Inspiring Blooms: Daffodils

A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up,
whether or no the sun be shining outside. 

-- A. A. Milne's essay: Daffodils

Image via Design Sponge

Image via Pure Botanics

Image via One Fab Day

Image via Adeline & Grace

Inspiring Colors: Grayed Jade/Mint Green

Pantone Color Match: Grayed Jade 

Description: A muted version of the classic mint green; the color is more subtle with it's gray undertones than it's original counterpart.

Wedding Trends in this Color: Mint Green/Grayed Jade is set to be one of the hottest wedding colors in 2013.  This beautiful color will be seen from the smallest accessory to the bride's dress. We are definitely inspired by this wonderful shade!!

Image via Flora Grubb

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

Image via Style Me Pretty

Image via Flory Photo

Image via Veranda

Do you follow our Pinterest?

Everyone who is anyone has a Pinterest account. Celebrities, creatives, and even stay-at-home's use this social media site on a regular basis.

We are constantly "pinning" for our clients and ourselves. In fact, we encourage our clients to get a Pinterest account if they don't already have one and use it to plan their event. It's a great way for us as florists to see what a client likes, is inspired by for their event, and to communicate with them by showing them pictures of our own ideas for them.

This is just one way we use Pinterest. Possibly our favorite way, however, is by sharing our inspirations. As floral designers, our minds are constantly swimming with ideas. We have designed thousands of centerpieces, arrangements, and bouquets in our minds, and now we have a way to share those ideas with our followers.

So -- the big question is -- do you follow our Pinterest?! If not, you should. You can see our boards for certain flowers, past events, and current inspirations. So, come along now, and follow us. We promise we won't lead you astray and we promise to keep you current on the trends in the floral market!

Enjoy!!

Come tiptoe through the tulips with me...

We have a huge love affair for tulips at the studio. They are one of our top favorite flowers during the late months of winter and early spring. Unfortunately, there are many people who believe tulips are only available during spring, however, the best months for tulips are actually January through March. This is when the blooms are at their heartiest and most colorful stages.

Tulips can be found in a wide range of color, texture, and size. And while some tulip varieties are best for garden-use only, most tulips can be used in cut arrangements beautifully. The coolest thing about tulips is that they continue to grow after they've been cut which is great if you are wanting an arrangement that can last a while.

The ruffled tulip, or parrot tulip, is probably the most popular variety of tulip after the Dutch, or standard, tulip. The parrot tulip was made popular by the book New Moon by Stephanie Meyer.

If you are choosing to use tulips for an event, it is important that you talk with your florist about the design you want. While tulips are great for contemporary designs you must keep in mind that these flowers have a little mind of their own and are known for moving towards the light. So, if you are wanting a design that is going to be extremely sleek and with clean lines make sure you tell your florist so they can prepare the tulips to better stay in place.

Because we can't finish a blog without providing you with beautiful images, enjoy our inspirations and remember to always tiptoe through the tulips.

Enjoy!!

**These images serve as inspirations for us and come from Google. None of these images are property of ROS,**

A Sneak peak from our Valentine's Day!

Well, we have finally rested and healed from the crazy week of Valentine's day, and we can't say enough thank you's to our amazing clientele!

Just for fun-we decided to share a glimpse of what Valentine's week looks like for us! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, too, for more shots of our daily life!

Enjoy and thanks for being so great!!

Adding a few final touches before we opened on Thursday.

Thea's mom even joined us during the week to help with our walk-in clients and deliveries!

We built our own "flower market" for our clients to come in and custom design a bouquet or arrangement
 for their loved one.

True Love Tuesday: Gardenia Love

What better way to start off February than with a blog about one of our True Love bride's?!

This bride came to us with two requests: white and gardenia's. Wow. Gardenias are not the most common choice of flower for bride's today which made her request even more special to us. (We love when we get requests for uncommon flowers.) Once we were finished with her wedding design we loved it even more, and wow-our shopped smelled extra great even after we had delivered!

Enjoy all of our lovely details from that day!!

