Pave' (pah-vay) arrangements are characterized by lush, compact designs of colorful flowers. Often, pave arrangements are made in low glass bowls, but you'll see small boxes and other unique containers used as well. At The Bloomery, we've sort of taken to using different styles of containers. Some of the container we've used are wooden boxes, wire treasure chests and jewelry boxes. A jewelry box is slightly ironic, since pave arrangements are named for pave jewelry which is emulated by the flower designs.
Below are a few examples of pave arrangements we've made (one is a Mother's Day special from2007, the others were recently delivered to offices). Click on the photo for a larger image.
This year, we're preparing something unique for Mother's Day. We've planted a series of premium hanging baskets and porch planters in our family's greenhouses. Every basket will feature a lush selection of white, pink and purple flowers. Plants include petunias, sweet potato vine, bacopa (bridal veil), Swedish Ivy and calibrachoa. These special planters and baskets will receive tender loving care over the next few weeks, and will be unlike any other in the Butler area. If you would like to reserve one in advance, e-mail us at info@bloomery.com, or call us at 724-285-1711 for more details.
Below are photos of the freshly planted baskets in the greenhouse. Click on each for a larger view.
Our scent of the month for April, 2008 is Bridgewater's newest scent: Tulip. All Tulip scented candles, tarts, etc. are 20% off for the entire month of April. Spring is here, the tulips are about ready to bloom, and there's no better way to welcome them!
You can also order a Tulip candle as part of our Flowers and Fragrance arrangement (discount not available on arrangement).
Heading to prom this year, but don't know how to pin on a boutonniere? No problem--we'll show you how! Click on a photo to see a larger version. And, if you're looking for corsage or boutonniere ideas, check out our prom corsage and boutonniere gallery.
Boutonnieres are always pinned to the left lapel of a man's jacket. As you stand looking a your date, this will be to your right. Most jackets have a small hole in the lapel where a flower would be placed in more formal days. For plainer designs or single flowers, you can still use the hole, provided it's cut. Here we'll show you how to pin on a boutonniere with fancier stem treatments.
Start by pinching the boutonniere between your finger and thumb. The flower stems should be parallel to the edge of the lapel.
Start the pin from the back of the lapel, through the fabric. When the pin emerges from the fabric, work it right into and through the flower stem. Then, work the pin back through the fabric of the lapel.
When we florists make a boutonniere with leaves and treatments, we often use a lot of wire, so you want the pin to be right near the base of the flower head to avoid the wire.
When you're done, you should not be able to see the pin when looking at the front.
From behind the lapel, you can see the two ends of the pin.
For added help, here's a video.
Somewhere in your house is a closet hiding scary things. Things which you can't get rid of for fear of insulting someone important to you, but things you would never choose for yourself. And if you're lucky, you can locate the proper thing just before that someone important visits. There are probably some gadgets in somewhere in your house--things that seemed like a good idea at the time (possibly the last minute), but in hindsight, not so much.
This year, avoid banishing more tchotchkes and expensive electronics to that closet. Brighten her day with flowers instead. Not sure exactly what she likes? Don't worry about getting it wrong, they're neither permanent nor expensive, which makes them the perfect gift.
Huh?
Listen, part of the beauty of flowers is their transience. Flowers fade in a vase just like they do in nature, but that doesn't diminish their beauty or their effect upon the recipient. Flowers brighten lives for a short period of time, and then they go away, leaving the recipient wanting more.
And if you're not sure of her favorite flower, send a mixed arrangement and see which flowers she prefers in the arrangement. When you find out, call (or e-mail) your florist--most of us keep notes on customer preferences, and we'll be more than happy to update your information with her likes and dislikes. Next time you order, we'll know what to do!
No expensive monthly fees, no long term commitments to ugly knick-knacks, no stress--call your local florist (early). We'll take care of all the arrangements!
In the US, there are a number of companies mass producing bouquets devoid of style, then mailing them to the recipient, hoping they arrive OK. How impersonal! Proflowers is the best known of these companies, but Martha Stewart Flowers, Organic Bouquet and Hallmark Flowers are also drop shippers. If you're FTD.COM or 1-800Flowers.com, some of their products are also drop-shipped (if it says "Delivery by FedEx or UPS", it is a drop ship arrangement).
In the UK, Teleflorist.co.uk has begun the Campaign for Real Floristry, to promote the differences between real florists and boxed warehouse arrangements. Mail order warehouse arrangers can't match your local florist design, quality and delivery. Have a look at their site, and be sure to call a real local florist next time you need flowers.
Full story at http://campaignforrealfloristry.co.uk/
It still seems like just last week, but February 1, 1998 was The Bloomery's first day in business! In 10 years, we've been through two locations, six coolers, three delivery vehicles and nearly a thousand weddings.
Since the beginning, we wanted to bring a new sense of style and quality to flowers in Butler, and so far it seems we've done that.
Thank you to all of our friends and customers, new and old, and we look forward to to the years ahead!
A few years ago, a young man decided he was going to propose to his girlfriend. At work. And he wanted to make a big splash doing it. So he asks us to arrange six dozen long stem red roses in two vases, which he'd take to her as part of the proposal. He drives up in some sort of sedan, and there's no way these flowers are going to fit. So we load the van with the flowers and prospective bridegroom and head to her place of work. He was going to carry one of the vases, hiding his face until the last minute, and really surprise his girlfriend.
