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THE FIELD GUIDE

In the Press

Haymarket/Gainesville Lifestyle July 2022

Full Spread Magazine

Quick read article on InsideNova.com

BACK TO THE FLOWER JOUNRAL

We’ve been forcing a few bulb crops in the studio this week. Flowers like these almost never show up as locally grown cut flowers on small farms in the U.S., and the reason is simple.

They’re not profitable.

Take hyacinths. To harvest them properly for cut flowers, part of the basal plate of the bulb has to stay attached to the stem. That means every stem is essentially a one and done bulb.

The bulbs themselves aren’t cheap either. Wholesale prices can reach around $2.50 per bulb, which is why I try not to think too hard about what Trader Joe’s sells cut hyacinths for.

Another thing you’ll notice if you buy grocery store hyacinths is that they often barely smell. Which is wild, because when they’re grown this way the fragrance is intoxicating.

To get usable stem length they also need very low light. Ours are planted into crates, chilled in the walk-in cooler for a few months, then brought into the studio and tucked under a grow bench where the light stays minimal. It feels backwards, but that darkness encourages them to stretch.

You’ll also see some muscari, which I love this time of year. In the studio we call flowers like these twinkle flowers. During the growing season I can walk the gardens and find plenty of things that add that sparkle to arrangements, but early spring is different. Not much is awake yet, and muscari fill that role beautifully.

We’ve been seeing more requests for mid March through early April weddings and events, which means planning far ahead. Bulb crops like these have to be ordered almost a full year in advance.

In fact, we just started ordering our tulips and winter bulbs for next year.

Yes. Already!

So if you’re planning a March or early April 2027 wedding or event, now is the time to reach out so we can plan the right crops for that moment in the season.

Growing flowers like these isn’t particularly profitable, but there’s real value in offering them when the goal is designing with 100% locally grown flowers.

We’ve been forcing a few bulb crops in the studio this week. Flowers like these almost never show up as locally grown cut flowers on small farms in the U.S., and the reason is simple.

They’re not profitable.

Take hyacinths. To harvest them properly for cut flowers, part of the basal plate of the bulb has to stay attached to the stem. That means every stem is essentially a one and done bulb.

The bulbs themselves aren’t cheap either. Wholesale prices can reach around $2.50 per bulb, which is why I try not to think too hard about what Trader Joe’s sells cut hyacinths for.

Another thing you’ll notice if you buy grocery store hyacinths is that they often barely smell. Which is wild, because when they’re grown this way the fragrance is intoxicating.

To get usable stem length they also need very low light. Ours are planted into crates, chilled in the walk-in cooler for a few months, then brought into the studio and tucked under a grow bench where the light stays minimal. It feels backwards, but that darkness encourages them to stretch.

You’ll also see some muscari, which I love this time of year. In the studio we call flowers like these twinkle flowers. During the growing season I can walk the gardens and find plenty of things that add that sparkle to arrangements, but early spring is different. Not much is awake yet, and muscari fill that role beautifully.

We’ve been seeing more requests for mid March through early April weddings and events, which means planning far ahead. Bulb crops like these have to be ordered almost a full year in advance.

In fact, we just started ordering our tulips and winter bulbs for next year.

Yes. Already!

So if you’re planning a March or early April 2027 wedding or event, now is the time to reach out so we can plan the right crops for that moment in the season.

Growing flowers like these isn’t particularly profitable, but there’s real value in offering them when the goal is designing with 100% locally grown flowers.

Working on this project with @kacimoranphotography has been such a gift because she sees people clearly. She does not flatten someone into a pose or a trend. She has this way of pulling forward the thing that makes someone unmistakably themselves.

You can see it here.

And honestly… senior portrait people, this is your moment.

It always makes me think about girls who are a little bigger than the boxes people try to put them in. Strong personalities. Interesting style. The ones who do not quite fit the typical senior portrait mold.

If you have that kind of daughter and you want photographs that actually capture who she is in this moment of becoming, Kaci is the photographer who knows how to do it.

February has that same energy. It is not soft. It is structure and restraint. Cold air, bare branches, everything stripped down to strength and form.

No bloom yet. Just power waiting for its moment.

Working on this project with @kacimoranphotography has been such a gift because she sees people clearly. She does not flatten someone into a pose or a trend. She has this way of pulling forward the thing that makes someone unmistakably themselves.

