Everything's Coming up Dahlias: Flowers we love right now!

Dahlias for sale at the New York Flower Market.

It seems like everywhere we look right now we're seeing our new favorite flower, the dahlia! From the farmer's market, to our trip to Meadowburn farm, and even the New York Flower Market, dahlias are really having their moment right now! If you're planning a wedding, looking to add some flora to your bike, or just looking for some flowers for your desk, these colorful blooms are a great choice right now!

If you've noticed in some of our recent photos, we've been incorporating these lovely blooms into as many photos as possible! Our love affair with this flower started this summer, so we've really taken as many opportunities to share them as possible. The dahlia is in the same family of flowers as others we love like the zinnia, so they've been right at home with the other flowers we usually show off.

Dahlias are a beautiful flower to grow and can grow to be close to six feet tall. If you're lucky enough to have a garden, dahlia seeds and bulbs are available for you  to plant. On our recent trip to Meadowburn farm, we learned all about their heirloom varietals of dahlia and that they sell the bulbs, too! They can be tricky to keep as a cut flower though, so if you bring them inside, make sure to keep them hydrated with flower food and out of direct light.

Heirloom dahlias growing at Meadowburn Farm.

Dahlias are in season from summer until early fall, so If  you'd like show off some of these colorful blooms, you're still in luck! They're still in season, and you can find them now at your local farmer's market (if you're in North America) or your local florist.

Happy planting!

The dahlia garden at Meadowburn Farm. Some of these plants measure close to six feet tall. If you're in Northern New Jersey or New York, you may be able to find their heirloom dahlias at area florists.

Introducing Our Scalloped Bike Planter!

If you follow us on instagram, you may have noticed a new bike planter that we've been working on! Over the last few months we've been developing a new bike planter that we could ship directly to customers from our 3D printing partner, Shapeways. We've been working on a new bike planter with a scalloped top that you can use to carry cut flowers or a small potted plant.

One thing that you may notice about this new bike planter is that the price is lower than our other pieces. We've decided to do something different with how we manufacture this planter because we know that the price of some of our items can be a little high. To reduce the price to you, each planter is 3D printed on demand, and we've chose to work with Shapeways to handle the ordering and fulfillment. Because the product is made for you on demand and doesn't have to enter inventory, the cost to make it goes down and we can pass the savings on to you!

Scalloped Bike Planter

$30.00

This planter is available to order now on our website and through Shapeways! Happy planting!

Exploring New York's Flower Market

Hidden on 38th street in New York between 6th and 7th avenue is a small green oasis within a concrete jungle. On this block is something know as the New York flower market, full of vendors and stores selling fresh cut flowers, plants, and other floral supplies. The market is not one individual store, but a street full of small shops all specializing in something different. On my recent trip to New York, I decided to check out the shops there and share with you some of the wonder found on this small block.

If you're going to look for flowers, the earlier you get there the better. You don't have to wake up as early as the florists who shop the market before sunrise, but if you are there before 9 or 10 am, there will still be a good selection of flowers and plants to choose from. You don't want to arrive there too late though, some shops close around noon and most close before 3pm.

Wholesale flower shops are where florists and businesses can buy plants and flowers directly from the flower wholesalers. Here you'll find much more variety than the usual roses and carnations that you'll see at most grocery stores and retail florists. Prices per stem and per plant are usually lower, but you may be required to buy more stems of a specific flower than you would at a regular florist's shop.

I went to the wholesale flower market one morning while on my trip to New York. I arrived there around 8:30 am, and there was still a lot of selection of flowers and plants. The streets were bustling with deliverymen loading cars and shopkeepers preparing large orders to go out. I was absolutely blown away by the color and the selection of what I found while I was there. I had visited the market before in the middle of winter, and had gone in search of succulents and tropical plants instead of stopping to smell the flowers (very literally!). Since it is nearing the end of summer, most stores were teeming with seasonal blooms like dahlias and sunflowers!

If you plan to visit the Flower Market, there are a few things that you want to remember before you go. Most stores will sell to the public, but some of the stores I went into require you to set up an account with a business license, so be sure to check before you pick out your flowers and dream of possible arrangements. Not all stores will take credit and debit cards, so carrying some cash will help you make sure that you can buy everything that you want. Also, one thing most new buyers won't know is that some wholesale florists are kept really cold! Sometimes their stock will even be stored in walk-in coolers. If you're someone who doesn't like the cold, bring a sweater!

Shopping at wholesale florists is not only a fun adventure to see a side of the flower business most don't know about, but it is also a great way to buy flowers in bulk. If you have an event or wedding that you need to purchase flowers for, buying them wholesale and then arranging them yourself is much less expensive (but more work) than buying them through a florist. Wholesalers like these are also not unique to New York, and you can find flower wholesalers in most cities.

Put a plant on it!*

We've listened to your emails and tweets, and we've decided to bring back our original bike planter!

This planter attaches around the frame of your bike with elastic, and can hold air plants, potted plants, or picked flowers. We've shown it here with zinnias and dahlias, two seasonal flowers, but you can add any plant to it that you would like to carry!

sold out

Right now we're this bike planter in three colors, blue, yellow, and orange, but we will add more color options closer to the holidays!

Happy biking!

*If you've been following us for a few years, you may have seen this FastCo Design piece comparing our bike planters to something seen on the show Portlandia. We dig it!

Wearable Planter Summer Sale

Good news! We're clearing our shelves to release new items, and we're having a sale on a few pieces that need good homes. Most of the items in the sale are items that we are discontinuing or decided not to release for wider production, while a few items have some small imperfections. 

Most items are on sale for 25%-50% off, and the discount is automatically applied when you add the item to your cart.

Lemon and Raspberry Glazed Donuts

Happy National Donut Day! To celebrate this fine (and I’m sure very official) holiday, we made some lemon and raspberry glazed mini donuts to celebrate! Since we can't share donuts through the internet, we're sharing the recipe here today!

To make these donuts, I first thought about what would be a fun and summer-y sort of flavor, and lemon and raspberry fit that bill. Mini donuts are a lot of fun to eat and share, and they only take about 5 minutes per batch to bake. While it is an easy recipe to follow, making donuts can get messy (I found myself covered in raspberry glaze at one point while making these!), so wear an apron. We adapted our recipe from Wilton's Lemon Baked Cake Donut Recipe. This recipe makes about 5 dozen mini donuts. 

Lemon and Raspberry Glazed Donuts

Ingredients:
For the donuts:
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (one whole lemon)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Non-stick spray or butter to coat the pan

For the raspberry glaze:
1/2 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or raspberry liqueur)
Sprinkles (optional)

To make the donuts:
1. Start by preheating the oven to 425º F (and butter or spray your donut pans with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). 
3. Add buttermilk, eggs, butter, and lemon zest to your flour mixer. Mix or beat until just combined. 
4. Fill each mini donut cavity about 1/2 full. To make this step easier, I spooned the batter into a plastic bag and cut the tip of the bag to pipe the batter into the mold.
5. Bake for 4-6 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing. Let donuts cool on a wire rack before glazing.

To make the glaze:
1. In a blender or food processor, blend raspberries to make a puree. Place puree in a fine mesh sleeve over a bowl to catch the juice. Discard the seeds.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla or raspberry liqueur to the raspberry puree. Whisk or blend until smooth.
3. Once donuts have cooled, pipe glaze over the donuts or dip the tops into the glaze. After you glaze your donuts, add sprinkles if you would like. Let the glazed donuts set for 15 minutes before serving.

Once you’ve finished making your donuts, serve with iced coffee and enjoy! Bon appetit!