We parked Tulip in front of her place of work--a local grocery store--and brought both vases right to her checkout lane (passing the store's "floral department" on the way). By the time we reached her lane, an audience had formed, and it seemed every customer in the store was standing there for the proposal. She let out a huge gasp when she saw who was carrying one of the vases. He asked, she said yes, and there was much clapping and happiness on lane 3.
Shortly after returning to the shop, we got a call from the newly engaged man. Since we had driven him over there, his car was still at our shop, and could we please come pick him up so he can get his car? No problem--he had to get ready for a celebratory dinner.
This is just one reason why a local florist such an important part of a community and the lives of the people in it. With Proflowers, your flower order arrives whenever. In a box. Unarranged. Only your local florist can pull off something like this. And, whether it's six dozen roses, or six carnations, we'll make sure the recipient knows he or she is special.
Also, the flower experience is not just about the having, it's also about the getting. It's about everyone ooh-ing and aah-ing when the delivery person walks in with a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers, and asks for the recipient. It's about having that arrangement front and center when you read the card. It's all a not-too-subtle message to everyone around saying "this person is special". A box delivered with laser printer toner and other anonymous packages doesn't quite make the same impression, especially when the recipient is in a cramped bathroom trying to get water in the vase so they can arrange the flowers themselves.
Bouquet and boutique are two words that are often confused. We see in our website logs searches for "hydrangea bridal boutique" (or similar, choose your favorite flower), and recently a comment was left on this blog regarding a boutique being delivered. In both these examples, people meant bouquet. The search terms appear way too often to be random.
Here's an easy way to remember the difference: a boutique is the store, a bouquet is the arrangement. Boutiques sell bouquets. That's why the name of our shop is The Bloomery Florist Boutique.
As visual artists ourselves, we florists love other forms of art. Double bonus if it's funny, or makes us think differently. Terry Border, the artist behind the blog Bent Objects is sheer genius, and the photo below amuses us greatly (click to go to the original).
If you have some free time (you'll need it, trust us), visit Terry's blog at http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/.
Last year, a press release regarding the safety of workers on flower farms was misinterpreted by the press, and reporters mistakingly claimed flowers were hazardous to consumers. This claim became #6 on the American Council on Health and Science's "Top 10 Unfounded Health Scares of 2007".
The ACSH concludes:
There is no evidence showing that exposure to pesticides at trace levels causes any adverse health effects. High doses of the chemicals can pose a threat, and therefore it is important that the safety of workers is made a top priority. However, there is no evidence of low-level exposure to pesticides causing cancer or other health problems.
In other words, Columbian flowers are safe for consumers.
Full story at http://www.acsh.org/publications/pubID.1655/pub_detail.asp
All Christmas decorative items are now 50% off! Please don't make us pack these up and store them in our basement. Hurry in soon for best selection.
Designed by Polly Berginc, AIFD, each elliptical vase was filled with soft pink roses, light pink spray roses, pink statice and cedar greenery. Each vase was accented with pink and chocolate brown ribbons and pink glass beads in the bottom of the vase.
The table runners were actually winter scarves, which could be reused or given as prizes for shower games. Click on the photo for a larger view.
Christmas is not too far gone, so it seems very early to be thinking about the next one, but there may be something new for Christmas 2008! A horticulturalist at the University of Connecticut has developed a new variety of poinsettia; according to the UConn Advance:
The Floriculture Greenhouse is colorful at this time of year: flame red, rose pink, cream, and burgundy poinsettias pack the benches as far as the eye can see.
Tucked in among them is a golden gem.
The plant, named Cinnamon Stick, is Bob Shabot’s baby, and he has been nurturing it since its infancy. Its color and shape make it unique among poinsettias.
After five years of careful propagation and small-scale testing, the plant is now undergoing trials in Germany and Colorado.
Shabot, a horticulturist in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is working with UConn’s Center for Science and Technology Commercialization and may apply for a patent on it soon.
It was five years ago that Shabot first noticed something different about two branches of a particular specimen, Cinnamon Star, a variety originated by Fischer USA and being grown at UConn for teaching purposes.
The parent plant is a creamy golden color, with horizontal bracts.
What caught Shabot’s eye was not only the color – a deeper gold, almost russet – but also the shape: Cinnamon Stick has bracts that point upward, giving the flower a vase-like shape.
“That was an attention-getter,” Shabot says.
He says this type of mutation in plants – known as a sport – occurs naturally.
The photo only gives a hint as to what the plant looks like, but it sounds pretty! Here's hoping we see some commercial propogation soon!
(hat tip: SAF Web Weekly)
In a mood, and don't know what flowers match? The Flower Council of Holland launched a new site called Read My Mood, which will analyze your blog posts and recommend which flowers fit how you feel. From the website:
What do the stars tell you about how you feel? Probably not much.
For this reason, we started Read My Mood that would allow you to do just that.
Flowers for feelings. That's what its about.
How does it work? Give us the url of your blog and through some cleverness we'll analyse the contents of your postings and give you a flower for your feelings. It's a special way of telling the world how you feel.
So, capture your feelings with flowers. To every mood there will be an appropriate flower.
A tulip for a happiness. A rose for love. Or a sensual anthurium.
There are lots of choices to match your moods. Simply said, with flowers.
Reporters from the Society of American Florists tested the "Try Me" sample mood reader with several famous quotes; you can see their results at http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/safwed/issues/2008-01-02/4.html.
By registering on the site, you can also get a free flower button for your website or blog. Our flower button is a grape hyacinth, which is one of our favorite flowers!
