Last week as I shopped the flower markets, I wasn’t sure why I grabbed 4 bunches of baby blue delphinium, buckets of rubber duckie yellow narcissus, barbie pink tulips. I’m not drawn to conventional color combinations- colors you find on drug store Easter baskets, but there they were on my rack- bubblegum pink Hermosa roses, powder blue mascari and the happiest, most saccharin yellow tulips you ever did see.

Valentines 2021 was one for the books. The good news is Cedarhouse Flowers has grown steadily every year since its humble, nascent beginning in 2017. The bad news is because of said growth, every big flower holiday is like a brand-new beast to tame bringing with it brand-new problems to solve, bigger questions to answer and specifically, less storage! We can’t just “do what we did last year”- there’s either not enough time, not enough space, not enough hands or all three. Timing is everything when it comes to the big flower holidays- we can’t prep too early because we want your flowers to last and we can’t prep too late or orders will pile up and we run the risk of 16-hour work days (it can happen and it ain’t pretty.)

The shop has been busy. Really busy. 

I hired much needed help, a young, fun kiddo who is an artist and sees the world with an artist’s eye. We have been selling plants over plants and our flower sales increased decidedly from the year before. This of course was the goal when 2020 opened. I had “making a profit” on my New Year’s Resolutions short list. That may sound obvious, but profit is not something that comes to every new business in their first year and neither is it guaranteed in the second. So I put it on my list. If I ever have time to crunch the numbers, I reckon I’ll find I got pretty darn close to meeting my goal. And yet the year has certainly taken its toll.

It’s bittersweet isn’t it – gone are our bike rides to Green Lake for an afternoon dip, our sun tans, flip flops and lazy hazy summer dayzees. At the height of summer, Seattle boasts afternoons that last til 9pm- it’s preposterous.

When should you send bereavement flowers? What kind of flowers should you send to express your condolences?

Should I Send Bereavement Flowers?

I get a lot of calls asking if sending bereavement flowers are a good idea.  Well of course they are, but you’re asking a woman who sleeps, eats and breathes flowers.  I love them- and sometimes when I’m not feeling well or my spirits are down, a beautiful bloom, more than anything, will make me feel better. Sympathy flowers don’t fix anything or bring back our loved ones, but they can send a thoughtful and heartfelt message to someone who needs it.  

One thing I love about floral design: It requires me to exercise my “let it go” muscle.  Despite my fully developed frontal lobe and submission to practical shoes, I still secretly pine over the image of myself tenaciously typing out the final chapter of my great American novel. Or, I hold a teeny, ittybitty torch for the canvas I’ll never turn into a moody portrait using paints with names like ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow and hookers green. I admit it, I have always wanted to be an artist- to live a wild, untamed existence where art reigns supreme and I am but a vessel! Ehem. Ok, maybe the torch is not so teeny.

You’re asking a florist but, but since you did, one of the most key elements to a beautiful day and a fabulous wedding are the flowers.

When do flowers matter more? Uh, never is the correct answer.

Even if you choose extraordinarily modest florals, they will still take front seat and mark the bride and groom, the day, the affair.

In the last 6-7 years, indoor plants have really become a huge part of our zeitgeist. Designers, influencers, and hip singles are having a plant heyday.  This green rush has shifted flower shops like mine into flower/plant shops and I’m always on the lookout for cool new varieties in addition to the hearty classic plant that I may have found in my mother’s living room.