A Natural Beauty

Baltimore has earned a national reputation for artistic flair, gritty realism, and a hip style�just think Visionary Art Museum,"The Wire," and John Waters.

Think Carole Langrall, too.

She exudes Baltimore, in her home and her passions which range from turning floral design on its head, to raising awareness for a rare disease to encouraging the world to stop and smell the roses (and the forsythia, amaryllis, and hydrangea), one blog posting at a time.

As we chat in her floral studio, "A Garden of Earthly Delights" in the Catonsville neighborhood of Paradise (how's that for location, location, location?), Carole takes a moment to pull down a mounted wall case, refusing to let a phalanx of stubborn nails deter her.

"Wow girl," she says, gratified with her effort. "I love it when I do things like that on my own."

Langrall is not a woman who is afraid to get her hands dirty. Literally. Her home garden has been featured in Baltimore magazine, which routinely showcases her designs in their "weddings" issues.

"Colors have always played a key part in my life. I remember a school project where I had to design my home of the future. It was like an underwater dome, a bubble that featured the same colors I'm drawn to today�earth tones, mosses, jades, sea blue and gold which you see in many of my designs. I was also attracted to the new, learning about people who weren't like me. I wanted to be a sports car race driver. Or James Bond. I wanted to travel and experience other cultures."

Her love of colors and all things floral are reflected in her home d�cor. Originally a "Sears bungalow, you could have ordered it in a catalog," Langrall painted rooms in vivid colors and patterns that might raise a realtor's eyebrow. It's a kaleidoscope of a home, all bright reds, greens, even silver, mermaid statuary and columns, furnishings that range from the Far East to Mexico, wall hangings made from old album covers and sheet music, a wardrobe with faux flowers and plants bursting from their drawers, decorative "bumblebees" swarm about a light switch, chic pumps adorn her closet, and on her walls in an art deco picture frame.

"My home is the reflection of my creativity," she says.

Double dutch

Creative expression finds roots in Carole's family history.

"My grandmother was a floral designer and my mother dabbled in it, so I grew up with flowers. Years later, I learned how far flowers have to travel. I became involved in wholesale, importing flowers from other countries, including Latin America. Today, I try and deal with local product as much as possible."

The effort to reduce floral imports is a major issue in an efforts to be more environmentally conscious. According to Langrall's website, "We prefer area wholesalers and organic growers, thus helping to lower carbon emissions. The majority of greens and foliages (including some seasonal blossoms) come directly from our own garden."

But what makes "A Garden" stand out from all the other floral designers? The answer can be found in the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and Hieronymous Bosch, whose famed work, "The Garden of Earthly Delights" became the inspiration for Langrall's company name and style.

"I'm a fan of these Dutch and Flemish painters, how their work captured the exotic, the human condition and a sense of whimsy. I wanted my work to encompass these same things," she says.

Ann Sachs of Artful Weddings Photography, a colleague of Langrall's for nearly a decade, agrees.

"She's fantastic, extremely creative, professional, and her work is just amazing. She's not going to come up with the 'standard, typical' design. Some florists will do the same things over and over, and that's not Carole. Her works are unique to the personality of the client," Sachs says.

A season of change

After working as a floral wholesaler in Silver Spring, MD, and then as a manager and freelance designer with Les Belles Fleurs in Washington, D.C., Carole moved back to Baltimore in the mid-1990s to start her own business.

"I hired people like art students from MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) and theater students from UMBC. I didn't want floral designers per se working for me, but people with open minds, who weren't already used to a certain formula, but would use their imaginations and artistic ability," Langrall says.

Langrall insisted on "out of the box" designs, using garden versus traditional floral greens, unusual foliage, even fruits and vegetables.

"I put birds eggs and nests in arrangements�succulents, acorns, it runs the gamut. I did a bouquet with lotus pods, orchids and grasses, and people were taken aback, expecting rose bouquets," Langrall says.

The Baltimore City Paper recognized Carole as Baltimore's Best Florist in 2000; Baltimore magazine declared her "Best Floral Designer" in their 2006 "Best Of" edition.

