What Would I Do Without You

Have I told you how very special these two women are in my life?  Lila and Jamie are my two beloved managers at Passionflower  It's been almost a year since  Becky (who we miss every day) left us and, I have to say, those were some big shoes to fill and they've done the job admirably.  And without them, I wouldn't be down here in Oaxaca doing art and food tours. When you've been doing this as long as I have (20 plus years), it's really important to have some time to jumpstart the creative juices and charge the batteries.  So, a way big thank you to my wonderful managers and really to my whole staff for taking such good care of the store while I'm here in Oaxaca.

Happy September~!

Change is in the air and it's going to be a busy week - I'm leaving for Mexico on Saturday so putting all the finishing details on that, finishing up my holiday buying, and planning how we're moving the store into it's autumn incarnation.  Kind of my favorite time of the year.  Happy Autumn, coming soon to a store near you.

A little bit of blue

We are feeling a little bit blue on this long weekend.  Sensing the end of summer.

The Wild Oat

My big city florist friend says, "There's an upcharge for wildcrafting"...you know roadsidiana, backyardiana, wherever it is that you go and get a few sprigs of this and that, that, frankly, make your flowers get real, take them to the next level, add that je ne sais quoi~! Wildcrafting has always been part of our recipe at Passionflower.

And,  here's one of my faves that would fall in this category: the something you're never going to see for sale at the florist wholesaler, so if you want it, you're going to have to get it yourself. 

It's wild oats...common on many road edges in Oregon.  Parts of it are used herbally as a nervine and especially helpful if you want to quit smoking. And then there's that expression, "sowing your wild oats".

And it's a Bach Flower Remedy too.  (click here to learn more about that)

Plus it's just kinda arching and gracefully beautiful too.

These are some of  the things I think about when I use wild oats in a flower arrangement.

Happy Labor Day weekend to All!

Hopping on the Bandwagon

We're a little late to the station, but we've hopped on the Instagram train.

And we're following all kinds of fun people and getting lots of floral inspiration and more.

Check out our instagram here and follow us

And check out this fun post from Martha Stewart Living about top 25 floral instagram feeds.

 

Get Well Soon

 

Oh yuck, I have a big, ole, nasty summer cold which came on fast and I am hoping, will leave just as quickly.  Seemed just right to share this echinacea picture which I snapped sometime back.  Echinacea, also sometimes called coneflower, it's part of my secret get well fast arsenal.  And so is this too~!

And on a different note, sometime in the middle of the night the blog passed it's 200 thousand pageview mark.  My tekkie advisor assures me these are not all robots in China.  So thanks one and all for checking in on the Passionflower doings. 

Matt Wilkinson Cookbook

We've been  carrying a lot more cookbooks at the store and this one, which I have yet to give a whirl in the kitchen, seems like just about everyone in Eugene could use right about now. Everyone I know , including the mayor, is engaging in one manner of food preservation or another.  In other words, our gardens runneth over. 

Click here to check out more of Australian chef Matt Wilkinson's website

(which is a graphic wonderland as well as gastronomically inspiring)