Flowers& - November 2015

Flowers& NOVEMBER 2015 $5.50

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Holiday Hues

Celebrate the season with trendy twists on traditional themes Pg 28 Spark up special events with simple yet elegant table dĂŠcor Pg 40

contents

NOVEMBER 2015

features 15

Worldwide Weddings

Announcing the winners of this year’s Flowers& Design Contest.

28

Themes Like Christmas

Three popular palettes for holiday parties & décor.

pg 50

Floral design by Michael Quesada AIFD Photography by Ron Derhacopian

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Stylish Celebrations

Fun & festive party tables for the winter season or any time of year.

Floral design by Rich Salvaggio AIFD, AAF, PFCI Photography by Ron Derhacopian

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ON THE COVER Gold and silver mingle in an updated holiday palette that also includes deep red and touches of turquoise. The look is achieved with a mix of natural and color-enhanced materials, some sprayed with Design Master 24KT Pure Gold or Design Master Super Silver. For more holiday décor in fashion-forward themes and colors by Michael Quesada AIFD, see pages 28-59.

contents

departments 8

Focus on Design

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Flower Tales

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Soothing Circles

By Rich Salvaggio AIFD, AAF, PFCI

Carnations

By Tom Bowling AIFD, PFCI

Fresh Focus

Sweet Peas

By Bruce Wright

pg 9

Shop Profile

Freytag’s Florist, Austin, Texas

By Marianne Cotter

64

Where to Buy

65

What’s in Store

66

Industry Events

67

Advertiser Links

68

Wholesale Connection

Flowers& Volume 36, Number 11 (ISSN 0199-4751).

Published monthly by Teleflora, 11444 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064, 800-321-2665, fax 310-966-3610. Subscription rates: U.S., 1 year, $66.00.

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Postmaster: Send address changes to Flowers&, PO Box 16029, North Hollywood, CA 91615-9871.

Copyright © 2015 by Teleflora. Printed in U.S.A.

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Flowers& Publisher Editor Art Director

rich salvaggio AIFD, AAF, PFCI rsalvaggio@teleflora.com Bruce Wright Tony Fox

National Advertising Director

Peter Lymbertos

U.S. Subscriptions

800-321-2665

Foreign Subscriptions

818-286-3128

Advertising

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On the Internet

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Advisory BoArd Teleflora Education specialists susan Ayala AiFd, PFCi, Riverside, Calif., Tom Bowling AiFd, PFCi, Syndicate Sales, Fairfield, Ohio, Tim Farrell

AiFd, AAF, PFCi,

Farrell’s Florist, Drexel Hill, Penn., Jim Ganger

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Kansas City, Mo., Hitomi Gilliam AiFd, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Bob Hampton AiFd, AAF,

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Dallas, Texas, John Hosek AiFd, PFCi, CF, CAFA, Surroundings Events and Floral, Verona,

Wisc., Alex Jackson AiFd, AAF, PFCi, Veldkamp’s Flowers, Lakewood, Colo., vonda LaFever AiFd, PFCi,

Niceville, Fla., Joyce Mason-Monheim AiFd, AAF, PFCi, AzMF, Designer Destination,

Tucson, Ariz., Helen Miller AiFd, CF, CAFA, Flowers and Such, Adrian, Mich., darla Pawlak AiFd, PFCi,

Essexville, Mich., Julie Poeltler

AiFd, PFCi, iMF, CAFA,

Julie’s Fountain of Flowers,

Lone Tree, Iowa, Jerome raska AiFd, AAF, PFCi, CF, Blumz by JR Designs, Ferndale, Mich.,

Tom simmons AiFd, CCF, Three Bunch Palms Productions, Palm Springs, Calif., Gerard Toh AiFd, CCF,

Garden Trade Services, Sherman Oaks, Calif., Cindy Tole, Botanica Flowers &

Gifts, Greensboro, N.C., Kevin ylvisaker AiFd, PFCi, CAFA, Mukwonago, Wisc.

EdiToriAL CounCiL Marie Ackerman AiFd, AAF, PFCi, Teleflora, Oklahoma City, Okla., Carol J. Caggiano AiFd, PFCi, A.

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Caggiano, Inc., Jeffersonton, Va., Bert Ford AiFd, PFCi, Ford Flower Co., Salem, N.H.,

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JWH Design and Consultant, West Palm Beach, Fla.,

Elizabeth seiji AiFd, Edelweiss Flower Boutique, Santa Monica, Calif.

