FAQs

Hi, I'm Charina.

I'm the maker behind Orchid & Pine, a floral design studio specializing in botanical gifts for life and home. Our small business is family owned and operated out of our studio in the Santa Cruz mountains.

My passion for flowers started out when I was a little girl, surrounded by the abundance of blooms in my grandmother's garden. There were many days spent with three generations of women, gathered together in the shared experience of cultivating the earth. Little did I know that this love would lead me down this path to spreading joy with others through the beauty of flowers.

Flowers speak to the heart and have a unique language that is all their own. They can lighten your spirit and lift the corners of your mouth into a smile. It is with this intention that I created botanical gifts in our studio, inspired by nature and grounded in the spirit of wellness. I hope that you enjoy these gifts from the earth and that they bring as much joy to you as they do for us in our home studio.

Charina with earth vessels

Product FAQs

We grow a small crop of the flowers that we create with in our vessels, bouquets and wreaths on our property in the Santa Cruz mountains. Primarily dwarf strawflowers in 2022 and slowly expanding into a few other crops like statice, cress and ammobium in 2023. 

In 2023, 80% of our flowers are sourced from two local farms in Santa Cruz. Star sight Farm and Lunaria Farm. We love supporting these local women. When tou purchase an item from us you are supporting a larger collective of women owned small businesses in Santa Cruz County. 

Both the flowers that we grow and cut ourselves and those from the farm are dried naturally without use of any chemical preservatives. They are hung upside down directly after harvest, in a cool, dry environment that is well ventilated with circulating air. 

When we were first starting out in early 2022, I was sourcing flowers from all over. Some were preserved using chemicals. Unfortunately, those flowers had an off gassing effect where the chemicals being used to preserve the flowers would cloud up the surface of the vessels. After discovering the various ways in which flowers are “preserved” we have made the conscious choice to only use flowers that are naturally dried across all our products.

Our glass vessels are made of borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glass is a type of glass that contains boron trioxide which allows for a very low coefficient of thermal expansion. This means it will not crack under extreme temperature changes like regular glass. Not only is highly durable with a smooth hand feel and higher clarity than regular glass, it is also a non-toxic often a top choice for glass ware for high-end restaurants, laboratories and wineries.

The natural crystals are sourced from a small, family owned business that works with small mines primarily in South America and other regions of the world.They work diligently to source crystals from mines that implement sustainable practices including land restoration after mining and paying their workers fair labor wages. I love working with our wholesale team and one of my highlights every quarter is going out to visit them at their showroom in Sebastopol.

How to purchase botanical creations 

Earth vessels 

We carry a small, ongoing inventory of our earth vessel collection throughout the year. Due to the nature of working with natural materials like flowers and crystals, each vessel is unique and unlike each other. While we have recipes for the flowers and crystals within each category, when you place an order, your vessel will not look exactly like the one featured on the product phase. You will receive a vessel with flowers, textures and crystals with the same ingredients as shown in product photos, however the composition will not be exactly as shown.

If you're local or live in a town where we participate in events, the best way to purchase a vessel is in person. This allows you to select exactly which crystal and flower combinations resonate with you and you get to take home the vessel(s) that you love the most.

Click here for the updated collection list of the vessels we make based on size and crystal type.

I do not create custom work at this time for earth vessels.

If there's a crystal flower combination you're in love with and we are out of stock, we most likely will be restocking them as materials become available. Please join our waitlist to receive notification of when the collection will be restocked.  

Shipping Policies   

Orders are picked and fulfilled within 3-4 days of your order. I am mostly a one woman shop at this time and a busy mom of three and do my best to fulfill orders as quickly as we receive them. 

We fulfill orders as follows:
Orders placed Sunday-Tuesday are shipped out on Friday of the same week.  Orders placed Wednesday-Saturday are shipped out on Tuesdays the following week. 

We ensure that our products are packaged securely with the maximum protection for shipping. We've run several ship tests ourselves as part of our research to find the best boxes and packaging for shipping.

We do not process refunds for broken pieces, however should you receive a broken item, please reach out to us within 1-2 days after receiving your item and we can ship you a replacement vessel.  

Once your order has been dropped over to the carrier I no longer have control over your package. Please reach out to the carrier provider or local post office for details on your package.

You may track your order utilizing your tracking number that you receive in your order confirmation email here. 

We do not accept returns at this time.