An old time favorite is making a come back, Babies Breath. Yes, this may just be your grandmother's favorite filler but before you judge and jump to conclusions, take a moment and consider all the truly wonderful possibility babies breath has to offer. Not only is it affordable and easy to find, it is also available all year round. Babies breath is also versatile, it works well with country, romantic and even vintage theme arrangements. Or to give it a modern feel use it in mass on its own and make it the star of the show.

Common Name: Babies Breath
Botanical Name: Gypsophila

Gypsophila is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Its botanical name means "lover of chalk", which is accurate in describing the type of soil in which this plant grows. It also means festivity, innocence, pure of heart, and happyness. With its teeny tiny blooms, it can look really elegant…and very, very pretty. As a fresh flowers it comes in white, sometimes with hints of pink, but babies breaths is also available dried in a variety of dyed colors.

The best part, because Babies Breath is so easy to work with it's great for the DIY'er.  Want some super cute ideas check out my Pintrest board, Babies Breath.


Interesting Fact: The root of the Gypsophila repens is used to make the whipped-cream topping of the Turkish dessert kerebic. Boiling the root over a period of hours produces white bubbles which are collected, mixed with sugar, and mixed until it thickens to a cream.

Flowers are one of those items that most people buy from time to time. Most often it is a small bunch from the grocery store or an arrangement from the florist for a birthday or anniversary gift. And more often than not when we buy these flowers we do it without giving the cost too much thought.

That is not the case when you are planning a wedding. Weddings have budgets and part of the that budget is flowers. Flowers for a wedding can be expensive just because of the sheer volume of flowers needed. Not only does the bride and groom need flowers, so does the wedding party, the family, the church, the hall, the cake, the flower girl and so on.

Have you ever stopped to consider what actually goes into the cost of the flowers that you buy? Somebody, somewhere(think globally), has to grow that flower. That involves supplies like soil, fertilizer, and seeds. You also need equipment, like watering features, tractors and greenhouses. There are also workers needed to plant, care for and harvest the flowers. Once the flowers are harvested, then they must be transported on trucks and planes to the wholesalers for distribution to florists.

So, lets think about that. A flower cut in Holland, that is ready for sale, is shipped to the United States, distributed to a wholesaler, who then sells to the florists who provides the consumer with their final products. Without even realizing it, you may have a flower on your table or in your bouquet that had to travel across an ocean to get to you. All in record time. This provides you, the consumer, with fresh, long lasting flowers.

Besides the cost of the flowers, you also have the florist costs to factor in. This includes the floral designers time, knowledge, skills and equipment used to make the arrangements. They don't work for free, I know I don't, and I am sure you don't either. As a designer I have spent many hours learning, practicing, and fine tuning my expertise. Yes, I love designing beautiful arrangements, that's why I do what I do, but please don't undervalue the effort that is needed to make such beauty. We are also the one's responsible for adding the special touches that make the flowers unique. Along with the actual designing there are many hours spent planning and preparing for each event.

Before you go and find yourself in sticker shock over your wedding flowers, do some research, have a reasonable budget and find a florist who can work with you and provide you with options that fulfill your dreams and satisfy your needs. If your event is in Wisconsin, be sure to contact Blooming Envy, we would love to help.

Blooming Envy knows how much work planning a wedding can be. So why make it harder than it has to be. Here are the top 5 reasons you need Blooming Envy for your floral needs.

1. Individualized, exclusive, personal service
2. Freshest flowers anywhere
3. Virtual flower arrangement preview
4. "Green" florist, we recycle and reuse everything we possibly can
5. Licensed and Insured

 If you need more information or to book your event contact us today!

Trending for weddings right now, and I am in love with myself, are succulent/herb plant centerpieces. Not only do you get beautiful table decor but also awesome favors for your guests. And they are "green"! Literally and the eco kind. I am sure we will be seeing a lot of these "recyclable" flowers around for some time to come and why not? They can be interpreted into almost any design and the natural green is a great neutral color to match with any design scheme. Are you jumping on this trend wagon?

Oh here I am again, January 1st, not only am I excited for what the New Year holds but giddy because my favorite parade of the year is on TV, The Tournament of Roses Parade. Of course I have my DVR on record because I know watching it once will not be enough for me.

This years theme was based on Dr. Suess's "Oh the Places You'll Go". The Rose Parade features 42 floats, 21 equestrian groups, and 23 marching bands from as far away as Japan. It draws a live audience along the parade route of one million people, 39 million Americans watching on television and hundreds of millions more watching in 220 countries around the world.

Besides the awesome floats in this years parade, it also included a heart touching reunion of a solider and his family, a live wedding atop the "Love Float" and British primatologist Jane Goodall who was quoted as saying
"My dream for this New Year's Day is for everyone to think of the places we can all go if we work together to make our world a better place".

I can't say I remember the first time I saw the parade but I can say that every year when I watch it I am in complete awe. So many flowers! And I know I've said this before but one day I would love to volunteer and be part of the beauty created on such a large scale. Below is a peak at what goes into each creation.

Did you watch the Tournament of Roses Parade? What was your favorite float?

Here are some more interesting facts about the Rose Parade:

• It takes 20 daisies, 30 roses or 36 marigolds to cover one square foot of a float area.
• Over 500,000 roses are used in the parade.
• Each of the millions of flowers you see is in its own vial.
• It takes 15 tons of steel along with 10,000 feet of chicken wire for the framework of a float.
• 600 tons of steel, 5,000 gallons of glue and 18 million flowers are used to make the floats each year. The Tournament of Roses is the largest consumer of flowers in the world, and flowers arrive from all over the world.
• The cost of flowers is included in the total cost of the float and paid for by the float sponsor.
• 935 peope spent 80,000 hours to manpower and plan the parade.
• Floats must collapse to no more than 16.5 ft. high, to pass under a freeway overpass/
• Natural materials, such as bark, seeds, leaves and flowers cover the floats.
• Length of parade is 5.5 miles, about 2.25 hours long at 2.5 miles per hour pace.
• Real fresh flowers are used. Different kinds of flowers may be used; however, one float used nothing but red roses.
• Floats are judged in 14 categories, with varying weights; the most important categories are those relating to floral usage. Winners are announced at 6 a.m. on parade day.
• Twenty-four awards were given for some 50 float entries before the parade started.