Customer service: For service on your magazine subscription, including change of address, please write to Flowers&, P.O. Box 16029, No. Hollywood, CA 91615-9871, enclosing a recent address label. For faster service, call 818-286-3128; Teleflora members call 800-421-2815.

focus on design

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Floral design by Rich Salvaggio AIFD, AAF, PFCI

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Photography by Ron Derhacopian

Circular motion and a soft color harmony make for a soothing, contemplative composition.

Appropriate as a sympathy or get-well gift, or for any occasion, this graceful design requires few flowers, which can be easily replaced by the recipient.

1. Begin by soaking beaded midollino briefly in water to soften it. Shape the midollino into circles of various sizes and wire the circles together with decorative wire, so that you have concentric circles joined along one edge. Ensure that the largest circle fits inside the bowl or overlaps it just slightly.

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2. Place pearlized glass or smooth rocks into the bowl, leaving some space in the very center. Add the circles of beaded midollino on top of the pearlized glass.

3. Weave callas around the perimeter of the bowl through the beaded midollino.

The calla stems should bend easily at room temperature. Make sure the stem ends reach to the bottom, where they can drink. Add lily grass, curling it a little with the back of your knife blade. Finally, add roses to the center of the design.

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See this

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HOW-TO on For product information, see Where to Buy, page 64.

Click Here

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NOVEMBER 2015 9

f lower tales

Stories and fun facts to share with customers about their favorite flowers

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Floral design by Tom Bowling AIFD, PFCI

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Photography by Ron Derhacopian

carnations Disrespect carnations, and you do so

at your peril! One of the world’s longestcultivated flowers, the carnation has a venerable history stretching back 2,000 years. Its genus name, Dianthus, means “flower of the gods.”

Some scholars believe that the common name “carnation” derives from the same Latin root as “incarnation” and that it reflects the Christian idea of God made flesh. Indeed, the original, default color of the carnation flower could be described as a fleshy pink. (Closely related to carnations are flowers in the same genus known as garden pinks.) Another, perhaps more likely derivation for the common name is from the word “coronation,” referring to flower crowns. It is known that carnations have been used in garlands, wreaths and chaplets since ancient Greek and Roman times.

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Christian legend also tells that pink carnations first sprang up where the earth had been watered by the tears of the Virgin Mary— making them the ultimate symbol of motherly love. That is not, however, the reason why carnations became a traditional flower to wear and give on Mother’s Day. Rather, Anna Jarvis, the American founder of Mother’s Day, favored white carnations simply because they had been her own mother’s favorite flower. Since white carnations were in short supply in 1908 (the first Mother’s Day), florists promoted the idea of wearing a white carnation to church to honor a deceased mother, a colored carnation (usually red) for a living one.

Carnations today come in every hue imaginable—including the rich purple tints, tones, and shades of Florigene® carnations.

Introduced in 1996, Moonseries carnations are the world’s first genetically modified cut flowers to reach the market. They owe their intense color to pigment-synthesizing genes found naturally in pansies and petunias, isolated and transferred to carnations.

Tom used two kinds of Florigene carnations, Moonlite and Moonshade, in this month’s design, along with cherry-red and pale green carnations in a low, wide cylinder bowl. He filled the bowl with foam, then covered the foam by slipping first aspidistra, then salal leaves in around the sides. Having the carnations at different heights creates a tiered effect, emphasized with arching, framing loops of steel grass. The purple color of the Florigene carnations is reinforced with tiny spheres of purple bullion wire, which Tom made by simply rolling the bullion lightly in his palms. b

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To us at Flowers&, an international theme seemed like the perfect way to celebrate our growing list of international subscribers, and to invite their participation in our annual design contest—now in its 31st year.

Hand in hand with that theme, this year marked the first that readers could submit entries and cast their votes online. Truly, online access has created today’s global community of floral design. Thanks to all who entered and voted! The quality of entries was higher than ever, and voting increased more than tenfold!

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As always, our panel of expert judges selected ten finalist designs, which were published in the August issue without revealing the designers’ identities. Of these, voting by Flowers& readers has determined the top three winners. We’d like to encourage all qualified designers to enter next year’s contest. Look for an announcement in the January, February, and March 2016 issues.

THE FINALISTS Design #1 Ikuko Hashimoto AIFD, Brady’s Floral Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona

Design #6 Rupali Shete-Sadalage AIFD, Schaumburg, Illinois

Design #2 Fabian Salcedo, F2 Floral Design, Austin, Texas

Design #7 Geni Fulcher, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Design #3 Madina ShkabkoAbshinova, Santa Barbara, California

Design #5 Adrianna Duran-Leon AIFD, The Flower Company, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Design #8 Nick Decker, Ken Miesner’s, St. Louis, Missouri Design #9 Chelle Gerhardt AIFD, Rogers, Arkansas Design #10 Carol Chapple AIFD, Juul Flora LLC, Minneapolis, Minnesota

And now, here are this year’s winners!

