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In the Press

Haymarket/Gainesville Lifestyle July 2022

Full Spread Magazine

Quick read article on InsideNova.com

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BACK TO THE FLOWER JOUNRAL

After my last post about the Pantone color of the year, my inbox lit up. Vendors, friends, other designers… so many of you reached out with strong feelings about the choice. And truly, I hear you. There’s frustration, disappointment, and a very real sense that this pick doesn’t match the moment we’re all living in.

And you’re right, it can feel tone-deaf when the world is carrying so much. Politics, human rights, the state of… everything. It’s a lot. And it makes sense that a soft, quiet color might land wrong for many people.

But here’s an unpopular opinion from your queen of color.

When I look at this color, I don’t see “nothing.”
I see negative space.

And negative space is never actually empty.
It’s the place everything else gets to live.

It’s where the bold colors pop.
It’s where the story breathes.
It gives contrast, clarity, and balance.
Without it, designs get louder… but not always better.

So yes, I absolutely hear the frustration — truly. But what if, instead of Pantone ignoring the room, they’re responding to it? What if this color isn’t meant to lead the conversation, but to hold space for it? What if it’s the quiet margin that lets everything else, including the voices that matter most right now, step forward?

Because the truth is: without negative space, nothing shines.
Not art. Not design. Not flowers.

And at a time when so many things feel divisive, color doesn’t have to be one of them.
All color is beautiful.
And this one might be doing more listening than speaking.

This color isn’t asking to be the star.
It’s making room for all the things that really are.

Photo Credits
Slide 5: @gabriellerosephotography_
Slide 7: @emilynicole_photos
Slide 8: @thejunepress
Slide 10: @steadyandsway
Slide 11: @photographydujour
Slide 12: @klairedixiusphoto
Slide 14: @taylornicollephoto

#coloroftheyear #pantone2026 #pantonecoloroftheyear2026 @pantone

After my last post about the Pantone color of the year, my inbox lit up. Vendors, friends, other designers… so many of you reached out with strong feelings about the choice. And truly, I hear you. There’s frustration, disappointment, and a very real sense that this pick doesn’t match the moment we’re all living in.

And you’re right, it can feel tone-deaf when the world is carrying so much. Politics, human rights, the state of… everything. It’s a lot. And it makes sense that a soft, quiet color might land wrong for many people.

But here’s an unpopular opinion from your queen of color.

When I look at this color, I don’t see “nothing.”
I see negative space.

And negative space is never actually empty.
It’s the place everything else gets to live.

It’s where the bold colors pop.
It’s where the story breathes.
It gives contrast, clarity, and balance.
Without it, designs get louder… but not always better.

So yes, I absolutely hear the frustration — truly. But what if, instead of Pantone ignoring the room, they’re responding to it? What if this color isn’t meant to lead the conversation, but to hold space for it? What if it’s the quiet margin that lets everything else, including the voices that matter most right now, step forward?

Because the truth is: without negative space, nothing shines.
Not art. Not design. Not flowers.

And at a time when so many things feel divisive, color doesn’t have to be one of them.
All color is beautiful.
And this one might be doing more listening than speaking.

This color isn’t asking to be the star.
It’s making room for all the things that really are.

Photo Credits
Slide 5: @gabriellerosephotography_
Slide 7: @emilynicole_photos
Slide 8: @thejunepress
Slide 10: @steadyandsway
Slide 11: @photographydujour
Slide 12: @klairedixiusphoto
Slide 14: @taylornicollephoto

#coloroftheyear #pantone2026 #pantonecoloroftheyear2026 @pantone

Pretty photos never show the behind-the-scenes hustle… but I’ll spill the beans.

This arbor was simple on purpose—light, natural, and just enough movement to frame the vows without shouting.

And right after we finished installing it, a five-minute monsoon rolled in. Wind whipping, rain sideways, umbrellas everywhere. With @evermoreoccasions watching the radar like a pro, we locked ourselves around that arbor and held it steady through the chaos.

