Flower Works | The Natural Florist - Premier Floral Shop | St. Augustine, Florida

Lovely lavender…

David — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:00:45 +0000

Pretty, pretty, pretty…

True lavenders or purple flowers are not as common as pink-tinted purple flowers. We have fewer choices when designing flowers with a violet color scheme. Stock and true lavender roses have been used in this bouquet, other true purple flowers available year-round are statice, asters, and iris. A true purple carnation has been developed in the laboratory by “borrowing” a gene from pansies. Like these!

Other purple flowers, like hydrangea, tulips, lilac and freesia, are subject to seasonal availability. These blooms can be found out of season, but the price can be affected, sometimes doubling or tripling the cost. Quality issues also arise when something has been “forced”, or grown in an artificial environment.

Look up close;

We think it’s best to use flowers that are in season. Rather than getting their hearts set on a particular flower that may not be available or cost- effective, we recommend to all of our customers that they go for a look, as did this very happy bride!

Blue Bom!

David — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:54:50 +0000

I have a particular thing about using dyed flowers in wedding work. Well, I have a thing about using dyed flowers period, but this is one of those times when you never say never. Seeing as how we call ourselves “The Natural Florist”, we try and use our design techniques to demonstrate the inherent beauty of flowers.

But here’s the thing… this vibrant flower is pretty. So principles be damned! The color on a Blue Bom Dendrobium orchid glows. It has an ethereal beauty that becomes a really interesting part of a design. There is a wonderful trend in floral design to not be too matchy-matchy, but conversely, one of the MOST popular colors for bridesmaids dresses is aqua. Or Tiffany Blue, Ocean Blue, turquoise, etc. It’s nice to have the option of incorporating a color that wouldn’t otherwise occur naturally.

All of the dendrobium orchids we use in retail flower shops in the United States come from farms in Thailand. Quite the journey! The normal range of colors goes from a creamy white to an intense fuchsia, although natural shades of green have become more readily available. The dying of orchids is a more recent trend. It involves a complex process of injecting the developing spike of the orchid with dye through a teeny-tiny hypodermic needle. You may have seen Phalenopsis Orchid plants that have been dyed a bright blue or purple at your local supermarket (the inflorescence will revert to it’s normal color the next time it blooms). Same process.

So to dye or not to dye? Your call, but you can’t deny the un-natural beauty of this exotic blossom.

Red peony

David — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:49:26 +0000

Pure awesomeness.

When the party’s over…

David — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:53:31 +0000

Whew! What a rush. As anybody who has ever worked in a flower shop at Mother’s Day will tell you…”I am tired!” Ever wonder what that semi truck trailer is doing parked next to the store at various times each year? Well we can tell you that by the Friday before Mom’s special day, it is PACKED with floral messages of love.
Then comes Saturday afternoon, deliveries are all but done and the deluge of customers become a trickle, and the space between frantic calls begins to widen. Last minute customers see our depleted supplies, and seem to fear that their Mom may not get the perfect flowers they had hoped, but look at the last two orders today, just a little whole ago…

The mark of a TRUE floral designer, someone who has been trained and has a love of their craft, is that they can draw beauty from whatever supplies they have to work with, be it a fully stocked cooler, or buckets that are seemingly picked clean.
We hope all of the Moms who received flowers from Flower Works have a Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow!

Me… I need a beer and a foot bath…

What the heck is that?!?

David — Sat, 11 May 2013 00:09:01 +0000

Check out this creepy little guy! This is a Nepenthes, a member of the Pitcher Plant family. Little Shop of Horrors much? This plant is indeed carnivorous, just when you thought it was safe to take a walk in the woods! Actually, they only “eat” small insects, although some of the larger varieties have been known to digest frogs, small birds, and even mice or rats.
This particular variety lures it’s prey with scent and color, and the top and sides are slippery, so when the victim falls in it cannot easily climb back out. The struggle to escape releases enzymes which begin digesting the unsuspecting morsel, and it’s fate is sealed.
Scientists have learned some interesting things about the Pitcher Plants’ enzymes. While certain enzymes have the job of breaking down the food into usable proteins for nourishment, this can take a very long time, sometimes weeks, depending on the size of the insect or small animal. Upon studying these plants, they discovered other enzymes that work to preserve the food so that it doesn’t spoil. These enzymes are antibacterial in nature, and could potentially be used to stave off fungal or bacterial infections in humans.
pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr700566d
How cool is that?
So really, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, this plant actually has oodles of “creep appeal”!

