Flowers of Inspriration

It is perhaps easy in the middle of Winter to start feeling like everything is miserable - it's cold, it's dark, and everything looks dead, and unless there is a beautiful covering of that shiny, glowing snow, it's all very dirty too... One of the ways I find to combat my winter woes is something that is entirely reminiscent of Spring - flowers. Of course, living in New England, it's not really the season for gorgeous blossoms, but a girl can dream can't she? I am definitely a fan of buying seasonal and buying local, but if you can't do that, there's always 'window shopping' - or in my case, screen shopping. Dandelion Ranch is one such destination.

An LA based floral design shop, Dandelion Ranch is known for its amazing mix of materials - and by that I don't just mean a whole bunch of flowers piled into a vase. Instead, their arrangements are a careful consideration of all aspects - the blooms, the greens, and the container. Using anything from vintage wine crates, to clean and modern containers, to tea cups as the base for their creations, they carefully layer gorgeous blooms with wonderful accents found at the local farmers markets. Don't be surprised to find some beautiful grapes, eucalyptus leaves, or even apples layered in with the myriad other carefully selected ingredients that make their designs so spectacular. And although I'm not sure of the pedigree of their flowers (i.e. organic vs. traditionally grown), I do know that unlike many florists, they use non-toxic and biodegradable floral foam alternative - so that when the arrangement's time has come, it's not left behind by an unsightly and unsound block of toxic and everlasting green.

Here are some of their stunning arrangements below:

For those of you who are in LA, lucky you - you not only have access to this amazing floral resource, but you're also definitely not experiencing any of the Winter doldrums I was referring to before. And for those of us who just have to have some fresh, in-home floral inspiration, try California Organic Flowers or OrganicBouquet.Com - they may not be local, but they are organic.