There was some BIG ranunculus news last week, and I was at the inception of the deal. Nicole from Flower Hill Farm in Boonville, NY announced she was offering Veda Renee corms. Never heard of it? I’m not surprised if you live in the US. This ranunculus has never previously been available to Americans.

The Veda Renee was bred by Bernard Bideau, president of Comptoir Paulinois in La Garde, France, and he only sold them on the continent. That was until Dave Dowling played ranunculus matchmaker for Bernard and Nicole at our seaside lunch on the Mediterranean coast. Hold on. I need to back up a few months.

I went on a flower adventure this past spring traveling to France and Holland with FlowerMore members. Dave Dowling organized and led the trip including tours of farms, gardens, markets and auctions. It was a flower nerdfest. The very first day of our adventure was a visit to Comptoir Paulinois, a French breeder of seeds, bulbs and rhizomes.

The flower highlight of the visit was seeing Bernard’s breeding program of ranunculus. One series, Amandine, was named after his daughter. (So cute.) An unnamed ranunculus variety he made, though, stood out. We were all smitten by this coy ingenue. We stood over the anonymous blooms with our phones taking pictures and videos like paparazzi. It had star quality. None of us Americans had ever seen anything like it.

Bernard arranged and joined us for lunch by the sea. I sat near him, Dave and Nicole. We were still buzzing about the ranunculus when Dave suggested Bernard allow Nicole to be the exclusive distributor of the nameless beauty in the US. Bernard agreed and asked Nicole what would she call it. Nicole chose her daughter’s name just as Bernard had.

It was that simple, at least from my perspective. And now, just a few months later, the corms for the most beautiful ranunculus I have ever seen are on sale in the United States. Supplies are limited - there are only 2000 Veda Renees available. I have been lobbying all of the growers I know to add this spectacular flower to their farms and gardens. Several FlowerMore members, including those who did not see Veda Renee in person like Anthony at Urban Row Studio Farm, have placed orders.

I totally understand the excitement! Get your popcorn ready. This is a blockbuster for the US ranunculus market. And I still can’t quite believe that I got to witness the beginning of it.

Dave has announced he is hosting this trip again next spring. Like the corms, opportunity is limited. You don’t have to be a FlowerMore member to go on the trip. It was an incredible experience for me. Who knows? Maybe you will discover the next new flower star.

Earlier this summer, Beth from Busy Bloomin in Santa Clara CA, posted a few inspo pictures of ornate and unusual grass arrangements on FlowerMore. I’ve designed with grass for years, but I used them just as a bit at the end. They were elements to provide movement, texture or a final flourish. The images Beth shared featured grass as the focal. Some arrangements were made completely of grass! Then it hit me - a grass focused FlowerMore design challenge. (Some of my best ideas belong to someone else.)

I needed to do some research before tasking my members with this twisty test. I didn’t want to send everyone off on a fruitless grass hunt. It turns out there are a lot of options. Sorghum is a grass. Millet is a grass. Wheat is a grass. They all belong to the Poaceae family of plants. I determined this would be a very achievable challenge, and I expect a lot of variation and creativity in the submissions.

There are all types of grasses for design. There are tall ones (broom corn), fluffy ones (bunny tail), weird ones (rattlesnake grass) and delicate ones (muhly grass). There are even ones that look like little fireworks (frosted explosion grass). Every time I thought I had a pretty good handle on what’s out there, I discover more. FlowerMore members will have no problem finding materials.

The trick will be selecting the right grasses to use for ornamentation. They are everywhere and easy to forage, but they can be difficult to identify as quality design elements. Pampas grass, for instance, is a tempting choice. However, it’s invasive. So, it’s a no for me, dog. I try to be thoughtful about what I bring into my designs. I’d rather buy grasses from a grower who is knowledgeable than go into the wild on my own. I put together a list of my favorites for design. Check it.

I know this trendy challenge will be fun. I made an only-grass arrangement last week. I found the hardest part was creating focal points. Some elements I used, such as purple majesty millet, stood out on their own. But, I also used some techniques as well to create interest. Looping, braiding and knotting provide unique visuals that I could never do with flowers. I stretched the medium as much as I could including shredding some of the millet leaves to make my own grassy features.

There are so many design options with grass. I’m curious to see what everyone does. Will they use one kind of grass or ten? How will designers incorporate flowers, if they do at all? The interpretation is everything in these challenges. I also love the responses from members. The challenges have been so popular we needed to switch up the format. Now, in addition to the live presentation, we have a space to submit designs for critique from the members.

UGC (user generated content) is so valuable in FlowerMore. As we’ve grown, the members guide the conversations and creative directions more everyday. Beth’s inspo finds a few weeks ago now have all of us designing with grass.

When I was slinging flowers out of my shop, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate was available to me just one week a year. This week is that week. My only grower that had it, Rick at Seaberry Farm, made sure I knew when it was in bloom. Its bright pink color is perfect for the end of summer. It’s like a little preview of fall. Its whimsical fountain-like shape adds so much fun to every arrangement. This would be the week I used KMOTGG liberally in all my orders and showcased it for walk-ins at my shop.

