Greenport Flower garden
Holiday Plant tip
When purchasing your Holiday plants be sure to protect them from the cold. Make sure your plant is wrapped before taking it outdoors. Tropical Poinsettias are especially sensitive to cold temperatures and even a few minutes in the cold can damage the plant. Chill damage may not show up after a few days, when the leaves discolor and drop.
Mother’s Day
The tradition of Mother’s Day began in England in the early 1600’s when “Mothering Sunday” or “Mid-Lent-Sunday” was celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent.
Hoping that celebrating this day would promote peace and unity, Julia Ward Howe (author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”) suggested that it become a holiday in the U.S in 1872. In 1907 Anna Jarvis asked her church to hold a service in memory of her mother and all mothers . Anna and her friends began a vigorous letter-writing campaign to create Mother’s Day. Congress finally passed legislation in 1914, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother’s day.
DON’T FORGET MOM on Mother’s day - Sunday May 10.
What do you think consumers buy for mom?
1. Cut flowers – mixed flowers, roses, spray roses, tulips, iris, freesias, carnations, mums, lilies, orchids.
2. Outdoor bedding and garden plants - Geraniums, impatiens, petunias
3. Blooming plants and Foliage houseplants - Azaleas,gardenias, hydrangeas, lilies, mini roses and florist mums
Are independent florists becoming obsolete?
Over the last decade, the number of independent flower shops has been declining. Supermarkets, large box stores, and others have slowly chipped away into their sales putting flower shops under pressure to remain profitable. Inspite of the competition, florists have taken on the challenge head on and remained resilient. The fact that they are passionate about the industry and care about the quality of work and products has given them the ability to thrive. Florists have distinguished themselves by reinventing themselves and specializing in services that the “other” competition does not offer. Utilizing well trained and creative designers, florists specialize in weddings, funerals, unique floral arrangements for all occasions, business decorating events, holiday decorations as well as specialty gifts.
Another saving grace for independent florist is the flower delivery service such as FTD (Florists Telegraph Delivery). This huge network of florist started in 1910 when 15 florists decided to help each other out by exchanging orders for out of town deliveries. As it expanded and quickly grew, FTD changed the name to FTD (Florist Transworld Delivery) and added the Mercury logo, which has been their symbol of quality and reliability for decades. To keep up with changing times, FTD has also expanded to the internet flower delivery market.
Flower shops that participate in the FTD network are required to maintain high standards of creativity and dependability and in turn receive floral delivery orders that can be the mainstay of their business.
Floral delivery service is not unique to FTD; there are others such as Teleflora, as well as online flower shops available for independent florists to utilize.
As challenging as the future may be, independent florists need to be willing re-invent themselves and maintain quality of product, artistry and dependability to keep up with the times. The number of florist may be lower but the ones that remain are stronger and better than ever!
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