On our July specials you may have noticed a seal in the top corner indicating the items were USA made and USA grown. For July, we decided to feature all American sourced items. We of course love to bring you fantastic product from around the globe, but July seemed like the perfect month to let product grown and made here in our communities and by our neighbors shine. From specials, to participating in American Grown Flowers Week, launching summer flowers standing orders, highlighting American Grown Flowers on our website, to our blog, we have chosen to dedicate our focus this month to US and local product.
Today on the blog we’d like to introduce you to a new mechanic in the Potomac Floral Wholesale supply department, Floral Genius flower frogs, and the Virginia women who own and operate this great brand.
We reached out to Stephanie Auville who clued us in on the family, business, and why the flower frog brand was of interest to them.
Image Courtesy of Floral Genius.
Q: Introduce us to the brand and company.
A: Floral Genius is the only US-manufacturer of pin holder and pin cup flower frogs, and the only makers in the world of hairpin flower holders. Floral Genius is owned by us sisters, Stephanie Auville and Jessica Hall. Both of us have always been very driven, passionate people with a shared entrepreneurial calling. My background is in hospitality, event planning, and marketing with a strong focus on operations and logistics management. Jessica is a Chapel Designer who thrives on expressing her passion for flowers through signature floral design and is also co-owner of Harmony Harvest Farm, a cut-flower farm in Weyers Cave, Virginia.
Photo courtesy of Harmony Harvest Farm.
Together, Jessica’s obsession with floral artistry and my love of connecting people to the top creativity tools drive Floral Genius’ commitment to delivering high-quality design products.
In late 2016, Lynne Dobson of the Dorothy Biddle Service reached out to Jessica about the flower frog manufacturing business. Lynne’s family had manufactured the pin holders for generations. In fact, her grandmother, Ida Sinclair patented the hairpin holders in 1936. In later years, Lynne began manufacturing the standard pin holders and pin cups, and as she neared retirement, she was seeking someone to continue her family’s legacy.
At the time, Jessica was farming cut-flowers in Virginia, and I was VP of a marketing agency in North Carolina desperate to take the leap into entrepreneurship. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to leverage both of our strengths and reconnect our family who had been geographically separated for nearly 15 years.
Enthusiasm and warm-fuzzies aside, it’s no secret that you have to have money to make a new business venture work and if the opportunity wasn’t presented to us at the exact moment it was, it would have never worked.
Jessica Hall, Chris Auville, and Stephanie Auville of Floral Genius and Harmony Harvest Farm. Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Ironically, only a few weeks before we were contacted by Lynne we had received our inheritance from our grandmother. We were both very close to her, she was our best friend. She was also a maker, entrepreneur, and ride-or-die provider for her family. Receiving the inheritance was a hard pill for us to swallow - we didn’t really want it because it felt like it was a finite gesture to her being gone.
We both knew that this was the only way we’d feel O.K. about spending the money. It was a way to honor the hard-working values she instilled in us and her ability to prioritize family over all else. We decided to make Lynne’s family business our family business.
We officially purchased the manufacturing rights to the three styles of flower frogs (pin holders, pin cups, and hairpin holders) in January of 2017. We spent three months outfitting a shop, creating a brand, and learning how to not only make but also ship our products across the country. Today we’re proud to say that we’ve not only mastered the original process but are continuing to improve our quality and delivery. With the help of partners like Potomac, we’ve been able to make the timeless mechanic accessible to floral designers across the world.
Q: Tell us about the Floral Genius approach to flower frogs and the manufacturing process.
Our processes are driven by two things: quality and value. The Floral Genius flower frogs are designed to support creative visions large and small and are made with extra-long pins that are set closely together for maximum hold. The flower holders are handcrafted. They are hand-cast and cleaned by our production team with an eye on perfection throughout each step.
Each flower holder is thoroughly inspected to ensure that the pins are secure and evenly distributed and each of the pin cups is water tested for 24 hours to guarantee a water-tight hold. The Floral Genius pin holders aren’t the cheapest product on the market, and they probably won’t ever be, however, their superior quality provides unmatched value to our customers.
Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Q: Why should designers use flower frogs?
So many reasons! With the foam alternatives and US-made products becoming a priority for designers and consumers, we took it as our charge to make the flower frogs domestically accessible to American creatives.
Aside from being totally reusable (and affordably priced designs that walk away), each of the different flower frog styles has distinct benefits when it comes to designing:
Pin Holders: If you’re wondering how your favorite celebrity designers achieve a simplistic or airy look, it’s likely thanks to a flower frog. The frogs enable stems to be inserted at a variety of angles and offer the freedom to move stems around during the creative process that oftentimes can’t be done with foam. Not only does moving stems create additional holes in the foam that can lead to crumbling, but it also creates more opportunity for air to enter the stems and shorten the life of the arrangement. The flower frogs let “you do you” without compromising the stability of the arrangement.
Pin Holder in a compote. Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Pin Cups: The pin cups are incredibly unique and are made with our standard pin holders so you get all of the benefits of a high-quality flower frog in a water-tight cup. These are great when you just can’t quite find the vase to achieve your vision or your client is adamant about using a vessel that doesn’t hold water.
Pin cups in 3 sizes. The walls allow the mechanic to retain water for designs. Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Hairpin Holders: The hairpin holders are incredibly flexible and can be manipulated to support the exact structure you need. Perfect for silk and live flowers, the hairpin’s looped pins hold each flower firmly without damaging the stem. Additionally, flowers can be inserted at any angle for ultimate coverage. Currently, Floral Genius is the only manufacturer in the world of these unique flower holders.
Hairpin holder. Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Any tips for designing with a flower frog?
Using frogs is much easier when stems are well cleaned and cut at a sharp angle; doing these two things will also extend the life of your flower! Use Stickem puddy (see similar: cling) to secure your frogs to the bottom of your vase and be sure that the frog is completely submerged so the flowers have plenty of room to drink no matter where they’re inserted into the frog. As a standalone mechanic, flower frogs deliver airy, lush looks and can be used with the Holly Chapple pillow or chicken wire for added stability in complex foam-free design.
Image courtesy of The Flower Hat.
What is your favorite product to use?
Pin cups! Jessica uses pin cups regularly to create flower-focused arrangements for events and restaurant subscription services. They’re also a great retail add on which is more unique than just buying flowers in a vase and the end customer doesn’t need to be a designer to use them!
Image courtesy of Floral Genius.
Special thanks to Stephanie and the Floral Genius team for generously sharing their story and knowledge!. Potomac Floral Wholesale is proud to carry the Floral Genius line. Currently, we feature a Metal Pin Cup frog on our July Specials. Place your orders now to receive the discount or order any of the great Floral Genius products!