Find Your Local Florist:Everything you want to know about flowers!
Did you know that when you shop small and local, more than 50% of the money you spend stays in the community? A movement away from impersonal big-box stores has lead to more customers trusting their local small businesses and communities experiencing economic growth.
Parkway Floral has raised the bar for flower shops with their going green initiatives and excellent customer service. Their dedicated staff and years of experience in the industry keeps customers coming back!
Parkway Floral proudly serves the South Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. They are a full-service local florist that is family-owned and operated since 1951.
A large antique sign hangs above this flower shop that reads, “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Trade old vases for a green plant.” Parkway Floral strives to make recycling and being green an important aspect in all of their business efforts. They even encourage customers to trade in their old vases for a free green plant!
We are excited to recognize Flowers By Emslie & Company for serving the Barre, Vermont area for almost 120 years! This local flower shop opened in 1897 and has been thriving ever since.
Two cousins originally opened the flower shop and grew their own vegetables and flowers. The cousins used a wooden sleigh pulled by horses to deliver their goods to customers. A coal burning stove was used during the winter time to keep everything warm. The sleigh remains in the shop today and is still used as a beautiful display shelf.
Suzanne Bradish ordered a bunch of spring flowers from Sainsbury’s to brighten up her home, and was sent 100g of spring onions instead, according to a delivery note she tweeted Monday.
Sadly, Bradish’s boyfriend wasn’t aware she’d ordered flowers so he happily took the delivery without returning the onions.
Suzanne shared her misfortune on Twitter and others were quick to sympathize with her, adding their own tales of disappointment.
Last July, when Janet P. Frye AIFD, CFD of The Enchanted Florist, Asheville NC was asked to join Schaffer Designs’ team of floral artists for the Philadelphia Flower Show, she never imagined the experience would be so grand.
The Major Exhibitor’s (category) entry won Best In Show; Display Gardens-Floral with an amazing 106 points, out of a possible 100! (The judges were so impressed they awarded the flower decked vignettes extra points.) The exhibit also took the Emile H. Geschick Memorial Award for distinctive orchid display, held for 191 years by horticulture groups. An amazing 3rd prize was the Society of American Florists Flower Show Award, given for best artistic presentation of flowers and plants for public enjoyment..
Frye was part of a dream-team of 28 floral artists from across the US who converged on Philadelphia to create a floral fantasy. Working with gloved hands, bundled in layers to withstand the cold environment needed to keep the blooms at their freshest, Frye and the rest brought the vision to life.
Schaffer Designs’ owner Bill Schaffer, AIFD and partner Kristine Kratt interpreted the show’s “Springtime In Paris” theme with an exhibit celebrating a movie classic, An American in Paris, on it‘s 60th anniversary. Show-goers experienced the classic movie in a way never seen before. The exhibit interpreted four, magical scenes of the film through a 360-degree diorama of vignettes. The true-to-the-period set added life to the spectacular floral designs. Designers created magical elements in moving, over-scaled designs, colors and incorporated original audio and video of the movie.
Most of the designers, including Frye, are Accredited and Certified with the American Institute of Floral Designers. To obtain Accreditation a designer must pass written and rigorous hands-on testing. Only the best of the best qualify to be inducted into full membership. Frye is the only Accredited AIFD designer in the Asheville, NC area. (More info at AIFD.org)
Frye also got news the same day that The Enchanted Florist Asheville had again received the Readers Choice Award for Brides Book magazine (for WNC area). This award is chosen totally by North Carolina brides and is awarded in each of NC’s major destination wedding areas. [Read more…]
Missing your honey? It’s always tough to be apart, especially if you’re in a long distance relationship. These days, more and more people are meeting online, and connecting in new ways: video chat, text messaging, instant messenger, Facebook, SecondLife, the list goes on and on. Even with all of that, nothing beats a tangible show of love and affection.
That’s easy! Do something completely romantic to show your long-distance-sweetie they are constantly on your mind. No one makes it easier than a local florist! Easily have flowers delivered to your sweetheart at their home or even at the office. Flowers never fail to bring romance and happiness to whomever receives them. Send the above bouquet, Kissable Tulips, across the long distance, with a message that reads:
“Let These Tulips Suffice Until My Lips Can Touch Yours…”
There is nothing more beautiful than fresh flowers, and your beloved will be overjoyed. Even though you can’t be there physically, it’s always good to remind her of your presence. If you are coming in for a visit, send flowers a week before so she can think of you every day in anticipation.
When sending flowers, it’s always better to send from a real local florist, but whatever you do, don’t send cheap flowers that come in a box. No girl want’s to receive flowers and have to assemble them herself! The best way to send flowers is to use Flower Shop Network’s directory that connects you to a real florist in your sweetie’s town or city.
Related Articles:
Romantic Card Messages
Top 5 Reasons To Send Flowers Just Because
Why Men Should Send Women Flowers
How To Surprise Your Sweetie With A Romantic Weekend
This post is brought to you by local Aberdeen, SD florists.
