New Local Flowers!!!

                  I am so happy to announce that in the past few months I have found many local flowers right here in CT! Even if not in CT I have found beautiful flowers that come from New Jersey and California, now I know California may not be local but they are still in the US cutting down on any shipping costs not to mention having to abide by the USDA.


                     Back to the local flowers, I was so excited to find roses being grown in CT again!! In 2007 the Pinchbeck Rose Farm in Guilford closed after over 75 years in business sad day in the cut flower world. Now once again the farm is growing roses again this time as Roses for Autism at the Pinchbeck Rose Farm. The roses that are bought from here not only are they fantastic because they are supporting a local business they also provide adults on the autism spectrum with employment. As of right now they are growing 16 different varieties of roses. I can tell you from personal experience that these roses are the best not only are they picked at the correct time they smell fantastic unlike many of the South American varieties that have lost their fragrance due to hybridization.

                       Thank you to an August bride for the next grower. I was in need of a dinner plate size dahlia for her wedding and she preferred that they be local. I was happy to find a grower who has been growing not only dahlias but gladiolus all of varying sizes for over 53 years! I now can provide dahlias from golf ball size to over 10" and both miniature and regular gladiolus. I am excited to tell you that those red dinner plate dahlias are being grown for my bride as we speak.

              I look forward to finding more local growers both large and small so if you know of anyone do pass their name on!

Just some of the fabulous cut flowers grown right in CT:

                          Yes these were all grown in CT soil!!!

Flowers really do make you happy

Check out this article I found threw a facebook group!
Flowers really do make you happy

Free Delivery??

"Numerous research firms and studies have confirmed that free shipping is a customer favorite and we would not expect to see any change in this area. Thus it’s no surprise that 89% of shoppers found free shipping very to extremely helpful."

Free delivery is it really free? Most often not unfortunately. When a vendor offers free delivery it means they are absorbing the cost of gas, maintenance on the vehicle, and the labor of the delivery person. I don't know many business owners that are willing to absorb those costs do you? The fact is when offering free delivery the actual delivery charge is worked in the product price somehow. For instance the other day I had a bride contact me for a bouquet price, the price I gave her was $75 when she heard this she was astonished. Why was she? well it seems she contacted another florist who offers "free delivery" and was told $125! Now say the delivery charge from me was $25 she is still saving $25 by paying for delivery. I hope that next time you are offered free delivery you check some other comparable vendors to see if you really are getting "free delivery"

Thank you 2009 brides for helping us get the Brides Choice Award from weddingwire.com! 

What is the award you may be asking?

The WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards ™ recognizes the top local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the Bride's Choice Awards are determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds. This year's winners represent the top five percent of WeddingWire's vendor community, which consists of over 100,000 local wedding professionals nationwide.

Here are a few of the fantastic reviews we received:

"...The day of the wedding when she showed up with the flowers me, my mother, and my girls were blown away by how beuatiful they were, they really made my day!!! I have already told my husband if any of our friends get married I am going to tell them to use her for their flowers. BEST experience EVER! Thank you Heather for being such a joy to work with = ) "-Eileen

"....Getting married on one of the hottest days all of the flowers withstood the heat and my bouquet lasted for a week. Heather went beyond my expectations." Dayna

"...I would recommend using Heather for any season or style of wedding she has a gift with color and structure that few wedding florists command and a wonderful personality that makes you feel like everything will in fact be OK!"-Rebekah

Waxflower, Lavender Roses, Lisianthus, Phlox, and fragrant Hyacinth was one of my favorites from the show you can't really see but the wire wrapping on the stems gives a nice pop of color on the white ribbon

White Tulips and Spray Roses surrounded by a collar of Dusty Miller was a big hit at the Whole Food Show this year the feel of the dusty miller was the big hit!

Floriculture vs Horticulture

    I thought for my first entry I would take the time to explain the differences between Floriculture & Horticulture. I find this to be important because many people use the two words interchangeably and they are not and also for my 4 years of college I had to constantly explain what I was going to school for.


    So here it goes, with a floriculture degree you get the knowledge that prepares you to operate and manage commercial and contract florist enterprises, supply and delivery services, and flower catering services. Includes the hands on instruction in the principles of plant science; purchasing, storage, and delivery systems; floral design and arranging; and principles of business management. Basically you get to learn how to run a floral shop both in design and business aspects.

    Now for horticulture it is defined as a program that focuses on the scientific principles related to the cultivation of garden and ornamental plants, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, and landscape and nursery crops. Includes instruction in specific types of plants, such as citrus; breeding horticultural varieties; physiology of horticultural species; and the scientific management of horticultural plant development and production through the life cycle.

    As you can see the difference is clear once you know what each are one is a floral designer the other grows the plants with no design being taught. I hope I have helped some college kid out there who has to explain that they are studying floral designs not floors and no they can't diagnose what’s wrong with your ficus but if you need a beautiful arrangement we are there for you :)

PS: I have to say that this post was purely informational and many many a great floral designers just have it they were self taught and in all fairness I believe that most of us designers have that innate ability to design and to use color to help soothe and bring happiness.