It’s a strange name for a plant. I don’t know much about it. Polygonum orientale, the botanical name, is also called Japanese knotweed, ragged sailor and ladyfingers among other names, I had only heard of it as “Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate.” When I shortened it to “KMOTGG” on my display table (the name spelled out didn’t fit on the tag), Rick said he never saw it referred that way before. On the farm he just says “kiss me” and hopes there’s no confusion. (LOL)

KMOTGG is native to China, but it has a long history of growing in the mid-Atlantic. Thomas Jefferson, who called it princess’ feather, grew it in his garden in Monticello. He was a regular seed customer of John Bartram, father of American botany and friend to Benjamin Franklin. It is likely Thomas Jefferson’s KMOTGG came directly from Bartram.

I visited Bartram’s Garden in Pennsylvania recently and was excited encounter his KMOTGG in person. Directing my own episode of Finding Your Roots I learned Bartram received his seeds from Peter Collinson, a British backer of early American plant experimenters. It’s a lot easier to find seeds today. You don’t need international connections or famous friends to grow this plant. You can just go online and order them from Rare Seeds. Veda Renee, on the other hand, did require a French connection (see below).

Rick says KMOTGG seeds are tricky to germinate:

The big thing to know about these is that the seeds need a significant moist prechill treatment. I seed the trays in the fall or winter, water them well and leave them in the cooler for at least three months. (at 40 degrees). Then take them out and just put the trays in the greenhouse like anything else. Keep the trays moist in the cooler. Alternatively, you could seed in late fall and just keep the trays outdoors under some cover. Or, if you are brave, you could just direct seed them in the garden in the fall.

KMOTGG had a good run of popularity in early American gardens. After the Civil War it fell out of favor with gardeners. It’s a plant that wants to be grown from seed, and nursery starts were becoming popular. Also, KMOTGG isn’t a tidy plant (check out this short video). It had a reputation of making a garden look messy, and American taste was moving away from a natural style of garden to a more manicured look.

KMOTGG reseeds and spreads, but I couldn’t find anything definitive that said it was invasive. Allan Armitage in his book, Of Naked Ladies and Forget Me Nots, describes it as aggressive and in some areas moving toward invasive. If it’s just weedy, and not harmful, I would continue to use KMOTGG in designs at least one week a year.

I’m flipping the script and making an arrangement where grasses are the focal point of my floral design. In fact, I didn’t put a single flower in this vase. This switch-up was so fun I made it my FlowerMore design challenge this month.

This arrangement has many of my favorite grasses for floral design including

• Sea Oats

• Sorghum

• Purple Majesty Millet

• Feathertop

• Frosted Explosion Grass

• Panicum Cloud Nine

Just for FlowerNerds: download my list of best grasses for design.

This design required some different techniques. Due to the thin stems and airy nature of some of the grasses, I clustered bunches together to make them stand out. I also created focal points by manipulating the grasses in to shapes. I even shredded iris and millet leaves into a grassy texture using a flower frog.

Don’t miss this video! If this looks like fun, join us on FlowerMore to show off your design.

As a self-proclaimed flower nerd, I want to know everything I can about flowers, and I need to be precise. I don't need to be botanist-level accurate - but pretty nerdy. So, sorry, Henry, roses don't have thorns. They have prickles. (Full disclosure: I wasn't even sure “prickle” was a word until researching this article.)

I was probably confusing “prickle” with “pricker” throughout my life. The rose bush at my childhood home that deflated every errantly thrown ball was derided by me and my brother as the "pricker bush." I think most large prickly plants are called "pricker bushes" colloquially. "Prickle bush" would not convey the menace that fierce flora wreaked upon my youthful backyard playtime.

For non flower nerds, “thorn” suffices to describe the sharp nibs on a rose stem. But, it's not exactly right. Thorns are modified branches derived from stem tissue. They are just one of three pointed plant protrusions I learned about from The Huntington - a museum, botanical garden and library in Los Angeles. Flowering quince is an example of a plant that has true thorns. These are strong and woody, long and thin, super sharp and the worst. Quince thorns ruin an otherwise lovely flowering branch I would use more often if it didn't feel like I was designing with a porcupine.

A prickle, according to the American Rose Society, is a "spine-like superficial outgrowth." It forms from the plant's skin tissue rather than the stem. It is usually shorter, like bump off the stem, but it's just as sharp as a thorn. Prickles are easier to deal with as a designer. Oftentimes I can just snap them off with my fingers. I also use a simple manual pliable plastic remover thingy that basically just strips prickles away.

The third of the terrible triad are spines. These are modified leaves or parts of leaves with sharp spikes. Cacti and American Holly are examples of plants with spines. I rarely use any spiny plants in my arrangements. Holly can make an occasional appearance at the holidays. It is easily handled with gloves.

Both thorns and spines have internal vascular tissue. This means they receive nutrients and are integral parts of the plant. This also makes them hard to remove. Clippers are my only way to thwart thorns when designing. Otherwise, I just leave them alone.

