Bloemencorso Zundert is the largest flower parade in the world entirely made by volunteers. The parade takes place on the first Sunday of September annually. The floats are large artworks of steel wire, cardboard, papier-mache and flowers.  Dahlias are the only floral variety used and it takes thousands of them to cover just one float!

The huge floats are made by twenty different hamlets and each of them consists of hundreds of builders, aged 1 to 100, who are all equally crazy about the event.  The older members of the hamlet are often responsible for planting and growing the dahlias, while the younger ones build the float in large temporary tents that are built exclusively for the event.

Most people in Zundert will happily give up their days off to work on the float. The social cohesion that comes from building it is very important. A hamlet is like a family where everyone knows each other and everyone is welcome. After a long evening working on the float people drink a beer together and most hamlets organize all kinds of other activities like song contests and barbecues.

Ariella Chezar hosted a workshop at Chalk Hill Clematis Farm, where attendees soaked up the designer’s signature floral style and a little California sun.

Relying on local and seasonal blooms, Ariella’s floral arrangements are best described as wild, romantic masterpieces, and she’s able to make something as simple as fruit-bearing branches look like a Dutch still-life painting. The eight attendees travelled from near and far in hopes of capturing a bit of Ariella’s artistic magic during the master class.

As seen in June 2014 issue of Flower Magazine.

Florists, supermarkets, and event planners throughout Southern California have chosen Flowerlink to be their provider of Los Angeles wholesale roses for a number of reasons.  

Flowerlink carries over 200 varieties of roses including spray roses, garden roses, and premium select hydrangea. All delivered directly to their clients no later than three days after they’ve been cut from the plant ensuring that their best days are ahead and not behind them.

Beyond their beauty and longevity, Flowerlink roses are grown under the strictest social and environmental standards.  They believe that the world’s best roses can be grown without damaging the earth that helps them flourish.

Janet Fish, contemporary American Realist painter, was born in Boston and raised in Bermuda.

  Spring Party 

Birdcage and Daffodils oil on canvas 56″x 54″ 2009

Her father was an art history professor, her mother a sculptor and potter, sister a photographer.  And, her grandfather was American Impressionist painter Clark Voorhees.

Fish knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue the visual arts.  She said, “I came from a family of artists, I always made art and knew that I wanted to be and artist.”

A Janet Fish retrospective hosted by Huntsville Museum runs thru July 27, 2014.

The Academy of Floral Art in Dunchideock, near the Exeter, England has spear-headed the Well Cool Project, created to raise money for wells and sanitation in Africa via WaterAid.

They are planning a number of floral shows Nov-Aug 2014 in Newton Abbot, Bristol, Manchester, Norwich and Oxford, England.  The shows are a completely new concept involving top Master Florists and Chelsea Floristry medal winners, such as the Academy’s own Julie Collins and Tina Parkes, making floral designs on stage, with music and lights to create a mood of Africa.

Funds from the ticket sales, raffles, collection buckets and the auction of staged show designs will all be donated to the cause.  All proceeds, after expenses, will go to WaterAid.

Father’s Day is THIS SUNDAY!!

Lilies, Roses, Cymbidium, Craspedia, Yarrow and Lemon by Cebolla Fine Flowers, our B|Brooks  member in Dallas, TX.

FATHER’S DAY is coming up on SUNDAY, JUNE 15!  Rock on Dads!

Amazing father figures in our world include Black-neck Swans, Emperor Penguins, and the Greater Rhea.

Ojai Valley Lavender Festival! June 28, 2014