Got It Covered: Flower-shop owner recognized for being green

Margie Imus wasn't expecting to find her floral arrangement on the cover of a national magazine.

Imus, the owner of Minglewood Flowers on Reynolda Road, had been contacted by the staff at Flower magazine, a quarterly publication devoted to the art of floral arranging.

They wanted to pair an arrangement of conventional flowers found through the florist trade with one of natural materials that had a smaller environmental "footprint."

Imus was selected because she is known as a supplier of home-grown and organic flowers. Still, she didn't expect to take the cover.

"It was an honor to be in the magazine, but to be on the cover was unbelievable," Imus said.

The sumptuous arrangement featured Asiatic lilies, hydrangeas and butterfly weed paired with smoke bush, viburnums and coneflowers in a cast-stone pot.

Greg Campbell of Garden District in Memphis, Tenn., did the conventional comparison arrangement, using Hypericum, variegated ivy, hydrangeas, lilies and butterfly weed.

The two are remarkably similar. The point is that garden flowers can serve the same purpose as conventional florist flowers -- but with a smaller footprint in the environment.

"We wanted to break the mold of the generic floral shop," Imus said when asked about the origin of Minglewood Flowers.

Imus started growing and selling flowers at local farmers markets 15 years ago. She had a dream about the current location. While it has been a struggle this year with the economy, Minglewood Flowers is holding its own and has just started its fifth year.

Imus, who has been living green ideals long before they became buzzwords, fully embraces the idea of the organic flowers.

"I wish more people would be conscious of where their flowers are coming from, many of which are flown thousands of miles," Imus said.

"I think the conventional industry could be satisfied with local, seasonal flowers. We recognize the wisdom in eating seasonally, so why not?"

Further, there are things on the farm that are just not likely to show up in the glass refrigerated case at the florists. Smoke bush (Cotinus) and Emerald hydrangea are two that Imus grows. She also points to celosias (cockscombs), strawflowers and Pincushion (scabiosa) as flowers that a farm can produce but the industry does not. Imus said she grew several sunflower varieties this year. Sunburst and Teddy Bear are two that she says she loves. They do not shed pollen and they have multiple petals.

Mexican zinnias are also high on Imus' list. "They have small flowers but bloom all summer long, and they are great in arrangements."

She is also fond of coneflowers. "There is such a great assortment of colors now, and we love to use their seedheads."

Vines figure into her arrangements, too. She uses the fragrant flowers of sweet peas and clear, lavender-colored hyacinth beans and the bicolor creamy yellow and dusky orange of mina lobata or Spanish Flag.

Imus likes to use a client's own container to make the arrangement more personal.

"I like listening to the individual's taste and the needs of the room or even the event the flowers are going to. It is fun to customize whether it is a big birthday or a themed bar mitzvah."

Imus will soon turn her attention to boxwood wreaths and table decorations and all the holiday plants, another phase in a constantly rotating cycle.

Question of the week

Dear David: I have a maypop vine growing in my Japanese maple bush. I have never seen one before. I understand that this is an exotic plant. At one time it was fairly common here, but now they are rare. It is a really fun plant. How I can make sure it comes back next year, and can I transplant it when it starts up? Do these things come back every year? -- Linda King

Dear Linda: Maypops is exotic looking, but it is a native vine in the Passionflower family, the same genus that produces the passion fruit found in some beverages. Our native Passiflora incarnata is called Maypops because of the sound produced when the fruit is squeezed. The name passion flower comes from the complicated flower's supposed representation of several elements of Christ's crucifixion, referred to as the Passion. Maypops are perennial and grow on underground runners. They can be dug when the plant is dormant, or it can easily be propagated from cuttings. Though the flower is beautiful, this plant has the habit of popping up yards away from where it originated and can become a nuisance if you are not careful. But maypops are among the most beautiful of our native wildflowers and are an important larval food of several butterflies including the spectacular Gulf Fritillary.

If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to ardening@wsjournal.com.