Come on Spring!

It's about that time of year when I say enough is enough. Bring on spring! I love living in Pittsburgh, but I hate the months of ice, the salt crusted on my black car and I miss smelling grass when I walk outside.

Since my mind is already dreaming about the beautiful tulips, lily of the valley and peonies that I will soon have in my cut flower gardens, I thought I would blog about fun spring flowers.

Mmmmmmm....peonies.

I don't think there is a more perfect flower than the peony. It's big, beautiful and highly fragrant. The photo to the left is of my "mystery peony". Two years ago, I found a broken plastic container at a local farm in October. It had the word "Peony" scribbled on it with magic marker. There was no other information and the plant had already died down for the year. I like surprises and took it as a challenge. The following April, it came up with just this one lonely flower. It was the most remarkable flower I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot of flowers). I can't wait to see what it will bring this year.

Tulips

Thanks to the crazy Pittsburgh city deer, I can only grow tulips in a small 3' by 3' foot box surrounded by deer fencing. Yet, every year those deer somehow find a way to rip two or three of the tulips out through the net before I get a chance to cut them.

Here are some beautiful parrot tulips from a wedding I did last May. I wouldn't recommend a bouquet of tulips on a hot summer day because they "blow open". However, on a cool spring day, they are a great option. You will actually notice your bouquet open and change as your wedding day progresses! I just did an wedding of all tulips and as soon as I get pictures, I'll post them. It was beautiful.

Lily of the Valley

Any other time of the year, you will pay a small fortune for lily of the valley. Here in Pennsylvania, these flowers bloom in early May. If you are standing down wind from a path of these flowers, you understand why people pay so much for such a tiny, delicate flower.

Anemones

I've tried to grow anemones for three years with no success. I'm so glad that there enough other people in the world that can so that I get them fairly easily throughout the spring. They are bright, cheery and unique.

A rose may be a classic, a gardenia may be elegant, but to me an anemone is just plain fun.

This post is to be continued because it looks like we have a few more weeks of this miserable winter weather...

I, for one, need to keep thinking about what is to come.

Valentine's Day

I'm going to keep this short and to the point. For Valentine's Day this year, please remember to call your LOCAL florist!

It may be tempting to just go online and add an arrangement from a website into your shopping cart, but you have to understand how those flowers are getting to you. It's it snowing? Is your order being shipped through Fed Ex? Is it going to be delivered at 10am and left on your doorstep to freeze? (FYI- flowers cannot withstand any sort of temperature below freezing!) Does a box of brown, mushy flowers say "I love you"?


Even if you are going through a website where the arrangements are being made by an actual florist, the ordering company is taking a large cut of your money. The florist can only put in the amount of flowers they are being reimbursed for. Call them directly!

Check out this article for an example of what you might get: http://www.flowerchat.com/real-florists-blog/2006/03/replacing-someone-elses-flowers.php

Becareful when you are on a website and a florist claims to be local, but does not have a mailing address. There are a lot of scammers out there that claim to be in your city, but they are actually operating out of some warehouse across the country.

To find a local florist, click here: http://www.flowerchat.com/links/

(PS. Mocha Rose Floral Designs does not service Valentine's Day arrangements at this time, but we highly recommend Parkway Florist in Pittsburgh: http://www.parkwayflorist-pgh.com/)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Shannon and Nate's Wedding at the Aviary

Shannon and Nate were married December 1st, 2007 at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. I just received some wonderful photos from their photographer (also a Shannon) of http://www.centeravenueimaging.com/




These photos were too good not to share! I hope to go through some of my other 2006-2007 weddings and will put together a few more featured events in the next few months.

You may remember that I chose Shannon's bouquet as my favorite for 2007. I just had to share these new photos.

Her bouquet was made of winter evergreens, baby green hydrangea, white calla lilies, anemones, ranunculus and dried elements. I simply adored this bouquet.

Nate's boutonniere was a single calla lily with pussy willow, quail feathers and wire.


The altar arrangements are a perfect example of Shannon's unique style (which made her so fun to work with). She wanted a clean, architectural look that focused on seasonal and unique flowers. These arrangements let the beautiful white amaryllis do the talking and the only accents were pussy willow, curly willow and the thick chunky glass vase.

And who doesn't want a live penguin at their wedding? It's one of the cool perks of a wedding at the National Aviary.

Ceremony Site:

St. John Neumann's -Franklin Park, PA

Reception Site:

The National Aviary

http://www.aviary.org/

Photographer:

Shannon Kaple

http://www.centeravenueimaging.com/

Florist :)

April Schwietz Mason

http://www.mocharose.com/

Thanks Shannon and Nate! Congratulations!

Please Vote!

I'm trying to revamp my website a bit. Since my discovery of http://www.flickr.com/, I have been going crazy making mosaics of my work. I've come up with three designs and need your help to pick!

Here's my website: http://www.mocharose.com/

I just recently added a banner designed by Christina Leasher. Please vote on which one is your favorite!

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Anyone can answer. I don't care if you know me personally or ended up on my page through my best friend, google. Just leave your answer as a comment. Thanks!