You can see it here.

And honestly… senior portrait people, this is your moment.

It always makes me think about girls who are a little bigger than the boxes people try to put them in. Strong personalities. Interesting style. The ones who do not quite fit the typical senior portrait mold.

If you have that kind of daughter and you want photographs that actually capture who she is in this moment of becoming, Kaci is the photographer who knows how to do it.

February has that same energy. It is not soft. It is structure and restraint. Cold air, bare branches, everything stripped down to strength and form.

No bloom yet. Just power waiting for its moment.

The most beautiful bride ❤️

@emmiesphoto

The most beautiful bride ❤️

@emmiesphoto

January feels like a whisper.

Bare branches that are not actually bare. Seed pods that held on. Buds already forming if you look closely enough.

Snow does not mean nothing is alive.
It just means growth is happening quietly.

@kacimoranphotography and I began something in January. A way of paying attention to what the landscape is actually doing around us. Not forcing bloom. Not rushing color. Just noticing.

We started here.
With stillness.
With restraint.
With what is waiting beneath the surface.

More soon.

January feels like a whisper.

Bare branches that are not actually bare. Seed pods that held on. Buds already forming if you look closely enough.

Snow does not mean nothing is alive.
It just means growth is happening quietly.

@kacimoranphotography and I began something in January. A way of paying attention to what the landscape is actually doing around us. Not forcing bloom. Not rushing color. Just noticing.

We started here.
With stillness.
With restraint.
With what is waiting beneath the surface.

More soon.

Micro weddings are not a fallback plan.

They are the shift.

For years the wedding industry pushed bigger. More guests. Bigger installs. Bigger budgets. Bigger spectacle.

But what I am seeing in Northern Virginia and Washington DC is something different.

Couples choosing intimacy.
Choosing clarity.
Choosing presence over performance.

That is not scaling down. That is recalibrating.

A smaller guest list does not mean smaller design. It means the design has to matter more. When you are standing under trees with twenty people instead of one hundred, the flowers are not background. They are part of the atmosphere.

Micro weddings are not the compromise.
They are the new expression of confidence.

And they pair beautifully with seasonal, locally grown flowers because both are about alignment. The right number of people. The right place. The right moment in time.

Not louder.
Just truer.

Photographer: @williamsumnerphoto
Coordinator: @wedwithsteph
Makeup & Hair: @air_brush_faces
DJ: @summiteventsco

Northern Virginia micro wedding florist
Washington DC wedding flowers
Seasonal, locally grown design

Micro weddings are not a fallback plan.

They are the shift.

For years the wedding industry pushed bigger. More guests. Bigger installs. Bigger budgets. Bigger spectacle.

But what I am seeing in Northern Virginia and Washington DC is something different.

Couples choosing intimacy.
Choosing clarity.
Choosing presence over performance.

That is not scaling down. That is recalibrating.

A smaller guest list does not mean smaller design. It means the design has to matter more. When you are standing under trees with twenty people instead of one hundred, the flowers are not background. They are part of the atmosphere.

Micro weddings are not the compromise.
They are the new expression of confidence.

And they pair beautifully with seasonal, locally grown flowers because both are about alignment. The right number of people. The right place. The right moment in time.

Not louder.
Just truer.

Photographer: @williamsumnerphoto
Coordinator: @wedwithsteph
Makeup & Hair: @air_brush_faces
DJ: @summiteventsco

Northern Virginia micro wedding florist
Washington DC wedding flowers
Seasonal, locally grown design

They first described it as Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party.

But as we kept talking, something more specific began to form.

An elven wedding.
Fairytale, but grounded.
Textural. Earth heavy. Gently quiet instead of theatrical.

It was the first week of November, which meant we were planning inside a question mark.

Would frost take the dahlias before we could use them?
Would the trees still be holding their leaves or would they be bare?
Would the fields give us one last flush of color or would we be leaning into chrysanthemums, seed heads, and dried textures?
Would the greens still read as deep forest or would they have already shifted toward rust and burgundy?

Early November in the Mid Atlantic does not promise consistency. It promises change.

And when you choose to stand under towering trees instead of inside a ballroom, the design has to answer to that landscape. An outdoor ceremony space is not a blank canvas. It is a living environment with its own timing.

The only way to truly reflect that space is to work with what is growing in it. One hundred percent locally grown. Not because it sounds good. Because it is the only way the florals can move in the same rhythm as the trees, the air, the light.