But despite the accolades, Langrall felt something wasn't right. It turned out to be her health.

In 2008, Langrall was diagnosed with Conn's Syndrome (hyperaldosteronism), a disease of the adrenal glands which results in an excess production of the hormone, aldosterone. The disease would leave her feeling highly stressed and exhausted.

"I underwent an adrenal vein sampling to confirm whether the problem was not in both my adrenal glands. I had a tumor on my left adrenal. I had surgery (March 2009) and the tumor was removed," Langrall says.

During the months leading up to her surgery, Langrall spent hours online, researching her illness. What she found encouraged her to launch her first-ever blog, "Living with Hyperaldosteronism"(http://hyperaldosteronism.blogspot.com).

"People are suffering, and no one is listening to them. I felt it important that this condition be recognized. I'm told I'm cured; I have one adrenal, and my life is changed. I went for months, not knowing what was wrong, to a year's worth of tests and doctor's appointments--it was exhausting. I learned patience," she says.

She also learned that she had an appreciation for writing which would find expression in two floral blogs, "The International Flower Spy" (IFS) (http://internationalflowerspy.blogspot.com) and "Neglected Beauty" (http://neglectedbeauty.blogspot.com/). (Carole is also the Baltimore Flowers writer for Examiner.com).

"I went to the Canary Islands in Spain and kept a journal of all the flowers I had seen on the trip. I got the idea that it would be fun to keep a record of what I saw botanically as I traveled. IFS was a diversion, a way to express my love of travel, adventure and flowers," she says.

As Langrall honed her writing skills online, frustration set in about her illness and the news that she had a tumor. To depressurize, she decided to take a walk through her neighborhood, and explore areas she hadn't ventured before.

"I walked along alleys, industrial areas, taking my camera, which was weird as I never do that. I found hidden gardens, flowers growing in places you wouldn't expect. I found beauty in places that people had given up on, and it gave me hope that life goes on. I took pictures, showed them to my photographer friends and asked their opinion. 'Is this something or nothing?' They said it was something."

Bringing it all together

Today, Langrall is working to combine IFS and the Neglected Beauty project which she hopes will someday become a book and an interactive website where people all over the world can send in their photos and images of "neglected beauty," in flowers, people, places and things.

In a town where people arrange dozens of plastic pink flamingos outside City Hall to make a point that's all about this city's style (Caf� Hon, oversized flamingo art, it's a Bawlmer thing, hon), it's clear grassroots activism flourishes here. It's a trait Ms. Langrall shares as well.

Teal Cary, executive director of the Catonsville Chamber of Commerce, relates how Carole approached her about a beautification project.

"She came up with the idea of putting in planters along Frederick Road and approached the Chamber to see if it were possible. Together we applied for a grant and now we have beautiful flower pots up and down the street," Cary says.

"When we first applied for the grant, we were also looking for areas where we could establish gardens. Carole was willing to research local Maryland plants and perennials. Sadly, we couldn't find property owners willing to donate open space, but it's a dream we hope will continue. Carole is excited about the possibilities, and she makes you excited for the project, to see the value of greening the community and the beauty that can come to a business district," Cary added.

A city that lays claim to Edgar Allan Poe, Eubie Blake, Spiro T. Agnew and Wild Bill Hagy is eclectic to say the least. Ann Sachs finds that Carole Langrall fits this funky mold:

"Carole works really well with all different types of people�she's extremely eclectic and very Baltimore in some ways. I think of Baltimore as being a little traditional and preppy, but it's also edgy, and Carole's definitely got that. I like how she's environmentally conscious, incorporating more locally grown and indigenous plants into her designs, and that's a direction in which Baltimore is starting to move. That's one place where I see Carole ahead of the curve."



A communications professional for over 25 years, Dan Collins has been a reporter, features writer, editor and columnist since 1984, including stints with The Washington Times and the Times Publishing Group (later Patuxent Publishing and now part of The Baltimore Sun) and The Baltimore Examiner in Baltimore. His freelance writing career has included his work for the Beacon newspaper as well as other publications including Baltimore Magazine.