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Design #4 Jennifer Matlack, Matlack Florist, West Chester, Pennsylvania

THEME: WORLDWIDE WEDDINGS

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It’s not surprising that this year’s first-place winner is not only a credentialed member of the American Institute of Floral Designers but also an AIFD Certified Floral Evaluator/ Judge. “I tested for it as soon as I was inducted,” says Adrianna. “I thought if anything it would be another step to help me evaluate my own work, and I do think the better you know the elements and principles of design, the easier it is to step back and critique objectively.”

Adrianna has been avid about searching out educational opportunities ever since her aunt, Beth Anderson, brought her into the industry when she was 12 years old, helping out after school in a shop where Beth was the manager. “She taught me a lot,” says Adrianna.

“Then when I was 17 she bought The Flower Company, and I found out about AIFD from magazines she had in the store. I started taking classes and studying anything I could get my hands on!” Today Adrianna and Beth run the store together, just the two of them. “I’ve been entering the Flowers& contest for years,” says Adrianna, “so I was really thrilled to be selected as a finalist!”

Her winning design begins with classic Biedermeier style, in which flowers are arranged in concentric rings, and adds a cascade, along with a variety of inventive and trendy techniques. Three blades of lily grass are woven together with bright green balloon ribbon, creating a pattern of stripes. Hypericum berries, strung on one continuous length of wire, resemble brightly colored beads; they drape and dangle in loops that add dynamic line to the design. One of the subtler effects is like stitching, with a blade of lily grass inserted through successive slits in an aspidistra leaf. “I had to get the lighting in the photo just right to make sure that could be seen,” notes Adrianna. These playful accents, together with vivid IN Flow ers& hues, give the design a youthful exuberance that spoke to Flowers& readers. “I love bright colors; that’s what inspires me,” she says.

Asked about her plans from here, Adrianna says she simply wants to keep on learning: “The best part is that you never arrive,” she says cheerfully. “Styles change, new flowers and varieties come out, and so there’s always room to grow.”

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Have you heard the term “mainstream exotic”? It refers to a selection of floral materials that combines exotic and domestic, or tropical and temperate-zone flowers—a practice that used to be considered “against the rules” of floral design. It can be challenging, because flowers that grow in different climates often have different visual qualities.

Done well, however, “mainstream exotic” can yield an intriguing harvest of both harmony and contrast.

Nick’s contest entry imagines a union of tropical and temperate zones—a wedding where one side of the family hails from Hawaii, the other from Ireland. “I wanted to incorporate strings of flowers like leis,” Nick tells, “to get a Hawaiian look. And I knew I wanted to mix elements that normally don’t go together and try to make them cohesive. I tried to think what other culture could blend itself with Hawaii. I thought of Ireland— another green island. That’s when I saw the kale at the wholesaler.” While Nick’s bouquet is dominated by tropicals—the anthurium, the orchids, the bright croton and patterned alocasia leaves—the kale and bells of Ireland also play a prominent role, along with hanging amaranthus, hypericum berries, and bright orange Ornithogalum dubium. “When I anchored the bouquet with the green anthurium and put the kale next to it, I thought, ‘Yes, that makes it work.’”

Cascading pendents are suspended on hyacinth stakes that Nick inserted horizontally into the bouquet holder, so that they protrude from the center of the bouquet, giving each pendent more space and the entire bouquet more dimension. The bouquet handle (nearly hidden in the photo behind one of the streamers) is wrapped in green Rustic Wire; a tassel of hypericum berries dangles from it, a harmonizing detail.

“A number of people I showed this to said, ‘That’s a bouquet I would like to carry,’” says Nick. “I think that’s what I’m proudest of. My goal is always to be creative and practical at the same time. And that’s what I love about the contest! Since most of the people who read the magazine are retailers, for them you need to do something realistic.” Over the years Nick has entered many times and has frequently been a finalist; in 2013 he was voted into first place. “I always appreciate the opportunity to challenge myself and do something out of the box,” he says.

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As far as we know, Madina is the first Flowers& Design Contest finalist ever who is also a research scientist with a PhD in physics (“Floral design is my second job,” she says).

She is, however, equally proud of her Professional Certificate in Florist Development from the world-famous Nobleman School of Floral Design in Singapore, where she studied with Anson Low AIFD and June Tan AIFD. Originally from Russia, Madina came to Singapore for a job in physics—and began to pursue for the first time her lifelong interest in the art of floral design. “People come from all over the world to study with these teachers,” says Madina, “so I think that I was very lucky.”

