soft pink and peach

Those are followed by gorgeous peonies in April that make our hearts do a little dance. When the peonies fade, the hydrangeas come blasting in with a huge range of colors including pink, lavender, blue, purple, green, white and everything in between. 

Antique hydrangea makes wonderful wreaths that dry beautifully

Tall centerpiece with antique blue hydrangea

As a bonus, during the summer, the hydrangeas become ‘antiqued’ meaning that the colors change as the flowers age on the plant. These blooms keep for a long time and actually dry while keeping their color well. We like to make wreaths and arrangements with antique hydrangeas that will look great for years to come. Because of the enormous variety and abundance, summer is the best time to find affordable hydrangea blooms. 

Flower Favorite: The Tulip

Striking salmon parrot tulips displayed on the bulb in an "aquarium glass" vase

Tulips breathe spring into our shop each year, starting around the Christmas holidays. We bring them in from Holland for close to six months of the year, as well as buying them on the bulb from our local flower farmer at Mockingbird Hill Farm. Each season we elevate certain flowers to our favorites list, and the tulip is one of those. The amazing colors, shapes, and sizes of the varieties we purchase are just one of the reasons we love them.

 

These parrot tulips have long, curly green petals interspersed with the bicolor petals

Parrot tulips are beautiful and painterly with touches of brushed color on the petals. They are one of the longest lasting of the tulip varieties, and the blooms continue to grow after they have been picked. French tulips are prized by many for the simple elegance of the large blossom on a unusually long slender stem. These French lovelies are so called because the French have perfected them through a process that keeps them cooler for a longer growing spell before cutting.

In a midday show, these open parrots will close for the evening

Double tulips with a lemon yellow stripe

Flower Trends For Wedding Bouquets

The new Tangerine Tango color in a mixed summer bouquet with dahlias.

It appeared to be big news in January when Pantone released their ‘Color of the Year 2012’ as Tangerine Tango. This made us wonder: what is Pantone and why does it get to predict the popular fashion shade for the year? We looked it up on Wikipedia and this is what we found:

The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, primarily printing, though sometimes in the manufacture of colored paint, fabric, and plastics.