We recently connected with Cara Schmidt, floral designer and owner of Three Notch Florals, based in Bloomington, NY. Three Notch Florals is a floral studio specializing in romantic, lush, and whimsical designs for weddings in the beautiful Hudson Valley and Adirondack areas. Cara is passionate about celebrating seasonality, and using native and locally grown flowers in her breathtaking designs.

You can learn more about Cara and her gorgeous floral design work on her site. Be sure to follow along on her Instagram too!

3 words to describe your floral style.

Soft, delicate, textured. 

Tell us your flower story. What drives your love of flowers? 

My flower story is kind of standard -- helped a few friends with their wedding flowers, until a friend of a friend reached out to hire me for my first paid job. So I started an Instagram, and things grew from there. 

My love of local flowers is an extension of my values. It must have been all that Captain Planet and Fern Gully growing up! As I learned about how far flowers are shipped and the pesticides that need to be used on them in order to ensure we don't bring in invasive pests, I began to explore locally grown flowers. But it was really the pandemic that allowed me to make the switch to using almost entirely local product. There was something about that moment in time where we realized how fragile everything was. That we could lose so many businesses we cared about if we didn't support them. I didn't want to lose our local flower farms. And with the slow down in events, it allowed me the space to connect with farms and switch to using their flowers.

Any advice for designers getting started with local flowers? 

The practical tip is: ask to see inspiration photos before an initial call. If the flowers in their pictures are not in season when the couple is getting married, bring that up immediately. Most of the time the couple will say the photos they chose are more for color or style, and not for the specific flowers in them. But if a September couple wants Icelandic poppies no matter what, it is better to find that out before either party gets too invested.

But the real emotional tip is: be ok with saying "no" to weddings. It is terrifying to turn down business. Even 7 years in, I still get scared when I do it. But working with a couple who has different values will make you miserable. No amount of money fixes that. Whereas working with couples who value the investment in community and sustainability that comes with local flowers will buoy you through all the dirty buckets and wax covered glassware!

Tell us your favorite local flowers. Maybe something underrated you would encourage others to check out? What can't you get enough of when it is in season?!

All the beige phlox forever always! Cherry caramel, dulce de leche, creme brulee. I love them all! 

But I also love that the new frontier in locally grown flowers is moving toward more natives. In the spring I love wood anemones (anemone virginiana) and penstemon digitalis. In the summer, I can't get enough of spotted bee balm (monarda punctata). And in the fall, all the varieties of asters are so incredible.

We're really in a crisis when it comes to declining numbers of insects. Aside from being sad I barely see any monarch butterflies anymore, it also affects the whole food chain. But supporting farms that are growing native plants (and don't use pesticides!) is a great way to help combat that. You can design a beautiful arrangement and help out the bees and butterflies all at the same time. :)

Thank you, Cara, for sharing your story and design wisdom with us! Be sure to check out Three Notch Florals' website & Instagram.