Now through Mother's Day we are offering 10% off all kinds of wonderful gift ideas for Mom.  Some of the gifts we have are sachets, gift baskets,  gift bags, soaps, candles, natural gifts such as birdseed ornaments and decorative wood slices,  hand-painted mason jars, potpourri and so much more.  Our products are also available at Honeycomb Creative at 415 N. Monroe Street, Monroe, Mi - in Downtown Monroe.  Love this store.  They also have Fusion paint!  We are planning on redoing our kitchen cupboards using that paint this spring.   Our products are with Vintage Market Home in Downtown Wyandotte at 110 Sycamore Street, right next to Stroh's Ice Cream.  They have a lovely display there of our products and I just recently resupplied them.  See picture above.  There are additional products on the shelf to the left as well as the table.  

Floral Design News:  We are running about 4-6 weeks processing time on our floral designs.  Single Bouquets I may be able to get to before that time frame.  However, larger wedding parties please allow minimum 4-6 weeks, with 8 weeks being the best time frame.  I can occasionally accommodate a rush order, but it really does depend how many orders I have at the time.  

Our Etsy shop floral design listings have been revamped.  I have combined the floral designs listing to include all the matching boutonnieres, corsages, and bouquets on ONE listing for each type of bouquet design. This way customers don't have to go searching on the shop for the coordinating boutonnieres and such.  I have also included bud vase arrangements for each listing.  I recently supplied these for an order and they worked out Great!  They are basically a downsized version of the bouquet made to fit an approximately 9-10 inch tall bud vase with a 1-to-1-1/2 inch opening.  These dimensions can be tweaked if you have a bud vase outside these parameters.  Just send a note with your dimensions.  A small bouquet is usually good for a pint or Quart mason jar arrangement.  A medium bouquet would be equal to a larger table arrangement and the large bouquet would be equal to an ex-large table arrangement.   I have updated shipping also to also better accommodate ordering multiple items.  

E-commerce:  Our website e-commerce should be up and running soon.  I know I have been promising, but we are getting close!  I just need to add our floral design.  This way you can come right to the website and order direct through us.  We will be keeping our Etsy shop as well that way if you enjoy shopping on Etsy you can still have that experience.  The benefit to the E-commmerce web is I am able to offer discounts or sales not available with Etsy due to the fact the E-commerce does not have a transaction fees associated with it that Etsy does.

Farm News:   Michigan has been playing hide and seek with spring.  We've had some great 60 and 70 degree weather days, but it's been inconsistent.  Hubby and I are getting ready nonetheless.  We are getting ready to retill the Monarch Waystation area and reseed as soon as our frost date has passed adding in some milkweed and some new perennial wildflower, bee balm and more.  We also will be tilling a new areas to grow other flowers that we use in our floral designs.   Hubby has acquired the lumber to make 6 large raised beds.  We plan to use some of these to grow florals and some for veggies.   In lavender news, the plants are starting to green up on the underside.  I am just waiting for it consistently warm up in order to do a good spring pruning.  On one of the warmer days they smelled wonderful.  I could already get the lovely fragrance of lavender on the warm breeze.  ​ Looking forward to this season of lavender!   ​All images © Lavender Rose Farms LLC

All images © Lavender Rose Farms LLCWe are already in full swing (earlier this year than usual) for floral design/wedding parties.  I have put an announcement on our Etsy shop that we will need 4-6 weeks lead time to create wedding parties.  If the order is for only 1-2 bouquets, we likely will be able to produce those faster.  However, PLEASE write a note with your orders if you need the bouquets before 4-6 weeks and we can try to accommodate (but not guaranteed).  We actually appreciate when brides or wedding planners provide the wedding date at time of order.  I tend to note this on each order so I can make sure I am meeting your deadline. 

We have all our listing for floral design auto-set to 4-6 weeks currently.  So unless I hear from you specifically in a note with your order that you need it before that time frame, it will be slated to go out in 4-6 weeks. 

 I've had a few busy brides not check listing times when ordering and found out their orders would not make it out in time for their  wedding! Gratefully, thus far I have been able to accommodate each order in a rush capacity.  However, we cannot always guaranty that will be the case.  It really depends how busy we are at a particular given time if I can push a rush order through.  So... to avoid missing your special date PLEASE keep track of our production times. 