Her intent with her bouquet was to evoke the tropical beauty of

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Singapore with materials typical of that city-state’s rich floral culture.

To create the bouquet, she wrapped a sturdy cardboard disk in plastic and gave it a rather thin layer of wet floral foam, to keep the bouquet as light as possible. The structure is reinforced with wire, and many of her flowers are also wired and taped, for lightness and control.

“I used a lot of small flowers, like wax flower and hydrangea, to get a delicate texture,” Madina explains, along with callas, orchids, and moss. A fence or collar of birch bark and dracaena tips defines the edge of the flat, disk-shaped bouquet, which is scattered with reeds, bound together in pairs with silver wire.

“I would like to thank my husband, Andrey Shkabko, who took the photo of my design,” says Madina, “and everyone who voted for me!” Although she does pursue another demanding career at the same time, Madina has worked consistently for the past five years as a free-lance floral designer. This is the first contest she has ever entered. Her next goal is to continue to work, to enter more competitions, and to become a member of AIFD. “Yes, it’s demanding,” she says. “But when it’s your passion you find the time.” b

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fresh focus

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Text and photography by Bruce Wright

Sweet peas in winter? Yes! With extra-long stems and in striking new varieties.

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rilly and fragrant, with ruffled blooms in wedding-friendly shades ranging from delicate pink or violet to vibrant red and lavender, sweet peas are much in demand—when available.

Like tweedia (covered in last month’s Fresh Focus), sweet peas are traditionally known as a summer flower. Flourishing best in high levels of light, they have been especially scarce in the fall and winter.

Now, as with tweedia, the seasonal gap is being filled with imports from Japan—and

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beautifully so, since the Japanese sweet peas are of superb quality, with long stems and an exceptional vase life. The season for sweet peas from Japan really begins in November, and continues through March or April; they are not shipped in the summer. Even with this limited export season, sweet peas are Japan’s number-one floral export, accounting for almost half of all cut-flower exports with 500,000 stems shipped overseas last year. (Two other popular exports from Japan, ranunculus and scabiosa, are also not available in the summer.)

True, from April to June you may encounter a variety shipped from Japan in smaller quantities, known as “summer sweet pea.”

It’s similar to a flower marketed as “wild sweet pea” when it comes from domestic sources.

If you have never seen sweet peas growing in a garden or greenhouse, summer sweet pea would give you a better idea of the whole plant, since it typically includes a section of the thick, viney stem, complete with foliage.

By contrast, commercially grown sweet peas of the more familiar type come on slender but sturdy, leafless stems that are clipped from the long vines. It’s the vine that makes growing sweet peas a tricky and labor-intensive effort—one that tends to attract boutique growers with a special passion for the craft.

ARE THEY PEAS? Sweet peas belong to the genus Lathyrus—which is indeed in the legume family. Even if you could find them, however, it wouldn’t be advisable to eat the pods or fruits of the cultivated garden sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), as the entire plant is mildly toxic to mammals. As suggested by the part of the Latin name that designates the species (the “specific epithet”), odoratus, sweet peas are better known for fragrance than for flavor—along with, of course, the ornamental value of the flowers.

Within the genus Lathyrus, different species are native to temperate areas all over the world, from Europe to Asia. But when it

comes to cultivated sweet peas, environment is a critical point. The ideal environment is both sunny and somewhat dry. Such an environment pertains in at least two of southern Japan’s flower-growing areas, Arida and Miyazaki. In Arida, where the weather is a little dryer, growers must add more water to encourage longer stems; in Miyazaki, with a long Pacific coastline, the environment is a little wetter, which means that growers must take extra precautions to keep the flowers free from botrytis, a fungal infection.

Wherever they are grown, sweet peas demand attention. The long vines require a support system, and it must be a flexible one that allows for moving the vines along as they lengthen. Typically the vine is clipped to a hanging cordon or vertical wire mesh; this strategy means that it’s relatively easy, but still time-consuming, to reposition the vine by reclipping it as it grows. Sweet peas also need continual pruning and, eventually, harvesting by hand.

A CARE FOR QUALITY High-quality sweet peas should have at least four blooms at the top of each stem, of which at least half should be open when the stem is received in a flower shop. The stem itself should be sturdy and straight—its natural state, though it may bend or twist if it is obstructed. Stem length DOWN ON THE FARM Growing sweet peas takes special expertise and plenty of hard work. It’s an ideal crop for a small family farm like this one in southern Japan, in an area that is also famous for producing sweet, juicy tangerines. With only about 660 square meters (a little over 7,000 square feet), grower Yuichi Ewaka and his wife do most of the work on the farm themselves, though he does hire one seasonal worker as well.

