California State Floral Association 

outdid itself in the Calif Flora 2009 annual convention and Top Ten design competition. Not only did the organizers combine the weekend events into a more concise, fast-moving schedule (with some great seminars, I might add, and both student and Top Ten contests taking place on Sunday, October 25), they introduced a new “Dualing Designers” contest that was wildly entertaining.

Winners of the Top Ten Floral Design Contest for the Year were: First Place - Roslyn Dodds, Jasmine Creek Florist in El Cajon; Second Place - Gerry Gregg AIFD of The Flower Market in Chico; Third Place - Sandy Villa AIFD of Mission Hills Florist in San Diego; People’s Choice - Felipe Sandoval of Kaleidoscope Flowers in Santa Barbara.

Student competition audience

The Top Ten finalists (out of a field of more than 30) were: Toni Tibbets of Capri Floral & Events in Bellevue, Washington; Ania Norwood of Ania Norwood Design in Newport Coast; Cathy Beaver of The Flower Shop in Forest Lawn-Covina; Samuel Van Wert AIFD of Companie’s Flowers in Los Angeles; Felipe Sandoval of Kaleidoscope Flowers in Santa Barbara; Jamie Chae CFD of Dolce Floral Design in El Dorado Hills; and Karen Castellano of The Flower Shop in Forest Lawn-Cypress.

Winners of the Student design competition on Sun., October 25 were: First Place - Carolyn Murillo, Mission College in Santa Clara; Second Place - Ivana Royse, Golden West College in Huntington Beach; Third Place - Nixon Tran, City College of San Francisco. Ivana Royse also won the People’s Choice Award.

This was one of the more “fun” CSFA “Calif Flora” weekends. I can hardly wait for 2010!

If you’re in the California floral business in any fashion, you really should not miss Calif Flora 2009 - “Holidaze,” the annual convention of the California State Floral Association - and the TOP TEN FLORAL DESIGN COMPETITION! New format and exciting new designs - and floral varieties - make this year’s event well worth your time.  You’ll find a link to the registration form, plus details, at http://www.calstatefloral.com/events.html

Our blog administrator (Peggi Ridgway, editor, The Bloomin’ News) has relocated out of California, where posts for this blog are focused, but is still administrating the blog and would love to hear from you! You can join the blog and submit comments for posting, or contact Peggi through the Contact page at http://bloominnews.com or http://flowermarkethistory.com - just use the interactive inquiry form for a direct email to Peggi. - You can also see Peggi at the California State Floral Association’s annual “Calif Flora 2009″ convention and Top Ten Design Contest, October 23-25, in Carlsbad, California. Be sure to say Hi.

Polder flower ranch crew at the home of Walter Polder, Mines Street in Montebello; circa 1914.

Great slideshow today at Montebello Public Library, sharing some of the photos of the area and from the book Sending Flowers to America. Highlighted some of the folks from Montebello who were so instrumental in establishing the Los Angeles Flower Market and Southern California as a source for cut flowers nationwide. People like H.N. Gage (grower), Roy F. Wilcox (nurseryman), Gebhard Prechtl (grower), C.J. Groen (grower), John and Walter Polder of the Polder Ranch*, Frank Kuwahara, the Goto family of florists and many more.

Several of these people (Gage, Wilcox, Prechtl, Groen) helped establish the Los Angeles Flower Market.

*Much to everyone’s delight, John Polder’s son Bill showed up at this presentation. We enjoyed his comments and reminiscences from his childhood growing up in Montebello and working in his father’s and uncles flower fields there.

A delightful afternoon.

Michael Daniels' window garden with mannequin

Do drop by http://flickr.com/photos/pegridgway to see the photos taken at the Virginia Robinson home and gardens in Beverly Hills during the Friends of Robinson Gardens’ annual garden tour. The rooms and surrounding areas were decorated so beautifully by floral designers including Michael Daniels of Silver Birches, Marc Byrd, Lucas Design Group, etc. Check out the photos.

The Sending Flowers to America slideshow and talk is going over BIG with local libraries and historical societies. We are so pleased that 11 groups have enjoyed it and raved about it, and 6 more are coming up.

Oh, and Peggi Ridgway will guest on “Home Wizards” AM 870 radio with host Cindy Dole this Saturday morning - from 8 to 9 a.m. Be sure to tune in and enjoy. We’ll be giving a book away to a lucky caller!

It was a great day with floral designers and decorators as Jan Works and Peggi Ridgway did a book-signing at the Virginia Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills on Fri., May 15, 2009. The Sending Flowers to America was the featured book for the event and a portion of the proceeds helped the Friends of Robinson Gardens, which maintains the estate.  What a beautiful place - Virginia Robinson’s estate was the first estate to be built in Beverly Hills, around 100 years ago.

Designs are posted on Peggi’s FACEBOOk page.

If you thought the $65 price for SENDING FLOWERS TO AMERICA book was too high, you were not alone. So I am extremely happy that the directors of the Los Angeles Flower Market have lowered the retail price to $50 - INCLUDING tax for those in California.

It’s a pricey book no matter how you see it. The production costs were enormous, as you can imagine, for an almost 300-page, full color book with a year of research going back 150 years. But the book is a gem with dozens of human interest stories about the settling of the Los Angeles area, how early farmers began growing the flowers that came to be shipped to customers across the U.S. and more than 350 photos dating from 1885 to 2008, many of them full page florals and many historic images.

Does it sound like I’m crazy about this book? I’m not alone .. it’s gotten rave reviews and it was announced just yesterday that Sending Flowers to American is a NATIONAL FINALIST in the 2009 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. Yeah!

Anyway, if you haven’t bought your copy yet, if you love history, if you’re a SoCal resident, and/or if you like flowers, just do it now. See Amazon.com or visit www.flowermarkethistory.com .

And tell us what you think of it! Email peg@flowermarkethistory.com or send a note through the website.

Thanks!

Phil Rulloda, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, will be one of two featured floral designers presenting this show for the American Institute of Floral Designers’ Southwest Region, on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at the Mayesh Wholesale Flowers facility in Santa Ana, California.

Check out the very positive reviews we’ve added to our newst category, Book News. We’re very pleased our book is so enjoyable and that its contribution is such an important one in terms of Los Angeles area history, cultural histories, and as one reviewer so aptly states, the evolution of an industry.