All in Articles

Top 10 Accent Decor Containers

As flower people, we are always on the lookout for fabulous containers to showcase our designs. Accent Decor is one of the leading companies in creating and providing compotes, urns, votives, and more for all of us in the floral industry. They've been kind enough to share their favorites with us! Take a look at what's hot at Accent Decor.

How to use companion planting with flowers

Companion planting for soil health and crop vigor has been done for centuries, and in the age of high producing monoculture farms, the basics of companion planting seem to have fallen by the wayside. However, just a few carefully chosen plantings can make a big difference in your cut flower garden. Companion planting is generally done for two reasons: pest control and soil health. In this article, I am going to share with you the amazing ability of flowers to improve nitrogen availability, decrease nematode destruction, and that dandelions should be your new favorite weed.

July Wedding Florals Workshop Student Portfolio

The ladies that attended the Team Flower Workshop in July were in for a shock when that sweet mountain breeze turned into a flat out wind, and the temperature didn't rise above 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweaters were shared, blankets became an essential clothing item, and the sunshine was sought out at all costs! The weather didn't stop the attendees from learning and creating beautiful arrangements full of color and farm-fresh flowers. May their work be a breath of refreshing mountain air in your dry and arid spaces.

Negative space in floral design

As you work through this exercise, you will develop a sensitivity to sense the profound effects of the presence of negative space. Will you be drawn to it in your first arrangement? Like the way it appears? Maybe not and that's normal. Keep at it. New things can take a little time to adjust to.

The importance of floral design

I believe in the importance of finding the deeper colors and hidden rooms of your soul. One of the reasons why I fell in love with floral design is that it creates space for just that kind of work. It is kinesthetic, engaging your body with your mind and your senses. And because it is creative, it reveals preferences and beliefs you hold subconsciously and puts them on display in the piece you design.

Growing while others are blooming

“It’s ok to grow while others are blooming.” I don’t know if Kelly Perry knew just how much I needed to hear those words when she shared them at the Team Flower Conference in March. For me, the message was two-fold: part invitation to trust that we each grow and flourish at different rates and part cautionary reminder to beware of the slippery slope of comparison.

Fall Wedding Bouquet Recipe

My favorite bouquets always start with a walk in the woods and end at a local flower farm.  It’s there that I find ingredients that are not only unique and special like my brides, but these ingredients speak to the present moment.  I think that’s really special.  Here is a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a bridal bouquet and the ingredients it calls for.  I hope it inspires you as you plan your wedding!

Choosing Meaningful Flowers

Most florists know and understand that our clients almost never know much about flowers – their season, color varieties, how they hold up in and out of water, mechanics…the list goes on and on! So it’s no surprise that many of the inquiries we get from couples are asking for guidance from us straight off the bat. It can seem overwhelming as a florist when we receive those inquiries – where do we even begin to dig for more information from them?

Where to buy flowers when starting out

When you are starting out in the floral design world, sourcing flowers can feel daunting without a resale license. However, you might be surprised by what you can get without one. In this article, Grace McDonald lists some ideas for where to source flowers before obtaining your resale license.

Tips on managing freelancers

How do we become a better boss to our assistants? How do we manage freelancers well? I think the answer to this question is to learn how to be an open and communicative manager and to make tools and set expectations for our assistants to feel confident and useful while working for us.

Where to buy flower seeds for sale

Have you ever grown your own flowers? Annual flower seeds are a low-cost and high-return investment for dipping your toes into a new hobby, bridging the transition from a hobby-grower to a professional grower, and/or expanding and diversifying a thriving cut flower operation. Pressly shares with you her years’ worth of seed-sourcing experience and highlights her favorite suppliers, as the wide world of seed sourcing can be quite daunting for a new farmer or backyard gardener.

Tips on Stepping Out of Competitiveness

Gossip, bitterness, hatred, self-loathing, pride . . . these are just a few of the unattractive attributes I've witnessed in my short time in the floral industry—and at times, even within myself. So how do we overcome this? How do we have a healthy view of competition? Below are four things to keep in mind and put into practice as you walk this floral journey.

Growing Flowers that Attract Bees

Many perennial plants can be added to your cut flower farm or garden that provide various benefits to your operation. From diversifying offerings by bridging gaps between spring bulbs and summertime annuals to adding new interest to seasons in which harvests might become slightly repetitive from your fields, their blooms are valuable crops for farmers markets, florist sales, and wedding designs.

Encouragement for the Side Hustle Mom

As a working mom, taking on a side hustle might sound crazy, but there are seasons to embark on new adventures and others that require observance of simple tasks. Currently, I run a small floral design business on the side. In a creative industry that often makes us feel like we are never doing enough, I have found that all a side hustle needs to be is a small seed sown.

DIY Wedding Flowers

Maybe instead of shying away from DIY clients, we need to figure out how to make this demographic work for us and still add to our bottom line? In this article, Jalisca shares how her perception of an ideal client changed. To do this, she needed to understand three things about working with DIY brides and in this article she’ll explain what those are!