Urban Desert Flora

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Phoenix, AZ
Urban Desert Flora

Your one stop shop for sustainable floristry in Phoenix. Farm to table flowers! Available for elopements, weddings, special occasion, and any other flower need!

11/14/2024

One of the things I find most fascinating about flowers in Arizona is the effect of the sun 🌞

Non-uniformity within color is something I really love. Lisianthus is one of those blooms that gets bleached by the sun and transforms into these beautiful shades of their original color.

11/07/2024

I love detail shots - they’re my favorite out of any gallery!

That’s why we offer complimentary florals for your photographer to use at their discretion ☺️

Ellie & Zack’s day was a beautiful, sunny day filled with happy tears all around 🥹 (yes even from me)

Alt. Caption: keeping your (floral) s**t together so you can keep it together 🫶🏽

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11/05/2024

Texture is our not so secret ingredient 🤫

Weaving a tapestry of textures into every arrangement creates a sensory experience that is beyond visual.

Please, reach out and touch the jibbly bits. ✨

10/30/2024

Not into flowers and cake? Can’t relate 😮‍💨

Flowers are the pizzazz to any event and the cake is its own moment. It’s only right to dress it up ✨

Flower Meadows aren’t just for the ground, making those grounded arches we all love. We can apply this mechanic tabletop too!

As always flowers sourced for the ☺️

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10/29/2024

Choosing Urban Desert Flora means more than just beautiful flowers; it’s about making a statement, honoring your commitments, and creating an atmosphere that reflects the best of who you are and what you stand for.

🌵Let us handle the details so you can focus on the most important moments.

🌵Together, we’ll ensure your event is not only visually stunning but also a true reflection of your dedication to locally sourced, sustainable resources.

🌵Don’t let your special day be just another event; make it a landmark moment that inspires and resonates with all who attend.

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10/23/2024

Rethink • Reuse • Reduce • Recycle

Sustainability can take many forms. It looks different for every business.

For me, it starts with Rethinking the mechanics of what I’m making. Resourcefulness and a deep consideration of materials used to bring the most sustainable designs in Arizona.

The thru line is knowing your source! Support local flower collectives. Support local farms with your veggie + fruit purchases.

Linen

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Local Flowers

10/05/2024

I fell in love with a velvet table linen and had to design for it! Thank you 🫶🏽

My favorite flowers in the summertime: Cosmos + Echinacea.

The most temperamental blooms, but if you can get them to behave… they’re always everyone else’s favorite as well.

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08/27/2024

Having floral designs that transcend spaces is a design request many floral vendors receive! In Arizona that can be easier said than done.

One way we like to fulfill this request is to combine plants and dried florals. They’re easy to transport and do not require a refresh!

Photographer
Planner
Venue
Linen

08/23/2024

Floral Preservation

🌵 While we deeply appreciate the talent and creativity of resin artists who have reached out to us, their methods do not align with our core value of sustainability. Encasing blooms in resin contradicts our commitment to eco-friendly practices.

🌵Urban Desert Flora operates within a circular waste management model. Simply put, we strive to keep everything in a closed loop system where materials are continuously cycled back into the land through composting or reused in our production process.

🌵 Flowers encased in resin will remain on Earth long after we are gone. Instead, we seek to partner with preservation artists who employ alternative, sustainable methods for our clients!

🌵 Our clients typically have a preservation plan for their florals by the time we are connected, but we would love to have an eco-friendly preservation partner! Anyone come to mind? Tag them below! 💓

08/22/2024

If you are looking for a “I have never seen that before” type beat, make you do a double take, planet rocker, show stopper, flow propper, head knocker, beat scholar, tail dropper, do my thang…. excuse me while we take a quick Missy Elliott dance break🔊

We create unforgettable florals filled with unexpected elements to keep the people talking! We promise to create floral designs that you haven’t seen before.

Keep it weird.
Keep it interesting.
Keep it cool.
Do your thing!

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07/13/2024

Desert Fusions ✨

🌵 While we can and do grow a wide variety of flowers in Arizona, many designs end up being fusions with imported greenery. (If greens are needed for ya) Regardless of the design, we want to pull in the beauty of the desert through each stem placement.

🌵 The desert fusion above leaned tropical to fit with the venue setting - !

