As seen in the April 2013 issue of Sunset magazine, Johanna Silver  outlines her “unexpected romance” with Dahlias.

Nicholas Gitts of Swan Island Dahlias.

We found this helpful pricing guide online at Flirty Fleurs and Snippet & Ink!

“When it comes to wedding expenses, sometimes it’s hard to understand just why a particular element costs what it does, or why there’s such a range in rates. Well today we thought we’d take a look at bridal bouquets to see if we could better understand some of the factors that might result in a certain price tag…”

At left $350 bouquet

Reasons this bouquet might run you $350: quite a large bouquet, almost no “filler” flowers except to add some texture, uses more of the expensive flowers (such as lilac, peonies, garden roses) with the addition of even more expensive clematis, tied with antique French velvet ribbon, more elaborate overall design and color scheme.

At right $150 bouquet

Some of the reasons this might be a $150 bouquet: medium size, use of a few expensive garden roses, use of less expensive sweet peas and crab apple to fill things out, simple color scheme and design.

Below $250 bouquet

Why this bouquet might cost $250: slightly larger size, uses more large flowers than the previous bouquet (such as peonies, lilac, and ranunculus), uses fewer “filler” flowers like sweet pea and crab apple, accented with four unique ribbons.

Florals by Twig & Twine, Los Angeles.

Father’s Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June, but it is also celebrated widely on other days. Father’s Day was created to complement Mother’s Day, a celebration that honors mothers and motherhood.

On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had perished in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah. The next year, a Spokane, Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910.

In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day. However, many men continued to disdain the day. As one historian writes, they “scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products–often paid for by the father himself.”

During the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to scrap Mother’s Day and Father’s Day altogether in favor of a single holiday, Parents’ Day. Every year on Mother’s Day, pro-Parents’ Day groups rallied in New York City’s Central Park–a public reminder, said Parents’ Day activist and radio performer Robert Spere, “that both parents should be loved and respected together.” Paradoxically, however, the Depression derailed this effort to combine and de-commercialize the holidays. Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father’s Day a “second Christmas” for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other sporting goods, and greeting cards. When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution.

In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday at last. Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.

For information on Succulent Wall shown above, please go to www.floragrubb.com

Eache spring at Moss Mountain Farm in Roland, Arkansas, the stars come out twice – once at night, like everywhere else, and again in the daytime, when innumerable daffodils illuminate hills and meadows from horizon to horizon.

The plantings are the handiwork of the farm’s owner-author, designer, and TV personality P. Allen Smith-who has loved these flowers since he was a boy. Allen believes how and where you plant bulbs is just as important as how many, no matter whether you have an acre or a 20- by 10-foot border.

Visit Southern Living, Feb 2013 issue to learn more.

Planning a trip to see wildflowers this spring? Make sure your itinerary includes a stop at The Huntington, where a major new exhibition,“When They Were Wild”,  draws on a rich heritage of wildflower illustration to take a closer look at California’s natural and horticultural history.

The exhibition is a collaborative project of The Huntington, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, Calif., and the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley, Calif. Works from all three collections, along with loans from several other public and private collections, will be on view in the Huntington show, with related displays at the two other institutions and at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

California has one of the most diverse floras in the world, spread across several distinct floristic provinces—regions of plant distribution defined by shared climate, geology, and geography. Three of the state’s primary provinces are the Californian (chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and grassland), Vancouverian (mixed evergreen and coniferous forests), and Desert (cacti and desert scrub).

“When They Were Wild” is arranged thematically into four sections: Heritage explores the conditions that gave rise to the most diverse flora in the United States.

Our bbrooks member in Berlin, Blumen-Koch, took a few moments during Valentine’s preparation to share their thoughts on how this holiday effects flower prices.  Vielen Dank!

“Did you notice that some of our colleagues  in London do not sell any red flowers?  We started to limit the choice of red flowers too.  Quality Red Roses are 9,00€ ($12US) - it’s a twofold increase since last week!  Increasing demands on the Dutch nurseries and Flower Auction at Aalsmeer make the price situation shake.”

“We (at Blumen-Koch) recommend our clients to select from the beautiful choice of blooming twigs such as red plums, Japanese cherries and Chaenomaelis… instead of letting them run into the Red-Flower-Price-Trap.”

“Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  Sending you warm greetings from Berlin!”

Longtime friends, owners and partners, Stephen Wicks and Mark Welford of bbrooks member, Bloomsbury Flowers, London, UK, are featured in this December 2012 article from The Guardian.

Retired professional ballet dancers, Mark and Stephen share insights and anecdotes related to the  floral gift-giving customs of the Royal Ballet.

Writer Ryan Gainey features watercolor botanicals by artist Sarah Towery in his Flower Magazine Winter 2013 article.  Mr Gainey highlights flowering plants and shrubs which bloom throughout the winter in his lovely Southern garden.

The watercolors were commissioned by Mr. Gainey to illustrate his newest book, “The Gathered Garden” and will be displayed in an exhibit on February 27th, 2013, in association with the Cherokee Garden Library of the Jame G. Kenan Research Center at  the Atlanta History Center.

One of nature’s most exquisite compositions, Snowdrops, bloom from melting snow cover just as winter ends.  Their delicate white flowers hang down from crisp green stalks as their  petals elegantly fight gravity to open and display their extraordinary markings.

Snowdrops can take several years to cultivate, and some varieties are so unusual that a single plant will sell for hundreds of dollars.

Gunther Waldorf has written a warm and engaging guide showcasing more than 300  snowdrops found throughout Europe, all in photos he shot himself.

Many of the varieties are not available in the United States due to European Union environmental protections, though similar snowdrops can be found stateside.

Gunther Waldorf’s “Snowdrops” is published by Frances Lincoln Limited, 2012.

As seen in Winter 2012 issue of Garden Design magazine.

Bugs won’t eat them.  Deer won’t munch on them.  Heat and drought won’t faze them.  These amazing plants  are Lenten roses (Helleborus orientalis).

The name, “Lenten rose” is from bygone days, when these plants started blooming in late winter near Lent.  But now, due to global warming, people in the Lower often spy thier first flowers in early January.

Blooms range from crimson to pink, burgundy, purple, yellow, white, green and nearly black.  After they bloom, one can continue to appreciate the handsome evergreen foliage, which stands 6 to 10 inches high.

As seen in January 2013 issue of Southern Living.