Botanists refer to plants with thorns, spines and prickles as spinescent (three syllables with accent on the second). They are plants which protect themselves from predators with their barbs. They can be a pain (literally) to work with. Some spinescents are worth the pricks. Some aren't.

When I was a kid, I always thought “The Moment of Nature” on CBS Sunday Morning was so strange. There was no talking. It was just scenes of nature on my TV. Now I love it. Sometimes it is the only segment I watch. But not last week. Botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer was featured. ( is also on substack now! OMG!) She had several of her own “moments of nature” during the interview including a stroll through a meadow of goldenrod and asters.

The first time this combo came into my consciousness was when I read her classic book Braiding Sweetgrass. (She did that during the interview too.) Near the beginning of the book, Kimmerer recalls vibrant purple asters set against bright yellow goldenrod in a meadow where she grew up in New York. It is a core memory of her childhood and home.

She goes on in the book to recount her meadow memory as a freshman at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. Kimmerer asked her biology teacher why asters and goldenrod growing together looked so beautiful. He dismissed her question. He told her that science doesn’t deal with questions of beauty.

This response left Kimmerer disheartened as an aspiring botanist and member of the Potawatomi Nation. She embraced both scientific knowledge and indigenous wisdom. Her schooling and heritage taught her nature has both ecological and aesthetic importance.

I am fascinated with color theory as a designer. I am also intrigued with symbiosis in nature, especially among flowers. Purple and yellow oppose each other on the color wheel. As contrasting colors they create a visual harmony pleasing to the eye. That makes for good design. The visual contrast is also attractive to pollinators like bees and butterflies.

It is not a coincidence that Kimmerer found goldenrod and asters growing together in the meadow. They have what botanists call a facultative mutualistic symbiotic relationship. They don’t need each other to survive. But by growing together they help each other thrive. Beauty has purpose. SUNY needs to level up their biology professors.

Mountain mint is mighty. That's probably how it got its common name. It doesn't grow on mountains, but it has mountain energy. It is strong, rugged and present. It has tall, sturdy stems and dense, dusty-green leaves. It provides many uses. It isn't showy, but it gets the job done. Mountain mint has been one of those few low-key, reliable foliages I can depend on in my studio and in my garden.

My growers harvest mountain mint in mid-summer. When cut at the right stage, it holds up well in the vase. It can last up to 14 days without fading. The trick to harvesting is waiting until the leaves turn to that dusty color from a bright spring green - usually when the plant begins to flower.

The flowers won't last after harvest, and the shedding can be a mess in my shop. I don't mind. After the petals drop, the remaining seed heads are an interesting feature. The little green circles add a natural textural element to the foliage. Mountain mint contains multitudes.

The most common variety grown for cutting is Pycnanthemum muticum. It's a native for me, and it's prolific. When it’s in bloom, my garden hums with life. Bees, butterflies and all kinds of other pollinators flock to it. I’m hesitant to cut from my own supply as to not disturb our little ecosystem. I have a robust crop, and there is always more sprouting up.

Growing mountain mint is easy, and it will take over a garden. Put it in a pot if you want to keep it under control. It's a sneaky plant so be sure to set the pot on something to keep the rhizomes from snaking through the drainage holes. It's worth the trouble. Mountain mint thrives when other plants struggle with the heat, and it will add fragrance to your garden.

Like a mountain in a landscape, I overlooked this plant as something that was always just there for too long. I'm no Walt Whitman. I never celebrated it. I didn't think to profile it in my newsletter until I took a class by Claudia Rosa Esthetics through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore last summer. Claudia uses mountain mint as an ingredient in her esthetics treatments.

Mountain mint leaves can be dried and ground into a powder for use in many products. Claudia showed us how to use it in a cooling herbal face mask with other native flowers like yarrow.

Mountain mint is underappreciated. Whether you’re a designer or a gardener, this plant is worth adding to your arrangements and your garden. Shout it from the mountaintop. Mountain mint is large.

Learn how to design a beautiful, natural-looking flower arrangement using the six elements of floral design: foliage, line flowers, filler flowers, focal flowers, secondary focal flowers, and bits and pieces. In this live centerpiece demonstration, I show my complete design process step-by-step using locally grown flowers and a reusable chicken wire mechanic.

This video demonstrates how to:

• Use foliage to create the shape and structure of a floral arrangement

• Create a sustainable, reusable chicken wire mechanic

• Use line flowers to guide the eye toward your focal flowers

• Add filler flowers without overcrowding your design

• Use secondary focal flowers to build color and visual interest

• Add “bits and pieces” for whimsy and unexpected details

Flowers in this centerpiece:

• Variegated Solomon’s Seal

• Everleaf Basil

• Rudbeckia - Chim Chiminee and Sherry Brandy

• Sunflowers

• Zinnias - Wowie Zowie (I think)

• Craspedia

This demonstration will give you a practical framework you can use in almost any floral design.

Cafe Au Lait is the most sought-after dahlia variety for weddings and events. They are in-demand every fall. I have weddings photos going back fifteen years with Cafes in the bridal bouquets. My shop customers also go crazy for them. I love the color, shape and wow factor they bring to a design. I’ve got my problems with them too, but they deserve the attention they command.