🌵 Locally grown and Foraged beauties - blooming Manzanita, Cotonaester, and Wax Currant - paired with stunning tropicals from !

🌵 Just a little reminder that manzanita requires a permit and permission from the landowner to harvest! ✌🏽

07/11/2024

It’s about lowering chemical exposure! Local Flowers are crucial to keeping that exposure down, and especially important when placing flowers on cakes + desserts + salads, etc.

🌵Weeds, fungal diseases, and insects are a few problems that agrochemicals and pesticides solve for large commercial farms.

🌵As a result, these residues remain on every part of the flowers that we work with! Why is this important?

🌵These chemical residues can be absorbed through the skin! It can cause acute or chronic health effects depending on the frequency and duration of contact.

🌵 A 2017 study: Risk Assessment of Florists Exposed to Pesticide Residues through Handling of Flowers and Preparing Bouquets has some interesting finds:

1) 20 Belgium Florists participated and were given two pairs of cotton gloves to wear during 2 consecutive half days while handling and preparing bouquets.

2) 111 active substances were found (mainly fungicides and insecticides) with an average of 37 active substances per glove. With at least 1-3 substances to be 3 & 4 times the acceptable limit for exposure!

3) Their study concluded that floral professionals are regularly exposed to both a very high number of residues of toxic chemicals and high concentration levels. According to their Risk Assessment, “Belgian florists who handle a large number of flowers are at risk of exposure to pesticides and residues with potential effects on their health.”

4) The study then suggested that for further risk assessment, bio-monitoring of the florists with analysis of their blood, urine, and hair still need to be investigated!!!

5) Wearing gloves can effectively lower your exposure to harmful pesticides, but we all know florists don’t typically wear gloves unless things are pokey!

🌵 While none of the chemicals are fatal upon contact, it’s the repeated exposure without proper PPE that causes issues. Many cause skin irritation, 7 active substances they found are suspected of damaging fertility, another may cause genetic defects, and 10 active substances are also suspected of causing cancer after prolonged or repeated exposure.

🌵 Link to the Study: https://www.midi.com/197090

07/10/2024

When submitting an inquiry through our website, you don’t have to have all of your finer details set!

🌵 Date, location, and general vibe are a great start.

🌵 A estimated or set budget is superb, but no worries if you don’t know! We’ll talk about what’s most important to you and how those desires can factor into pricing + differing design choices.

🌵A Signed Contract + Paid Deposit = Date Secured
Once you have secured your date, we’ll begin working out the finer details with you and your planner! We allow for changes to be made until the final payment is due, 3 weeks before your event.

We can’t wait to chat!

07/08/2024

Springtime (March - May) is the best time for native flowering plants! While some native flowers can be sourced from a local nursery, others have to be foraged from the native landscape!

🌵Design: Foraged flowers and plants are truly special! We strategically place stems where they will have the most impact. It’s a labor of love to gather them, so let’s show them off!

Foraged, Native Flora are not going to be seen across the entire design. Instead, they act as specialty stems that elevate and add the defining characteristic to the arrangement/ space!

🌵Harvest: Take only what you need. When foraging, it’s important to be mindful of how much is taken from the environment. We do not want cause irreparable damage the plant or its habitat. Our studio is trained in the proper harvesting techniques for various plants and flowers!

🌵As your lead designer, my knowledge comes from first hand experience alongside horticulturalists, master gardeners, botanists, and local flower growers! I have learned and am still learning from an amazing network of people. I am studying up on plants for a foraging certification, so I can really get out there to explore.

07/01/2024

🌵ORIGINALITY: We do not accept ready-made solutions or antiquated ways of delivering floral experiences! UDF is a small part of a movement to redefine floristry!

🌵Our clients are looking for authentic floral expressions and to serve this desire we must always remain open to new and different ways of thinking and creating!

🌵SUSTAINABILITY: We want to honor the gifts of the desert by graciously accepting what Arizona has to offer, which is why we partner with it to pioneer full-service sustainable floral design! We are committed to being a 100% Foam Free Studio !

🌵COMMUNITY: We operate under the idea that AZ has everything we need if we are willing to be creative & trust one another. If we recognize the fullness of the source, it will continue to give in more ways than we can imagine! Our clients are able to see themselves within the design and feel more connected to one another and the desert as a result!

