Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Company

We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. For us it was a busy time in the shop, lots of hours working but lots of laughs too. Have Christmas Day off from the shop was so wonderful for the hubby and I. Slept in a bit later than usual, had a nice breakfast and then what did we do??? We hopped in the car for our annual trek out to Longwood Gardens so that we could be surrounded once again with flowers!

Nobody does Christmas like Longwood Gardens and this year was no exception. Gingerbread cookies were the theme throughout and what an amazing display it was!

Everywhere you looks there was lush foliage and poinsettias!

My personal favorite area is the orchid room. With so many orchids growing up the wall in every color of the rainbow. These orange ones were one of my personal favorites but can you really have a favorite when you faced with such loveliness?

Hehehe, this one makes me laugh. When I see him I see a smiling mouth, a funny little nose and huge eyebrows. Andy Rooney, is that you?

It's hard to believe that this amazing flower is real, isn't it? I loved the colors with all it's shading. How perfect.

Here's me in the Herb area. I loved this herb wreath with it's parsley, sages, oregano and pops of red kalanchoes.

On to the succulents and bromeliads. I loved this plant but for the life of can't remember it's name. Can you believe those colors?

Just a touch of the tropics, this lone Bird of Paradise was blooming so vibrantly!

On to the rose house... ah my favorite flower in the whole world. Not as many roses were blooming as last year at this time but gorgeous never the less!

This is my favorite photo of the day. Just next to the roses are the hibiscus. I love these flowers so much with their vibrant huge headed flowers. Too bad we can't use these blooms in wedding designs. Sorry Brides, they only bloom for a day and then they are gone. Not a good choice for your wedding day!

This was my favorite color theme of the day. These grayish coleus plants with pops of chocolate brown undersides mixed among light pink kalanchoe....... wow, can't you image that as a wedding color theme?

Wow, don't you want these in your back yard? Pink cyclamen, white kolanchoes, blue salvia and pink poinsettias... so lovely, soft and romantic, don't you think?

Christmas trees were everywhere, decorated in natural greens and ginger bread. Longwood Gardens is one of the most magical places to me. The perfect way to spend my day away from the Flower Shop! I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!

Those times, they are a changin'. Is that a song? I can hear the melody in my head but I don't remember the exact words. But wow, if that is not the truth these days, I don't know what is. Years ago, if you owned a retail floral shop, you prepped your flowers, made them into pretty arrangements in your display coolers and lined up buckets and buckets of loose flowers for customers to choose from. The phone rang and you talked to customers about their needs and hung up by telling them you'd make pretty arrangement and have it delivered in a jiffy.

Then supermarkets started adding floral departments, making it less likely that you'd pick up flowers for your home at your local florist. Need flowers delivered? Yup, the florist is the best for that as most supermarkets don't deliver and so you started to gravitate towards floral services and retailers that had websites. It was important to be able to shop online and see what you were sending.

Computers are great but in come the smart phones which can fit in your pocket. Not only keep you in touch with home, work, family and friends but they are a wealth of information at your finger tips. GPS, Google Searches and now shop for flowers, all in a few flicks of your fingers. Yup, there you go... Those times, they are a changin' and lucky for me, that I'm changing with it. A website - yup we've had that for years and years but now we even have our very own FloralApp that you can download onto your phone for free. I'll take credit for the categories and the selection of gifts offered but not for building the application. That is way over my head but darn if this gadget isn't convenient I don't know what is. I don't think that ordering flowers, plants and other goodies can be any easier than this.

We encourage you to download our new FloralApp and when you do, you'll be entered to win a $250 gourmet goodie basket. If you like sending gifts from our shop, we just made your day a bit easier. The link is below and there is an option for both iPhone and Droid. Our industry might be an old one but the times are changing and we are keeping up with it! http://www.floralapp.com/floralapp/download.cfm?memID=351&o=5952295

Let's face it, it's been a tough few years and local food banks have suffered. In an effort to spread the cheer at this time of year, we've put into place a matching donation program to help support the local New Jersey Food Bank. Inspired by a TV Food Network progam, Kevn was inspired to help in some way. When you place an order and donate $3.00 to the food bank, we'll match your donation. Our hopes are to raise a few hundred dollars and if all goes well, we'll continue into the New Year. Help us to help those having a tough time right now. Remember, there a folks who need our help who live in our communities and no one should be hungry in America.

Peach Flowers

I love noticing trends as they come and go and I have to say, peach has been a hot trend this year in event and wedding designs. I've always adored peach but with orange being the hot ticket, it seems like peach was just pushed aside. Well, not any more! Looking over our wedding designs from that last few weeks peach was a color we saw used again and again. It's also that time of year when I start meeting with many new brides for their 2012 weddings, a peach remains a strong color theme. I'll keep you posted as the trend into 2012 start to become more apparent but from my point of view - I'd be on peach being a bigger next year!