A "manly" take on a boutonniere that is made from gardenias. 

A pomander, or "kissing ball", made from fresh carnations for the flower girl. 

A beautiful posy for mom that matched the brides bouquet.

This bouquet will definitely be going into our favorites.
Hydrangea and gardenias were all that were used to create her look.

This special touch made us all tear up a bit. She carried all of her favorite people with her on her big day. 

Happy Week of Love!

It's Valentine's Week!! If you are a procrastinator or Valentine's has surprised you, never fear, we are still accepting orders for this Thursday. You can reach us by phone, email, or you can order online. If you are wanting something custom, we encourage you to contact us before Valentine's Day.

Thanks and Happy Early Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Special Now Through Saturday

Between Valentine's Day love and Spring excitement, our studio is buzzing from all the anticipation of the upcoming week. We are busy getting ready to help Cupid spread love all over NWA, and are often caught by one another daydreaming of Spring flowers. So, we decided to share a little of that with all of our clients.

From Wednesday to Saturday (5-9), we are running a special on our Tiptoe Through the Tulips arrangement This arrangement combines our favorite holiday and our favorite season in a beautiful display of color that's unique to the normal pink and red you see at Valentine's Day.

Tiptoe Through The Tulips Special

Arrangement of 10 spring tulips nestled in hydrangeas, in a glass vase and accented with a organza ribbon. 

Normal price: 69.95

Sale price: 59.95

Be sure to go to our boutique and purchase this beautiful arrangement before Saturday! You can always give us a call at the studio or just drop by and place your order!

Happy Early Valentine's Day and Early Spring!!!

Our new address:

Rose of Sharon Floral Designs

2015 C Main Dr. 
Johnson, AR 72704

Call us at:

479-973-0588

Spring is Coming!

In the midst of Valentine's Day, we often forget that another important day falls in the month of February - Groundhog's Day. There are plenty of theories on how correct Punxsutawney Phil's predictions are, but for us his is our favorite! (Of course, we also rely on our flowers, Almanacs, and weather...but it's still fun to play along.) So, did he see his shadow or not? Will this winter be a little longer or are our beautiful days of Spring fast approaching? Drum roll please...

Phil did NOT see his shadow! Spring here we come!!

Of course, we are more than excited to see that Spring will be coming soon. It is probably our favorite time of year because there are some flowers that we can only get in Spring such as: Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley, and the list goes on. Depending on the area you are from, you may be able to find these beauties after the average growing season is over, however, since they are all bulb plants it will be more difficult to find them outside of Spring. 

As we patiently (or maybe not so patiently) wait for the first blooms of Daffodils to dot our yards, we plan on filling our days with inspirations for the trends that are coming this Spring. Follow along as we share the trends and our inspirations for Spring with you because for us this time period is like waiting for Christmas morning all over again!!

Enjoy!!

Daffodils can make a beautiful statement in a spring bouquet.

Tulips are the quintessential spring flower. They are beautiful alone or mixed with other blooms.

Hyacinth are a beautiful spring option for someone wanting some different from the norm. They add a great texture when mixed with other blooms.

    

**All images above are for our inspiration and come from a variety of sources on Google.**

True Love Tuesday: Noy and Darwin

Tuberoses, Celosia, two different varietals of Basil, and over a dozen different varieties of Dahlias created this gorgeous look.  

Noy and Darwin were married in September, and wanted to embrace the local fare. They also wanted Dahlias; lots and lots of Dahlias in many different varieties. So, to the Farmer's Market we went! We worked with local growers and created their vibrant centerpieces using locally grown flowers with a few tropical flowers added for a touch of flair. This was such a fun wedding and design to work on. We love working with our local growers and suppliers! Enjoy!!

Happy National Poinsettia Day!

Traditional Red Poinsettia

Today marks the celebration of Poinsettia's. These beautiful star-shaped red flowers have become a world-wide symbol for Christmas.

