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Fresh & Fragrant Easter Flowers

Easter is almost here! Add some gorgeous fresh flowers to your decor this Easter season! Fresh and fragrant, these bouquets are sure to stun and brighten your holiday festivities. [Read more…]

Your Last Chance For Independence Day Flowers

With the 4th of July exploding on the scene like the cavalcade of fireworks sure to accompany it, this is your last chance to buy those gorgeous Independence Day flowers. But don’t worry, even this tight turnaround is more than doable for your local florist. And that’s only one of the reasons having a local shop is such a convenience.

Local Florist Just Do It Better

If you’re looking for creative designs by a local artist, you should be looking for your local florist. These men and women work hard every day to offer a variety of designs and styles that you just can’t find on a website. But don’t worry, if you there’s a website design you just have to have, they can do that too! When you buy local, you get the best of both worlds. You can walk in the door and buy a simple recreation or be a little more adventurous and receive a beautifully designed floral original. The choice is yours!

American SpiritMade in the USARed White & Beautiful

Celebrate with Flowers!

And flowers are perfect for the 4th. Nothing goes better with an outdoor picnic than a lovely floral arrangement sitting in the middle of your picnic table. And if you’re having friends over for a barbecue? Some floral accents to place along the back deck will make your decoration shine! Your local florist can do amazing things with flowers that will have your guests sitting up and taking notice.

Maybe you’d prefer to have a more private celebration just you and your significant other. A lovely floral bouquet goes great with wine and is always a winner when romance is on the menu.

So don’t delay. Head out to your local florist and pick up some fantastic 4th of July Flowers!

Writing Contest: Why are Flowers Romantic?

We held a writing contest for students at a local Jr. High where we asked them the question, “Why are Flowers Romantic?” The following essay was written by our first place winner, ninth-grader Courtney Smith! 

Why are Flowers Romantic?

Flames of PassionBring on the HappyCharismatic Crimson

Flowers can be used for many different things. They can be used to show sympathy, admiration or just that someone is thinking of you. A large part of the time though, flowers are used in romantic scenarios. For instance, the roses between a couple at a candle-lit dinner for two or the flower petals strewn along the aisle for a bride to follow to her waiting, starstruck lover. Flowers are given on dates, proms and dances, anniversaries and countless other events. They’re exchanged between couples so often because they show an effort of affection, that a person wants to go out of their way to impress you, to show you that they were thinking of you and are interested in you.

Often, flowers even have different meanings. Roses are often thought of and associated with passion while other flowers such as tulips or sunflowers are associated with a more sweet and innocent love. They might be given on a first date between teenagers or used to ask a high school crush to prom. When flowers are given, it just seems as though a person is going the extra mile to show you how they feel about you and that the kind gesture was well worth the money and time spent getting the flowers for you.

Whether they are wildflowers growing on the side of the road or roses grown in a nursery, they are a great way to show a person that you want to see them happy and put a smile on their face. Flowers can be used to show many emotions and feelings, but probably the most common emotion expressed with flowers is love or romance.

In conclusion, flowers are romantic because they are a way of showing affection, effort and meaning in a relationship. No matter the kind, reason behind the exchange or the response, flowers are a wonderful way to show how you feel, even if you can’t find the words to express it.

Thank you, Courtney! Great Job!

 

Having A Business Meeting? Bring Flowers!

Whether you need to impress new clients or stimulate creative thinking, flowers are your go-to addition. Whether you own or work for a small business, or you’re looking to dress up your weekly book club get-togethers, your local florist can help!Flowers For Business Meetings

Flowers To Impress

It’s important to put your best foot forward and leave nothing to chance when meeting with a big client, especially for the first time. The addition of flowers to your office, conference room or convention hall can really brighten up the space and set the tone of your company. It shows your client just how important and respected they are.

Hosting an open house or other event? Use fresh flowers to take your interior decor to the next level.

Flowers For Brand Awareness

For companies that want to extend brand awareness in a whole new way, bring flowers into your meetings in the colors of your business’ brand. Flowers come in almost any color you can think of, and most florists can use a special type of paint, if needed, to get the right color for you. Talk to your local florist about your brand and colors. Show them your logo and business style and they will be able to create something specifically tailored to your business.

Business branded flowers are also a great idea for trade shows and other conferences where you want your business to stand out! Flowers are also a great conversation starter. When the event is over, you can give out flowers as a souvenir.

[Read more…]

How To Prolong the Life of Cut Flowers

Fresh Cut FlowersAsk The Expert: just wondering, is  there a way to  prolong the life of cut flowers!!
thanks – bn

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
Yes. The proper preparation will extend the life of cut flowers. There is some information on Flower Shop Network’s Blog that might be helpful to you.