LET THERE BE LIGHT On rainy or cloudy days, sweet peas may need extra, artificial light—hence the light bulbs hanging in the greenhouse at left, where blush-colored Momokomachi sweet peas are clipped to hanging cordons. With insufficient light, the flowers could suffer from bud drop.

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type Flowers& Magazine at youtube.com to go to our YouTube Channel

november 2015 25

can range from 12 inches—a respectable minimum—to 18, at the height of the season.

Japanese growers claim a vase life for their sweet peas of almost two weeks.

Sweet peas are sensitive to the harmful effects of ethylene gas, and should be treated by the grower with the ethylene inhibitor silver thiosulfate (Chrysal AVB), according to Gay Smith, a technical consulting manager with the postharvest care company Chrysal Americas, and other experts. Without such treatment, the flowers are vulnerable to petal drop—indeed, the entire floret can pop off the calyx. It’s also possible, however, for a grower to use too much STS with sweet peas, or to treat the cut stems for too long a time, which can “burn” the flowers. Getting it just right is one of the points of expertise that distinguish those who do well with this potentially hardy, but demanding crop.

HAPPY ACCIDENTS Like tweedia and scabiosa, two other floral crops with a “gardenflower” look, sweet peas are usually grown from seed—and that offers yet another possible benefit for small, boutique growers. In Japan, sweet pea growers often produce their own seed crop. One reason is to save money, since buying seed from breeding companies can be expensive. Another is the possibility A LABOR OF LOVE Sweet pea vines can grow up to seven meters long—that’s more than 22 feet! In nature, the vines support themselves with tendrils that grab onto neighboring plants. But in the greenhouse, to prevent tangled vines and bent stems, the tendrils are pinched off by hand and the vines are individually clipped to an upright support system—for example, as at Yuichi Ekawa’s farm, to hanging cordons or vertical plastic mesh. As they grow and lengthen, Yuichi must continually move the vines along and re-clip them into new positions. He also prunes the vines of side shoots, a technique that insures fewer, but higher-quality flowers—which, of course, must also be harvested by hand. “These flowers need a lot of love,” he says.

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of encountering, in the process of producing seed, a spontaneous mutation that results in a desirable new variety—one that becomes the grower’s exclusive property.

Such is the case with some of the latest sweet peas coming out of Japan, including the Shikibu series, with two-tone flowers of white mixed with pink, purple, or a wine color. (“Shikibu” is a reference to a Japanese cultural icon, Murasaki Shikibu—also known as Lady Murasaki, the 11th-century author of what is widely regarded as the world’s first novel, the racy and romantic Tale of Genji.) Another example is Momokomachi, a variety that turned up when grower Yuichi Ekawa planted his seed crop and noticed a beautiful new blush pink among the flowers. Given the difficulty of growing sweet peas, it’s nice that growers sometimes can get an extra bonus: a new variation on a beautiful, ever-evolving theme.

To purchase sweet peas and other flowers from Japan, check with your wholesale distributor. Among those carrying flowers from leading exporter Naniwa Flower Auction are the following suppliers: Baisch and Skinner, www.baischandskinner.com Cut Flower Wholesale, Inc., www.cutflower.com Dutch Flower Line, www.dutchflowerline.com DV Flora, www.dvflora.com G Page Wholesale Flowers, www.gpage.com Green Mountain Florist Supply, www.gmfsi.com Kelley Wholesale Florist, www.kelleywholesale.com Mayesh Wholesale Florist, www.mayesh.com Potomac Floral Wholesale, www.flowerwholesale.com A Rose by Harvest, www.arosebyharvest.com b

THE LATEST LOOKS Among the most striking new varieties of sweet peas, all coming from Japan, is Momokomachi, a delicate pale pink, seen at near right, above, in the greenhouse, with the vines clipped to cordons; it is a variety exclusive to Yuichi Ekawa’s small farm in the Arida district of Japan. Further examples include the Shikibu series, with twotone flowers of white mixed with a wine color, purple, or pink, and Shire Ripple (at near right, below), white with dappled markings in dark purple. There is also a Pink Ripple, with similar markings in bright pink.

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Themes Like Ch isTmas THREE POPULAR PALETTES FOR HOLIDAY PARTIES & DÉCOR.

Floral design by Michael Quesada AIFD, Kaleidoscope Flowers, Santa Barbara, California

For product information,

▼

Photography by Ron Derhacopian

see Where to Buy, page 64.