Cafe Au Laits were introduced to the market in 1968. If you’re keeping score at home they are categorized as “Informal Decorative” in the American Dahlia Society Online Classification Guide. They have “generally flat petals, sometimes slightly rolled at the tips, but with irregular arrangement of formation.” I find the rolled tips to be the most charming attribute of this flower. Cafe Au Lait also qualifies as a “dinnerplate” due to the size of the bloom. Dinnerplate status is achieved by dahlia blooms measuring at least eight inches wide.

Despite their beauty and popularity, I have a lot of issues with these flowers as a designer. I find them frustrating and difficult to work with. They have flat, down- facing blooms. In the world of show dahlias this is called “clock face.” It’s an undesirable trait for showing dahlias and for design. It’s such a downer that growers who show dahlias professionally use tricks to prop the heads up to the desired 45 degree angle including stuffing a cotton ball between the stem and the flower to give it a lift. Cafe au laits always look like they are trying to hide no matter where I place them in a design. If they’re trying to be coy, they don’t get away with it. The large size of the bloom dominates every bouquet.

Cafes are thirsty on the gram and out of the vase. They are quick to wilt when removed from water for even just a short photoshoot at a wedding. My florist’s anxiety spikes every time I use them in hand-held bouquets. I implore the flower holders to get the bouquets back in their vases as quickly as they can.

We have to talk about the color. There is a lot of variation. These flowers are often a luscious cream as its name suggests. But, sometimes they can be a cool blush or even purple. The range of colors can all be produced from the same single plant. When ordering from my growers, I’m never exactly sure what I’ll be getting. Breeders are working on isolating the colors into new varieties: Cafe Au Lait attempts to stay creamy, Cafe Au Lait Royal is light pink to dusty rose and Cafe Au Lait Rose is a fuchsia pink.

In addition to the color being unpredictable, the shape is also highly variable. Singles have one layer of petals. Semi doubles have two or more rows of petals around a disc-shaped center. True doubles have multiple rows of petals with no center disc showing.

Dr. Alicain Carlson of Syngenta explained the differences in shape at the ASCFG regional conference last summer. It comes down how much daylight exposure, or photoperiod, the plants have while growing. The flowers will not bloom at all with less than 9.5 hours of daylight per day. At 10.5 hours of daylight they’re likely to be singles. Semi doubles will result from 11.5 hours of daylight. True doubles require at least 13.5 hours of daylight.

Their popularity, and that long photoperiod, make Cafes expensive. Some of my growers are selling them for $5.50 a stem wholesale. If I was to add a standard 3X florist mark-up I’d be charging $16.50 a stem. YIKES! That’s not going to fly in my shop. I can only hope to breakeven selling Cafe Au Laits.

Fruit and flowers have been juxtaposed in design and composition for thousands of years. English florist Constance Spry was one of the first modern designers to legitimize fruit in floral design during the mid 20th century. Her inspo were the still life paintings of the Dutch Masters. She chose grapes, elderberries and oranges as some of her bolder elements. Really, she would incorporate anything interesting growing alongside her flowers into arrangements such as weeds, vines, seedpods and even vegetables. Fruit, however, due to their vibrant colors and attention-grabbing shapes, were often highlighted and celebrated in her work.

I also love to add edible and ornamental produce elements in my designs. I don’t go full Carmen Miranda, but sneaking some berries into arrangements is always fun. Their texture and unexpectedness add interest and amusement. I love hearing an admirer exclaim “Are those raspberries in your flower arrangement?” (It’s not always complimentary.) Summer is ripe with edibles on the vine such as tomatoes and peppers that work well in a vase. I also use a lot of ornamental berries in the fall and winter like beautyberry, viburnum, snowberry and juniper berry for seasonal bouquets and wreaths. I feature winterberry in my holiday classic - Winter in a Jar.

This time of year my centerpieces and morning oatmeal are both accented with blackberries. My farmers grow a thornless blackberry plant with sturdy canes to sell for foliage. These can be delivered up to six feet in length! They are long-lasting and have large green leaves with serrated edges. Growers harvest blackberry with the fruit small and green in spring. The berries turn red in summer and can still be used in design. By the time they turn black, they are ready for eating and not advisable for arrangements - too soft and juicy. The foliage is still an option after the berries are picked and grows all the way until frost.

I’m always looking for unique, local design elements to make my designs stand out. Edibles are often a good choice as bits and pieces, one of the six elements in my design framework. Blackberries are a sweet solution. It’s a win-win for my arrangements and my breakfast.

This video is for the flower growers and amateur designers who haven’t joined FlowerMore yet. Most growers are not florists and beginner designers can use some pro-tips. A little technique and some practice can turn your undesigned bunch of stems into a professional looking bouquet.