Five minutes later the storm vanished and the ceremony stayed outside.
Flowers intact.
Couple happy.
Worth every soaked second.

Planning and Design: @evermoreoccasions
Venue: @oldfarmwineryhartland
Photography: @klairedixiusphoto
Catering: @purpleonioncateringco
Entertainment: @bachelorboysband
Florals: @the_fertile_burb
Videography: @hopkins_creative
Strings: @atokastringquartet
Rentals: @selecteventgroup
Beauty: @mab.artistry
Bakery: @signaturesweetsbyamanda
Photo Booth: @snaphappyphoto
License Signing: @weddingceremoniesbyjeff
Stationery: @tinlizzydesignco
Marrier Gown: @rosisbridalstudio
Transportation: Dulles Limousine
Couple: @emilywasserman @ethangrar

Pretty photos never show the behind-the-scenes hustle… but I’ll spill the beans.

This arbor was simple on purpose—light, natural, and just enough movement to frame the vows without shouting.

And right after we finished installing it, a five-minute monsoon rolled in. Wind whipping, rain sideways, umbrellas everywhere. With @evermoreoccasions watching the radar like a pro, we locked ourselves around that arbor and held it steady through the chaos.

Five minutes later the storm vanished and the ceremony stayed outside.
Flowers intact.
Couple happy.
Worth every soaked second.

Planning and Design: @evermoreoccasions
Venue: @oldfarmwineryhartland
Photography: @klairedixiusphoto
Catering: @purpleonioncateringco
Entertainment: @bachelorboysband
Florals: @the_fertile_burb
Videography: @hopkins_creative
Strings: @atokastringquartet
Rentals: @selecteventgroup
Beauty: @mab.artistry
Bakery: @signaturesweetsbyamanda
Photo Booth: @snaphappyphoto
License Signing: @weddingceremoniesbyjeff
Stationery: @tinlizzydesignco
Marrier Gown: @rosisbridalstudio
Transportation: Dulles Limousine
Couple: @emilywasserman @ethangrar

This bouquet took five hours. Here is why I would do it again tomorrow.

Because some designs are not just flowers. They are a moment you build petal by petal until it finally feels like them.

Because when I am working with locally grown flowers, color is not chosen from a catalogue. It is gathered from the field and the garden and the buckets, each stem carrying its own little shift in tone and texture. You pull pieces, step back, pull different ones, and the story starts to take shape in its own time.

Because every bride holds her bouquet differently, and every bouquet changes depending on who will carry it. Shape, movement, balance, scale — it all has to meet the person it is meant for.

And honestly because five hours sounds like a lot until you see it in her hands and think, yes, that was exactly right.

Photographer: @hannahbjorndal | @lverphoto
Second Photographer: @grace.ann.gilbert
Planner: @rexandregina
Venue: @wolf_trap
Caterer: @designcuisine
Videographer: @paperboysweddings
Florist: @the_fertile_burb
Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, and Reception
Music: @lucyblackent
Transportation: @ridethoroughbred
Hair & Makeup: @mab.artisty
String Lights: @dangoldmanevents

This bouquet took five hours. Here is why I would do it again tomorrow.

Because some designs are not just flowers. They are a moment you build petal by petal until it finally feels like them.

Because when I am working with locally grown flowers, color is not chosen from a catalogue. It is gathered from the field and the garden and the buckets, each stem carrying its own little shift in tone and texture. You pull pieces, step back, pull different ones, and the story starts to take shape in its own time.

Because every bride holds her bouquet differently, and every bouquet changes depending on who will carry it. Shape, movement, balance, scale — it all has to meet the person it is meant for.

And honestly because five hours sounds like a lot until you see it in her hands and think, yes, that was exactly right.