I periodically post this to our social media and our blog, but it's ALWAYS listed clearly what our floral design timframe is on our Etsy shop page under the Description - Announcement on the home Page.  Also frequently asked questions are in this section.  Additionally, when you place your order you will receive a shipping date.  If this is later than you would like reach out to us.  As I said, I will try my best to accommodate but not always guaranteed.  

Here is our current notice on the Etsy Page.  

"IMPORTANT NOTICE:  FLORAL DESIGN is running at 4-6 weeks.  Please allow this amount of time before our event at a minimum.  If you are just ordering a single bouquet and need it before this time frame please drop me a note.  Also, if your order is for a wedding or some other kind of event PLEASE write a us a note with the date of event so we can make sure to meet your deadline.   We cannot guaranty rush orders.  FLOWERS ARE DRIED, not fresh. "

Each bouquet is handcrafted at the time of your order.  No PRE-MADE bouquets sitting around getting dusty or faded.  I want your designs to be freshly made.   Because our bouquets are not mass produced in advance, we do need the extra time to hand create.  Thank you so much for understanding!  

​Here are some of our latest creations.  ​All images © Lavender Rose Farms LLC

Hi There! Please vote for Lavender Rose Farms LLC to win a grant from FedEx. Just click on the link above or go to our home page to click.  

We will be using this grant to help grow our farm.  We plan to use the funds to build a greenhouse.  With a greenhouse we would be able to propagate our own lavender (after obtaining our nursery license).  We also plan to do a spruce up on our barn.  Our property is part of historic Knapp Farm that was established in 1860.  The barn was built later and was used for grain storage.  Today we use the barn to dry our lavender.  We'd love to give the barn a fresh coat of paint.  We are thinking barn red and possibly a barn quilt. We also would like to install a pulley system for our drying racks.  We would be able to pull the racks up to the ceiling height for better drying due to the fact we have dirt/gravel floor.  We need the pulley system due to the barn's height which is 22 feet tall!  

Other projects we would like to do are expanding our Monarch Waystation- which is nationally registered.  We are adding a bunch of new plants including milkweed this year. Costs would include paying a gentlemen who brings his tractor by to till our field and also costs for seeds and plants (native plants). We would also like to start growing some other flowers we use in our floral designs such as larkspur, yarrow and others, which requires funds for tilling/seeds/plants. We also plan to create raised beds for more herbs and flowers.  Costs are for lumber and dirt to fill plus seeds/plants.  

We are hoping to use our gardens in the future for horticultural therapy workshops.  I am looking into training and certification for horticulture therapy, which helps disabled people, vets, elderly etc.  

CONTEST GUIDELINES:  
"From FedEx: Your vote is one of the many factors we'll consider when choosing the Top 10 finalists and winners. Please continue your support during the entire voting period from February 27 to April 1. You can vote once per 24-hour period.

​ Therefore, I will repost the link to voting in the evening everyday on our Facebook page 

Here is link to our profile for the contest and you can also vote from there if the badge above doesn't work for you.  Fedex Grant Profile Lavender Rose Farms

I also created avideo for the contest that unfortunately didn't display correctly on our entry.  Click on the link above to view it.  Thanks so much everyone!  

Wow we are nearing the end of January!  We escaped most of the snow and cold this year until this past week.  We had quite the winter storm this weekend with nearly 8 inches or more in our area.  It's also very very cold.  

Usually January is our downtime.  I had planned to use this slower period to get our promised e-commerce store up and running. This takes some time to get all the products listed.  I am working on it slowly but surely.  We have been busy this January.  Floral Designs orders do not usually start in abundance until March and continually get more busy throughout spring, summer, and fall, then tapering down for the holidays - although we do have some holiday weddings.  Well, this year we have already taken multiple wedding party orders due out this month!  Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have had to put the e-commerce on the back burner.  Of course, we still have our online shop through Etsy.  Our direct e-commerce store will not necessarily replace Etsy. However adding our own store via this website in addition Etsy gives us more reach for our customer base and makes easier process to check out.  I promise to keep working at it!  

