A Summer Ranch Wedding

 

I'm writing this post from frosty, cozy St. Paul, where we're visiting family for Christmas. Looking back on the photos from this year's weddings I can almost smell the florals of summer.  It's not an unwelcome addition to pine and cinnamon, so I think I'm going to share a few, despite the seasonal incongruence.

I'll start with C&L, who are two amazingly energetic and talented people who really know how to celebrate. Some of my most fun and satisfying work has been done at their gracious, bustling, and joyful home, so it was an especially great honor and pleasure to design the the flowers for their wedding in August. C's bouquet included as many fragrant blooms as I could fit, including tuberose and jasmine from Napa and garden roses from Petaluma. L's boutonniere included acorns, oak leaf, and lichen from their ranch.

Vive les marriés!

 

Holiday Birthdays!

I find holiday season birthday flowers to be both very tricky and very enjoyable - tricky because I want them to be birthday-y without clashing too horribly with any Christmas decoration the recipient might have in his or her home, and enjoyable because they give me a little break from the more explicitly holiday palette. And because birthdays are just always fun.

Here are a couple recent holiday birthday arrangements including roses from Petaluma, kumquats from Tracy, ranunculus from Yerba Linda, cymbidiums and stock from Watsonville, and freesia from Pescadero.

This one went out on Wednesday  . . .

And this one back in late November . . .

Local Carnation Love

Following a brief fall hiatus, I'm back at the local carnations, big time. Here they are in four recent arrangements, along with manzanita, narcissus, and rosemary from Napa, kumquats from Tracy, ammi visnaga and callas from Half Moon Bay, ranunculus from Yerba Linda, and stock, oncidiums, snapdragons, and lisianthus from Watsonville.

Here's number 1, celebrating a 19 year anniversary . . .

Here's number 2, an expression of sympathy . . .

Here's number 3, a sample of the Oxbow Flower Subscription arrangements . . .

And here's number 4, for a bedside table . . .

Flowers For Your Wish And Gift Lists

The other big bit of news here at The Monkey Flower Group is an exciting new partnership with Oxbow Produce & Grocery. This rainy season, we're working together to bring Napans fresh, fragrant, and locally grown flowers with a totally unique flower subscription.

The bimonthly bouquets will include delicate and old fashioned garden flowers that aren't readily available in grocery stores, such as daphne, jonquils, snowdrops, sweet peas, lilac, parrot tulips, garden roses, dogwood, and hellebores. More standard seasonal favorites such as hyacinth, ranunculus, freesia, and stock will also make appearances.

Subscribers can pick up their bouquets at Oxbow Produce & Grocery between 3pm - 7pm on the first and third Thursdays of the month, January through April, for a total of 8 bouquets.

The price of the flower subscription is $240, reflecting a discount of $20 per bouquet for a total savings of $160 over the course of the rainy season subscription.

To learn more or to purchase a flower subscription, for yourself or as a lovely gift for someone else, visit The Monkey Flower Group's online shop or contact me directly at 707-418-8615 or info@themonkeyflowergroup.com. 

I hope to be sharing flowers with you or a loved one this rainy season!

Greens and Green Certification

There's a whole lot of green stuff going on here - garlands, wreaths, kissing balls, swags, and . . . certification! That's right, The Monkey Flower Group is now proud Bay Area Green Business!

Environmentally friendly practices have always been central to The Monkey Flower Group's business plan, so in many ways we were well on the way to completing the program's requirements,  especially for waste and pollution reduction. However, the Bay Area Green Business Program really helped me narrow in on ways to conserve electricity and water in my home. My awesome neighbor helped me install a high efficiency toilet (using just 1.28 gallons per flush), and Grandpa helped me install new energy efficient lighting in the bathroom and kitchen. (I wish we had sound bites of him shouting instructions up to me as I crawled around in the attic rafters).

Working with members and administrators of The Bay Area Green Business Program is a pleasure, and it feels wonderful to be part of this lovely, proactive, and positive community.

P.S. Did you know if you live in the City of Napa the water district will send someone out to replace your old waterhog toilet? For free? 

All Aflutter

 

Things are aflutter at The Monkey Flower Group, most literally with these beautiful Cedar Waxwings feasting on our red dogwood berries, but also with mad hott holiday preparations and almost a full month's worth of very exciting news! Stay tuned for the scoop!