Floral designers  sometimes employ a design technique using gravel in clear glass to create a Modern  or Urban style floral arrangement.  We commonly refer to the ingredient used by the generic term “river rock”.

If you have ever been curious about the “river rock” used in your gift, check out this informative article from March 7, 2011 issue of Garden Design,  www.gardendesign.com.

Gardens and Grandeur: Porcelains and Paintings by Franz A. Bischoff

JUNE 25, 2011 – OCTOBER 23, 2011

Franz Bischoff (1864–1929) began his career as a china painter in Austria but immigrated to the United States in 1885 and became one of the foremost porcelain painters of his day. He won numerous awards and ultimately earned the title “King of the Rose Painters.” Moving from Dearborn, Michigan, to Southern California in 1906, he began to paint still life as well as landscapes throughout the Western United States, including the coastal areas of Monterey and Laguna Beach, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and desert regions. This exhibition features approximately 40 examples of Bischoff’s work.

For more information please see:   http://crockerartmuseum.org

San Francisco Bay Area member based in Walnut Creek, www.florali.com, is featured in the May 2011 issue of Martha Steward Weddings Bride’s Guide.

See more >

British Painter Dan Bennett is interviewed in flowermag.com issue Spring 2011.

As a teenager, British painter Dan Bennett found himself weeding flowerbeds for pocket money. These days, at just 36 years of age, he carefully tends canvasses bursting in floral forms, where a similar ideal of edited restraint allows his graphic and energetic visions to shine forth. They capture the attention of gallery directors and art collectors in both the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as stationers, fabric designers, and product designers worldwide.

To read the full article go to, flowermag.com

“In order to keep a planet that’s worth living on, we have to change our methods,” says Gertjan Meeuws, of PlantLab, a private research company.

To learn more about Meeuws plans to help cure this problem read more here.

A long-time customer received this beautiful sketch of the flowers they sent as a thank you gift from their recipient.  Now, those are two lovely sets of people I would love to meet!

Thank you for a wonderful Mother’s Day week. Please note this offer expired on Monday, May 2nd.

For a limited time, we are excited to offer customers who place a Mother’s Day order with a value over $150, a complimentary annual subscription to
flower, the nation’s only floral lifestyle magazine.

If you do not wish to receive the magazine, or prefer it to go to your recipient, please mention this in the ‘Order Description’ section of your order form.

flower magazine wants to know!

Select your favorite cover and have the chance to win a $250 credit to B Brooks Fine Flowers. Order a gorgeous, personalized arrangement for a loved one, for yourself, or for a special celebration!

Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons).

In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, inclusively. The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.

Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian Calendar. Due to the 13 day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, March 21 corresponds, during the 21st century, to the 3rd of April in the Gregorian Calendar. Easter therefore varies between April 4 and May 8 on the Gregorian calendar (The Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate). Among the Oriental Orthodox some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter as for other fixed and moveable feasts is the same as in the Western church.

But, this year, Sunday, April 24^th is Easter for Protestants, Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians alike!

For information on how the Easter Bunny got involved….!   Please see :  wikipedia.org.

Shannon Pallin of Fiore of Pensacola, www.fioreofpensacola.com shows off some gorgeous, sumptuous and intriguing designs with woodland elements in the winter issue of flower magazine.