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march 2008

March 31, 2008 | out and about

Flower shows sprout ideas and inspiration

For many of us flower lovers, flower shows are the highlight of the spring season. It's a place you come to be dazzled, challenged and inspired. It's also a forum for trading practical tips and ideas. If nothing else, it's nice to know that so many other folks share your passion for flowers.

Sometimes, brand-new varieties are introduced at a show, as was the case at the Philadelphia Flower Show theflowershow.com where the "All That Jazz" tulip and "Cool Splash" honeysuckle were introduced to the world. I was lucky enough to attend the Philly flower show (the theme was Jazz It Up, New Orleans style) and I have posted some pix in today's post.

I've been in touch with flower show organizers in other parts of the U.S. and Canada, and, in the next few weeks, I hope to post shots from other shows.

Enjoy ... and make plans to attend a show or two in 2009! And if you have a flower photo you'd like to share, send it my way.

Philly Flower Show
An entrance to Philly's flower show, the largest indoor flower show in the world.

This year's theme was jazz and many exhibitors played on that motif, literally and figuratively.

Styer Nurseries' award-winning entry recreated the look of a country cabin in the Deep South.

Philly Flower Show
Tourism Ireland was designed by John Cullen of Dexter, Mich.

Tulips were one of many flowers judged at the show.

The show had a steady stream of browsers and buyers. The weeklong event draws more than 250,000 visitors.

Flower Fact of the Day: Have you seen the pretty purple wildflower, commonly known as poodle-dog bush? Don't touch it! This flower contains an irritant akin to poison oak. For the full report, see ocregister.com/articles/oldar-flower-bush-2001799-people-fire.

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March 28, 2008 | flower facts

Free advice from award-winning florists

by Florist Team

Top: Flowers by David at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Above: Robertson's Flowers at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

I recently wrote about two flower stores, both part of the Teleflora network of florists, who won major awards at the Philly Flower Show theflowershow.com: Flowers by David (David and Robin Heller) flowersbydavid.com and Robertson’s Flowers (Karina Keff and Greg Funk) robertsonsflowers.com.

Their work is truly inspirational and impressive, especially given that Karina and Greg were first-timers at the show.

So, I asked these experts to share their top three rules of thumb for arranging flowers.

David Heller's were:
• Do what you like.
• Work simply: Sometimes a single flower can say more than a jumble.
• Have fun and enjoy yourself.

Robin Heller offered the following:
• Buy fresh flowers from a florist.
• Work by color group. Think of flowers as an accent to colors in your home.
• Work simply.

And Karina Keff suggests the following for spring:
• Use all one kind of flower, this makes more of statement, plus this way they all die at the same time.

• Create a lovely spring mix with bulb flowers in floral foam and include some real bulbs in it. This gives a great effect and after the arrangement dies you can plant the bulbs and enjoy it even longer.

• Get a 5”-wide and 10”-high clear glass cylinder and plant a small 4” bulb plant in it. Cover the dirt with green moss. This way you don't spend a lot of money and, as the plant starts growing inside the vase, it has support so it doesn't go all over the place. Smart and decorative as well.

Flower Fact of the Day: Dwarf plants aren't necessarily smaller versions, they just grow more slowly.

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March 27, 2008 | out and about

A reader shares a cool flower photo

by Jacqueline - Editor

This comes from Chet L. and was taken in Parsippany, NJ. Nice! And the bee looks, well, busy ...

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March 27, 2008 | teleflora news

Oprah, Hillary, Superwoman got nothin’ on Mom! Survey says: Mom’s the real superhero

by Jacqueline - Editor

In a recent Teleflora/AmericasFavoriteMom.com survey, Mom came out the big winner.

The survey polled 2,500 adults, asking them whom they would choose as a true female superhero.

Mom was the top choice for 53% of participants.

Oprah Winfrey came in a distant second, snaring 8% of the votes.

Superwoman was the pick for 6%.

Hillary Clinton was tops with 5% of those surveyed.

The poll was conducted by Harris Interactive with a margin of error of 1.96 percentage points.

Speaking of voting, the America’s Favorite Mom contest has drawn a lot of compelling candidates. Luckily, there are lots of ways to win cash and prizes as well as chances to appear on NBC-TV. “Most Inspiring Mom” is the theme for the March online contest and the winner will receive $5,000.

If you know a great lady who also happens to be a Mom, get busy and get her nominated! Ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound not required. Still, a cape could be cute …

Flower Fact of the Day: Psychiatrists regard a patient’s indifference to flowers as a symptom of clinical depression.
From “The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan.

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March 26, 2008 | florist in the spotlight

Florist in focus: Watertown Flowers, Inc. of Watertown, South Dakota

by Jacqueline - Editor

For the Majusiak clan, flowers are the stuff of family bonds.

Olga Majusiak, 87, still works every day at Watertown Flowers, Inc. watertownflowers.com, the store she and her husband Joe founded in 1954. Three of her ten children work with her.

Olga and Joe weren’t new to the business even then. Olga’s resume stretches back to age 16 – with a flower-shop job in the Pocono Mountain area of Pennsylvania. Joe, then a greenhouse worker, delivered flowers to the store.

A courtship, marriage and five children later, the Majusiaks headed west to South Dakota, where Joe’s brother, a priest, had his parish. At first, Olga couldn’t help but wonder if they’d made a mistake. Their house had no running water and no central heat. She had her hands full with the kids.

On the plus side, there was opportunity – a chance to be more than employees, a chance to run their own shop and shape their own path. Over the years, they built their business and added five more children to their family.

Florists

“We all grew up in the back of a flower shop,” says Marie Majusiak, the eldest girl and second-born child (pictured above with Olga). “We swept the floor, made corsage boxes, watered plants. We had a crib made out of flower boxes, padded with blankets. We’re an extremely close family because of that.”

The early years were tough for her parents, says Marie, adding that it wasn’t uncommon to sell one rose all day long.

Yellow Rose

But, with memories of the Great Depression and World War II still fresh in their minds, Olga and Joe were grateful for what they had.

Today, Marie and her mother are co-owners of the store. One of Marie’s brothers does maintenance; a sister keeps the books. Joe, whose friends called him “Flower Pot,” died in 1979.

The store’s volume has seen huge spikes since the days of the single roses. In some ways, though, the business hasn’t changed all that much. “We are a flower shop. We sell flowers and plants,” says Marie.

That tight a focus is unusual at a time when many florists are selling a wide range of gifts or other goods in addition to flowers.

Finding their niche as well as staying on top of trends and cutting-edge technology has ensured their success. That and their lengthy history.

We know so many people,” says Marie of Watertown, whose population she estimates at 25,000.

“And we know them personally. We’ll get a call and they’ll say, ‘It’s Mary’s birthday, can you send her something?’ We know what to send, we know the address, we know how to sign the card.”

Though at one point Marie considered becoming a lawyer, now she says it’s hard to conceive doing something other than selling flowers.

“It’s a great business,” she says.

In an upcoming post, Marie shares day-to-day challenges and rewards of her job.

Flower Fact of the Day: Gwen Stauffer, formerly of the New England Wild Flower Society, newfs.org will become executive director of Ganna Walska Lotusland lotusland.org in Santa Barbara, Calif.

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