I have been concentrating on restocking the stores we are vendors at since Christmas passed !  They were pretty low on stock after the holidays so I did use a few after Christmas weeks to really get stocked up.  I was making all kinds of bath and body products, added a few new ones like Pink Himalayan bath salts, shower gel, castille hand soaps, and more.    Here are some pics of some of the products! They are available online Etsy store and the retail locations.   ​All images © Lavender Rose Farms LLC

​I also put together a  little slideshow of the displays at our Retail Displays at The Vintage Home Market in Wyandotte and Honeycomb Creative in Monroe.  I hope you enjoy and stop and visit these stores. Check out our retail page for their locations/addresses.   We enjoy working with them both and both locations have a lot creative vendors.   

Wow we are down to the wire!  It's only a week until Christmas Eve!  We are still working and shipping for Christmas.  I wanted to share our mailing notice/schedule for the holidays straight away for those interested in last minute gifts. 

​HOLIDAY NOTICE:   Our Deadline for mailing PRIORITY MAIL SHIPPING will be 20th of December for Christmas delivery. Our store will be closed Saturday Dec 22nd through December 26th for the holidays!  Any orders previously taken will go out according to the time frame on your order.  We make sure our packages are delivered to the post office in the recommended time for delivery.   However, there can be delays at this time of year on the post office end so please keep this in mind with last minute orders. 

Also please remember our products are at Honeycomb Creative in Monroe (415 N. Monroe Street, Monroe Mi).  They are a new local business.  I love this store!.  It is super cute and so many nice things.  The owners are so friendly and helpful and easy to work with.  They take great care in displaying our products, and as a vendor I deeply appreciate that they care for the products that are displayed keeping them neat and tidy  between my visits to the store for refreshing products.   Honeycomb has our line of bath and body products, candles, sachets, gifts and more. 

FARM NEWS:  The weather was definitely more fall like this past week.  I enjoyed my babysitting days with my granddaughter.  She had me get up and out and take her and our pal, Murphy,  into the lavender field to enjoy the warm up!  She loves to run the rows and it was something we did daily in the summertime. She also loved to pick the wildflowers, watch the bees and butterflies, and see the rabbits that love to take shelter in the zinnias.  Dear granddaughter was, however, disappointed when she ran to the Monarch field and saw all brown flowers and grass this past week.  She said "Hey!" and produced a pout.  I captured the moment via picture (see slideshow below).  She is only 3 years old so she didn't understand where all the flowers had gone.  I explained to her that the flowers go to sleep during the winter and they will return next spring and summer when they "wake up."  She seemed to accept this and move on to playing with a soccer ball.  

I hope everyone has a truly Merry Christmas . I know it's a joyous time of the year for many and a busy time too.  I also know many people struggle with holiday blues and depression.  My prayers go out to you.  It's a difficult time of year to those who have lost a loved one, who have financial problems, or for a variety of other reasons.  I remember as a single Mom years  ago when my sons were small it was a very hard time for me.  I am a Christian and love Jesus, but still struggled with holidays due to lack of funds, stress,  and another reasons.  I can offer my sympathy and lift you up in prayer for those who are struggling 

I do think it's important to share a resource I wish I had 20 years ago.  Most communities have a food pantries but my church offers a wonderful blessing of a generous food pantry.  They treat you with respect and you honestly get to "shop" for what you need from the pantry.  You are welcome even if not a member.  They serve the Downriver communities.  Just show your id (license or state ID), but they don't turn anyone away.  They will help you load your food into the car.  They give much more than can goods.  They have eggs, milk, frozen foods and even some meat etc.  You are welcome to visit once a month.  If you are member to the church once a week.  I have recently had someone near and dear to my heart use their services and it was a good experience for them even though they felt a bit sheepish. That is understandable.  Most people feel a bit awkward reaching out for this kind of help.  However, the staff treat you with dignity and respect and truly understand hard working people can fall upon hard times.  I have had others friends use their services as well.  I know back in my struggling days if such a pantry experience had existed I would have utilized it gratefully.  

