Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy….

Saturday was a rare sunny summer day in San Francisco, and from the minute I stepped foot into the Flower Market and took a look at all the gorgeous Dahlias that lined the stalls, I immediately went back to my teenage years; summer days by the pool at my dad’s cottage, the sweltering heat of Tehran’s environs, and my mom adoring the Dahlia’s that the Gardner had planted and her saying “I love Dahlias!” All of a sudden Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong’s voices crept into my head… “Summmmmertiiimmmeee and the livin’ is eaaaasyyyy…” Ok, I’ll spare you the “text singing.”

As the seasons change, so do the colors at the flower mart. The summer season is known for warm tones that embody the sun and its entire splendor, and by gosh did all the vibrant oranges and reds in the flower selections represent that warm summer vibe!

This week’s design revolves around Dahlias and Mums.

Price: $17.00!!!!

Since it had been a while that my alter ego “Phantom Floranista” hadn't left flowers at the doorsteps of SF residents, I decided that I’m going to do a summertime strategic delivery to small businesses in North Beach. I grabbed a recycled “Pavel’s Yogurt” tub, and a Trader Joe’s hummus container, wrapped them in some wax paper, secured them with rubber bands, and started play with the flowers.

For the smaller arrangement I created a mini bouquet, secured it with a rubber band, then placed it in the container to prevent it from falling apart.

Tip: when you have very leafy flowers, make sure you remove leaves from the part of the stem that will be in contact with the water. Leaves contain all the food that a flower needs to grow, however when it sits in water, it rots, hence killing your flowers much faster.