Photographer: @hannahbjorndal | @lverphoto
Second Photographer: @grace.ann.gilbert
Planner: @rexandregina
Venue: @wolf_trap
Caterer: @designcuisine
Videographer: @paperboysweddings
Florist: @the_fertile_burb
Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, and Reception
Music: @lucyblackent
Transportation: @ridethoroughbred
Hair & Makeup: @mab.artisty
String Lights: @dangoldmanevents

The Pantone 2026 Color of the Year is officially out… Cloud Dancer.

Honestly I’m a little surprised. With all the guessing and all the chatter, I don’t think anyone expected this. And while I’m not usually a “white-lover,” Cloud Dancer is… intriguing.

Everyone online is calling it white
or crisp white
or bright white

But the truth? Cloud Dancer is the lightest dove grey.
A lofty white with warmth, with breath, with serenity tucked into its edges.

And that is exactly what locally grown “white” flowers actually are.

They’re never pure white.
They’re never one single tone.
They shift. They lean. They change with the season.

In spring you get whites with green undertones, that waking-up softness.
In summer you get whites that warm themselves into ivory.
In fall you get whites kissed with gold, honey, and age, the good kind.

Locally grown whites move like light.
Imported whites, on the other hand, are engineered to be identical. Perfectly crisp. Perfectly the same. Which may photograph cleanly, but they don’t live the same way.

Cloud Dancer is surprisingly closer to the real, honest white you find in the field
than any pure, sterile “catalogue white” ever will be.

And maybe that’s why I’m warming up to it.
Because if Pantone is celebrating a white with depth, a white that shifts depending on the moment, then maybe this is the year more couples start to fall in love with the beauty of undertones, nuance, and the magic of real flowers grown in real soil.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Photographer: @gabriellerosephotography_
Planner: @forevermomentsweddingplanner
Bride: @adrienne.land_

#pantone2026coloroftheyear #pantone2026

The Pantone 2026 Color of the Year is officially out… Cloud Dancer.

Honestly I’m a little surprised. With all the guessing and all the chatter, I don’t think anyone expected this. And while I’m not usually a “white-lover,” Cloud Dancer is… intriguing.

Everyone online is calling it white
or crisp white
or bright white

But the truth? Cloud Dancer is the lightest dove grey.
A lofty white with warmth, with breath, with serenity tucked into its edges.

And that is exactly what locally grown “white” flowers actually are.

They’re never pure white.
They’re never one single tone.
They shift. They lean. They change with the season.

In spring you get whites with green undertones, that waking-up softness.
In summer you get whites that warm themselves into ivory.
In fall you get whites kissed with gold, honey, and age, the good kind.

Locally grown whites move like light.
Imported whites, on the other hand, are engineered to be identical. Perfectly crisp. Perfectly the same. Which may photograph cleanly, but they don’t live the same way.

Cloud Dancer is surprisingly closer to the real, honest white you find in the field
than any pure, sterile “catalogue white” ever will be.

And maybe that’s why I’m warming up to it.
Because if Pantone is celebrating a white with depth, a white that shifts depending on the moment, then maybe this is the year more couples start to fall in love with the beauty of undertones, nuance, and the magic of real flowers grown in real soil.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Photographer: @gabriellerosephotography_
Planner: @forevermomentsweddingplanner
Bride: @adrienne.land_

#pantone2026coloroftheyear #pantone2026

The thing about color stories is… they only matter when they’re honest.
You can’t force local flowers into a box. They show up with their own personalities, their own moods, their own “this is who I am today.”
And honestly? That’s why the tables look this good. Color with a heartbeat always wins.

Venue & Catering | @potomacpointwinery
Photographer | @pattyvsworld

The thing about color stories is… they only matter when they’re honest.
You can’t force local flowers into a box. They show up with their own personalities, their own moods, their own “this is who I am today.”
And honestly? That’s why the tables look this good. Color with a heartbeat always wins.

