I love what I do; you could even say I am addicted to growing, designing and delivering wedding flowers. I am from a long line of farmers. The picture above is my father and my son Elijah. It seems my whole life I have been surrounded by farming and growing. My father has operated a garden and produce center since before I was born.  

When we were kids, we would grow thousands of chrysanthemums. This process began with filling pots of soil and or preparing the garden.  We were then asked to insert small plants called plugs into the soil. A plug is simply a baby plant. The base of the plant was probably the size of a quarter, and it had a few sprouts of greenery.  We would water, tend, and care, for these baby plants until they became of substantial size.  After the plug starts to get established (meaning the roots are developing and becoming a part of the soil), you start the process of promoting growth.  

This part used to drive me and my sisters crazy; we would have to go out with scissors and cut the top off of every plant. Every single branch or stem needed a nice little hair cut. This hair cut would encourage the stem to divide and grow yet another stem.  I can't even begin to tell you how monotonous and annoying this was. As far as you could see there were more plants that needed a hair cut. It only got worse after this stage. When the plant  became the size and shape of a healthy plant, you would start the process of delaying the blooms. You could no longer use scissors because the point now was to protect the stem but to encourage the blossom.  This fun little step required us to pinch each bud off of the stem, so instead of a helter skelter wack with the scissors our little fingers had to pluck each bud. If we did not do this, our chrysanthemums would have bloomed in July rather than September. 

When we talk about how much flowers cost, I can't help but to think about this very tedious process. It is a long and lengthy road that is traveled to grow just one healthy blossom. Somewhere right now, someone is putting a baby plant into the soil, just for you. The plant will have to be nurtured, loved, and cared for, until it is perfect enough to go down the aisle with you.  This is just the very beginning of why wedding flowers costwhat they cost.  More coming later…

Holly