I am in the midst of a fabulous workshop. We are playing with flowers and I am having a blast teaching. This has been an amazing experience and I knew it would be!!! One of the great surprises or pleasures of this week is sharing my county of Loudoun with our guests. Editor and designer Alicia Schwede of the Flirty Fleurs blog, has had a wonderful time seeing the amazing cut flower farms here in Loudoun. This week has been simply and totally beautiful. Our visit together began on Sunday as we started gathering the flowers for our workshop.

Our first stop this week was Green Stone Fields Farm. The cut flowers grown here are truly inspirational. Owner Barbara Lamborne is bringing lots of beauty to this area.

Barbara also grows shitake mushrooms on her farm. This area on her property was so much fun. When Barbara opened the gate into this secret forest I was shocked to see the logs lined up in endless rows. I felt like I had walked into a secret forest!!

Next we headed to Chapel Designer Morgan Walker. Morgan owns Petals and Hedges. In addition to being a floral designer Morgan operates a slamming kick a_ _ garden center. Many of the flowers and plants on my property come from Morgans store. On this trip I bought several new ferns, several passion flower vines, and several new containers. Notice the word several, yes I bought a lot.

Morgan is a dear friend, I actually call her the younger version of me. We both grew up in garden centers and we are living very similar lives here in Loudoun. Morgan is one of the first designers I ever helped and she was the first person I took to NYC. Perhaps she started the seed!!!

You must stop by Morgans garden center, it is totally delightful.

We stepped out of Loudoun for just a few hours to go see my good friend Andrea of Lynnvale Farms. In addition to being a major flower grower in the area, Andrea is also a designer and someone I highly recommend for weddings and events. We arrived just as it began to rain so we sat in the barn with Andrea watching the flowers quench their thirst. Being with other flower people is a wonderful and spiritual thing. We talk a different language!!!

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Andrea’s place is incredible!!! Tomorrow I will share with you the beautiful designs we styled with all that Alicia and I gathered. PS!!! All of the pictures shown here were photographed by Alicia Schwede.