Seasonality is not control. It is collaboration.

The amazing vendor team:
Venue & Catering | @stonemanorinn
Planner | @daysandevesweddings
Photographer | @windettphoto
Florals & Designer | @the_fertile_burb
Rentals | @SelectEventGroup @brookerental
Lounge Rentals | @bellavillashop
Mixologist | @ducabarcompany
Officiant | @getmarriedbymiller
Quintet | String Attack @mseproductions
10 piece band | @wearedcsynergy @mseproductions
Videography | @knz_film
Baker | @badensbakery
Photobooth | @WinksPhotoBooth
Hair | @MAB.ARTISTRY / @mindymyhair12
Makeup | @MAB.ARTISTRY / @belsbeautiq
Stationery | @thewritetouch
Transportation | Point to Point
Dress | @thebridalroomva
Bridal Shoes | @wolfandbadger / @foreverandalwaysshoes
Engagement Ring | @questfinejewelers
Wedding Bands | @questfinejewelers

Northern Virginia sustainable florist
Washington DC wedding florist
Seasonal, locally grown design

They first described it as Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party.

But as we kept talking, something more specific began to form.

An elven wedding.
Fairytale, but grounded.
Textural. Earth heavy. Gently quiet instead of theatrical.

It was the first week of November, which meant we were planning inside a question mark.

Would frost take the dahlias before we could use them?
Would the trees still be holding their leaves or would they be bare?
Would the fields give us one last flush of color or would we be leaning into chrysanthemums, seed heads, and dried textures?
Would the greens still read as deep forest or would they have already shifted toward rust and burgundy?

Early November in the Mid Atlantic does not promise consistency. It promises change.

And when you choose to stand under towering trees instead of inside a ballroom, the design has to answer to that landscape. An outdoor ceremony space is not a blank canvas. It is a living environment with its own timing.

The only way to truly reflect that space is to work with what is growing in it. One hundred percent locally grown. Not because it sounds good. Because it is the only way the florals can move in the same rhythm as the trees, the air, the light.

Seasonality is not control. It is collaboration.

The amazing vendor team:
Venue & Catering | @stonemanorinn
Planner | @daysandevesweddings
Photographer | @windettphoto
Florals & Designer | @the_fertile_burb
Rentals | @SelectEventGroup @brookerental
Lounge Rentals | @bellavillashop
Mixologist | @ducabarcompany
Officiant | @getmarriedbymiller
Quintet | String Attack @mseproductions
10 piece band | @wearedcsynergy @mseproductions
Videography | @knz_film
Baker | @badensbakery
Photobooth | @WinksPhotoBooth
Hair | @MAB.ARTISTRY / @mindymyhair12
Makeup | @MAB.ARTISTRY / @belsbeautiq
Stationery | @thewritetouch
Transportation | Point to Point
Dress | @thebridalroomva
Bridal Shoes | @wolfandbadger / @foreverandalwaysshoes
Engagement Ring | @questfinejewelers
Wedding Bands | @questfinejewelers

Northern Virginia sustainable florist
Washington DC wedding florist
Seasonal, locally grown design

We forget every winter that just because the ground is covered in snow and the air feels sharp enough to crack skin, it does not mean nothing is alive.

When everything is buried and the landscape looks still and colorless, it is easy to believe that beauty has disappeared. It can feel like the harshness is permanent, like this is simply what it is now.

But under all of that ice and weight, life keeps moving.

And then the snow melts.

The ground softens. The light shifts. And there they are, hellebore buds pushing up through the cold as if none of it surprised them. Perfectly intact. Quietly preparing to open.

They are a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, growth does not stop. That cycles continue whether we feel them or not. That what looks barren is often just resting, gathering strength.

Spring does not arrive in a rush. It returns steadily, faithfully, every single year.

And so does beauty.

We forget every winter that just because the ground is covered in snow and the air feels sharp enough to crack skin, it does not mean nothing is alive.

When everything is buried and the landscape looks still and colorless, it is easy to believe that beauty has disappeared. It can feel like the harshness is permanent, like this is simply what it is now.

But under all of that ice and weight, life keeps moving.

And then the snow melts.

The ground softens. The light shifts. And there they are, hellebore buds pushing up through the cold as if none of it surprised them. Perfectly intact. Quietly preparing to open.

