Shower your Valentine’s Day love with California-grown blossoms
We’ve got an abundance of flower farms and plant nurseries in Southern California — and designers who creatively use these homegrown elements to fashion stylish florals. Sure, you could grab that bunch of imported roses at the supermarket and call it good for Valentine’s Day, but wouldn’t you rather give something more inventive with local roots?
To help, we’ve gathered some options for giving or sending flowers.
Orchids and more
Rolling Greens Nursery in the Fairfax district offers potted living plants. Ethereal and long-lasting, phalaenopsis orchids come in a range of colors and sizes, with lots of buds and blooms reminiscent of butterflies ($70 to $125 or more, depending on your budget). At Rolling Greens’ arrangement bar, Grisel Sierra and other staff “baristas” will help you select orchids, succulents and other plants, plus the right vessel, to appeal to your recipient’s style. Planting services and add-ons such as moss and decorative gravel cost extra.
Shown in photo gallery above: Phalaenopsis with succulent plants in a contemporary white-glazed pot, $115. Cast stone dish garden with aloe, succulents, moss and decorative pebbles, $65.
Rolling Greens Nursery, 7505 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 934-4500
Local flowers, sweets
Los Angeles flower farmer Tara Kolla of Silver Lake Farms will team up with Valerie Confections in Echo Park to open a two-day Valentine’s Day pop-up store, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 13 and 14.
You can select pre-made arrangements, just picked from Kolla’s fields in Glassell Park and Silver Lake, with the option of pairing a fresh bouquet with chocolates from Valerie Confections.
Shown in photo gallery above: Small field-grown arrangement of white panda and pastel anemones, Queen Anne’s lace, statice, wax flower, Australian rosemary, wild cucumber and garden mignonette, $75, including the Weck glass jar. Two-ring arrangement of white panda and pastel anemones, sweet peas, Queen Anne’s lace, statice, wax flower, Australian rosemary, wild cucumber and garden mignonette, $100, including a custom-made Silver Lake Farms two-ring holder and jars.
Valerie Confections, 1665 Echo Park Ave., Echo Park, (213) 250-9365; Silver Lake Farms, (323) 644-3700
Succulent ‘hearts’
The folks at Potted in Atwater Village will carry finished succulent “hearts” in two sizes, available for purchase while supplies last, through Valentine’s Day.
Shown in photo gallery above: A 7-inch wooden heart planter with succulents, $69; 12-inch heart, $150.
Potted, 3158 Los Feliz Blvd., Atwater Village, (323) 665-3801
Student bouquets
The students, interns and volunteers at Muir Ranch, a nonprofit farm at John Muir High School in Pasadena, grow and arrange a variety of seasonal flowers for their weekly subscribers and farmers market customers. For Valentine’s Day, you can order a 100% local bouquet that includes Muir Ranch-grown annuals, perennials, herbs and foliage, as well as flowers from other farms in Southern California. The student bouquets come in two sizes and must be ordered by Feb. 12 for delivery within a 15-mile radius of Pasadena. On-site pickup is available from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 14.
Shown in photo gallery above: Medium bouquet of ranunculus and kale in a standard glass vase, $65 delivered. Large bouquet of protea and artichoke foliage in a galvanized pail, $85 delivered.
Muir Ranch, John Muir High School, 1905 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena; schoolgarden@gmail.com; johnmuircsa@gmail.com
Spruce crate
Spruce LA, a flower shop on Fountain Avenue near Sunset Boulevard, has boxed up Valentine’s Day flowers in a crate created locally from recycled wood. It’s filled with fresh California-grown anemones, tulips, ranunculus, lisianthus and Callistemon citrinus ‘Little John,’ with Washington-grown greenery. “The great thing about this arrangement is that the flowers dry in the crate, and it lasts for a month,” says designer Gaige Clark, Spruce LA’s founder and creative director. To ensure delivery for Valentine’s Day, orders must be placed no later than Feb. 13. The design is also available for purchase Feb. 14 at Spruce LA’s retail store.
Shown in photo gallery above: A 6- by 7 3/4-inch wooden crate with flowers, $85 plus delivery.
Spruce LA, 4313 Fountain Ave., Los Feliz, (323) 660-9300
Tillandsia mini-gardens
Flower Duet owners Kit Wertz and Casey Schwartz in Torrance have created Tillandsia terrariums by sourcing the air plants from Rainforest Flora, a breeder and grower also based in Torrance. The Love Aerium comes in a heart or teardrop shape, suitable for hanging.
Each design features a duet of Tillandsias. Indoors, these plants like bright, indirect light. Flower Duet recommends spraying or misting the air plants weekly, adding a small amount of liquid fertilizer to the water.
Order by Feb. 9 for Valentine’s Day delivery in the continental U.S. For optional pickup at Flower Duet’s South Bay studio, order by Feb. 11 and plan to pick up your Aerium from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 13 or from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 14.
Shown in photo gallery above: The Hanging Heart Aerium features Tillandsia usneoides ‘El Normal,’ a type of Spanish moss, and Tillandsia tenuifolia ‘Blue Flower,’ along with red reindeer moss accents and red twine for hanging. $30 plus tax. Shipping: $5. The Dewdrop Aerium features Tillandsia usneoides ‘El Normal’ and Tillandsia tenuifolia ‘Emerald Forest,’ plus a red heart, reindeer moss accents and red twine for hanging. $25 plus applicable tax. Shipping: $5.
Flower Duet, 2675 Skypark Drive, Suite 205, Torrance, (310) 792-4968
Garden screen
L.A. floral designer Clover Chadwick of Dandelion Ranch offers her signature Garden Screen as a grand Valentine’s Day gesture. The creation includes a variety of California coastal botanicals grown from San Diego to Santa Barbara, displayed in a custom wooden box to suggest a translucent floral curtain.
Order by Feb. 11 for greater Los Angeles delivery. Dandelion Ranch will take orders through Valentine’s Day for studio pickup, with designer’s choice on floral ingredients.
Shown in photo gallery above: The box is about 2 feet by 3 inches and contains peach branches, ranunculus, anemones, larkspur, leptospermum, wax flower, ivy and pittosporum, $400 plus tax and delivery. Other sizes are available from $185 (pricing is based per foot).
Dandelion Ranch, 4701 W. Jefferson Blvd., No. 3, West Adams, (323) 640-1590
About the roses ...
According to the California Cut Flower Commission, only 2% of all roses sold for Valentine’s Day are domestic. If you really want to give roses but are looking for a local option, the good news is that most American-grown roses come from flower farms in California. Here are two mail-order sources for the California rose:
California Blooms offers overnight delivery of one dozen California roses in a variety of petal colors, $49 plus $15 shipping and handling. Order by noon Pacific time for next-day delivery, Tuesday through Saturday (additional fee for Saturday delivery).
Fabulous Florals offers overnight delivery of fresh greenery with one dozen California roses in white ($79 plus shipping) or red ($89 plus shipping).
California Blooms, (888) 600-8865. Fabulous Florals, (805) 456-5914.