For Those In need "The Open Arms Food Pantry" is open Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 pm, at our Trenton campus (5699 Fort Street). We serve not only church attendees, but also people who meet the federal low-income guidelines that live east of I-275, between I-94/Outer Drive and Ready Road/South Huron River Drive. We provide some perishable items in addition to a standard assortment of non-perishables.

To Donate See the list of requested donations below. Drop non-perishable donations in the designated bins at any Southpoint campus. We do not accept outdated food items, or glass jars. Thank you for checking!  Any questions, email foodpantry@southpointccc.com.

CHRISTMAS SERVICES:   We'd love to have you come to one of our campus! Three locations Trenton, Huron, and Allen Park.  
southpointccc.com/vip

Christmas Service Times:
Sunday, December 23 @ 9:30 & 11:15am
Monday, December 24 @ 2:30 & 4:00pm (No Saturday service on December 22.)

​Let's not forget the reason for the season.  I pray the Lord blesses and keeps you all this Holiday Season and throughout the coming New Year.  

We will be taking Christmas Products and some new products to our retail locations this week!  They are already listed online through Etsy.   We have some old standbys from previous years such as our botanical filled Christmas bulbs but we've added some new products too.  We have Christmas birdseed ornaments and wreaths pictured above.  We also have wood slice ornaments that can be used on your Christmas tree or year round for rustic decor or for decor on gifts or as favors. We have new Christmas potpourri  - Lavender Citrus Spice.  It includes lavender, juniper berries, citrus (orange) and cinnamon sticks.  We have large 4x6 Christmas themed lavender sachets.  Christmas bouquets/winter bouquets include Celtic Meadow and Winterberry bouquets. 

Gift Baskets:  We carry these year round and they are particularly popular at Christmas and Mother's Day.  We have updated our baskets to give you more products for your money!  Our gift baskets now includes 4 oz linen water, 4 oz organic hand and body lotion, 1 bath bomb or 4 oz bath salt (your choice), an embroidered sachet filled with lavender, a bar of lavender goat's milk soap, and a 4 oz aromatherapy grade botanical soy candle in a mason jar. 

Finally our new products:  Lavender Eye pillows filled with lavender and flaxseed.  They can be used as is, warmed in microwave, or cooled in freezer. Great for yoga/mediating, migraine/headache relief, or just for relaxation.  Also new is our organic hand and body lotion - lavender scented and our lavender bath bombs  also lavender scented - two colors lavender/yellow and lavender/white.  

Just a quick blog to share some new wedding photos we got in over the weekend.  This is from Kayla.  She is carrying the Sweet Herbal Bouquet which is a rustic and boho inspired bouquet of Lavender, Santa Cruz Oregano, safflower, small daisy-like flowers (ammobium), with a few pink globe amaranth as well.  The Simple English bouquet of lavender was also used in this wedding.  Both are available on our shop! I think they look for perfect for the wedding theme they have chosen and dress.   I love the venue and the pics by waterfall!  Beautiful.  

I LOVE getting wedding pics.  I get excited like a kid on Christmas morning!  I love to put them on our listings and social media so potential clients can see how great they look! Also, because they are dried bouquets you can even keep them for years to come.  Just keep out of direct sunlight or spray them with floral preservative spray (you can find it at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores or at Amazon.com).    

I wanted to share some beautiful photos of a local wedding I did.  Mariah is a local bride (Shout out Monroe Mi!).  I was so happy to do her wedding from the bouquets to boutonnieres and corsages.  All the flowers are dried.  I work exclusively in dried bouquets - although in future growing seasons we may start to incorporate more homegrown fresh cuts (stay tuned).  Mariah was kind enough to share the photos of her wonderful day!  It means SO much to me when brides share their photos.  So please brides, or anyone who orders our floral designs, send in your photos!  With your permission, we will post them to social media (Facebook, blog, Instagram) and we also LOVE to use them on our shop listings for the products over on Etsy.  Click on our Shop tab to be taken over to the store.  

