Sending Smiles ~

I over heard someone the other day that said his girlfriend only loves one flower. I don't even remember what flowers it was he said she likes, my brain was stuck on the "only 1 flower" part. How can that be? I know I'm a florist but I think it's pretty universal at this point that all human beings love flowers. That being around flowers makes us happy. Can it be that someone can only "like" one flower? I think it's impossible. To prove my point I'm going to share a few photos of flowers that I took last year at Longwood Gardens, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world!! Starting with my favorite ~ roses; love, love, love these. Too common? For shame they are stunning in every color they come in. Camellia ~ I don't often see these and they were new to Longwood last year but wow, they were gorgeous!   Asiatic Lilies ~ so vibrant and showy, these made an amazing display in the greenhouse. As florists, we love working with th

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. As for me, it was a great day off and I wanted to share a peek into our morning at Longwood Gardens. It's become our tradition for Kevin and I to visit the gardens for just an hour or 2 before heading to family and this year was once again a sight to see!  I know I'm surrounded with the flowers 7 days a week but I admit that I can't get enough. Blue is my favorite color so I especially love the blue flowers like these Salvia and baby blue eucalyptus.    I fell in love with Camellias and because we usually only use the foliage in our floral designs (the flower blooms for such a short time it does not make a great cut flower for commercial use) it was so nice to see the actual flowers blooming on the plants.    This had to be my favorite part of the display this year! This long "dinner" table was set with a moss runner and then begonia and orchids running the entire length of this enormous table. I especially love

We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. For us it was a busy time in the shop, lots of hours working but lots of laughs too. Have Christmas Day off from the shop was so wonderful for the hubby and I. Slept in a bit later than usual, had a nice breakfast and then what did we do??? We hopped in the car for our annual trek out to Longwood Gardens so that we could be surrounded once again with flowers! Nobody does Christmas like Longwood Gardens and this year was no exception. Gingerbread cookies were the theme throughout and what an amazing display it was! Everywhere you looks there was lush foliage and poinsettias! My personal favorite area is the orchid room. With so many orchids growing up the wall in every color of the rainbow. These orange ones were one of my personal favorites but can you really have a favorite when you faced with such loveliness? Hehehe, this one makes me laugh. When I see him I see a smiling mouth, a funny little nose and huge eyebrows. Andy

It's funny how often I get asked what my favorite flower is. I wonder if people ask the pizza maker what his favorite pie is. Anyway, roses, roses and more roses. I love roses. I love everything about them. This picture taken at Longwood Gardens on Christmas Day by yours truly shows my fascination with this perfect flower. This bud is just a day or so away from blooming fully and although I generally am not fond of roses that are still buds, this one just spoke to me and forced me to take a photo of it. I wonder if it was mocking me for all the times I've told brides that roses are most beautiful when they are they are fully bloomed. I stand corrected, roses are beautiful at every stage!!