Bold holiday reds

Tis the season for beautiful, bold reds. With the Christmas holiday quickly approaching, gone are the fall color palettes. Lately, we’ve been working on lots of holiday centerpieces utilizing traditional holiday greens, mixed with interesting accents and big bold pops of the color red. Ilex berries, red hypericum, red Piano garden roses, Freedom roses, and red huck are used in these mixes. Show below are different size holiday arrangements. From top to bottom: long and low centerpiece,  large table centerpiece, small wood box centerpiece, and a large, tall buffet arrangement. Call or drop by either Sammy’s location and we can help you create your very own special holiday arrangement.

In memoriam: floral tributes

Floral tributes are created to honor a loved one in condolence, and for memorials and funerals. Often sympathy arrangements are arranged in soft, soothing colors, with the most chosen palette being whites and greens. In tribute, colors often connect to the season, or have meaning to the person for whom the flowers are created. The two tall memorial arrangements and coordinating standing floral spray shown above incorporate a soft pastel color palette in white, pale yellow, and light blues.

The next example, shows a rich fall palette. Click on link below to see the additional pictures.

More Favorite Roses

One of our most popular blog posts was titled “Our Favorite Roses.” Since there are just so many amazing roses, we thought we would share some more of our favorites with you. Shown below are wonderful standard roses in cream and blush hues.

The top picture shows Mondial, a wonderful cream rose with beautiful ruffled petals. When closed, it start as a slightly greenish hue then opens to a true cream. 

The second rose shown below is Quicksand. It has a soft pale linen color.

Then there is Sweet Avalanche. It is a beautiful very pale pink.

And last but not least is Vendala, an outstanding cream rose. 

It is paired in the picture with the lovely pale peach Tiffany.

To see a couple of arrangements using the roses shown here, please click on the link below.

Color study: blush

2013 has been all about the color of blush: soft creams, pale peach, and barely there pink. 

The top picture shows a bridal bouquet with striking blush accents. The lovely rose shown in the second picture is Tiffany. To see more blush themed pictures, click on the link below.

Welcoming Autumn

The air is suddenly crisp, skies are blue, and it is beginning to really feel like autumn in Portland. Inspired by the colors and textures of the season, we love to add fall foliage, berries, pods, and even gourds to our mixes. And autumn favorites such as the wonderful Circus rose, with its amazing orange and yellow petals, make it easier to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall.

Brights for Fall

Here’s a little sunshine for a rainy, fall day. This mix is made of cheery fall brights and standout brown- centered sunflowers. Zinnias, ranunculus, and the last of the summer dahlias are shown alongside. Sadly, with all our recent rain, our local dahlia season has ended. So we say “good-bye” to dahlias for this season and look forward to what fall brings us next.

Colorful Summer wedding

Summertime is perfect for a big, bold burst of citrus. A recent wedding mixed whites and yellows to create a sunny, sophisticated combination. Pops of yellow included roses, freesia, ranunculus, and marigolds. Crisp white flowers included snowberry, dahlias, gerbera daisies, and oriental lily blooms. Shown in the top pictures are the bridal bouquet, and  small and medium sized table arrangements. 

Shown below are the matching wrist corsages.

Bold late Summer blooms

Oranges, reds and vibrant yellows continue to be the popular choice for late summer/early fall mixes. While we transition seasons, these colors and bold blooms keep the summer warmth going and going. The giant firecracker dahlia, teddy bear sunflower, zinnia and classic sunflower are fun seasonal blooms perfect for big, bold displays. Of course, soon we will experience fall crispness returning to the air, and we will fully embrace fall palettes and textures. (And woefully say goodbye to the summer sun.)

Ethereal wedding bouquets

Delicate and refined, these wedding bouquets incorporate a mid summer favorite, the astilbe flower. In pinks, creams, whites, purple and deep red, astilbe flower is the perfect addition to a romantic bouquet. And it is also a wonderful spring/summer blooming perennial plant that tolerates shade and is easy to grow in your garden.

A Shinier Pearl - our (new) store

Our Pearl location just made a big move - right next door! We opened our doors on Monday 8/12 to a fresh, new, roomier space right next to Starbucks, just one door down from our previous location. The new Pearl store has a larger outdoor cut floral display, lots more plants and merchandise, and new workstations for the Pearl crew. We’ve received so many compliments so far, but amusingly, not everyone realizes we actually changed storefronts. It’s been fun to see the looks on faces, when they realize it is a whole new store! Please stop by to say hi and check out our "new" Pearl location at 1124 NW Lovejoy. We look forward to seeing you there.