Poinsettia Greenhouse

The poinsettia was introduced to America in 1828, but didn't become popular at Christmas time until the 1960's. It began making it's appearance during the holiday's on television thanks to shows like The Tonight Show and the Bob Hope Christmas Special. As one can tell, the poinsettias have only become more popular since it's humble beginning.

While originally available only in red, new varieties are now available in white, pink, red, burgundy, and mixes of these colors.  My favorite is the 'Winter Rose.'

Varieties available from our favorite local grower.

Poinsettias are delicate plants and don't really hold up well over long shipping distances or with sever temperature changes.  Luckily, we have a wonderful local grower for all our poinsettias.  Westwood Gardens has been growing Poinsettias for years and always have a wonderful selection.  

Before we wrap up this post, we wanted to make sure and squelch the rumor of the plant being poisonous  It does secrete a latex like substance from it's stems after being cut away from the main plant.  While the poinsettia is not recommended for consumption humans, it would take a massive amount of bracts (the red part of the flower) to make a child sick.

Enjoy your poinsettias this year!

For more information about poinsettias check out the following links.
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/is-poinsettia-really-poisonous
http://pauleckepoinsettias.com/

**Top photo via web, multiple sources. Other photos via www.westwoodgardens.com**

True Love Tuesday: Warren & Julie

Julie & Warren were wed on October 13 at Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. They both wanted to keep their wedding true to the season they were getting married in. Drawing from the colors of Fall, we made her bouquet out of Asiatic Lilies, Button Mums, Sunflowers, Seeded Eucalyptus, and Hypercurium berries wrapped with Jute twine. The buffet arrangement was made from Curly Willow branches with hanging Dendrobium Orchids.

This was a beautiful fall wedding, and we were so happy to a part of their big day!!

Enjoy!!

Button Mum & wheat boutonniere

Calla lily & button mum corsage

Bride's Bouquet

Buffet Arrangement: curly willow & orchids

Cake decorated with fresh dahlias, button mums,
eucalyptus and gerbera daisies

True Love Tuesday: Stacy & Dave

Stacy & Dave were wed back in May at Pratt Place Barn. For their reception, they wanted to keep the barn open and bright so we chose a cream and white palette that would achieve their look. We used Hydrangea in the centerpieces, made the wreaths from Baby's Breath, and for her bouquet we used Peonies. When we were finished, the look was perfectly simple and bright. 

Enjoy!!

Holiday Wreath Class Pictures

Last Saturday, we had the pleasure of working with some local crafters on creating their own holiday wreath! Here are a few pictures of our amazing class hard at work on their wreaths. A big thanks to Botanical Gardens for hosting us, and we look forward to having another class there soon!!

Inspiration vs Reproduction: Revisited

Back in August, we talked about inspiration vs reproduction, and since then we have had even more brides come to us already knowing what they want their bouquet to look like. However, most of these brides were only inspired by what they saw. They were not looking for us to recreate the same bouquet, but wanted us to take their idea and put a spin on it to make it their own!

Our top three inspiration vs reality bouquets are below. Please notice how each one has little details that the original did not have. Some changes were made because of the bride's budget, some were because a flower was out of season or the bride didn't like the flower, but most were because the bride wanted something that was her very own. Something that she could look back on and be happy knowing that her personality was captured.

Inspiration (left) used softer blues and greens, but our reproduction (right) used bolder blues and greens to give the bouquet an added pop. We also placed a small blue butterfly in the bouquet for the bride.

Inspiration (top) used a variety of flowers to give extra texture and dimension, but our bride wanted her reproduction (bottom) to be softer with pops of bold color coming from Freespirit Roses to give dimension.

Inspiration (left) used soft pinks and purples to add contrast to the golds and yellows, but our bride requested her reproduction (right) to have no pinks and purples. To reflect the fall season and add extra texture we used Yarrow in place of the berries.

We hope that you have enjoy looking through our inspirations vs reproductions, and find your own inspiration to turn into a symbol of your personality!

Enjoy! And don't forget to check us out on Pinterest! You can see all of the things we are working on and have been inspired by!