The last two cool evenings here in the Northeast remind me that fall is almost here. Soon we’ll smell wood smoke in the air and be decorating our front porches with brightly colored chrysanthemums, Indian corn, cornstalks and pumpkins. While I’ll be delighting in the wonderful outdoor sights and smells of my favorite [...]

In the Northeast, we enjoy four distinct seasons. I try to take in the individual beauty of each season, and to fully appreciate the wonderful changes happening around me. I find that I dress, decorate, and even cook seasonally.
Certain flowers call out to me at particular times of the year, and help me [...]

Our family owns a vacation home in the Catskill Mountains. We love our summer treks to “The Cabin”, where we all enjoy the blissful peace and solitude found in this place. While some of us enjoy swimming, fishing, and catching snakes (especially our son!), I particularly enjoy the beautiful scenery, and studying and collecting the [...]

Crazy as it may seem to Americans, the Calla Lily is considered a weed in many of the African countries where it originated.  Also known as the Pig Lily in South Africa, it grows in large clumps and must be cleared before contruction projects can begin.  Grown from a bulb called a tuber, the Calla [...]

So you are getting married in September and have decided you are having peonies on all the tables and for your bridal bouquet – completely without the consent of the peonies… a slight problem as recently discussed in Pursuing the Peony.  But panic not – for there is a solution!  The Garden Rose (also known as [...]

One of the most sought after flowers for weddings, the spectacular peony causes agida for many the bride and their flower arrangers.  The huge long-lasting blooms come in dozens of shades of pink, red and white and make stunning bridal bouquets and centerpieces.  Our favorite flower buyer Greg (who is up to his ears in flowers 24×7×365) brings only one type of flower [...]

We had a post not too long ago about “Hue”, which is what most of us mean when we say “color”: red, blue, purple, yellow, etc. (Have a look at the Blooms By The Box Flower Color Wheel!) You can combine different colors to really swing the mood of your arrangements from quiet, romantic and [...]

I was recently in a discount cosmetics store with my 15 year old daughter. We purchased a number of things including an old fragrance that was one of my grandmother’s (and probably yours) favorites. The saleslady looked at us in a funny way and asked for whom were we purchasing it. (I don’t think she [...]

When I used to think of Spider Mums, I always used to think of my Mom’s 1961 wedding bouquet. It looked pretty, but sort of “dated”, and caused me to never once use Spider Mums in any flower arrangements! While I was walking recently through the floral department at my local grocery store, a [...]

One of the first things that comes to mind when planning flower arrangements or bouquets is COLOR. It’s one of the fundamental elements of any type of design, as important as Form (shape of the flowers and the overall arrangement) and Texture (from smooth and sleek to ornate and airy.) (More on those [...]