Welcoming August - hot and bright

Featured above are two colorful bouquets filled with summer floral favorites in bright, hot colors. In the bottom pic, the pop of red comes from celosia, a popular pick for its interesting shape and texture. Also known as cockscomb, celosia comes in vibrant hues of red, orange, yellow, green, burgundy and brilliant hot pink.

Wedding style: purple bouquets

This wedding season we’ve been asked to create a number of purple hued bouquets. The summer mix shown above includes dahlias, lisanthus, sweet peas, roses and accents of bachelor buttons. The second picture shows the corresponding boutonnieres and corsages. Click on the link below to see more examples of purple hued wedding personal flowers created this summer at Sammy’s Flowers.

In-season: dahlias

Dahlias are a fantastic summer bloom. They come in endless varieties, colors and sizes. Shown here are some of the early arrivals in classic bright pink, burgundy, and bubblegum. They also come in fantastic reds, oranges, yellows, purples and also softer shades.  Dahlia shapes include decorative, pom, ball, and cactus. While most cut varieties are 3-4 inch in width, dinner plate style dahlias measure 8-10 inches. A popular large dahlia is the Firecracker dahlia. Look for it later in the season.

Summer wedding with color

Here are recent wedding personal flowers made with colorful summer favorites and the first dahlias of the season. The orange hues are created with dahlias, ranunculus, and ascelpia. Yellows are coreopsis, crespedia, and sandersonia. Blue nigella, purple veronica, and blue delphinium join the mixes along with a variety of grasses. Click below to see more views of this lively summer collection.

Wedding style - Peonies!

The elusive peony season has come and gone in Portland. Here’s a few pictures of gorgeous peonies used in recent bridal bouquets.

Bridal bouquet of soft pink peonies and pale roses with accents of silver.

Cascading bridal bouquet with white peonies and garden roses. 

Wedding season

In Portland, summer is definitely wedding season. We wait all year long for our gorgeous summer and so do Portland brides! Wedding season is already in full force at Sammy’s Flowers. Here’s a couple of pictures of a beautiful wedding ceremony swag we created for a late spring wedding. And soon, we will begin posting pictures from our summer weddings. Until then...

About Flowers: garden roses

When was the last time you smelled a rose and it had a scent? Was it in your grandmother’s garden? Garden style roses evoke a nostalgic feel and are popular choices for weddings. Their signature rounded shape with layers of petals is often referred to as "cabbage" shaped. Varieties like Vitality, O’Hara, Yves Piaget are popular due to their strong fragrance. Other varieties such as the Juliet, Toulouse Lautrec and Piano roses are prized for their intense color. Shown here are: Juliet, Vitality, and  the red Piano Rose. 

Spring wedding with lilac

Sadly, the lilac season has come and gone. In this recent spring wedding, lilac was used throughout. Here is a picture of the bridal, bridesmaid, and toss bouquets. The featured flowers, in addition to the lilac, were coral peonies, sweet peas, ranunculus, piano roses and dendrobian orchids.

To view more pictures and elements from this spring wedding, please click the link below.

Gifts for Mom - Sunday, May 12th

This Sunday May 12th is Mother’s Day. We’ve been so busy gearing up, we almost forgot to blog about it! Both locations are stocked and ready for your Mother’s Day gift needs. Select from floral arrangements, pottery, candles, potted plants and an array of other gift items. Order online at sammysflowers.com or come and visit our stores. We’re ready and we can’t wait to see you!

Flowers to wear

Mother’s Day is right around the corner and next is the wedding season. But lately at Sammy’s, it has been All About Prom. Remember yours? What you wore? We would like to think we’ve been doing a modern twist on the traditional corsage. This one has a blast of color with bright fuchsia orchids and vibrant green trix, a perfect match to a little black dress.

In-season: lilac and dogwood

The spring lilac and dogwood have arrived and we’re so excited. At Sammy’s Flowers, we love in-season, locally grown blooms. And right now our shops are filled with these lovely spring favorites. 

Fresh cuts, both horizontal and vertical on the branch stem will help them hydrate properly. And as always recommended, clean water in the vase changed frequently prolongs the life of the cut stems.