They are a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, growth does not stop. That cycles continue whether we feel them or not. That what looks barren is often just resting, gathering strength.

Spring does not arrive in a rush. It returns steadily, faithfully, every single year.

And so does beauty.

The wedding industry is loud right now.

Trends move fast. Budgets get quoted without context. Pinterest boards are full of six figure weddings being labeled as “average.”

And couples in Northern Virginia and across the Mid Atlantic are trying to plan something deeply personal while scrolling through highlight reels that do not reflect their reality.

It is a lot.

But weddings were never meant to perform for the internet.
They were never meant to keep up with content cycles.

They are a moment in time.
A specific season.
A specific place.
Two specific people.

And the weddings that stay with you are the ones where the couple fully embraces who they are.
Not what is trending.
Not what is loudest.
Not what is getting the most saves online.

What actually feels modern right now is clarity.
Design that feels aligned.
Choices that feel like yours.

That is why we design with what is actually growing here.
Locally grown, seasonal flowers rooted in this landscape and this exact moment in Northern Virginia and the Mid Atlantic.

Your wedding does not need to keep up.

It just needs to reflect you.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Photos 1 & 6: @emilynicole_photos
Photos 2 & 5: @gabriellerosephotography_
Photo 3: @taylornicollephoto
Photos 4 & 7: @thejunepress

Northern Virginia wedding florist
Mid Atlantic seasonal wedding flowers
100 percent locally grown floral design

The wedding industry is loud right now.

Trends move fast. Budgets get quoted without context. Pinterest boards are full of six figure weddings being labeled as “average.”

And couples in Northern Virginia and across the Mid Atlantic are trying to plan something deeply personal while scrolling through highlight reels that do not reflect their reality.

It is a lot.

But weddings were never meant to perform for the internet.
They were never meant to keep up with content cycles.

They are a moment in time.
A specific season.
A specific place.
Two specific people.

And the weddings that stay with you are the ones where the couple fully embraces who they are.
Not what is trending.
Not what is loudest.
Not what is getting the most saves online.

What actually feels modern right now is clarity.
Design that feels aligned.
Choices that feel like yours.

That is why we design with what is actually growing here.
Locally grown, seasonal flowers rooted in this landscape and this exact moment in Northern Virginia and the Mid Atlantic.

Your wedding does not need to keep up.

It just needs to reflect you.

Venue: @rustmanorhouse
Photos 1 & 6: @emilynicole_photos
Photos 2 & 5: @gabriellerosephotography_
Photo 3: @taylornicollephoto
Photos 4 & 7: @thejunepress

Northern Virginia wedding florist
Mid Atlantic seasonal wedding flowers
100 percent locally grown floral design

Be honest.
If Bad Bunny showed up with 100% locally grown flowers, by The Fertile Burb…are you saying yes?

Luxury wedding florals · locally grown flowers · Northern Virginia wedding florist · Washington DC wedding florist · Mid-Atlantic wedding flowers · seasonal floral design · modern wedding flowers

Be honest.
If Bad Bunny showed up with 100% locally grown flowers, by The Fertile Burb…are you saying yes?

Luxury wedding florals · locally grown flowers · Northern Virginia wedding florist · Washington DC wedding florist · Mid-Atlantic wedding flowers · seasonal floral design · modern wedding flowers

That’s the run.
The first scroll is now entirely wedding bouquets — across seasons, across services, all designed with the same attention to timing, color, and what’s actually happening outside here in Northern Virginia and in the surrounding Mid-Atlantic. If you want to see how 100% locally grown, seasonal wedding flowers really shift from month to month, take a look.

This one is from May. Spring at its most honest. Moody in the best way, rust-tinged new growth, purples hiding in the shadows, softened light instead of pastels. This is the moment people forget exists, even though it’s everywhere once you start paying attention.

That’s the run.
The first scroll is now entirely wedding bouquets — across seasons, across services, all designed with the same attention to timing, color, and what’s actually happening outside here in Northern Virginia and in the surrounding Mid-Atlantic. If you want to see how 100% locally grown, seasonal wedding flowers really shift from month to month, take a look.

This one is from May. Spring at its most honest. Moody in the best way, rust-tinged new growth, purples hiding in the shadows, softened light instead of pastels. This is the moment people forget exists, even though it’s everywhere once you start paying attention.

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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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