A TOuCH OF BluE Every florist needs at least one holiday look that’s both traditional and trendy—a look that says “Christmas” loud and clear, but with a stylish twist. like, for instance, touches of turquoise, here beautifully blended with a palette that also includes gold, silver, and deep red. Starting with a 15-inch mâché-backed wreath form, the wreath at left incorporates clusters of slender, shapely bay leaves, polyvinyl pine sprays, and real pinecones, all sprayed with Design Master 24KT Pure Gold—a metallic finish that is warm but not brassy, even leaning toward platinum, so that it harmonizes nicely with the salal foliage sprayed with Design Master Super Silver. Silver baubles and glittered artificial leaves likewise blend cool tones into the color scheme, along with the misty blue berries on sprigs of artificial juniper. With their metallic gleam, loops of red one-inch flat wire tie the Freedom roses into the mix of hues and textures—including turquoise baubles, a fresh and fashion-forward accent.

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Themes Like Ch isTmas

At left, Xanadu leaves— some sprayed with 24KT Gold—make a bold fanfare rising above a rounded medley of roses, ornaments, and foliage sprayed gold or turquoise, plus artificial juniper with its blue berries. Freedom roses mingle with Tess, a David Austin garden rose of a deep red that is almost plum.

At right, Michael has turned icicle ornaments in blue glass upsidedown and placed them at center stage in a design with strong radial lines and an art deco feel. The ornaments nestle in a bed of berried juniper that brings out the blue, along with turquoise midollino.

They pop out against a dramatic backdrop that includes gold-sprayed strelitzia and red ti leaves, anthuriums, ginger, and in the center, three dracaena stems sprayed silver.

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FIRE AND ICE A palette dominated by red and white, with just a few touches of green, makes

Themes Like Ch isTmas

for high drama, while flocked textures (created with Design Master Holiday Snow) give that magical winter wonderland feeling. Michael has also added subtle touches of sparkle to this look with transparent, subtly iridescent Christmas balls like soap bubbles. At left, again starting with a 15-inch mâché-backed wreath form, he added Christmas greens (pine and noble fir) and sprayed them with flocking. He then let the flocking cure before adding fresh flowers, faux berries, ornaments and ribbon, along with touches of sparkling artificial foliage. When a design with flocking added to the greens has to go into the cooler, the flocking may soften and “melt” a little, but you can always touch up the design with two or three prominent insertions of freshly flocked greens, Michael advises. That’s enough to make all the flocking look like a dusting of fresh snow.

At right, red hypericum adds another natural texture to the mix of roses, ribbon, ornaments and evergreens, all arranged in floral foam in a utility tray glued to the top of the white candleholder.

NOVEMBER 2015 33

Above, a tall stand of flocked Fiber Sticks, surrounded by curlicues of glittered red wire, makes a powerfully simple statement. Again, Michael inserted evergreen foliage first into the foam in the white gloss bowl and sprayed it with Holiday Snow, then let it dry before adding fresh red carnations, Freedom roses, dusty miller, and Christmas balls in shiny red, pearly white, and iridescent clear. He sprayed a few sprigs of fir separately and kept them out of the cooler so he could add them into the design at the last minute and freshen the flocked look.

The design at right combines real amaryllis with a realistic faux amaryllis bulb. Heavily flocked mitsumata lends a bold line and an artistic touch, along with rolled aspidistra leaves.

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INTO THE WOODS For a natural, organic look without glitz, Michael has relied on a combination of deeper and brighter reds with forest greens, tans and browns. The wreath at left includes twine-wrapped sisal ornaments, segments of birch branches, and small wood disks glued to picks along with apples, carnations, artificial berries, and evergreens. For the arrangement at right, Michael wired pinecones onto straight birch branches for a simple, appealing accent. Together with the slender strelitzia (bird-of-paradise) leaves, the branches add height and impact, making the most of the Freedom roses. Below, a tissue box covered in sheet moss makes a green “Christmas present,� wrapped with red burlap ribbon.

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Scented and clustered candles bring welcome fragrance and warmth into this holiday theme. At left, Michael has added value and charm to jar candles with ribbon accents and clever merchandising. Above, pillar candles in staggered heights nestle within a bed of holiday florals planted in a utility container surrounded with bark ribbon. At right, the addition of a single forthward-thrusting branch adds depth and dynamic line to a wood box. The fresh roses lend further realism to convincing faux amaryllis; for a corporate client they could be changed out once a week to create an exceptionally long-lasting design. b

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Themes Like Ch isTmas

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&

StyliSh CE

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F e s t i v e pa r t y ta b l e s

Photography by ron Derhacopian

t

Floral design by rich salvaggio aiFD, aaF, PFCi

t

Fun

table linens courtesy of

F o r t h e winter season o r a n y t i m e o f y e a r .

lEbrAtiONS

Wildflower Linen, www.wildflowerlinens.com

For product information,

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PRETTY IN PURPLE An analogous color scheme ranging from pink to lavender to Radiant Orchid and deep purple makes a strong color impact while offering a variety of shadings to the eye. Glitter Stems wrapped around vases make the palette sparkle. Spiraled inside the tall, frosty Twisted Vases (here used as holders for oating candles), they also echo the vases’ magenta stripes.

see Where to Buy, page 64.

