February 29 2024

Flower Club: Bloom Battle!

Tags: At LoCoFlo, Flower Club

We’re so excited to announce Bloom Battle: LoCoFlo’s annual amateur floral design competition! If you’ve ever taken a class at Local Color Flowers or you love dabbling in design at home, this is the perfect opportunity to show off your skills and creativity.

How it Works!

Bloom Battle is a two day event:

• Apr 12 2024 - Design and Instagram Famous voting
• Apr 13 2024 - Public display, public voting, celebrity judging and glory

How to Participate

1. Be a contestant. Registration is required.
2. Be an online fan: Enter your Likes among the three Instagram Famous finalists April 12 2024 from 10:30PM to April 13 2024 11:30AM.
3. Be a fan in person: View all arrangements at our studio on April 13 2024 8:00AM - 12:00PM and vote for your favorite. Most votes wins People’s Choice prize. Stick around for the announcement of winners.

Prizes

• Instagram Famous: LoCoFlo staff will select three centerpieces for online voting! Online voting is open between 10:30PM on Apr 12 2024 and 11:30AM on Apr 13 2024. Most likes wins.
• People’s Choice: The centerpiece that receives the most votes by visitors to the studio (three votes per visitor) on Saturday Apr 13 2024 8:00AM-12:00PM wins!
• Judges Selections Celebrity judges will evaluate entries based on vessel choice, use of color, texture and composition. 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
• All contestants take home their arrangements at the end of the event. (everyone wins!)

The Rules

• All centerpieces must be created at Local Color Flowers’ Studio on Friday night, April 12 2024 between 7:00PM and 9:00PM.
• All centerpieces must be created using the flowers/foliage/branches provided by Local Color Flowers. The use of other flowers gathered from outside the studio whether forged or bought is not permitted.
• The use of floral foam or Oasis is prohibited.
• No wagering.
• Amateurs only! No professional or former professional designers permitted.
• Only registered contestants will be permitted in the studio for Friday night’s design night.
• Vase opening may not be larger than five inches in diameter. Contestants are encouraged to use their own vases, Vases are available for purchase. All vases must be approved for entry.

The Celebrity Judges

• Ian Tressult - dad, zaddy, designer, owner of Ian Tresselt Design.
• Chris Vaeth - T. Rowe by day, aspiring floral designer, culinary explorer & creator.
• Dave Dowling - Flower OG. Seed slinger for Ball Seed Company.
• Jen Majewski - English Teacher, sewist, owner of Wondermore Floral Design

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April 18 2023

Flower Club: Bloom Battle '23 Celebrity Surprise

Tags: Flower Club, At LoCoFlo

We had a surprise visitor at the 2023 Bloom Battle public display and judging event - flower OG Dave Dowling! Dave has done it all in the floral world including farming, designing, vending, teaching and national leadership as the ASCFG President. He can now add Bloom Battle judge to his resume. Not originally slated to the celebrity panel, we put his expertise to work when he showed up unexpectedly. Dave joined former contestants Jen Majewski, Ian Tresselt and Chris Vaeth to place these arrangements in Bloom Battle renown.

For the second straight year the people and the judges agreed. Amanda won the People's Choice and 1st prize.

Danielle, a former 1st place winner, picked up 2nd.

Jo, also a former 1st place winner, took 3rd this year.

This photogenic beauty by Adrienne won the Instagram Famous voting.

View all of the arrangements and more pictures from the event.

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April 11 2022

Flower Club: Bloom Battle '22 Floral Glory

Tags: At LoCoFlo, Flower Club

It's been three years since our amateur designers have entered the octagon - so long that some forgot they had even registered for the competition back in 2020. The time away showed no diminished skill and no lack of floral ferocity. If anything, the battle was as fierce as ever.

There was a run-a-way winner: Liz Pope crushed it with the People's Choice Award and !st Place prize.

Always the bridesmaid, Chris Vaeth picked up 2nd Place.

First time contestant and flower enthusiast newbie Susan Dumont took 3rd.

Laurel Ady won the Instagram Famous (as though she wasn't already) prize.

Another banger in the studio. Check out all the pictures and videos from the event. What's up with the cinnamon rolls?

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December 04 2019

Flower Club: Flower Trivia

Tags: Flower Club, Nerdy AF

Never not fun! Flower Club crushed another event with Flower Trivia Night! There were 106 questions in 10 categories including official flowers, flower tv, literate flowers, naked ladies, cellulose celluloid, and more. There were treats from Bramble. There was even Joe Kane!

We had about 30 participants on six teams. Four of the teams had at least one flower farmer. One team (Don't Get Your Pansies in a Bunch) had multiple florists but no farmer. Our team of neighbors (Whistle Bloomers) with no floral professionals had a respectable score but placed where you would expect.

Smarty-pants first place team, Hairy Balls Bouquet, was comprised of our regular JHU crew (JKups, Allison, and Sam), LoCoFlo all stars (Heather and Jen), and flower farmer ringer Maya. They edged out a devastated all-Butterbee team for the victory.

Final Standings:

Place	Team	Score*
1	Hairy Balls Bouquet	87
2	Better Bees	85
3	Don't Get Your Pansies in a Bunch	81
4	Naked Ladies	79
4	Savage Garden	79
6	Whistle Bloomers	68

*one point per correct answer

Missed the event? All 106 questions are on the blog. Post your score in the blog comments. Make a go of it!

