Author: Jill Brooke
Top Drought-Resistant Flower Picks for a Resilient Garden
By Jill Brooke It’s a good thing that the All-American Selection Winners have been tested throughout North America in all kinds of weather conditions; from extreme summer heat to high humidity to long hot days. After all, the summers have seen significant sustained drought across the globe, from Europe to China to Africa, and the …
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How to Create a Beautiful, Drought-Friendly, and Eco-Friendly Garden
By Cathy Ludden What makes a plant, or a whole landscape, “drought tolerant”? Why do some plants need water regularly while others are fine without it for weeks or longer? Drought tolerance depends primarily on two factors: The first is where a plant evolved. Adaptation to particular environments happened over millennia, and most plants will …
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Alexandra Farms Names Winners of Garden Rose Design Contest
By Jill Brooke Alexandra Farms, the world’s largest grower of fresh-cut garden roses, just announced the winners of their fifth annual Garden Rose Design Contest. Entries were accepted in two categories: Wedding Work and Everyday Design, and hundreds of entries were submitted by designers from around the world. The criteria of course was to utilize their …
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Meet the 20 Talents Competing for the 2022 Sylvia Cup
By Jill Brooke For the 20 floral designers competing in the 53rd annual Sylvia Cup Design Competition at SAF Orlando 2022 — the Society of American Florists’ convention in Orlando, Florida, it will be both a challenge and honor. “The whole competition is a surprise,” says Marlin Hargrove, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, chairperson of the Professional Floral Communicators-International (PFCI) Board …
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“House of Dragons” Inspires Flowers and Jewelry Motifs
By Jill Brooke Dragons are trending now thanks to HBO’s “House of Dragons,” the new hit spinoff prequel to “Game of Thrones.” Some have suggested that the flower that represents “House of Dragons” would be the iris – since it has three distinct petals like the three featured dragons. We asked iris expert Ben Schreiner …
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Want Unique Iris Blooms? Schreiner’s Gardens Wins that Prize
By Jill Brooke The Oregon grape may have been anointed the state flower in 1899 but it really should be the tall proud Iris since Schreiner’s Gardens, the United States’ most prolific and extraordinary flower farm for this bloom has been operating in Salem near the Willamette Valley since 1947. For four generations now, yes …
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Want TRULY Fragrant Roses? Chamblee Rose Nursery Has Them
By Jill Brooke While there are many rose farms that have invested in Instagram-worthy photography and promotion, Chamblee’s Rose Nursery in Tyler, Texas is not one of them. Maybe that’s because this team knows that insiders in the flower industry world rave about how their roses are so vastly superior – so perhaps they don’t …
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Study Shows Drought Plagued Plants Know How to Adapt!
By Jill Brooke We all know how the drought is impacting plants and how we worry if our beloved flowers can survive. Well, never doubt the resilience of flowers! A new study from a team of Penn State molecular plant geneticists discovered that when plants sense environmental challenges such as drought or extended periods of …
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The Flour Gardener Creates Feasts for Tummy and Eyes
By Jill Brooke Mary Mansfield’s whimsical flower-inspired cookies not only charm but are a go-to favorite for people who want to create edible pizazz for parties and special occasions. A lifelong gardener, Mansfield had worked in a law school before her family moved from Rhode Island to Rochester, New York which has colder winters and …
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Sue McLeary Finds Discarded Flowers to Create Fab Fashions
By Jill Brooke As Malcolm Gladwell observed, “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.” This quote can be applied to what Susan McLeary – aka Passion Flower Sue – is doing with flowers. In her hands, flowers are modernized and massaged into instruments to create floral jewelry, floral installations, cascading …
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