NOVEMBER 2015 41

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TAKE FIVE Gloriosa and craspedia make elegant, playful companions, harmonizing in color and contrasting in form. The rough silvertone of the Optic Stands provides another contrast, cool against warm. Here, ďŹ ve Optic Stands are linked with glittered silver Salix Branches, threaded through all ďŹ ve, so that the entire design can be picked up and moved (carefully) as one unit. Each stand holds four glass water tubes. Frosted (silvered) aralia foliage picks up the glittered silver on the willow branches.

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BLACK TIE White flowers with silver-tinted mercury glass is a perfect recipe for formal elegance—made far more interesting with variations on the theme using round masses of different flowers, some sprouting taller extensions. Frosted (silvered) and White Mist foliages from Wm. F. Puckett pull the look together, harmonizing the flowers and containers.

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ONE FOR EVERYONE Each guest gets a cupcake—and at the end of the party, a Mini Vase filled with Florigene carnations, tied into bundles and wrapped with calathea and hydrangea leaves. Meanwhile, lined up like soldiers, the Mini Vases form one striking centerpiece. The base of each calathea leaf is wrapped forward around the bundle of carnation stems, which is then folded inside a hydrangea leaf and tucked inside the vase. Combining Florigene carnations in a range of tints and tones—light purple Moonaqua, medium Moonshade, and rich Moonvista—creates a pattern of light and shadow, echoing the stripes on the calathea foliage.

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HOT CHOCOLATE Whether on the menu or as a warm, inviting foundation hue, chocolate will never go out of style. Here fresh mini green hydrangea and gold coxcomb celosia add bright accents to a centerpiece that sprouts chocolate anthuriums and cosmos. An art-glass paperweight in deep amber anchors the design; it’s part of a solid mass of rounded forms enlivened with line interest from ower stems and ivy pointing in all directions. Chocolate pillar candles are staggered on candleholders that echo the paperweight and coxcomb in color and texture.

NOVEMBER 2015 49

LEMON GARDEN Permanent boxwood spheres add a classic touch, reminiscent of formal gardens, to a spritely collection of oncidiums and yellow callas, white roses and Million Stars gysophila, all gathered in milky green and opalescent Petra Vases.

Light green midollino links the vases, while White Mist sprengeri brings a cool, frothy accent, harmonizing with the white owers and milk glass. The boxwood spheres come with their own hangers, which made it easy for Rich to add one of them at the top of a vase simply by hooking the hanger over a hyacinth stake and inserting the stake into the vase.

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SWEET STUFF For a kids’ candy bar, stacked Lotus Bowls and Parasol vases in frosted pastels create a fashionable ombré effect. The frosted look is reinforced with White Mist foxtail fern, aralia leaves, and lily grass, while the flower palette echoes the pale tints of the vases with Majolika spray roses and Moonaqua carnations, deepening to a darker purple with liatris and giant alliums. The bowl towers are secured with UGlu; the Parasol vases are simply stacked.

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SKY LIGHT How do you capture the magical feeling of dawn and twilight in one design? Here, purple-blue flowers (hydrangea, veronica, and statice) and green artichokes nestle in a glass bowl that rises on its pedestal from a wider, cylinder bowl, filled with a glowing bed of illuminated Water Pearls, Jumbo Pearls, and bubbles of clear Floating Glass. Pieces of white and turquoise Pearlized Glass lend their milky color, while submersible LED lights make the sea of bubbles shine. Sphere Garland (clear beads on silver wire), draped over the flowers, catches the light and integrates them with the base.

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REFLECTIONS Floating candles breathe serenity; placed in close-fitting cylinders of recycled glass, the quiet flames seem as though suspended in mid air. When the cylinders are placed inside larger vases, reflections multiply. Here, the upright position of the cylinders is stabilized with UGlu. You don’t want to add water to the larger vase, or the UGlu will come unstuck, but you can add callas without water to the space between the cylinder and the vase and they will last beautifully for a party. An array of candles and callas makes a beautiful backdrop for the placecard table.