Not in South Dakota? No worries, use Flower Shop Network’s handy directory of local florists to find a florist near you.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do” says local florist Heather Miller-Beldsoe from Heather’s Flowers in McDonough, GA. Heather was one of the hundreds of volunteers to help with Cal Poly’s (California Polytechnic State University) award-winning float at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. FlowerShopNetwork.com had the wonderful opportunity to talk to her about her experiences. Her friends back in Georgia told her, “You’re either crazy or stupid to be going to LA by yourself!” but that didn’t stop this Georgia girl from fulfilling her dreams.
“It was March or April of 2010 when I first started getting involved with it.” Heather would constantly check on the progress of the float via their website. She submitted pictures and YouTube videos of her work, and in August it was official. She was definitely going to be apart of this iconic American tradition.
Heather left for her Tournament of Roses adventure on Dec. 27th. She was joined by residents, parents and students who take weeks off work every year, just to come out and help during Deco Week. (Deco week is the time when the flowers are actually applied to the float.) Most sponsors pay companies to create their floats, but Cal Poly’s is always 100% volunteer. They work all week under a head designer (this one happened to have just finished designing for the Oscars!) to create this mega floral creation!
“Whenever I go to events that have these kinds of things, most of the people are older. It was kind of nice to see that there were younger people still interested in learning this craft, because I think it gets lost.”
Cal Poly has two sister universities, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly, Pomona, and each built half of the float. So, the front half is built by one campus, and the back is built by another. They bring them together only one week before Deco Week! The Cal Poly campuses are technical colleges so, of course their float had a lot of creatively-animated parts, which proved quite the challenge for float decorators. No part of the float can be seen raw. Everything has to be covered with 100% natural materials: some kind of dried flowers, seed, bark, fresh flowers. No part of the actual float can be shown.
Galactic Expedition was the theme of Cal Poly’s 2011 Rose Parade float. According to their website, it features seven childhood friends building the rocket ship of their dreams and taking their imagination to soaring heights. An operative crane, a spinning planet, moving child workers and a full complement of tools and toys were all situated on an airy cloud high above the earth’s surface.
California had such bad weather right before Deco Week, so the designers didn’t even know what they had to work with until about 48 hours before. The flowers did not even arrive until 24 hours before the judging! “We were trying to trade off other items to just to start, at least greening up.” But once they were ready, the float creations took off.
“I was like a sponge. I learned to do a lot of things, from petalling, to doing dried flowers, to the different types of glues they used. Plus the whole concept of how the mechanics work,” Heather says. “We designed more down than up, and as a florist we normally design up.”
“I [also] had the opportunity to work with genista. We can’t get it in Georgia, but it’s native to California. It was the first time I was able to really work with it.”
“I did all of the fresh flower designs on the crane. That whole piece moved two different ways, side to side and the girl went up and down! So all of the flowers had to be secured. I ended up using floral zip ties. It was the only thing I could think of to hold it all in place!” [Read more…]
Contrary to popular belief, a local florist’s work can be exhausting and stressful at times, especially for the owner. When is the last time you and your great employees really cut loose and had some FUN?
Research shows that the more FUN you have in your shop, the happier and more productive your employees will be. Here are a few tips you can use to shake things up a bit…
Start small. Make a list of all your employee’s birthdays, and really celebrate their big day when the time comes! Here at FSN, we post a flyer of upcoming birthdays in our break room. This is a great way to show you care and make your employees feel special (because they are!)
Have a cookout! For lunch one day, plan a cookout! Bring a grill from home and make burgers or chicken with chips. (For your vegetarian employees, you can get a small 2 or 4 pack of pre-made veggie burgers and grill just like regular patties) If you’re not a fan of grilling, have it catered. Either way, little events like these really bring the team together!
Start a “Fun Budget”. It doesn’t have to be much, but the rewards can be fantastic! Save up a little bit and look for things you and your employees would like to do.
Having fun at work is important. Just look at Google, one of the biggest corporations in the world, inside their headquarters they offer: Foosball, pool tables, volleyball courts, assorted video games, pianos, ping pong tables, and gyms that offer yoga and dance classes. They also conduct grassroots employee groups for all interests, like meditation, film, wine tasting and salsa dancing. Of course I wish all of our local flower shops could install pool tables and offer salsa dancing, but for now a cookout and a few small adventures together will be just fine!
One of my favorite treats we were surprised with at Flower Shop Network was a masseuse! During our most stressful season, our awesome management brought in a masseuse to do chair massages (head/neck) during our break times. We each got a 15 min 
pick-me-up and were able to push through the day with a much, MUCH better attitude. Talk about brilliant!
Some companies plan outdoor excursions like hiking, rafting, floating or canoeing. Outdoor activities can be fairly inexpensive and a lot of fun!! Just getting together for a bonfire and roasting marshmallows will increase your teams bond.
While on these “fun” trips, take LOTS of pics and even video share on your Facebook Page. This will help your followers connect on a personal level with you and your team. It’s a great way to advertise the unique culture of your flower shop.
