Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Been busy, but no excuse for not blogging just a bit more!

I have just finished ordering all my flower seeds for the coming growing season.  Can spring be far behind? (ha ha, only 3 more months!)

Wedding Wire has collected some reviews from past wedding flower clients....8 out of 9 were excellent!  Supposedly I get a badge, 



WeddingWire

Live Flowers, LLC Reviews, Best Wedding Florists in Minneapolis - 2015 Couples' Choice Award Winner






I've tried to put some up to date photos on the website over the season of some bridal bouquets and the cutting garden.

Now I'm looking for lisianthus plugs...have always grown it myself from seed the past 15-20 years.  

The white flowers around the red zinnia are lisianthus in this bridal bouquet created in September.

Thanks for reading!

Renee Arcand

Live Flowers, LLC
www.minnesotaliveflowers.com


Monday, June 25, 2012

Minnesota Grown Garden Flowers for Weddings and Every Day from Live Flowers, LLC

The cutting garden has been planted for about two weeks now.  The annuals are just starting to bloom.  The above flowers are the exception, already blooming like crazy:  a self-seeding annual called cynoglossum, or Chinese forget-me-nots.  They are a beautiful baby blue color and just lovely in bouquets.  Self-seeding annuals are not loved by all gardeners (including my rototilling husband),  as they tend to seed themselves wherever they like, including between the rows, instead of where they were planted last year.  However, I find that competing charming (of course I am never the one doing the tilling!)

Blue and mauve tall ageratum, marigolds, a blue salvia, and white ammi are blooming in the annual cutting garden.  The perennial gardens are blooming bountifully.  Things that usually bloom in mid to late July are already blooming.  What will bloom in late August is a complete mystery!   This thought is probably shared by gardeners all across the northern U.S., because of our extremely early spring.

Last night I transplanted some sunflowers; today is sunny with a light breeze and those poor seedlings are drooping badly.  I have put up two awnings, three tables, and four lawn chairs to try to shade them.  Also clothes-pinned up two blankets.  In the last four hours they have perked up slightly.  I'm trying to think positive thoughts.

I just finally wrote some 'seasonal updates' at my website, www.minnesotaliveflowers.com.  I mention these blue flowers there, too.   By the way, in the Rocky Mountains they call them mountain forget-me-nots.

Happy gardening wherever you are!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Live Flowers, LLC Named to 2011 Wedding Hot List!!!

Live Flowers, LLC is Named to the 2011 Wedding Professional Hot List

 


2 Jan, 2012 - MomentVille.com one of the worlds leading wedding websites, is pleased to announced that Live Flowers, LLC has been selected for the 2012 Wedding Professional Hot List.

The annual Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes excellence within the wedding industry, as determined by reviews from tens of thousands of brides and grooms. Live Flowers, LLC was among the best reviewed vendors in the past year.
"The Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes best of class wedding professionals." said Geoff Evason, MomentVille's CEO. "Highlighting the success of the top wedding professionals is an exciting way to spread the word and help newly engaged couples find the right professionals for their own weddings."

About Live Flowers, LLC
Outdoor wedding? Green reception? Make your wedding greener with natural unique bouquets of fresh-cut garden flowers from my local, sustainable Minnesota flower farm. Flowers may be purchased by the pail or as hand-tied bouquets and arrangements. Member, Minnesota Grown, Land Stewardship Project, and Buy Fresh Buy Local--St. Croix Valley. Located just north of Stillwater, Minnesota.

About MomentVille
MomentVille.com offers engaged couples and wedding enthusiasts a one stop place for planning and sharing a wedding. Offering free wedding websites, wedding planning tools, a gorgeous gallery of wedding pictures a searchable list of reviewed wedding vendors, and lots of helpful and inspiring wedding content, MomentVille helps newlyweds with all aspects of their wedding. For more information contact media@momentville.com

Above is the press release...just received this morning.  I am so pleased to have my business recognized in this way.

Renee Arcand
Live Flowers, LLC
www.minnesotaliveflowers.com

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Seed catalogs

I am so excited to start looking at seed catalogs finally!  Ah, the photos...oh, the varieties....what wonderful colors!  There is quite a stack to dive into, including Johnny's, Pinetree Garden Seeds, Gloeckner's, Stokes, Park, R. H. Shumway, Harris, and HPS out of Randolph, Wisconsin...I hope there will be some lovely TALL new introductions this year because I want nice long stems for cutting.


My first step was to make a list of seeds I have on hand.  I keep them in ziplock bags in the freezer between plantings.  Sometimes there are 1,000 seeds in a package, and those seeds will get me through 3 or more years!  Some seeds do not keep for me, though, for instance  statice, annual phlox, and salpiglosses.


Must sign off so I can get busy!  Happy garden dreams!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

What's Blooming August 31 at the Flower Farm?



Here are a few of the flowers blooming now:  Rudbeckias, Zinnias, blue ageratum, tansy, sunflowers, annual phlox...lots more than those pictured, like euphorbia (green and white striped leaves), amaranthus in burgundy and rusty orange/brown, lisianthus, and LOTS of celosia...


Here are bridesmaids' bouquets I arranged a few weeks ago.  Have been so busy cutting flowers for weddings, orders, and farmers' market I have not had time to write in my blog, so sorry.  One week I actually sold out of zinnias, amazing!  This rudbeckia above is a beautiful pale yellow called Prairie Sun.


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Just Ranting on the Weather



Just a little RANT on the weather this month...good grief, we have only had about three days of 'normal' temperatures during April...tonight at 6 pm it is 39 degrees,  Again!  I am having to use a heater out in the uninsulated potting shed ... even during the days sometimes.  This is "Costing Me Money, Darn It!" 

 Perennial plants are up and shivering as much as us.   I'd like it to be a little Warmer for ME to start digging up and dividing them for the upcoming plant sale! 

Plant sale dates May 12-14 and May 19-21, 2011...10 am to 5 pm ...hope to have the plants ready for you!

The forsythia in the front yard is just beginning to bloom.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Transplanting Delphiniums Today

Today, I  transplanted Blue Mirror delphiniums.  They are a shorter delphinium with sprays instead of spikes, a most lovely cobalt-blue color, and perennial!  I had started seeds in a plastic cookie tray with another tray underneath it (for watering from the bottom)...I planted too many seeds in this container!  I did not think they would all germinate, for some reason.  I added extra perlite to both the germination mix and the potting soil mix.  Ideally, I should have got these transplanted a few weeks ago. 

However, today was the day I finally got to them.  I just used my finger to dig into the moist soil and pulled  out a chunk of soil with roots attached.  This year I put two seedlings in each pot.  Gracious me, there were a lot of them!  I ended up with about 25 or 30 plants replanted into the tray, and 74 pots!  This is part of the end result:

After I watered them, I put an upside down tray over the top to keep humidity in.  I'll remove that in 24 hours.  I will have these Blue Mirror delphinium plants  for sale at my plant sale in mid-May!