Oh, right. Also, what's up with all the naked ladies?

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December 03 2019

Play Flower Trivia!

Tags: Flower Club, Nerdy AF, Games

If you missed Flower Trivia Night, fear not, you can play right here on the blog! There are 106 questions in 10 categories. Post your score in the comments (1 point per correct answer). Ready go!

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October 19 2019

Flower Club: 2019 Mystery Arrangement Challenge

Tags: At LoCoFlo, Flower Club

Join us for our 2023 edition of Mystery Arrangement Challenge Oct 27 7:00PM

Our first ever Flower Club event looks like a keeper. The Mystery Arrangement Challenge was a bit of a risk (really, some LoCoFloers thought this thing was a bust when organizers selected glow sticks and Big Boyz Bail Bond pens as required design elements) but the participants brought their creativity, excitement and good vibes. Add in treats from Bramble Baking and Wight Tea, plus strong support from fans - everyone had a blast.

weathered watering can featuring light-up pizza slices - why not?

Here's how the night went down:

Club members were presented with unconventional compulsory items along with our spectacular selection of seasonal local flowers to build an arrangement in a "Chopped" style challenge. The required categories were: a quirky container, a non-traditional focal flower and a mystery item. After determining the selection order for the compulsory items by drawing numbered clippers (including a white elephant twist for the last pick), designers chose their materials. Over the next hour, participants built arrangements using chartreuse gel balls, pumpkin-on-a-stick, loofah, a mail box, long garlic stalks and worse. Much, much worse.

Surprises from the get-go! Liz, a wily LoCoFlo veteran, selected a shallow pink dog bowl found at the Greenmount Goodwill, white peacock feathers from the Sunday Market, and Chinese Lantern grown at Wollam Garden with the first overall pick. Beth found value at pick thirteen in her selections of a ceramic pumpkin (another Greenmount Goodwill treasure), googly eyes of Michael's, and indian corn from Calvert's Gift Farm (more on Beth's arrangement below). Allison drew the final pick, and per white elephant rules, had a run at a the entire field of design options.

inchoate llama

After an hour of design, each participant presented their arrangement. In addition to a monologue of their experience with the challenge and what they created, several participants embellished their design with stories and titles including Megan's glowing "Grandma's Midnight Romance" and Liz's John Waters inspired "Pink Flamingos". Our AP friend, J Kupps, even had an accompanying song for her eggplant exaggerated "Don't Get Got".

Back to Beth. A LoCoFlo bride in 2018, Beth invited Mr. Trash Wheel to her wedding. Mr. Trash Wheel sent his regrets due to his trash gobbling duties down in the harbor. However he was able to look across the water at the Rusty Scupper to see the reception. He was so happy to be asked he also sent a trove of his merch to the newlyweds. Beth's arrangement: Mrs. Flower Wheel is a floral tribute.

And that's the way it was. Another LoCoFlo classic. See all the pictures in our Flickr album and join us next time.

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July 28 2019

Flower Club

Tags: At LoCoFlo, Nerdy AF, Flower Club

The first rule of Flower Club is: You MUST talk about Flower Club.

But, before you talk about Flower Club, you have to know all about Flower Club.

Former Bloom Battlers Jen and Meredith were gabbing at Open Studio one Spring Wednesday night. They missed the competition of Bloom Battle and wanted a new challenge.

Meredith: "What if LoCoFlo had a 'Chopped' style competition, where we wouldn't know what the flowers were and we would need to include unusual elements in the design!"
Jen: "Ooh, that would be fun. Or like 'Nailed It', where we would try to arrange a complex floral installation."
Meredith: "Yeah, that would be fun!"
Jen: "Yeah!"
Meredith: "Yeah!

Ellen then put her MBA training to use and recognized the customer need.

Ellen (internal monologue): "I bet I could get this floral shop cookin' with a new LoCoFlo event: Flower Club! It would be a fun floral activity night for our flower MVPs and new friends. Wow, I'm really good."

Ellen workshopped the idea with some other Bloom Battlers, Heather and Liz, and, boom, the ideas kept flowing: floral bingo, large group project, speed dating flower edition, flower trivia night... The possibilities, and flower fun, are endless.

If you love flowers you're already a member of the club. Some meetings will be drop-in, some will require registration. All will be awesome. Look for the schedule on our Classes and Events page, social media and our email.

Join Flower Club. You probably won't get punched in the face.

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April 14 2019

Flower Club: Bloom Battle '19 Floral Glory

Tags: Flower Club

Bloom Battle '19 was a competition of contrasts. Of the 16 competitors, we had nine battle-tested veterans and seven up-starts. The winning designers reflected the varying experience of the field.

Jen Majewski, a four-time competitor, swept the popular vote winning both the Instagram Famous prize and the People's Choice award.

Jen is the true people's champion.

Jeffrey Gill, was not only a first time contestant, but his First Prize winning entry was his first ever large floral arrangement!

Jeffrey exhibited a wonderful negative capability in his arrangement.

Rounding out the victors:

2nd Place: Chis Vaeth, The Tom Brady of Bloom Battle, is a perennial winner. (He's never been accused of deflated balls.)

3rd Place: Rebecca Bainum another first-timer, brought it hard and crushed it. What's up.

Check out all of the fun in our flickr album.

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