Venue & Catering | @potomacpointwinery
Photographer | @pattyvsworld

There is something I will never get over when it comes to color. The difference between flowers ordered from a catalogue and flowers grown right here. Imported blooms arrive looking identical. Same shade. Same tone. Same everything. Perfect on paper but a little too still in real life.

Locally grown color is an entirely different world. A ranunculus that leans peach one week leans blush the next. A poppy opens louder than it looked yesterday. A stem of campanula brings its own quiet glow. Nothing matches and somehow everything belongs.

That is the beauty I chase. The life in the color. The shift. The surprise. The way the garden hands you exactly what you did not know you needed.

And that is why the work lands the way it does. Because real color tells a real story. Every time.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Planner: @cloverhillevents
Photographer: @taylornicollephoto

There is something I will never get over when it comes to color. The difference between flowers ordered from a catalogue and flowers grown right here. Imported blooms arrive looking identical. Same shade. Same tone. Same everything. Perfect on paper but a little too still in real life.

Locally grown color is an entirely different world. A ranunculus that leans peach one week leans blush the next. A poppy opens louder than it looked yesterday. A stem of campanula brings its own quiet glow. Nothing matches and somehow everything belongs.

That is the beauty I chase. The life in the color. The shift. The surprise. The way the garden hands you exactly what you did not know you needed.

And that is why the work lands the way it does. Because real color tells a real story. Every time.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Planner: @cloverhillevents
Photographer: @taylornicollephoto

Happy 🦃 Day.
Wishing you full plates full hearts and good company. And a small moment of gratitude for the Native peoples whose long relationship with this land is woven into the abundance we enjoy today.

Happy 🦃 Day.
Wishing you full plates full hearts and good company. And a small moment of gratitude for the Native peoples whose long relationship with this land is woven into the abundance we enjoy today.

Love In The Details

Photography: @steadyandsway
Planner: @daysandevesweddings
Venue: @rustmanorhouse

Love In The Details

Photography: @steadyandsway
Planner: @daysandevesweddings
Venue: @rustmanorhouse

When the bride asks for timeless and you can feel in your bones that a more traditional moment is exactly her lane, you rise to meet it. And for this wedding, the arbor was the whole heartbeat. The place where her vision settled in, took a breath, and said yes, this is it.

This was not the floaty, airy ethereal style we lean into most days, but oh it was still so beautiful. Thoughtful. Confident. Soft where it mattered and anchored where it needed strength. Some designs whisper and some stand tall — this one stood tall and winked while doing it.

And the season played along. We had the very first whispers of dahlias while still clutching onto ranunculus and peonies for dear life. That tiny window of overlap that feels like winning the floral lottery. You cannot plan for it, cannot predict it, you just say thank you to the flower gods when the timing lines up for your couple.

A timeless palette. A ceremony anchored in blooms grown only steps away. A moment that felt classic and personal all at once. Sometimes tradition hits different — and this one hit just right.

Couple | @violetsoliz @nick_mac06
Venue & Catering | @potomacpointwinery
Photographer | @pattyvsworld
Florist | @the_fertile_burb fertile
DJ | @blacktiedmv
Baker | @yuligilcakes
Hair + Makeup | @saimuamakeup
Dress | @avalaurennebride
Bridal Shoes | @bellabelleshoes
Bridesmaid Dresses | @birdygrey
Engagement Ring | @mervisdiamond
Bride’s Wedding Band | @brilliantearth
Groomsmen Attire | @menswearhouse
Groom’s Wedding Band | @brilliantearth
Stationery | @withjoy

When the bride asks for timeless and you can feel in your bones that a more traditional moment is exactly her lane, you rise to meet it. And for this wedding, the arbor was the whole heartbeat. The place where her vision settled in, took a breath, and said yes, this is it.

This was not the floaty, airy ethereal style we lean into most days, but oh it was still so beautiful. Thoughtful. Confident. Soft where it mattered and anchored where it needed strength. Some designs whisper and some stand tall — this one stood tall and winked while doing it.

