Thinking Spring

It's the Ides of March, or the time of year during which I start to twitch every time I see more snow. Particularly this year, because the day I moved also happened to be the day we got socked by a particularly nasty late-winter storm, thus resulting in Elmira looking something like this when I arrived:

Only a slight exaggeration of what Elmira, NY, looked like on March 6, 2011. 

Since nothing will inspire you to attempt thinking spring more than your father having to take a hammer to the padlock on your U-Haul because it had frozen, I decided to visit Nectar Floral Studio, where owner Suzette Morgan let me observe her in creative action.

The studio's been in operation for a little over a year and is a one-woman show. Suzette has more than twenty years of floral design experience, is extremely kind and approachable, and shared a lot of engaging insight into her line of work. She mentioned how she had wanted her studio to be not just a business but a haven for people to enjoy, and based on the incredibly comfortable ambiance in there, I think she's more than accomplished that.

The bouquet I observed is made of seeded eucalyptus, hybrid delphinium, stock flower, roses, lillies, heather, and waxflower (which, incidentally, has a really nice, almost citrus-like scent). And I correctly identified them ALL. Or two out of seven. Your call.

Suzette indicated that she left the stems longer than she normally would because her customer was looking for a more dramatic statement:

I also happened to be there when a supply truck rolled up outside; I wasn't aware that such a type of traveling shop-on-wheels existed, so it was pretty cool to get to hop in:

The studio hosts classes (both public and private) if you're interested in trying your hand at floral design, and sells some unique, locally made jewelry and candles as well.

I was, for sure, in a better seasonal state of mind for having stopped by.

Nectar Floral Studio, 217 W. Water St., Elmira, NY 14901, (607) 271-9080

 www.nectarfloralstudio.com and http://www.facebook.com/NectarFloralStudio