Read Important Tips for Arranging Flowers at Home

Quick Tips For Prolonging The Life Of Cut Flowers:

  • Place stems or bouquets of fresh flowers in water as soon as possible.
  • Add preservative to the water. Preservative packets can be found at local flower shops.
  • Keep fresh flowers away from draft and extreme temperatures which can quickly dry the flowers and cause wilting.
  • Avoid placing flower arrangements in windowsills and other areas of full sun where flowers can wilt due to overheating.
  • All flower stems should be submerged in water. Decline of fresh flowers occurs much more quickly after stems have been removed from water.
  • To maintain fresh flowers longer, trim the stems and change to fresh water after a few days.
  • Immediately remove dead or wilting stems from fresh flower arrangements.

Hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.

Photos from the 2010 Texas State Florist Association Convention

This past weekend, July 23-25, Flower Shop Network had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Texas State Florist Association Convention in San Marcos, Texas. The theme was “The Green Life” and we learned a lot about what it means to be ‘green’ in the floral industry.

For more, check out:
Interview With MNSFA President Kym Erickson at the TSFA Convention
Interview With TSFA Upcoming Vice President, Patrick Berry [Read more…]

The Romance Of Flowers: How To Choose The Best Flowers For Your Sweetie

Flower Romance Consists Of More Than Roses!

flower-romance-for-valentines-dayYes, roses are traditionally considered the most romantic flower.

However, this isn’t always the case. Though it seems hard to believe, many men and women do not care for roses or favor other flowers more highly.

When you’re in a pickle about which romantic flowers to get your sweetheart, don’t be discouraged. Try these ideas instead:

Choose A Flower With A Significant Meaning

The instant joy felt when receiving flowers is a memory not quickly forgotten. Often, parents send their children the same type of flower each year to celebrate a birthday, special occasion or Valentine’s Day before boyfriends and girlfriends enter the picture.

romantic-tulipsCarnations, orchids, tulips, daisies and other popular cut flowers are given as tokens of love and affection on these occasions. Growing up with those memories, the flowers sent are revered through adolescence and into adulthood.

When considering Valentine’s Day gifts, anniversary flowers, or birthday flowers this year, do your best to learn if a particular bloom has a special significance to your sweetheart.

Instead of the traditional “because it’s expected of me” gift, your sweetie will enjoy the “it’s truly because I care” gesture. The little things go a long way, and this is the “extra mile” sort of gift that will dazzle.

Select Fresh Flowers With Special Meanings

The sweetest thing someone can do for their lover is to personally select the flowers that go into a romantic bouquet. Taking the time to learn about flower meanings, flower color meanings and personal significance to the recipient is the most amazing part of any gift. When ordering a romantic flower bouquet from your florist, consider the following flowers. Each has a special flower meaning. (Hint:  Include the flower meaning on the card and watch her eyes light up!)

  • Holly = domestic happiness
  • Larkspur = beautiful spirit
  • Lilac = first love
  • Orchid = delicate beauty
  • Red Tulip = declaration of love
  • Yellow Tulip = hopelessly in love

Talk with your florist about using flowers with significant meanings. The best gift of all is the gift that shows how much you care.

Romantic Flowers She’s Sure To Love

There are some fresh flowers that never fail. Many of the flowers below are [Read more…]

Need A Fresh Flower Decorating Tip This Fall?

Get ready for two months of flower decorating tips for fall! I’m one of the dozens at Flower Shop Network that adores the fall. It is beautiful weather, the perfect time to be outdoors, and the season for earth toned colors that blend the somber with the beautiful. Ahhhh…fall.

There are a lot of ways to decorate a home for fall. For starters, you’re going to need plenty of fresh flowers. Dried and preserved will work, of course, but there is something sensuous and inviting about fresh flowers. They just start the season off right. Besides, as the leaves begin to fall and the colors burst then fade, you’re going to like having the fresh flowers around as you welcome winter weather into your home.

Fresh Flower Decorating Tips For Fall:

'Fall Flirtations' Vase Arrangement

'Fall Flirtations' Vase Arrangement

Holiday Decorating — There are several national holidays celebrated during the fall months of September, October and November. Labor Day starts the month of September off with a vacation day for many. Halloween and Thanksgiving also fall in the later fall months. Columbus Day is nestled into October as are other holidays. Whether keeping one theme throughout or decorating for each, order a themed flower arrangement from your local florist and display it prominently in your home. Don’t forget Halloween flower arrangements and Thanksgiving flowers when the time comes!

