Flirty fleurs

Fleur Friday

Alicia — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:14 +0000

Have you seen the gorgeous floral design work by Kim of Art With Nature??

Maps of Petaluma Florists & Nurseries

Alicia — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:53 +0000

Since we are already talking about Petaluma, CA this week and perhaps a few of you are now planning a trip to visit Garden Valley Ranch, it seems the perfect time to show off some really cool Petaluma Florists & Nurseries maps.

My good friend, Kevin, teaches GIS at a college in nearby Santa Rosa, CA. We were talking awhile back about all the great flower businesses in Petaluma and he had the idea to give his students the project of mapping out these businesses in Petaluma as their final project. Lucky for me, the final project was due this week! Check out these awesome maps, you could easily print one off and take it on the drive through Petaluma and do a flower field trip!!

(You can zoom in on the maps or click the arrow in the corner and it’ll open up a larger version of the map)

Class with The Little Flower School

Alicia — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:17 +0000

I’ve taken a lot of floral design classes over the past twelve years as I really enjoy learning from others. Come to think of it, I can’t even begin to guess how many class I’ve taken at this point… This past weekend I took a class at Garden Valley Ranch (seen in yesterday’s post) taught by Nicolette and Sarah of Little Flower School.
Honestly, hands-down the best class I’ve ever taken. First I arrived at the ranch, a place I’ve wanted to visit for awhile, the anticipation was building as I walked in through the gardens. Next I walk into the building where the class will take place, a beautiful building from the 1880s, where I’m greeted by two tables filled with flowers. Oh my gosh, flower overload! As you’ll see in the pictures that follow, they were so beautiful.
After an introduction given by Nicolette & Sarah about how the day will go we head out into the rose gardens and are given a tour by Fallon (as seen in earlier posts). Fallon tells us about the ranch and teaches us about roses – did you know that rose bushes are related to the apple trees?? Did you know that in ancient times the bushes were grown for rose hips which were believed to have medicinal purposes and not for the actual rose blossoms? Fallon told us so many interesting tid-bits. Our tour lasted for awhile as we perused the 9 acre property, taking it all in. Eventually we returned to our class room where we learned the names about all the flowers we’d be working with in our arrangements. It is so obvious how much these ladies all truly love flowers and nature — I think we all know by now that I absolutely LOVE flowers so you can imagine how much I appreciated how they treated each flower. (seriously, I’ve taken classes where it’s all about the design techniques and sometimes I wonder if the person even looks at the individual flower??). Next we were off to lunch which was enjoyed in the rose garden, of course! By the way, Kale salad is quite delicious!
After the lunch break it was back to the class where the girls started their presentation on the floral design. I loved how they worked together, as one would speak the other would design and they could trade off seamlessly. What I also appreciated is how they explained their methodology. How they examine the flower and the stem before placing it in the arrangement, how they like to see color layered and moved throughout the arrangement. After the sample arrangement was finished all of us students took our places at the design tables, perhaps the hardest part was deciding which flowers I wanted to design with!! While everyone designed the girls would walk around and talk with each of us, give suggestions on what to do next, remove flowers that weren’t right and help pick out flowers that were needed to make the arrangement just right. After everyone finished Nicolette would photograph the arrangement. I found it so interesting how each design was so different, how people see color and movement. Not one arrangement looked the same!
Truly wonderful experience and a wonderful day. Thank you, Sarah, Nicolette, Fallon and everyone at Garden Valley Ranch.

Here are the tables with all the flowers for us to play with:

white dogwood

peonies

prettiest scabiosa I've seen!

passion flower vine

amazing colors of carnations

handful of happiness - ranunculus!

Nicolette & Sarah explain how they design and they create a sample arrangement for us:

Nicolette explains how she starts her arrangement

Nicolette starts her arrangement by placing chicken wire into the urn to use as the stem holder/grid. I decided I prefer this style over the pin frog.

Sarah adds to the arrangement.

Their finished design!

Time for all of us students to start our own designs!!

The very first flower I picked out for my design, passion flower vine

starting to take shape

.. must add more garden roses!!..

Isn't it interesting how the ranunculus and carnations have the same coloring??

I just had to use the white dogwood, had to! We never get that in Denver.

just about done..

set up at Nicolette's photography station

the next day, photo taken in the backyard.

So what do you think? Want to take a class with The Little Flower School and visit Garden Valley Ranch? I think both are fabulous ideas!! I must have texted Chuck about 100 times during class, sending him photos. I told him that if they ever do this class again to be sure to sign up for it immediately.
PS – a little shout-out to my new flower friends, I had a great time getting to know you ladies!:
Caroline of Ohio! owner of Passiflora
Lori from Los Angeles, owner of Blossom Alliance
Penny of New Mexico, owner of Los Poblanos

Garden Valley Ranch, Petaluma, California

Alicia — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:39 +0000

I’ve wanted to visit Garden Valley Ranch in Petaluma, California for awhile, so happy I finally got a chance and was able to spend a whole day there!
The roses, ohhhh… the ROSES! Rows and rows of what we commonly refer to as garden roses, they are also known as heirloom, antique, David Austin for certain varieties, cabbage and English roses. About 10,000 rose bushes can be found growing on the nine acres at this farm.
“Garden Valley produces what is known in the trade as Garden Roses. True Garden Roses are roses that are grown outdoors without cover (not in a greenhouse or shade house). The benefits of growing roses outdoors are that they can be fragrant!”

