The My Daily Find Guide for Valentine’s Day Flowers
February 9, 2010 by Karen
Filed under Featured, Home & Garden, Lifestyle, My Daily Find, Shopping, spotlight
BY MELISSA CHUA
Valentine’s Day flowers run the gamut in price, design and style. Here are some choice finds from across the San Fernando Valley and one very unique shop just over the hill.
Artistic Flowers' arrangement of orange tulips, Fuji mums, Cymbidium orchids and a ball of spray orange roses in a clay pot. (about $80)
Artistic Flowers
Artistic Flowers specializes in high end and high quality European-style arrangements that are affordable ranging from $20 to $150. For Valentine’s Day, Artistic Flowers is offering free delivery within a 3-mile radius and with a $45 minimum. 14005 Ventura Bl. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818) 988-7080 www.artisticflowersonline.com
"Valentine Surprise" from Bent Willow Florist combines ruffled scarlet roses with pink cymbidiums and a "hint" of Godiva chocolate. ($75)
Bent Willow Florist
Bent Willow is known for premium high end floral arrangements ranging from $60 to $300. They carry specialty roses called red intuition imported from South America, which showoff a variegated swirl of red and pink. “New York Valentines Moment” ($65) is their most popular Valentine’s Day arrangement. 4224 Lankershim Bl. North Hollywood, CA 91602 (818) 760-1248 www.bentwillowflorist.com
A classic arrangement from Calabasas Flowers with two-dozen, long stem, Ecuadoran, red roses in rectangular vase. (starting at $200)
Calabasas Flowers
Calabasas Flowers specializes in vase arrangements starting at $50. They only use high end flowers including the extra-long stemmed roses imported from Ecuador, which is the classic flower for Valentine’s Day. 23679 Calabasas Rd. #21 Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-5576 www.calabasasflowers.com
Florentyna's signature pave style arrangement with roses. (Starts at $150)
Florentyna’s–A Fine Flower Company
Florentyna’s signature is the pave style, which is an arrangement where the flowers are low and compact much like the English garden style. All floral arrangements available also in the traditional tall style start at $110. 4774 Park Granada Suite 1, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-2446 www.florentynasflowers.com
Star gazer Lilies with hot pink roses accented with tea leaves in a trumpet vase with floating cymbidium orchids from It's a Blooming Business. ($150)
It’s A Blooming Business
It’s a Blooming Business is the largest seller in the U.S. of the exclusive rainbow roses imported from Holland. These rare multi-colored flowers sell for $12 each and vary in price for bouquets. It’s a Blooming Business is also noted for their unique orchid designs. Valentine’s Day arrangements start at $50. 14006 Riverside Drive, Suite 24, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (Located in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square) 818) 783-4846 www.itsabloomingbusiness.com
Red Tulips with folded tropical leaves set in a tapered vase are one of many arrangements from Mark's Garden. ($75)
Mark’s Garden
Mark’s Garden is known for their signature English garden baskets, which features a rich mixture of flowers and natural accents. With their celebrity clientele, Mark’s Garden has been named, “florist of the stars.” Valentine’s Day arrangements are priced at $60 to $400. 13838 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818) 906-1718 www.marksgarden.com
Mulberry Row's arrangement of orchids and roses. ($55)
Mulberry Row
Mulberry Row prides itself in affordable prices for floral arrangements that make your dreams a reality. In addition to their versatile floral selection starting at $5 (three Gerber daisies with bare grass wrapped in cellophane finished with a bow), Mulberry Row is a one-stop boutique full of gift ideas including candles, silver items and handmade jewelry. 13365 Ventura Blvd.,Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818)788-8285 www.mulberryrowfloral.com
Growing Love from Tic-Tock Couture Florals. ($650) Photo: Marianne Lozano
Tic—Tock Couture Florals
Not in the valley, but close enough and most unique…plus they deliver to the 818. Tic-tock Couture offers a diverse selection of arrangements from eclectic and romantic to modern garden styles. Always evolving with the trends, Tic-Tock currently specializes in two styles: sophisticated yet young with black containers adorned with jewel-toned flowers and the “Marie-Antoinette” look resembling a more textured and loose garden. Serving an A-list clientele in the entertainment industry, “Growing Love” ($650) is quickly becoming their most popular work of art. Arrangements start at $125. 1603 N. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90028 323-874-3034 www.tictock.com
Wysteria Lane's "Avalanche of Emotion," contains two dozen roses in mixed pink hues. ($125)
Wisteria Lane Flower Shop
Wisteria Lane specializes in eco-friendly and organic floral arrangements ranging from $45 to $250. Their flowers are grown under sustainable practices and certified as organic and Veriflora. 23635 Collins Street Woodland Hills, CA 91367-5916 (818) 876-9101 www.wisterialaneflowershop.com
Melissa Chua is a journalism graduate from Cal-State Northridge. She is a freelance writer, and a regular contributor and copy editor for LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine. When she’s not on deadline, she enjoys doing yoga at different studios along Ventura Boulevard and on the West side, hiking, dancing and traveling to anywhere with a tropical climate and beautiful beaches.