Fall Yard Decor — Flowers, hay, pumpkins, chrysanthemums and scarecrows are as standard to fall as the changing colors of the leaves. To celebrate, create a display in your yard that celebrates the natural elements of fall. Stack hay bales in a triangular fashion then arrange pumpkins, gourds, chrysanthemums and a scarecrow or two to accent your yard delightfully.

Fall Wreath — Seasonal wreaths for the door are fun fall decorations. Many florists create unique floral wreaths. To find out which wreaths are the most popular as you choose the one for your door, view the Top 5 Holiday Wreaths For The Front Door.

Decorate The Mantlepiece — The mantlepiece is one of the best places in the home for decorating. Welcome wall with the use of fresh garlands and greenery, gourds, baby pumpkins, miniature scarecrows and fall flowers. If you like the smell of fall themed candles, these are also fun additions to the scenery.

You’re off to a good start! Have fun decorating your home for the fall season. Don’t forget to stop back by and show us photos of your creative displays!

Need A Fresh Flower Decorating Tip For A Back-To-School Party?

Back to school parties are the highlight of the summer. They set the tone for the rest of the school year. After a long summer’s vacation (or a short one for year-round schools), it’s always nice to throw a little celebration that welcomes in the new school year and says goodbye to summer vacation. It’s not a time to mope though! Back to school parties are fun, exciting, refreshing gettogethers with friends. Where’s a cause for sadness in that??

So now that we’re up to speed on the tone of a back to school party it’s time to talk about decorating. Fresh flowers are, as with any party, the best way to bring life and vitality to the celebration. Streamers, balloons, and party utensils are all well and good. What really gets the party decorations bumping though–why, that’s flowers of course!

Here Are Some Clever Fresh Flower Decorating Tips for A Back To School Party

  • Match the color of the flower arrangement to the decorations. If the team colors are black and gold, live it up with black and gold flowers! (Yes, it CAN be done!) If they are red and white, use red and white. And so on and so forth.
  • Use your child’s favorite color(s) as the theme of the flower arrangements. This will help your child feel like they had a special hand in the party and that it really is something to celebrate part of their life.
  • Ask each child to bring one fresh flower to the party. Use these to create a bouquet or two. Place these at the center of the room so that each child will be able to view their contribution. If an outdoor party, create a centerpiece for the picnic table or food table using the same idea.
  • Decorate the main table with fresh flowers then give each child one as they leave. Stems of flowers are excellent gifts for young middle school children and older children. Young children are easily amused and glad to receive any gift. Older children recognize the significance and may choose to preserve the flowers, especially if it’s the Back To School Party for their senior year.

Have any other ideas? Send them our way by placing them in the comments box below. Who knows? Your idea may make it THE Back To School Party of the new millenium!

Flowers From Generation To Generation

When it comes to flowers it doesn’t really matter how old you are or where you’re from because people enjoy receiving flowers as well as sending them. Did you know that flowers can have a true emotional meaning behind them? They’re just not a pretty flower or simple gift; with the right flower you can send feeling and emotions to your loved ones. From a simple “I love you” to a very special “happy birthday”, flowers are an overall perfect gift which is the number one reason thousands of flowers are sent every day around the world.

As a 17 year old, my generation thinks about flowers differently than older generations. To us, flowers signify an easy way to make someone else smile. For example, on Valentine’s Day, every teenage boy knows to send their girlfriends flowers. Not only because its an easy gift to get, but they know flowers are the ideal Valentine’s Day gift. Most guys know that flowers make any girl happy and cheerful, especially roses on this specific day. They also realize that roses are a flower that symbolize an ”I love you”. So whether you’re from the younger or older generation, everyone knows that the meaning behind a rose is ”I love you”.

On the other hand an older generation, like our parents, thinks about flowers in a more passionate and sentimental way. A man from this older generation puts a great deal of thought into the flowers he sends his wife. He thinks about the emotion he wants to convey with the flowers he is sending. For the older generations the message you convey with flowers is a significant part of sending flowers. To my generation a gift of flowers might be remembered for about a couple of weeks. To the older generations it’s something they will remember for the rest of their life; making them smile every time they think about the special gift they received.

My generation focuses on flowers more around April or May, which is prom season. An outfit wouldn’t be complete without a dazzling corsage. On the other hand, for the older generation any day of the year is the right time to think about and send flowers. When they’re trying to send a sympathetic message or just make someone smile, waiting for a holiday to come around isn’t the only option when it comes to sending flowers. In retrospect, flowers are sent by all generations all throughout the year. They are just sent with a different meaning an in a different approach each time. Maybe my generation should start sending flowers a little more often.