Last night in Greenville, South Carolina this happened…

This amazingly, beautiful creation happened because a group of flower farmers and florists got together in celebration of American Flowers Week. But the evening turned out to be much more than that. It turned out to be a celebration of natural beauty, friends—old and new—and, most importantly, a celebration of community.

It started with this group of flower farmers, the SC Upstate Flower Farmers. (scupstateflowers.com) We thought it would be fun to fill a room with our flowers, invite a group of florists to come and play, and step back and see what would happen.

So we did just that. We filled a room with buckets and buckets of flowers.

We rustled up some grub.

We managed to twist the arm of Suzie Bunn of Statice Floral to let us use her studio. Thanks, Suzie!

We gathered some tools of the trade and opened the doors!

And the fun began!

There were loads and loads of beautiful flowers and greenery to choose. Really, we farmers had some pretty nice stuff there.

The hunting and gathering took some time.

Flower color, size, and shape was carefully examined. I’m sure I heard a few audible oohs and ahhs. There was lots of buzz and chatter, and one florist told me she was so excited because she felt like she was meeting Santa Claus! How much fun is that???

Then the real play began.

I have absolutely no talent when it comes to arranging flowers. I love to grow them. I just don’t have the patience or creative skill to make anything beautiful with them. That’s why God created florists. And, Greenville, there are some crazy talented florist in this community!

While the creating was happening all over the place, new friends were made.

Florist got to know florist and farmers got to know florists.

But don’t let all this friend making fool you. These talented, creative geniuses were hard at work. They were concentrating on putting together something that appealed just to them. There were no clients to please, and so they were able to pour themselves into a piece that spoke just to them.

There was even a sleeping baby all snuggled up while her mother pulled off a fabulous piece. Talk about talented!

And before you know it, the product of all that creativity started to proudly show itself.

Florist after florist produced works of art.

While the flower playing was fun and the floral pieces were stunning, the best thing that came out of this evening together was the sense of the creation of a floral community. Something good is happening here!

American Flower Week is June 28-July 4, 2016. Celebrate this special week by treating yourself and others to a special flower arrangement. Be sure to ask your florist to use locally-grown flowers!

Happy blooms!