Beauty by the Stem : A trip to a floral shop can be one of life’s sweetest pleasures. The Valley offers a bouquet of stores with a dazzling array of choices.
For many people, flower shopping is seldom the big event it used to be. A mixed bouquet may be had for a few bucks at a grocery store or farmers’ market (there are three certified in the San Fernando Valley). Or you can stay in your pajamas and order the same thing via phone. But anyone who doesn’t visit a flower shop once in a while is missing one of life’s pleasures.
A good shop carries a dazzling array of fresh-cut blooms. Salespeople can help with floral choices--whether for a holiday feast or a beloved’s birthday--and arrange to have your picks delivered, wrapped and tied with a bow.
Price tags, of course, are higher on shop flowers, but their longer vase-life, coupled with the selection florists offer, can make them worth it. To ensure value, though, it doesn’t hurt to inquire about when flowers were bought and how long they’re likely to last.
The following shops are known for the freshness and quality of their blooms as well as for their often unusual selections.
Dried garlands festoon the walls of the Enchanted Florist, a Burbank shop done to the nines in French country style.
Kimberly Randolph, who owns the store, buys her flowers fresh daily from small Ventura County growers and displays them on tables and in a cooler open to the public.
She carries a good selection of imports--Dutch dahlias and tulips, Hawaiian dendrobiums and the huge Ecuadorean roses that are so popular now. Lilies of the valley and La Reve lilies are among her less common offerings, which also include novel greenery: maple leaves, fresh wheat, seeded eucalyptus.
Prices fluctuate with availability and season, but Dutch tulips sell for about $1.95 a stem, spray roses and colored calla lilies about $2.95 a stem, and more exotic items such as dendrobiums, $6.95.
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A bit downscale but equally charming is A Touch of Romance, a former gas station reborn as a flower shop. Owner John Glebocki’s Sherman Oaks operation is simple: no refrigeration, less overhead, lower prices.
But lest this conjure up the daisy buckets of volume flower stores, Glebocki’s wares arrive daily from small growers around the world. Tiger lilies from New Zealand, pine boughs from Japan and proteas from South Africa join Latin American and local roses in his shop. In addition to unusual greens--horsetail and bear grass, New Zealand flax--there are gingers and heliconias in neon colors, as well as spray cymbidiums and Dolce Vita lilies. Again, prices vary, but Ecuadorean roses that sell for $60 elsewhere average $30 here, and orchids, lilies and other favorites also tend to be priced at a few dollars less than the competition.
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At Sassafras Nursery in Topanga Canyon, the rustic garden shed where blooms are sold is an extension of the English cottage world outside. Indoors, cut delphiniums, lilies, lisianthus and Queen Anne’s lace suggest the beloved groupings around someone’s picket fence.
But in addition to such romantic picks, brought in from the Downtown flower market, the nursery offers its own home-grown surprises: cut water lilies, violets and David Austen roses. Although the first two don’t appear till spring, the roses (priced from $1 to $3 a stem) are more generally available, except during winter frosts. Sassafras also grows a lot of bulb flowers, which can be had from fall through winter by the stem or in potted form. Cut narcissus sell for about $1 a stem, or $10.50 and up by the pot. Late-winter tulips begin at $15 by the pot and $1.50 to $5 by the stem.
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A hot-pink sign marks the Encino corner of Casa de Flores, a floral emporium of the old school. Owner Jack Hasson buys almost every day from farms in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Oxnard, as well as from Mayesh Wholesale Florist in Van Nuys.
The result is a dizzying spread, from tuberoses (usually about 99 cents a stem) to freesias (about $7.95 a bunch) to extra-large Hawaiian gingers (about $4.95 a stem) to the requisite Ecuadorean roses ($49.95 a dozen). On any day, the shop might feature roses from seven countries in addition to unusual fillers and potted plants.
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At the other end of the style spectrum is Jasmine Blue on the edge of Universal City. Here, relaxed naturalism meets contemporary cool in a 1932 Art Deco building. White walls hung with plants, a cement floor and a wooden hutch filled with Indonesian vases set the tone for the shop. Owner Dokhi Chambers not only specializes in the unexpected--huge, jewel-colored peonies, nosegays of flowering basil--but she also tucks in oak leaves, eucalyptus pods and pepper berries and wraps bouquets in tissue paper and ribbon. She buys regularly from Ventura County growers and carries local and imported roses ($25 to $85 a dozen) and a wide range of field flowers (usually 99 cents to $2.50 a stem). The latter include anemones in vivid shades and deep maroon dianthus edged with white. She also stocks dried flowers, which she dries herself and sells for about 25 cents to 50 cents more per stem than the same flowers fresh.
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Where and When
Location: The Enchanted Florist, 4150 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday; by appointment only, Sunday. Call: (818) 840-8556. *
Location: A Touch of Romance, 14325 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. Call: (818) 907-7013. *
Location: Sassafras Nursery, 275 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga Canyon. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. Call: (310) 455-1933. *
Location: Casa de Flores, 15600 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday. Call: (818) 783-1818. *
Location: Jasmine Blue, 3327 Cahuenga Blvd. W., Los Angeles. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday to Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday to Saturday; 8:30 to 4 p.m., Sunday. Call: (213) 874-6649.