Sherman Oaks’ Garden reinvents itself anew as Aum & Garden
August 19, 2009 by Karen
Filed under Featured, Home & Garden, Lifestyle, My Daily Find, Shopping
BY AMANDA TRAXLER
Jerome Rogowski, owner of Aum & Garden, wants his diehard garden-aficionado clients to rest assured. The Sherman Oaks store’s name change (previously just Garden—the exterior signage will change in a few weeks), does not mean the shop will stop carrying the wares that have made it such a San Fernando Valley favorite.
“We’re not abandoning our strong garden roots,” Rogowski said. “We’re still working with our vendors who supply the antiques and patio furniture.”
Aum and Garden owner Jerome Rogowski All photos by: Gabriel Acevedo
That said, both the economy as well as client tastes have led to an expanded product line—one that only enhances the store’s one-of-a-kind boutique shopping experience.
“We started noticing clients were drawn to spiritual statues,” Rogowski said, noting that while the shop does not focus on religion or spirituality, it does have Christian, Buddhist and Judaic objects as well as a book selection that is both spiritual and thought-provoking in nature.
For gardeners, the common ground between gardening and spirituality should not be surprising.
Antique Victorian Urn
“By virtue of being a gardener, they are intuitively spiritual,” Rogowski said. “And by being spiritual, they are intuitively a gardener.”
Aware that many shoppers are buying gifts for others, Rogowski offers goods at a range of prices.
“We want someone to feel comfortable walking in and being able to buy something for one dollar to several hundred dollars.”
Often told that the store is reminiscent of a Chelsea, N.Y., boutique, Rogowski is confident that he can track down whatever a customer desires through his approximate 450 vendor contacts across the country.
“They can describe anything to me, and I can find out where I could get it.”
Not that customers don’t already have quite a selection. Among the eclectic shop’s goods are pottery, statuary, gardening books, candles, incense, jewelry, vintage items, paintings, photography, and birdhouses.
Garden Chair
A recent favorite for many customers has been pewter fairies handmade in Tennessee, which Rogowski believes are popular due to the mythological creatures’ connotations of playfulness and imagination. Also a best-seller has been vintage rosaries, which Rogowski notes that many purchase for their beauty, not just their religious significance.
On the more traditional side, an antique Victorian urn, priced at several hundred dollars, sits a few feet away from a smaller, made-in-China replica that runs less than $100.
And that still doesn’t begin to cover it, if not only for the fact that the store also shares a space with Mulberry Row, a floral shop and garden-design business.
There is no end to the diversity of products at Aum & Garden. From furniture, to greenery to gifts, there is much to choose. And if you can't find it, owner Jerome Rogowski can surely find it for you.
Co-owned by Alicia Payne and Robin Weiner, the full-service flower shop features goods such as luxurious soaps and lotions, making it the perfect one-stop shop for gift-givers.
And for yoga practitioners and other events-minded individuals, an onsite gallery/meditation room allows the store to offer yoga classes, show films and present speakers.
Aum & Garden and Mulberry Row are located at 13365 Ventura Blvd. To find out more, call (818)788-3400 to reach Aum & Garden, (818)788-8285 to reach Mulberry Row. To find out about Meditation at the store, contact: keith@garden-thestore.com
Amanda Traxler is an L.A.-born writer with degrees in journalism from the University of Kansas and creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been rediscovering her roots since she returned to the area three years ago from the wintry Midwest.