Green mushrooms!

David — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:53:46 +0000

With all the rain we had last week, there has been no shortage of fungi popping up here and there amongst the flora in my yard, but I am still amazed at the variety of mushrooms that appear. There were a few little ones like this earlier in the week, but they were more buttery-yellow colored. As they got closer to the mint, they took on a…well…mint-green hue. I sure hope you can see it in the photo.

And check out this guy;

The only thing missing is a hookah-smoking caterpillar.
I think it’s odd how they come and go. It seems like there would be more like the ones that have recently come up, but they grow, and then they go, until the weather turns damp again, we will have new varieties in different places.

Aaaaand…(Sorry, I just have to say it) “There’s a fungus amongus” once again!

How does my garden grow…

David — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:49:29 +0000

Back in January, Dane and I had an acorn squash for dinner. Just a squash, halved, baked, with brown sugar and butter. It was kinda like having dessert for dinner, and as I was cleaning squash-guts out of my sink I couldn’t help but see the potential futures of all the little squash seeds. So I got some garden soil and planted them in a bunch of little paper cups we had left over from the holidays. You know what? Every single one of them sprouted. ALL of them. So, come the end of February, they needed a new home. I found some old louvered doors, and made an 8′ X 8′ raised garden.

I got 600 shovels full of horse poo from a local stable, covered it with garden soil, and planted them.

They took off! The blooms are so pretty, and the plants grow so fast!

I added some spaghetti squash and 2 different kinds of cucumber, along with some okra that I had saved seeds from last year’s garden. With all the rain we’ve had lately I haven’t had to tend to the garden at all, but I still find myself drawn to it morning and night.

I am really REALLY hoping you guys like squash.

Let the designing commence!

David — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:30:44 +0000

So many vases, so little time…
Here is Becca, in full-on-production mode! These vases feature a hand painted daisy design, and the art was done in-house, by me, actually. We have several arrangements to choose from for your own special Mom, to show her how much she means to you. Keep watching Facebook, we should have some new pics up in the morning.
We have chosen to make just a few different designs this year to feature some of our favorite flowers; stock, spray roses, lilies, larkspur and more. Our customers are always surprised by the sheer volume of orders we put out, we have so many as a matter of fact, we have to rent a refrigerated semi-trailer!

All the flowers that have come to our shop this year are of exceptional quality, and the scent in our coolers is heavenly! Check out this unusually tinted tulip;

Mother’s Day!

David — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:08:53 +0000

The second Sunday of May is upon us, and has been done yearly since 1908, we celebrate MOM! Carnations have since been the traditional gift for our Mothers, as Anna Jarvis( the founder of Mother’s Day) used them to commemorate her own Mother, because it was her favorite flower.

Carnations have currently lost favor with the American public, which I can't understand at all. When asking our customers what they think are a flower's greatest attributes, invariably they describe the same thing; high petal count, longevity, fragrance, and variety of color. No flower meets all these criteria as does the (seemingly) lowly carnation! Well, I am a fan, of Moms and carnations.
(Sidebar) This is Max;

He was BORN on Mother’s Day, the 12th of May, and this year his birthday falls on Mother’s Day, the 12th of May! Serendipity and salutations! Happy Birthday, Max!

In my garden.

David — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:05:09 +0000

I found this little guy while gardening today. It’s funny all the things you find when you’re digging in the earth. I found little bits of colorful broken glass, an old rusty hinge, and a long string buried at a diagonal line that stretched for over 6′. I found that I have new neighbors moving in next door, and by following the neighborhood stray cat I found where she had hidden her new babies. I also found this, my treasure of the day!

Saint Augustine has seen an unusually long stretch of rainy days, culminating in minor flooding, blocked roads, temporary business closures, and a general case of the glooms. But HUZZAH! What is this glorious fireball hanging overhead?!? Yes, the sun has returned, and my Lincolnville neighbors and I all took advantage of the weather and took to our gardens. We people may have been sick of the rain, but my plants LOVED it! I hope everyone likes squash, cause it looks to be a bumper crop.