Happy Anniversary to Heliotrope for Hospice!! for five years we have been repurposing”gently used” flowers to people in hospice care! Donations from celebrations- people sharing their flower love. I keep learning how to improve on the basic idea, find better ways to streamline the process. How many volunteers will I need to contact to get each floral donation repurposed?  can I do it on my own? How to get the flowers to me,...

Story #1- Seeds My mom has a way of honoring people who have passed away. I like to call it “Surely, you will be remembered:… because my mom’s name is Shirley! In Lieu of Flowers, she makes a donation to Heliotrope for Hospice, in a loved one’s honor, and I send a letter of acknowledgement to the family, with a packet of sunflowers seeds. I never know if they plant the seeds, but I feel like it’s an appropriate...

There’s something about flowers and fabric that go together- the complementary embellishment that happens when you mix two worlds of nature together. Flowers are a “Stand Alone” kind of beauty… Fabrics & ribbons are a Beauty of Intention- woven, crafted lengths of organic fibers, with purpose. The bedside arrangements of flowers I make for people in hospice care are beautiful. Carefully gleaned for the best blossoms,...

petals unfurling Trending in the World of Flowers is like Trending in the World of Fashion… I think people have favorite flowers that they’re drawn to, not necessarily because of “Très chic”, or the “flower de jour” but because there’s something about a specific bloom that resonates with their soul… happy… calm… thankful…joyful… contemplative…  mystified…. Every flower has a life cycle that matches our own-...

  Busy, busy, busy… time goes by… I’ve been meaning to share this design, this Memorial Tree, wall of flowers, foliage and branches, since January! That’s when it all went down- when the tree was built on a wall of floral foam- a grand plan, sketched out beforehand, with approximate dimensions & a wish list of the best flowers I could think of, in a color scheme that exuded calmness and tranquility. It all...