🌵AUTHENTICITY: Flowers are sourced from our trusted network of flower farms through the . We will always share the farms that your flowers were sourced from and encourage you to support them for your retail flower needs! It all is part of our aim to get to know your needs so that we can offer a custom-crafted display every time!

Inquire through our website to get started!

06/27/2024

It’s all in the details! ✨

🌵A successful floral design considers the event’s theme, location/venue, and purpose!

🌵Texture, Color, and Shape do not only apply to the flowers!! It extends to choosing the appropriate vessel for each arrangement.

🌵Adding specialty blooms, delicate foliage, or an unexpected element is sure to delight observant eyes! These small but largely impactful elements elevate the overall composition.

🌵 As your floral designer, we keep the big picture in mind to ensure that the entire design is balanced- both physically and visually, all elements harmonize beautifully, and there is a nice visual flow to guide the eyes across the entire space + each arrangement.

06/25/2024

Supporting locally grown flowers is not only environmentally conscious, but celebratory of the beauty in our region!

🌵When we support locally grown flowers, we know that we are supporting farming practices that protect local biodiversity and local pollinators!

🌵 Preserving biodiversity and protecting our native ecosystems is essential for healthy growth!

🌵Choosing a flower vendor who appreciates sustainable floristry and prioritizes local flowers is essential for making your floral design as environmentally low impact as possible!

06/20/2024

Conversations regarding sustainability in weddings are happening, but what about corporate events?

I get super excited when a company I have the opportunity to pitch for says they love UDF’s eco-conscious mindset and our mission to support local flowers! It’s my opportunity to educate!

It can be disheartening when I see that their idea of ‘sustainability in flowers’ is only purchasing flowers once for their multi-day event. It’s okay to not want a refresh in the middle of the event.

Let’s not reframe that as ‘sustainability’ though.

Here’s how flowers are Sustainable for Urban Desert Flora’s Corporate Event Designs:

🌵Foam Free Floral Design - We do not utilize microplastics in our studio. We only use compostable or re-usable materials.

🌵Sourcing locally from the - With the specificity of working with brands and their color needs, UDF does their best to incorporate as many locally grown flowers as possible. When we cannot provide a fully local flower design, we source from flower farms as close to home as possible. We cannot guarantee a fully local floral design, but we do everything within the parameters we have to do so!

🌵Flower Aftercare - Depending on the state of the flowers at the end of the event, we will either compost your florals or donate them through

Typically, installations are composted while arrangements directly in water are easily repurposed for donation.

🌵While I can’t always guarantee a fully local flower selection for my corporate clients, I can always guarantee Foam Free Designs and good flower aftercare! When talking about sustainability in flowers, the materials we choose and where they end up are the first steps in conducting an eco-friendly floral service!

Address

Phoenix, AZ
85053

Website

http://urbandesertflora.com/

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Videos

Forever in love with a Floral Lapel featuring local goodies ✨💕 Congratulations Helen & Nick!! I can’t wait to see your elopement photos & share the bouquet. 😊 They eloped at the Desert Botanical Gardens & popped over to Papago to take some stunning photos! ✨ Poppy & Scabiosa Pods from @the_potters_bench Yarrow & Apricot Statice from @johns_plant_adventures Tea tree from @az_figs_n_roses Little bits of California Pepper…bush?… from @bbutlermom Today I am finishing up pieces for tomorrows wedding at the Desert Botanical Gardens! #urbandesertflora #udfdesigns #florallapel #mensflowers #weddingflowers #sustainablefloristaz #sustainablefloristry #azcutflowers #localflowers #weddingflowerideas #elopementflorist #phoenixarizona #desertbotanicalgardenphoenix #desertbotanicalgardenwedding

Happy Valentine’s Day! In celebration of the holiday, I was invited back to @inspiraarrowhead to lead an arrangement class. We had a blast! The BEST part was getting Daffodils from @flora_curated ! I was elated to provide my students with local blooms for the first time. Simone was kind enough to donate some roses to the cause, so you will see a few roses amongst the colorful blooms. 😊🥰 #urbandesertflora #udfdesigns #daffodils #phxflorist #phoenixarizona #sustainablefloristaz