And the season played along. We had the very first whispers of dahlias while still clutching onto ranunculus and peonies for dear life. That tiny window of overlap that feels like winning the floral lottery. You cannot plan for it, cannot predict it, you just say thank you to the flower gods when the timing lines up for your couple.

A timeless palette. A ceremony anchored in blooms grown only steps away. A moment that felt classic and personal all at once. Sometimes tradition hits different — and this one hit just right.

Couple | @violetsoliz @nick_mac06
Venue & Catering | @potomacpointwinery
Photographer | @pattyvsworld
Florist | @the_fertile_burb fertile
DJ | @blacktiedmv
Baker | @yuligilcakes
Hair + Makeup | @saimuamakeup
Dress | @avalaurennebride
Bridal Shoes | @bellabelleshoes
Bridesmaid Dresses | @birdygrey
Engagement Ring | @mervisdiamond
Bride’s Wedding Band | @brilliantearth
Groomsmen Attire | @menswearhouse
Groom’s Wedding Band | @brilliantearth
Stationery | @withjoy

It never really ends does it. It just shifts.

Today wrapped up our very last Blooms in the Burbs share of the year. The final week of weekly bouquets. The field offering her last handfuls before settling into a slower rhythm. I know I said the season was over this weekend, but really the season never ends. It just changes shape.

Because now The Club begins.

The dahlias might be finished, but the farm is not. The work is not. The beauty is not. Fall flowers are still coming in for our Club members. The beds are being cleared and replanted. The tunnels shift into their winter tempo. Seeds are sprouting. Plans are already unfolding for spring from under the soil.

But today did feel like a moment.
The closing of the weekly bouquet rhythm.
The field and I taking one deep breath at the same time.

Bloom in the Burbs becomes The Club.
Same heart. New flow. More room to savor.
Flowers that follow real seasons.
Flowers that meet your life rather than asking your life to meet a schedule.

The Club is for those who want to be part of the growing year, not just the bouquet. For those who love knowing what is waking, what is lingering, what is fading, and what is quietly preparing for the next beginning.

We will keep harvesting.
We will keep designing.
We will keep growing.
Just with a little more intention. A little more breath.

Here’s to the final share bouquets.
Here’s to the field shifting her pace.
Here’s to beauty still very much on its way.

It never really ends does it. It just shifts.

Today wrapped up our very last Blooms in the Burbs share of the year. The final week of weekly bouquets. The field offering her last handfuls before settling into a slower rhythm. I know I said the season was over this weekend, but really the season never ends. It just changes shape.

Because now The Club begins.

The dahlias might be finished, but the farm is not. The work is not. The beauty is not. Fall flowers are still coming in for our Club members. The beds are being cleared and replanted. The tunnels shift into their winter tempo. Seeds are sprouting. Plans are already unfolding for spring from under the soil.

But today did feel like a moment.
The closing of the weekly bouquet rhythm.
The field and I taking one deep breath at the same time.

Bloom in the Burbs becomes The Club.
Same heart. New flow. More room to savor.
Flowers that follow real seasons.
Flowers that meet your life rather than asking your life to meet a schedule.

The Club is for those who want to be part of the growing year, not just the bouquet. For those who love knowing what is waking, what is lingering, what is fading, and what is quietly preparing for the next beginning.

We will keep harvesting.
We will keep designing.
We will keep growing.
Just with a little more intention. A little more breath.

Here’s to the final share bouquets.
Here’s to the field shifting her pace.
Here’s to beauty still very much on its way.

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We grow flowers with purpose and serve those who value natural beauty and intentional design.

Here at The Fertile Burb, blooms aren’t just pretty things for a vase — they’re part of the fertile creativity of the burbs, where connection and season go hand in hand.

From our little farm in Gainesville, Virginia, we bring locally grown flowers to weddings, events, and neighbors all across Northern Virginia, D.C., and Maryland.

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