Climbing roses .. such a beautiful entrance..

Pergolas along the pathways were covered with climbing roses and clematis.

Fallon tells us about the varieties of roses they grow.

love this striped rose! It was climbing up the lattice near the entrance..

This is where we ate our lunch, gorgeous, right??

I'm so drawn to these red & white stripped roses.. my grandma used to have one of these in her garden, always my favorite

Pitt actually flowers! and they smell great

clematis climbing the pergola along with the roses

Fallon has a special set of clippers for the roses, it's really cool how the stems balance on them

They restored the buildings which were orginally built in the 1880s, so much character.

a variety of the garden roses set out in bud vases for our viewing enjoyment

Monterey Cypress Tree

yellow tree peonies

foxglove

They have a great selection of rose plants for sale. I picked out this sweet apricot colored David Austin rose for my mom. Wish I could take some plants back to Colorado!!

the other rose plant I bought my mom, there are so many colors on this blossom!

Garden Valley sells Rose Plants and Cut Flowers, contact them for more information. Their website is loaded with information:
http://www.gardenvalley.com/
Garden Valley Ranch
498 Pepper Road
Petaluma, Ca 94952
By Phone :: 707-795-0919

Fleurs de Fallon, Petaluma, California

Alicia — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:59 +0000

I’m in California at the moment, been here since Thursday. It’s been a wonderful trip – seeing my parents, cousins and friends — PLUS, attending an awesome all day class with Brooklyn based Little Flower School at Garden Valley Ranch, specialty growers of gorgeous, organic heirloom roses (aka Garden Roses). I will be writing more about Garden Valley Ranch and the class in the next few days, once I can get the photos prepped. For today I’d like to introduce you to Fallon! Fallon is part of the team at Garden Valley Ranch and her love and passion for roses is quite contagious!
She owns her own floral design business: Fleurs de Fallon. Check out her gorgeous bouquets and arrangements:

Fleur Friday

Alicia — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:00:52 +0000

I needed a Planet Flowers fix….

Mother’s Day Eye Candy from Ovando

Chuck — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:03 +0000

Ovando Floral and Event Design of New York City has composed a stunning collection for this year’s Mother’s Day.

MOTHER'S DAY DAMSEL

LOLLING CALLAS

LADY LUXURY

MOTHER'S MELANGE

LADY IN RED

DAINTY DEMOISELLE

FEMME ELEGANT

LADY LOVE

For more great design and inspiration please visit Ovando’s website.

Denver Wholesale Florist

Chuck — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:41 +0000

We are so honored that Phillip Borrego and Denver Wholesale Florist asked us to be part of this year’s bouquet contest.

Brief History of the Denver Wholesale Florists From carnation growers in 1909 to floral industry leaders in the 21st Century One of the nation’s premier wholesale florists, DWF began in Denver back in 1909 as a partnership of growers in Colorado.

Today, DWF markets the finest flowers and grower supplies from the world over, including the rich growing fields of Colombia and Ecuador, through its 15 wholly owned subsidiaries across the nation.

DWF has locations in the following cities: Albuquerque, Boise, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Flint, Kansas City. Milwaukee, Omaha, Salt Lake City, Seattlle Tacoma, St Louis & Toledo

The Denver Wholesale Florist Company has been supplying the Colorado Retail Florist with their floral products for over a hundred years. Their top priority has been customer service and sourcing the finest floral products available around the world.
DWF has been working on their website in an effort to provide their retail customers with another resource to support them in growing their business. Look for the new, exciting web design, at www.dwfwholesale.com, which will be launched the week of May 18.

Thank you so much to Phillip and the sales team at DWF for your support!

The People’s Choice Winner Is…

Chuck — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:36 +0000

Congratulations to Kelly Mendenhall of 3 Leaf Floral Design, Grand Junction, CO

Kelly has won a copy of Alicia’s book “Bella Bouquets“

The Winner is…..

Chuck — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:23 +0000

The winner of the 2012 Flirty Fleurs & DWF Bridal Bouquet contest is…

Sprout Flowers

Congratulations to Cathy Walsh of Sprout Flowers, Worcester MA

Cathy has won the title and the John Henry Floral Fan Deck generously provided by Denver Wholesale Florist!

A special thank you to Philip and the sales team at DWF Denver for picking the winner this year!

Be sure to check out tomorrow’s post to see who won the People’s Choice Award!