SAF’s Sylvia Cup Competition…Top Designers… A Mystery Assignment

The Sylvia Cup Design Competition is the longest running, live, national annual floral design competition. It's sponsored by Certified American Grown and Smither-Oasis and coordinated by Professional Floral Communicators-International. The 2018 competition, the contest’s 50th anniversary, paid homage to “The Wizard of Oz.”

This year the Sylvia Cup Competition tested the skills of 19 designers. Among them were 12 members of the American Institute of Floral Designers, eight past Sylvia Cup contestants and three contestants sponsored by state floral associations.

Rey Rodriguez, AAF, AIFD, TMFA, of The Gypsy Florist in Austin, Texas, won the grand prize on Sept. 15th during SAF 2018 in Rancho Mirage, California. Congratulations to Rey and all the contestants!

It was exciting to see all the wonderful Conical Designs, Imaginative Wands and Monochromatic Container Designs that were created using the same product assortment of beautiful American Grown flowers and foliage, including Protea Pink Ice and Leucadendron Safari Sunset! Here's a glimpse of some of these creative designs - Enjoy!

A Passion for Flowers - Designing with Helen

Helen Davis has always loved flowers and plants. As a young mother in Yolo County, California, she discovered the art of floral design at the local fair. Feeling inspired, she decided to try her hand at designing and began participating in the fair’s annual design competition. A tradition she has held on to for the last 50 of her 89 years. Helen further developed her design skill while working for a good friend who needed help with her home-based floral business. Over the years, she has shared her passion for flowers with her children and grandchildren… spending time training and encouraging each of them.

A few years ago, while preparing for a competition at the fair and considering using protea in her arrangement, Helen was introduced to our Facebook page when her sister shared a post. Since then Helen regularly spends time on Facebook enjoying flowers posts… especially those with protea.

Helen’s ‘protea highlight’ happened this summer when Resendiz Brothers was the featured farm in the California State Floral Association’s booth at the State Fair in Sacramento. With some determination, her daughter, Laura, brought her to meet Mel and everyone with him in the booth. Helen was overwhelmed with the kindness shown to her. She was asked to pick the flowers of her choice and create her own special Protea Bouquet which she proudly took home with her. Helen’s love and enthusiasm for flowers will be a cherished memory not just for her but for all of us who got to meet her and hear her story that day!

June Is For California Grown Flowers!

Did you know that June is California Grown Flower Month?

Thanks to the leadership of some lawmakers in California, a resolution marking June as California Grown Flowers Month is something we're super excited about.

To help kick off this special month, the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) held a special design competition among California legislators on June 1st in Sacramento, with the winning designer receiving California Grown Flowers delivered to their office for a year!

This year's competitors: Assemblymembers (left to right) Kristin Olsen, Jim Cooper, Jacqui Irwin and Senator Bob Wieckowski.

It was a tough decision, but ultimately the crowd of attendees selected Assemblyman Jim Cooper as this year's Floral Design Champion. He took home the winner's vase that California's flower farmers are proud to fill as a reminder of the hard working family flower farmers that contribute to the $12.2B economic impact of California's floral industry.

This year's floral design champion.

The event was covered in the widely read Capitol Morning Report.

In addition, to help drive more awareness, a special "June is California Grown Flowers Month" graphic has been created and people are invited to use the graphic as their profile image during the month of June!

The California Grown Flowers Month graphic proudly displayed on our Facebook page.