I demonstrate how to make a basic market bouquet look more intentional, natural and high-end using a simple hand-tied spiral bouquet technique. It’s harder than it looks. However, after making a several bouquets in this style, the method will start to feel natural.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• Why you should start with a strong stem and how foliage helps create the “bones” of a design

• How to cross and rotate each stem to build a spiral

• Why a loose grip creates a wider, more natural, garden-style bouquet

• How to use the six elements of floral design

• How an intentional 3-color palette can make a bouquet look more valuable

• How to use the same hand-tied technique for vase arrangements and bridal bouquets

This was a live demo at The Garderner’s Workshop where all of the flowers were grown by Lisa Mason Ziegler. I used Lisa’s variegated Solomon’s seal, basil, zinnias, strawflower, celosia, marigolds and craspedia.

If you’re growing flowers to sell, learning floral design, or simply want to make better bouquets from your garden flowers, this is a technique worth practicing.

As summer winds down I can say I've had enough of the heat. I don't mean the high temperatures (though I already miss lazing all day long on the chaise longue at my community pool). I'm talking about the hot colors of summer flowers. It's been nothing but dark reds, rich oranges and sunny yellows for months. There's nothing wrong with those colors. I'm just ready for something a little cooler.

The jewel tones of fall won't be blooming for several weeks. It wouldn't feel right if they were. It's still August after all. There is, however, a slate of something different available. Late summer local flowers for me can provide a change-up to the palette if I order just right. I'm loving the pink, peach and yellow flowers my growers are delivering recently.

That combination might sound like spring. But, these are a different tint. They're not as bright as spring flowers. The saturation is a bit toned down. They are more pastel. It's as if the flowers used up most of their pigment in the height of the season and are now just sputtering out the last of their color. It's less intense. Working together in a bouquet, the colors of my late summer palette look like a filter muted their hues leaving a calm and relaxed bunch of flowers. They're more Wes Anderson than Lilly Pulitzer.

During this in-between-season I build around different tints of yellow to achieve this look. While I still include some punches of mustard from goldenrod and plume celosia, I focus on subdued tints from chim chiminee and sahara rudbeckias. I also love using light and creamy lisianthus Rosita 2 Yellow and ABC Yellow. White Swan marigold adds a buttery color. The yellows I choose are typically more pale than bright in this palette.

When adding pink, I select dustier options to avoid a springtime look. An antiqued Japanese anemone feels more appropriate for late summer. Double click cosmos in baby pink also do well. There are a plethora of pink lisianthus available but for this palette I lean in on Celeb Madonna and Mariachi Light or Misty Pink for their washed-out appearance. Vintage rose and Texas plume celosia also contribute to the vibe.

Peach is the color that connects the pink and yellows. I can easily find flowers that have all of three colors in a single bloom. Linda's Baby dahlias, for instance, contains this entire late summer palette and pulls the bouquet together. Champagne Lisianthus and Apricotta Cosmos also help to bridge between the colors. There would be too much contrast for what I'm going for in this look without these transition flowers.

Yellow, pink and peach are analogous on the color wheel. They reflect a spectrum of similar wavelength. When combined, they create a pleasing, visually harmonious appearance. Finding the right shades of each makes the look. Depending on my mood I might include some splashes of white and green. Seasonal design and experimenting within nature's offerings keeps my designer's eye engaged.

I got some push-back on my latest YouTube video. I made a case for lisianthus over roses. It’s a scandal. My rose grower, Lauren, shot me a text with a playful accusation of betrayal. One rose lover in the comments seemed truly miffed and wrote I was spreading misinformation. Maybe I was trolling a little. There’s no doubt lisis are lovely focal flowers with a long vase life. I’ll admit, though, not everyone is a fan of the newest colors which I find so enchanting.

When I first started buying lisianthus 15 years ago, I could count the colors available on one hand: white, pink and “blue” (which was really more of a purple). There was also a weird white-and-blue picotee version - mostly white with a purple edge. Now, the color options are endless. Growers have leaned into those dusty, antique tones like muddy peaches, champagnes and rose pinks.

My bias, Lisianthus Chateau “Blue,” has a color unlike any flower and it’s hard to describe. My first thought was gray. Others have said taupe, beige and apricot. They’re understated. I took about 50 pictures trying to capture their true color. Also, can we talk about the ruffles? The bloom consists of soft, frilly, curly petals layered as if piped on by a cake decorator. These flowers are lush and romantic with a vintage vibe. I could eat them up.

In recent years, the most sought-after lisi for designers has been Rosanne Brown. While it’s still going strong, there’s a new favorite emerging - Rosanne 2 Terracotta. Both are perfect for moody weddings and neutral palettes. Rosanne Brown leans a bit plum; Terracotta leans warmer with orangey-brown undertones. These muted colors are having a moment.

Not everyone is in on the trend. I learned the hard way to reserve Rosanne varieties for my hip flower people. Some customers have complained the flowers looked dead after I added them to my bouquet deliveries. (It’s the same reason I gave up on dogwood.) I didn’t argue and simply refunded. They may appeal to a more refined eye, but you don’t have to be Wednesday Addams to appreciate the look.

Lisianthus can be tricky for farmers, too. Most buy plugs instead of seeds to give themselves a head start. Young lisis like it sunny, don’t mind the heat if they’re well-watered and need netting to stay upright. One grower who struggled to get straight stems started marketing her leaning lisianthus as “windswept.” No, thank you. It takes patience and good timing to keep those stems tall and straight by sliding the netting up as the flowers grow.

