Ask the Expert: What blooms w/ raspberries but has white on leaves
This looks like a ‘berry’ vine but is blooming with what looks like small white berries in a cluster. The leaves have white on them as well. Some of these are growing with rose bushes and some right along with the raspberry vines. I just moved to this house one year ago and am interested in identifying this.

Thanks! Jeanene

Ask the Expert: Is my lily dying?

I repotted my lily a week ago and it has been wilting ever since. The soil I used was garden soil miracle grow. The soil is moist I don’t think it’s over watered. Could it just be in shock? If so how long should it take to come out of it. Some of the leaves are starting to turn yellow.

Becky

The English Garden Florist introduces TEGWeddings.com - a new website that showcases the shop’s Wedding and Event flower business.

Flower Shop Network member, The English Garden Florist of Raleigh, North Carolina has just launched TEGWeddings.com, a new online resource for couples in search of a wedding florist in the Raleigh/Durham Triangle, North Carolina area. The new wedding site offers prospective brides and grooms the ability to learn more about The English Garden Florist and their capabilities through an online gallery and testimonials from past customers.

“Our website also has a number of pages devoted to helping couples plan and budget for their wedding flowers. We have a number of sample floral designs to help inspire brides along with a planning checklist to help keep brides on track for a successful wedding,” stated owner Cydney Davis-English.

Among these features, the website allows couples to submit detailed contact information to The English Garden to aid in the floral planning process. The website also offers potential customers a chance to view sample proposals and pricing worksheets created by The English Garden, which will help couples set their budget for floral decorations. It also provides an overview of how the English Garden staff approaches the proposal and pricing process.

“We believe every wedding must be a masterpiece, and the launching of this informative website will show potential brides how The English Garden can bring this level of commitment to their wedding,” commented Ms. Davis-English, who also worked in event planning in the nonprofit sector for several years before reentering the florist industry.

ABOUT THE ENGLISH GARDEN FLORIST OF RALEIGH - The English Garden Florist is a full-service retail florist, gift shop and floral event provider located at 10310 Moncreiffe Road 107 in Raleigh, NC 27617. Customers may contact the shop by calling (919) 341-6650 or 1-888-632-5975, Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Owners, Warren English and Cydney Davis-English are 3rd generation shop owners with the experience necessary to assist customers with placing orders for local delivery or anywhere in the world. Over the last 40 years, The English Garden Florist of Raleigh has earned a reputation in the area for providing: excellent attention to detail, a high level of personalized customer care, and the ability to work within any budget.

Brenda Kingston FSN

It’s hardly news to anyone that prom remains one of the biggest events in a teenager’s life. These young adults, with their mass of disposable income, spend months planning the perfect evening for themselves and their prom dates. To them, prom would be incomplete without the perfect dress or tuxedo, shoes, hair, ride, and matching corsages and boutonnières. This is where the florist can make the difference between fancy trimming and shabby accessories.

Florists often pass on prom business while many realize this sudden inward cash flow to be a profitable staple from year-to-year. The March 2008 issue of Floral Management includes an article that showcases some of the reasons florists may want to reconsider this youthful venture. Teenagers still have extreme purchasing power and choose to spend a hefty chunk of it on prom and homecoming. Being the chosen local florist is not only a profitable honor in that year but for the remainder of that teenager’s life. Taking the time to nurture the desires of your young customer will bring him or her back for their wedding, birthday, anniversary, and other floral needs.

Now that you are assuredly on the prom flowers bandwagon, here are some tips for making this prom season a big hit.

• Be prepared! Phone a contact inside the local schools for the event dates, colors and themes, and other things that may make preparing easier.
• Get a head start! Take advantage of a spring event by ordering accessories and gift ideas in the summer or early winter.
• Make the most of the Internet! This generation’s prom goers are increasingly tech-savvy. Most are more comfortable shopping online initially. This is a convenient trend as it reduces many costs to the florist including manpower and sales tracking.
• Spice it up! Proms and prom attendants are now decorated to the hilt with lavish colors, sequins, glitter, boas, anklets, jewelry, and other accessories to make every vision of the evening a creative statement about themselves.
• Show off your ideas! Let your customers see a line of possibilities first then sell a more personalized version if necessary. Be creative! Make it fun!
• Get your customer involved! A popular practice among florists is to let the females bring in their dresses to get a better match or to test different ideas.
• Get to know formal wear and dress shop owners! An alliance with local dress shop owners is a fabulous way to get your name known. The customers are already in prom shopping mode and reminding them about their need for prom flowers while in the store can’t be beaten as the way to stand out.

