San Francisco Flower Mart - Part I

Walt Disney may call Disneyland the happiest place on earth. Not me, I call the San Francisco Flower Mart the happiest place on earth. The Flower Mart is always brimming with possibilities that make me giddy with excitement.

When I went to buy supplies for The Wreath Clinic, my friend Treasurehunter joined me. I sensed immediately that she was in the same state of giddiness as I was. Thank goodness because I heard myself talking with a very rapid, high-pitched voice; perhaps she would understand. "We should make this a field trip for book club!", she said in the same rapid, high-pitched voice. Well then, we're good to go!

Within minutes of arriving, I lost Treasurehunter. I had turned around to set aside some winterberries and “poof”, she was gone. A couple of cell phone calls later I found her with, what else, her treasures:

There is something that “wow”s me every time I go the mart. For example, this stalk of palm dates is what “wow”ed me three weeks ago. It was just casually hanging around Brannan Street Wholesale Florist :

That is one fruit-bearing palm tree! Here are some more dates, with yellow stems, amongst loads of china berries and a couple of bunches of green pomegranates:

I was also “wow”ed by these lady slipper orchids:

I apologize for the Seurat pointillism effect on this photo. I had the camera with the macro lens enabled in one hand and the orchid stem in the other hand – two moving objects, what was I thinking?! But the colors of this flower are so delicious, I just don’t have the discipline to leave this photo on the editing room floor.

These cattleya orchids were other-worldly looking:

Right now it’s wreath-making season at the flower mart. Here are Pacific Coast Evergreen’s wreathmakers:

I could stand and watch them for hours. They make these wreaths at breakneck speeds:

What fascinates me, okay let’s be honest, what infuriates me, is that they don’t even seem to be looking at their work, yet their wreaths always come out gorgeous, balanced, and sturdy.

These wreaths from Brannan Street Wholesale Florist are ready to sell:

Other vendors offer dried wreaths:

This Santa speaks volumes:

That's all for now, but as you probably know by now, I have more to share, so stay tuned for more flower mart photos next time. By the way, the top photo is Torchio Nursery Co.