We are just finishing up peak lisi season. Some growers can get a second flush in the fall if they planted early enough. The stems are shorter, but I can work with them.

Hillen Homestead, one of my regular growers, is experimenting with a new method. Maya planted “Group 4” lisianthus in late May and early June to aim for a first big flush in the fall. Group 4s are bred to handle high heat at transplanting, take their time to bloom and can still produce tall stems later in the season. She’ll be studying this through a ASCFG Growers Grant for 2027.

With sweet lisis, I’ll take what I can get.

If you love roses, you’re going to want to take a closer look at lisianthus. As a florist, I think lisianthus beats garden roses in almost every category—from stem length and number of blooms to price, versatility, and vase life.

In this video, I’m comparing lisianthus vs. garden roses and showing you why lisianthus is one of my favorite flowers for floral design. We’ll look at:

🌸 Stem length and versatility — Lisianthus gives you long stems that can work in everything from small arrangements to large ceremony and entryway designs.

🌸 Multiple blooms per stem — Instead of getting one usable bloom from a garden rose, a single lisianthus stem can give you several beautiful blooms and side shoots.

🌸 Flower shape and unique varieties — From fluffy, ruffled blooms to new star-shaped varieties, lisianthus offers an incredible range of shapes and sizes.

🌸 Unique colors — Discover some of the beautiful dusty, moody, and unusual lisianthus colors that are perfect for sophisticated floral designs and weddings.

🌸 Cost — My lisianthus cost just $2.20 per stem wholesale, compared with $4–$6 for garden roses. And because each stem has multiple usable blooms, you can get a lot more value from your flowers.

🌸 Vase life — Garden roses may last only a few days, while lisianthus can last up to three weeks in a vase, making it an excellent choice for long-lasting floral arrangements.

There is one category where garden roses definitely win: fragrance. Garden roses have that incredible rose scent that lisianthus simply doesn’t have.

Then I’ll use nine stems of lisianthus to create a beautiful, foliage-free floral arrangement for less than $20. I’ll show you how I use a pin frog, create different heights and levels, work with negative space, and make a simple arrangement feel much larger and more substantial.

If you’re a florist, floral designer, flower farmer, or simply love arranging flowers, I hope this gives you some new ideas for using lisianthus in your designs.

I first chatted with Jennifer from The Flowering Farmhouse and The Backyard Bouquet Podcast on the members-only ASCFG online forum. I thought she was beyond flower famous because she had been a guest on The Goal Digger Podcast - one of my favorite sources of marketing information. We’re practically flower besties now.

(Quick note: this email includes an affiliate link, so I earn a small commission if you enroll through it, at no extra cost to you.)

Join Me At The Dahlia Design Summit

Jennifer invited me for an interview on her podcast (coming soon) which led to an invitation to teach at her virtual Dahlia Design Summit Sept 13-18. My session is called The Power of Color: Simple Strategies for Stunning Dahlia Designs. There’s no color theory in this class. It’s going to be all about practical, real-world advice you can start using the very next time you arrange with dahlias.

Dahlias are special to me because they were the only flower I used in the first bridal bouquet I ever designed. It was for Marina, my friend and co-founder of our flower business. All of the dahlias were grown locally by our friend John of Locust Point Flowers. I always think of Marina’s wedding and John when designing with dahlias.

I’ve studied color throughout my career. I’ve taken classes in color theory, made color design challenges for my FlowerMore members and interviewed authors and artists about color for our online meet-ups. The topic can get very technical. I find the best way to learn about color in floral design is to make it accessible. My goal for the session is for designers to learn simple, practical techniques they can use immediately. I want attendees to be able to look at a single dahlia stem and instantly know how to build a beautiful arrangement around it.

Over the years, I’ve found that color is one of the biggest things that keeps people from feeling confident in their designs. They know they have beautiful flowers, but they’re not always sure how to combine them. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you understand a few simple principles, choosing flowers becomes easier, designing becomes more enjoyable, and you start seeing possibilities everywhere.

The Dahlia Design Summit is happening virtually September 13–18 and is packed with sessions for anyone who loves dahlias. Whether you’re a backyard or small-scale grower who wants to create beautiful arrangements with what you grow, an aspiring farmer-florist exploring weddings and events, a florist who wants to better understand the flowers you’re buying, or a gardener who’s ready to create bouquets that go far beyond the grocery store, there’s something here for you.

I’m so excited to be part of such an incredible lineup of educators, and I hope you’ll join us. I think you’ll leave inspired—not just by the beauty of dahlias, but by what you can create with them.

Tickets are available now! (Early Bird deal ends Sunday, August 10)

(Quick note: this email includes an affiliate link, so I earn a small commission if you enroll through it, at no extra cost to you.)