When attracting prom customers be sure to capitalize on word of mouth. Parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends have a huge impact on who the teenager is likely to choose. You’re likely already the best around so let them know! Also, great tips for targeting young people in your area may come from the same people that give you the color scheme, themes, and dates of the proms. These people are sure to know where these young people hang out and where they’re going for their prom needs. Now you’re ready to take center stage as the go-to florist for prom and homecoming needs!

It’s Earth Day again! Time now to celebrate the rich beauty and the fullness of this great planet that daily sustains the lives of millions of inhabitants. With such a remarkable and rewarding existence, it is no wonder that April 22 marks the yearly celebration of such a fascinating home.

My older brother and I were sitting around discussing “green” politics one day—a practice not at all unusual or uncommon. The topic of Earth Day and Arbor Day spawned such enthusiasm that a planting party idea quickly emerged. He and I sat for hours planning an elaborate gathering of ourselves, our neighbors, and our community around a group of plants ready to break ground on environmental awareness and renewal. What plans to be a great time is reserved for six o’clock this evening at our local park with a host of friends, family, flowers, and foliage.

A bit of history on this holiday is that Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22 of 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson had for several years been very disheartened by a lack of environmental awareness in political policy. Senator Nelson had tried earlier during the presidency of John F. Kennedy to push the issue into national attention. He met with President Kennedy to plan and discuss a national conservation tour. Though the success of the tour did not produce the results Senator Nelson had desired, it did spawn an idea that would later become Earth Day.

An epiphany of sorts came to Senator Nelson during a visit to a college campus in the summer of 1969. The Vietnam War was spreading fury among young protestors who took to the streets in opposition. Senator Nelson’s view of these events sparked the idea for a national protest of the atrocities affecting the environment. Senator Nelson first spoke officially of a national grassroots demonstration for the cause at a conference in September of the same year. The following April, his vision came to life and would later become what we now know as Earth Day. More than 20,000 demonstrators including individuals, schools, and civic groups participated in the nationwide awareness movement.

With this knowledge emblazoned in our minds, Mark and I decided to keep the fiery tradition alive. While we may be just two people, we’re two humans who breathe deeply the fresh air of a new day. A swim, ride, or hike is as much a renewal to our spirits as a fresh glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Earth Day is a celebration of waking up to a fresh landscape, a way to appreciate our surroundings, and a national moment of thought toward the natural wonders that bring so much joy into the lives of us all.

If you can plant a tree to celebrate Earth Day, send or buy a plant that improves air quality such as peace lily, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, snake plant, or heartleaf philodendron (all pictured below). To learn more about plants that improve air quality, read NASA’s Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement report.

- Brynn FSN Support Staff -

English Ivy

Chinese Evergreen

Peace Lily

Heartleaf Philodendron

Snake Plant - Mother In Law’s Tongue - Sansevieria

I may not have a secretary but I’ve been one, and the simple pleasure that comes from an employer’s appreciation is worth its weight in gold. Sometimes it is hard to find the right words to show an employee how valuable their efforts really are. Administrative professional, clerical assistant, secretary—whatever title graces the placard, the right hand they provide helps ensure a smooth functioning workplace.

Sometimes the day begins cheerily with a bright smile from your assistant as you walk in the door. Other times it is the secretary who is always a step ahead during crunch times that proves of invaluable importance. This week is Secretary’s Week across America. What better time than now to show just how much you appreciate the smell of a fresh pot of coffee every morning, not having to field problem phone calls, office products in ample supply, and a workplace that feels like home every time you arrive. I would’ve loved receiving any of these popular arrangements for Secretary’s Day.

-   Brynn FSN Support Staff-

You’re The Best!

Grace Under Pressure

Hip Hip Hooray!

African Violets

Ask the Expert: tie off daffodils?
After 27 years in Florida we moved to mid Georgia where gardening is a whole different game. My neighbor told me she was told that after the daffodil blooms die to tie the green in a bundle by knotting it together. I thought it needed the greenery to develop new bulbs. What is correct?  Kathy

Ask the Expert: What Is This?

I am an RE agent and a client left this plant behind when they moved. Each flower has 3 pedals which are a purplish color. The pedals close up at nite and open in the sunlight. They have long, thin stems. The client let it go and I am now trying to “bring it back”. Would love to know what it is and how to care for it. Chris

Photos sent by Chris

Ask the Expert: peace lily
My peace lily has the blooms turning dark brown.even the new baby blooms.i bottom feed, and let the plant dry in between waterings. What can I do? does the water for feeding have to be free of chlorine?
Thank you Margaret

Ask the Expert: peace lily

we have a peace lily at work that has been watered too much and is really looking very droopy. What can we do to save it? I removed it from its pot and repotted it with new soil. Will it make it?

Thanks Elaine