 I love November.  These days there seems to be a skip over Thanksgiving theme and go straight from Halloween to Christmas.  While I love Christmas too, I am big on giving each season and holiday it's own time.  I think I might like Thanksgiving because to me it's a more reflective holiday.  Its introverted sort of like I am!  Thanksgiving is a time to slow down for a day (or it's supposed to be) have a big meal with family or friends and remember our blessings and just spend time.  No gifts... just a time to be together.  As a Christian,  it is a time for me to be reflective, pray, and give thanks to the Lord for all He has done for me and those around me.  Even the trials and tribulations have a contribution or lesson to be learned.  While it's definitely so much more difficult to be thankful in the storm, it is also a time to praise.  Praise in the darkness as well as in the light.  

Thanksgiving actually is one of my favorite holidays, I think because it's a forgotten holiday and it's a holiday with few bells and whistles.  I love autumn so it extends that theme as well.   

 I am in retail sales so I do keep my shop open online (and usually run a sale).  However, I don't usually participate in any Thanksgiving shopping.  

Don't forget that Honeycomb Creative is having a Grand Opening.  It started yesterday, but don't worry you still have time for the event!  It goes through November 3rd!  Check out our Facebook Page we posted a video (from Honeycomb's owners) where to park (behind store).   Location is in our #hometown Monroe Michigan.  415 N. Monroe Street Monroe Mi, 48162.  More details on our retail location page.  

If you are looking for a table centerpiece or decor for Thanksgiving we have several options!   Take a look on our shop - click on the shop tab on our website.   If you are local you may order online or you can chose to have pick up your order from the retail location in Monroe at 415 N. Monroe Street, Monroe Mi - HoneyCreative's new store - where we are a vendor.  They have graciously allowed us to use their store to meet up with customers ordering local floral designs.  You can also drive on a bit farther down N. Custer Road to pick up at our farm/home.  Contact me for arrangements at elaine@lavenderrosefarms.com or drop me a FB message or message through Etsy.  

Also coming out for fall - We have supplied both of the retail locations (Vintage Home in Wyandotte and Honeycomb Creative in Monroe) with our line of jelly and jam.  Currently they have lavender jelly, blackberry lavender jam, and strawberry lavender jam.  Look for cranberry lavender coming out in November for the holidays!  

We will be adding some Christmas items soon to our shop and retail locations.  Look for those coming out in November. 

​Also please remember that Honeycomb Creative's Grand Opening at 415 N. Monroe St. Monroe Mi is coming up on November 1st!  Please come out and take a look at the new store!  

We are excited to announce that the Honeycomb Creative will be opening soon in Monroe.  We will be a vendor at their new shop at 415 N. Monroe Street Monroe Mi.  We are very excited to have a store locally in our hometown.   The grand opening is scheduled for November 1st.  Please check them out.  They are also accepting vendor applications! 

We will be delivering our products tomorrow!   We will have a full line of sachets, soaps, linen water, candles, hand-painted mason jars, jellies/jams, and lavender bundles and smaller floral designs.  We will be taking both stores (Vintage Home and Honeycomb) some brochures of our full line of floral designs.  I tend to not take more elaborate designs to display in retail stores.  I do not like them to sit in retail locations as they tend to get handled and can easily suffer damage. Also prolonged exposure to the sunlight causes sun fade over time.  I like to keep our designs for retail locations simple and bring just a few that I can change out regularly.  Dried bundles of lavender tend to sell quickly so I do have them available in retail stores.  If ever you'd like more bouquets than a retail location has available contact me or order online.  If you'd like to order a more elaborate designs we will have the brochures out to the stores soon or you can go to our online store here at our website.  

Local online ordering:  If you'd prefer to pick up your wedding party order or larger floral designs that is an option!  Honeycomb Creative has graciously given us the okay to arrange to meet local clients at their store for pick up of  wedding party orders to save the shipping charges.  You may also pick up from our farm/house by appointment.  

Did you know that our bouquets can also be used as centerpieces or table arrangements or for home decor?  Below are some examples of our bouquets used for table arrangements for events or for home decor. 

Please share with us any photos you might have if you have used our bouquets in this way.  We are always happy to feature your photos!   Rule of thumb, small bouquets fit a pint mason jar, mediums fit a quart or larger jar, large arrangements fit large pitchers and jars.  
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