Join Me At The Dahlia Design Summit

When I worked in my shop, I listened to WTMD, my local public radio station, all day. I have been a monthly sustaining member for years. I have also been the wedding florist for a few of the station's staff. The morning DJ, Alex Cortright, is a story-teller. He gets into the background of songs and artists. One was of Polk Salad Annie, a 1968 hit by Tony Joe White. Elvis extended its popularity by playing covers of the song at his concerts into the 1970's. If you ask me, the live recordings by the artists rival each other as much as their stupendous sideburns. (Check it: Tony vs Elvis)

White, the original songwriter, is from the swampland of Louisiana. He grew up poor and sometimes without much to eat. I perked up when Alex the DJ explained the inspiration of the song was a staple of the musician’s childhood diet: “poke sallet” - a dish made from pokeweed.

Before I go on, there are a couple of confusing words here to address: “polk” and “sallet.” The song is titled Polk Salad Annie. The dish, made from pokeweed, is traditionally called "poke sallet." “Polk” and “poke” seem to be used interchangeably when referring to the food. This may be the result of a mistake by supporters of President James K Polk who wore pokeweed leaves as a boutonniere thinking the plant was named after him. (It was not, and it is not spelled the same. They didn't have Chat GPT in 1845.) Furthermore, “sallet” sounds like “salad” but, again, are not the same. “Sallet” may be derived from old English or French meaning cooked greens.

Anyway, I was familiar with pokeweed as some floral designers use it in arrangements. I always avoid it. Pokeweed is a native plant found throughout the US. It has a distinct appearance featuring dark purple berries on hot pinkish- red stems with big, bright green leaves. It also has a huge tap root (up to 4 inches thick) which makes it really hard to dig up.

It is is a definitely a weed. It spreads like crazy and can be found growing wild on roadsides, pastures and on the edges of peoples gardens. I have some growing in the alley behind my house.

I avoid using pokeweed in my arrangements because it is highly poisonous. Killing a customer’s cat wouldn’t be good for business. According to Mt Sinai Hospital the roots, leaves and stems are all toxic and the berries are a little less noxious. “Cooked berries and leaves (cooked twice in separate water) can technically be eaten. However, this is never recommended because there is no guarantee that they are safe.” I guess Annie knew what he was doing in the kitchen.

Our FlowerMore community has discussed if pokeweed is acceptable for arrangements. Some members compared it to snow on the mountain and tweedia which are also both poisonous but are common in design. ChatGPT told me lilies are more even toxic than pokeweed. My concern is that pet owners are probably more familiar with those varieties. (I trust my human customers not to eat the arrangements.) Despite Tony and Elvis, I think most people don’t know pokeweed.

Modern day foragers have tips on how to cook pokeweed so you don’t not to poison yourself. First, they say the leaves must be boiled multiple times for them to be safe to eat. The shoots should also be peeled to remove the skin which contains a high amount of toxins. Never eat the root - that can be fatal. I’m passing on pokeweed on my plate and in my vase. On the radio - OK.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' is the best rudbeckia. I know that's a bold statement, but I stand by it. Henry checks all the boxes. He's a native. He has long sturdy stems. He doesn't wilt and he has endurance. I'm talking about staying power in the vase. Henry is also handsome. He has a pleasant, familiar appearance. It's just different enough for admirers to want to take closer look. When you scrutinize, you find something special - his quilled petals. It's a feature few flowers have. Anyone would take Henry home to mom.

I live in Maryland, where Rudbeckia hirta, or black-eyed Susan, is our state flower. I hope she doesn't get jealous of Henry. The genus was named for Olof Rudbeck, a Swedish botanist and founder of The Botanical Garden at Uppsala University where Carl Linnaeus (the “father of modern taxonomy”) was a professor of botany. As ever, there are many species and cultivated varieties of rudbeckia.

The variety, Henry Eilers, is practically a baby, and is named after the man who happened upon it. Henry, the man, found Henry, the flower, growing wild in a prairie near an old Illinois railroad in the late 1990's. Henry, the man, had his own nursery and knew he came across something special in Henry, the flower. The area is now a nature preserve named after Henry (probably the man). The flower was cultivated as a cut and first sold commercially in 2003 by Ridgecrest Nursery and Gardens in Wynne, Arkansas. As it's still pretty new to the market, Henry is only just catching on as a popular garden and cut flower.

Henry has the same coloring as other rudbeckias, but instead of the typically flat wide petals, it has rolled or quilled petals. They look like little tubes. There are only a few flowers that have this unique petal structure including a some chrysanthemums and asters. One other rudbeckia, Chim Chiminee, also rolls its petals. There doesn't seem to be any known benefit for flowers having quilled petals. On the contrary, the characteristic may deter pollinators.

Henry, the man and the flower, can grow to between 5 and 6 feet tall. My farmers harvest it around 3 feet which gives me a lot of options in design. I can use its big, bushy stems for tall urns or large wrapped bouquets. Since it's so branchy, I can also break it down and design with its many side shoots. It's a cost effective stem that adds some punch to a bouquet. Each bloom looks like I've exploded a little yellow firework punctuating my arrangement.

I tried growing Henry Eilers myself. I bought a test plant to see if it would work. I have heavy clay soil at home so not a lot will grow well. I picked out a sunny spot for the test. I went out to visit him every morning. So far, so good. I'm preparing space for more Henrys to move in. Fingers crossed!

