Inspiration!

Today feels like spring! 70 degrees in northeast Florida after two weeks of very cold weather. I started daydreaming about the garden (or future garden) in the backyard of our hopefully soon to be new home. This is a crazy project - but one I am super psyched about. The garden is overgrown in some places - dead in others... and a bit overwhelming to begin to envision what it might be.

I feel that it has the potential to become what I most loved about Charleston - an eclectic, warm and inviting always changing garden that surprises it's visitors at every twist and turn.

I am a bit scattered in my sense of style. I love modern lines, simple, uncluttered spaces, english gardens overflowing with perennials, vintage vases, old books, warehouse lofts, industrial design, window boxes, black and white and lots of color... how this will all come together in a cohesive garden is a bit unclear.

As we don't own the house yet... I'll continue to daydream. Here are a few sources of my garden, landscape and exterior design inspiration:

Flora Grubb Gardens
The owner of this San Fran garden center, Flora Grubb, is seriously my idol. Amazing garden center, amazing sense of style and design... and freakin' killer name.

Islandscape Landscaping
The owner of this landscape design firm in Charleston, Greg Watkins, is a friend and an idol of mine. He has taught me more about plants than I thought I'd ever know. Check out his amazing work.

Petersham Nurseries
This nursery in England is so what I wanted A New Leaf Studio to become I can't stand it. All of my favorite things in one place: flowers, plants, a cafe, etc.

Glenn Certain Studio
This floral design studio in my new neighborhood is amazing! Yea Jacksonville!

A New Year... A New Life... A New Leaf

2010 feels like a breath of fresh air and the beginning of a new era. Big stuff... I've closed my flower shop, moved to Florida and gotten married.

Closing the doors of A New Leaf Studio was hard to do. My dream. When I was 10 I told my mom that I wanted to own a flower shop. If you've known me since - you've probably heard me talk about it or you've seen one of my business plans.

I took a leap in 2007 and left a great job to give it a whirl... probably one of the best things I've ever done.

I loved working for myself... loved the creativity of it... working with people.... the marketing of my dream, the ego boost from doing a good job and the joy of making someone happy.


I did not so much love working every Saturday until midnight... cleaning flowers... trying to make a profit... and the anxiety I felt about other people's weddings.

When a mentor of mine asked - "would you still be doing this if money wasn't an issue"... I realized I would definitely keep the business but I'd stop doing weddings... and since weddings were 80% of my business things needed to evolve.

So for now - in the name of love and change - I've taken a hiatus from the flower biz and am rethinking the plan. I intend to focus on small personal projects - like our garden and my dear friend Jenny's wedding flowers in April.

So this blog evolves with A New Leaf... as spring emerges (which comes early in Florida I presume) - I'll use this as a place to post things I learn about gardening, floral design, and interesting tricks of the trade. Who knows - maybe A New Leaf Studio - phase II will unveil itself in the process.

Seductive Succulents

A square sedum and succulent wreath is a unique and sustainable addition to any front door. To create this you need:

Wreath frame - round or square
Heavy gauge and decorative wire
Sphaghnum moss
15-20 4" pots of varying sedums/succulents

To make the wreath - soak the moss in water for a few hours and then pack it into the wreath frame. Secure the moss by wrapping the frame with wire. Plant the sedums into the wreath by tucking them into the moss and securing by rewrapping with the decorative wire.

The wreath should be watered once a week and trimmed periodically so that it keeps its shape.

A Glorious Saturday on Kiawah!

On Saturday, we set up for a wedding at the Sandcastle on Kiawah Island. It was a perfect day... 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

On top of that - I loved the flowers we worked with - ranunculus, sweet peas, anemones and garden roses - and adored working with the bride, Laura Booras.

Sarah Bradley of Social Event Design coordinated the day and Juliet Elizabeth Photography was on-site to capture it all.

Here are a few of our photos.:

Rustic Elegance

Yesterday A New Leaf Studio delivered wedding flowers for Laurin Hampton's ceremony at St. Luke's Chapel at MUSC and reception at Hibernian Hall. The flowers were ivory and celadon accented by hints of burgundy. Rustic wooden boxes topped with lanterns and mercury glass vases were placed on 2/3 of the tables and lush centerpieces in mercury glass vases on the remaining 1/3 at the reception.

Below are a few shots we took on our way out before the festivities began. I can't wait to see the "real" shots by Heather Forsythe Photography.

Spring, Daffodils and Guerrilla Gardening!

Victory! Elation! New beginnings, of the earth, organic - A New Leaf Studio...

Dorky... yes, I know - but yesterday on my way to work I was ecstatic to see the fruits of last fall's guerrilla gardening project continuing to bless Spring Street. The daffodil bulbs that the 25+ participants of the guerrilla gardening party in October planted are now in bloom!

A little bit of bright yellow in the plant wells along Spring Street adds happiness and hope of good things to come. Something we can all probably use right now in the midst of tough economic times and at the end of a long winter.

Greg Watkins, of Islandscape Landscaping, and I got so excited by the daffodils that we began discussing our next Guerrilla Gardening adventure. Stay tuned for something fun this spring!

In the meantime... Next time you are driving down Spring Street in the Elliotborough neighborhood of Charleston, SC - check the plant wells between Coming and Rutledge Streets for little pockets of yellow love.

Playing in the Dirt

Last week, in 30 degree weather, Greg Watkins of Islandscape Landscaping (islandscapelandscaping.com) and I cleared my backyard and prepped a raised bed for a cut flower garden! So exciting. The raised bed, created by Greg and his team, is created out of recycled concrete from an old parking area on Sullivan's Island.

The bed is now covered with black landscaping cloth to kill any weed stragglers until planting begins.

Last night I ordered final seeds from Seeds of Change.

Check this company out: seedsofchange.com. They are dedicated to sustainable agriculture... sell tons of interesting seeds and offer a wealth of gardening information on their site.