Over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve shared a few behind-the-scenes stories about the creative process involved with some of the products now available in the Floret Shop. Today I want to share a little bit about how the our Floret calendar came together, plus offer a fun little giveaway.
I get asked all the time how I find time to do it all. And the truth is: I don’t. There’s no way I could do it “all” by myself. But, believe me, I’ve tried…and failed. (You can read more about that in my Design*Sponge post). The truth is, I have a great little group of ladies (and Chris) on my team working to support me, especially with launch of Floret Seeds and the expansion of the Floret Shop. It’s been a labor of love for ALL of us here at Floret.
I am a farmer and I’m a floral designer. I am not a graphic designer. So that meant getting my idea for a Floret Calendar off the ground required the assistance from someone with that skill set. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to team up with super talented graphic designer Nicole Yang to create the Floret calendar, post cards and special growing instruction cards included with each and every packet of seeds. As the Art Director for Southern Weddings magazine, Nicole has an incredible eye for design and an inspiring ‘can-do’ attitude that made her a joyful partner on the project.
Nicole was able to take our photos, monthly task lists, and other random ideas for the calendar and turn it into a big, beautiful calendar featuring some of our most popular photos of the farm. Each month features a big, bold image of seasonal flowers (some of my very favorites ever captured here on the farm) along with little reminders of key garden-related tasks to do each month.
I use my iPhone to keep up to speed and connected, but there is nothing quite like putting a pen to paper to plot out my latest dream for Floret or map out my schedule and to-do list for the coming weeks and months. For as long as I can remember I’ve relied on a wall calendar to keep track of all of the details as I plot and plan out the year to come. I have a soft spot for beautiful journals and big calendars and I always keep my calendars from year to year. I have them dating back 15 years. I love being able to leaf back through them to see my notes with little details like when the larkspur bloomed, when the first fall frost arrived, when when the first sweet pea seeds were sown, or when the aphids usually show up in the hoophouse.
Each to-do list was developed based on over a decade of working in my own cutting garden. The tips include suggestions of when to order different types of seeds, the best month to order bulbs, when to cut back the chrysanthemums so that they branch, the ideal time to pinch dahlias and lots of other details that can easily be overlooked. Even after doing this for so long, I find having those little lists of tasks so handy to have nearby. I designed the pages to include each moth’s major garden tasks listed right there on the page.
I wanted to create a calendar that was beautiful, functional and helpful to gardeners and I hope you love it as much as I do. We have just one case of Floret Calendars still available in the Floret Shop, and I want them to find happy homes before we dig much deeper into our Blizzard planning series. So I’m going to giveaway a calendar to FIVE lucky blog winners and over in the shop you’ll find them marked down from $22 to $15. So if you want one of these gems, don’t delay.
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY OFFER HAS ENDED.
Congratulations to the following five winners:
Grace: (Graceannie), Jenny R., Pam (Pammiebrew) Lucinda P. and Kelly W.
My team will be in touch to capture your mailing address –or feel free to send it directly to info [at] www.floretflowers.com
A big thanks to everyone that has already shared information on their preferred planners and calendars in the comments. Even though we are no longer accepting entries for the calendar giveaway, please do continue the conversation by adding your comment below and share your calendar and planning resources and/or system.
REMINDER: Be sure to get signed up for the Floret newsletter if you aren’t already on our list. We’re putting the finishing touches on our February edition that you won’t want to miss. In it you’ll find exciting updates, a killer special offer only available for subscribers, plus helpful resources for showing local flower love this Valentine’s Day. To stay in the loop sign up here.
Julie Armstrong on
So sorry to hear that you’re not publishing a calendar for 2025. Most everyone commented on it when they saw it in my kitchen, so it gave me an opportunity to tell them about Floret.