Do you have a favorite rudbeckia? Tell me in the comments!

I hand-cuffed my FlowerMore members this month for our 60-30-10 design challenge by banning foliage. It was meant to force designers to focus on just the three flower colors in a 60-30-10 proportion in their arrangements. Foliage, and its color, can often be overlooked as background. By excluding it, the designers had to be intentional with just their three color choices. I expected some playful groaning from the members, which I got, but there were also some unexpected lessons as well.

When I announced the foliage ban, Melissa was the first to begrudge, “No foliage? This will be my hardest challenge yet!” Lois complained she was “going into foliage withdrawal just thinking about it,” and Allison simply declared, “RIP foliage.” I don’t have anything against foliage. I have it as one of my six elements of floral design. I even won a design competition using only foliage.

I should have re-watched the YouTube video I made on why foliage matters. My foliage ban was supposed to be all about the color proportion in the challenge. I didn’t think about the other unintended design constraints I put on my members. In addition to considering color proportion, I now had them thinking about how they were going to replace the essential roles foliage has in their designs.

Foliage serves several purposes in an arrangement: it develops shape, creates an armature for stem support, provides texture, softens transitions, hides mechanics and fills gaps. It also, as I mentioned, has color, but it can also interrupt swaths or repetitions of other colors in the arrangement. This became, inadvertently, more than a design challenge on color proportion.

The biggest disruption for the designers was stem placement. Without the greenery, members had to rethink their vessel selection and their need for a mechanic. Monica chose a small vase and still needed chicken wire to keep her flowers in place. Other designers chose flowers that satisfied both the color requirement and took on the role of foliage. Airy Queen Anne’s lace and fluffy snapdragons were able to provide color and support for other stems.

Many of the finished arrangements had a contemporary or modern look. Foliage creates a traditional garden style. The flowers in all of the arrangements really stood out. Despite me cranking up the difficulty level on this challenge, we sharpened our clippers and had fun together.

Bits and pieces are what I call the little blooms, grasses, pods and textured elements that I place as a flourish at the end my design.They add curiosity, personality, color and interest to my arrangements. These small stems can make a HUGE difference by turning an ordinary floral design into a showpiece.

In my Six Elements of Floral Design approach, every stem has a purpose. Bits and pieces are the finishing touch. They may look cute on their own, but the right small detail can transform an ordinary flower arrangement into something truly unique.

In this video, I show you:

• What “bits and pieces” are and why they matter in floral design

• How to use small stems as a finishing touch

• Why you should make these elements stand out

• My top bits and pieces, including explosion grass, fennel, craspedia, poppy pods, strawflower, and echinops

• How to dry bits and pieces so you can use them throughout the year

For florists and designers working with locally grown flowers, these unusual elements can be a great way to create distinctive arrangements and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

I love adding these touches to my arrangements. They are like my own pieces of flair.

I’m closing my Baltimore shop and going all in on FlowerMore! It’s a big change for me, but I’ve been planning it for a while. Honestly, I should have done it years ago. I just didn’t want to lose the community of flower friends I have in Baltimore. The good news is that I have a way to keep the band together. I built another place where we can nerd out on flowers anytime and from anywhere on FlowerMore!

I’ve been gradually reducing floral services out of my shop. It’s been three years since I booked a full service wedding. I dropped deliveries, classes and corporate events. The only business I’m doing out of the shop is seasonal retail on Saturday mornings - my flower hang-out. I slung flowers for over 15 years and loved it. At 50-something, I don’t want to climb another ladder, rent another van or return to another venue for a midnight retrieval ever again. It’s long past time to move on.

I started planning this transition when I sent my first newsletter to the 2,000 email addresses (MailChimp’s limit for their free tier) I had collected from customers two years ago. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I needed to build a bigger flower nerd posse. The list is now almost 10,000 emails and includes people all around the world. That was also when I started recording weekly YouTube videos. My channel now has over 30,000 subscribers and 200,000 monthly views. These are not big creator numbers, but it is something to build on.

So, with an audience to make a pitch make a to, I started FlowerMore, our online community for flower nerds. I knew I would need someway to continue yapping about flowers when my shop was gone. I loved how everybody gathered at my shop and talked about varieties and designs. Engaging with other flower people became essential in my life. I couldn’t let that part of Local Color Flowers go. I’m sad to sell the space, but I’m not leaving my flower friends behind.

I’m so grateful for the thousands of brides, online orders, subscribers and walk-in customers who bought flowers at my shop over the past 15 years. I couldn’t have done the work without the dozens of employees who helped me design and deliver arrangements. I am especially thankful for the hundreds of local flower growers who made my business unlike any other in Baltimore.

This wasn’t a flower shop. It was a place to make flower connections. Like The Red Wheelbarrow, so much depends on local flowers. And that isn’t changing. It’s only getting bigger. I’m filled with joy and excitement for the new way I am making flower connections. Join me and other flower nerds for friendship, designs and adventures on FlowerMore.