Just saying farewell to 2016 as winter finally settles in and looking forward to spring and beautiful local flowers captured by this early spring bride's bouquet photo by Late Bloomers!

In conjunction with Bee Downtown and Offline Media we participated in a fun and educational event at the Durham Hotel, the Bee Bash!  Pollinator friendly arrangements were made and tables were set up with education on how to help the bees.  

 

 Lee has been working with The Durham Bee City Committee who recently announced the certification of Durham, NC as an official Bee City USA by the Durham City Council on June 6, 2016!   We will be celebrating this happy inauguration with the kick off of 2016 Pollinator Week. See community events in link  (http://www.beecityusa.org)

"Bee City USA certification is both an honor and a responsibility. Launched in 2012, the Bee City USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in a resolution, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet. Cities, towns and communities across America are invited to make these commitments and"become certified as a Bee City USA affiliate.”
Lee is committed to providing sustainable practices in flower design and sourcing bee friendly plants and flowers from our local growers who use chemical free growing practices and also  preserve the natural beauty and heritage of our native North Carolina landscape.

Lee draws materials and inspiration from her NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat Garden where she supports the urban pollinatorsand local bird population.  This is how she was titled by Leon de Grodski of Cocoa Cinnamon who said, you should be 
 "lee attracting birds and bees" which was the name of an art show, then this blog and now the artand education branch of her work that promotes supporting our mother Earth through environmental education art and connection from the mountains to the rivers to the sea.

  The Durham Bee City Committee is a collection of amazing individuals, organizations and businesses that promotes and facilitates the education, conservation and prosperity of our native and honeybee populations in and near Durham County. This group has been partnering with the  Keep Durham Beautiful Organiztion.  We look forward to creating opportunities for bee habitats and education in our future.  Come by to kick off pollinator week, make a bee friendly seed bomb and art and see an installation of bee friendly plants for your garden on June 20th!

So wonderful to join a community of local designers in the 2016 Art In Bloom festival at the North Carolina Museum of Art.  We were fortunate to be assigned Georgia Okeefe's painting Cebolla Church.  Joined by Ebb and Flowers, Kara Tew, we strived to re-create the natural feel of her time in New Mexico by using some native plants and also played off the colors of the painting and the landscape.  Ben Owen III generously lent pottery he created just for the event which created a stunning base for the floor designs to be displayed.  Mary Johnson Rocker also lent her artistry by creating  a beautiful re-creation of Georgia Okeefe's handwriting in a quote by her.  Thanks to the NCMA for making it all possible! #ncmabloom

More photos from The Paradise Garden Wedding by Urban South

Paradise Garden Wedding

In September, Hana Lee, a new branch of lee attracting birds and bees that provides event designs by sourcing from all local and sustainable farms and artisans, created ceremony and reception installations for a wedding where the couple, Susie and Katie, were committed to creating an environmentally friendly Paradise Garden to celebrate their union.  Inspirations were the ancient Paradise Gardens of Persia and the woods and river around the venue, an earthly paradise in itself.  All materials were bee friendly and also composted.  A wonderful opportunity to collaborate with vendors such as  Yellow Bird Baking and Shindigs who planned the whole event.  A wonderful local Durham team, including Ebb and Flower helped Hana Lee create and implement the installations!

                  

All materials composted and containers recycled after the event!

Bee Friendly Wedding

Recently, lee attracting birds and bees did a bee friendly," fresh from the field"  themed wedding for an ideal couple whose family members includes bee keepers.  The bride was inspired by the 100 percent organic, seasonal and local flowers and it was an honor to style them in a formal setting.  Assistance was appreciated form Kelly Goyette and Allie Mullin.  Allie also took all the photos here! Flowers came from lee's Habitat Gardens, Wild Scallion Farm and Springforth Farm

All plant bouquets and arrangements were composted after the celebration, making a completely eco-friendly event!

 * All photos byAllie Mullin Photography