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BLOOMING DESERT Succulents make highly realistic permanent botanicals. While this design could be done with real succulents and tillandsias, it’s even more durable and transportable with these faux botanicals and dried manzanita branches. Rich planted the succulents and branches in foam in plate-glass containers—a planter and a square pillar—both elevated on smaller cubes. Then he poured dark green colored sand (the color is called “Woodbine”) around and on top of the blocks of foam in the containers. The dark glass is not mirrored, but it is reflective, adding to the design’s spare, masculine mystique. b

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shop profile

•

By Marianne Cotter

•

Photography by Troy Lacour

Freytag’s Florist Austin, Texas Owner: Ken Freytag Niches: Everyday, sympathy Employees: 35 full time, including 10 designers Square feet: 13,000 www.freytagsflorist.com

An industry veteran succeeds brilliantly at changing with the times.

I

n the 41 years since Ken Freytag opened the first Freytag’s Florist as a 19-year-old, he has gone full circle from owning seven restaurants and eight flower shops in the 1980s, all the way back to owning a single, albeit very

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large and successful, flower shop today.

His simplified and highly focused business model is a result of business acumen accumulated as the shop endured two major recessions, and of responding to the preference of today’s customers to place orders on the shop’s website.

“With the Internet you don’t really need multiple locations anymore,” Ken explains.

“You still have to do your basic advertising and get your name out there. But our website does twice as much business as any branch or satellite location we ever had. It’s

the web. People today want to order directly from the website. They just Google a city, you pop up, and the first thing they want to know is if you are really located in Austin.”

This focus on technology doesn’t come naturally to Ken, whose idea of guerilla marketing in the early days was running around church parking lots on Sunday mornings and leaving flyers on all the cars. He has succeeded in part by delegating the shop’s technology initiatives to his son Chad, who will take over the business one day (more on that later).

AN EARLY START When Ken Freytag was a scrappy 13-year-old, his father died, leaving him in the position of having to work to help support his family. A state school/work program was getting underway in Texas, and it proved the perfect solution for Ken to finish high school while learning a trade and earning money—in a flower shop.

The program was called industrial cooperative training and Ken was the first floral student in the program. His teacher went to the University of Texas for help with the curriculum.

Ken attended his core academic classes in the morning and left school at noon to work in a large local flower shop. “I worked from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday,” he recalls. “In addition, my father had owned a couple of Texaco gas stations where I used to hang out as a kid, so on Sundays I found work at a gas station. By age 15 I was working over 40 hours a week.”

When he graduated from high school Ken changed jobs, moving to a smaller shop. Two years later, at age 19, Ken felt he

Between Ken Freytag and his son Chad (pictured together on the opposite page), Freytag’s Florist has been and remains a bellwether for change in the industry, adapting business logistics and marketing strategy to the latest developments in the economy. Today the business is housed in one large location with a focus on sales and service through the website. The shop itself offers an appealing, but simplified retail experience. Ten full-time designers keep a fleet of delivery vehicles on the road.

NOVEMBER 2015 61

was ready to own his own shop. His youth, however, was a barrier when he tried to take out a business loan.

“I wasn’t 21 yet, so I had to go to court and have my ‘right of minor’ waived, which meant a judge had to say I was a responsible enough individual to act like an adult,” Ken explains. “Once I had that I could sign a lease and get a loan, which my brother co-signed. I borrowed $10,000 and got a 1200-square-foot space—smaller than our cooler now.”

Ken joined Teleflora in October 1973 but couldn’t open his shop until early 1974, because the shopping center it was in was still under construction. “Teleflora got me in and I worked out of my mother’s house until four days before Valentine’s Day, when I opened the doors of my new shop. I was opened four days and made 74 deliveries. I thought that was pretty good.”

The shop’s location for the last 12 years is a freestanding building near the original one in central Austin, converted from a Steak and Ale restaurant. A whimsical mural on the front wall depicts a lady next to a flower cart against a pink background.

A TALE OF TWO RECESSIONS Ken has seen the business through two major—but quite different—recessions, each of which yielded its own lessons and required its own strategy. For Freytag’s, the recession of the 1980s was far worse than the more recent one because the first one hit Texas so much harder.

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“In the late ’80s the Texas economy took a major hit,” Ken recalls. “That period was one of my biggest business challenges. Oil and real estate declined and banks were closing. Many people were going out of business and we just had to figure out how to survive. We did a lot of reorganizing at that time, closing five stores in one year. In the end we came out stronger because we got rid of a lot of deadwood. You become a better operator.”

Times changed, and when the recent and more profound recession hit, Texas was able to hold its own. The state fared so much better than the rest of the nation that the Freytag’s just felt blessed to be doing business here. “Dallas and Austin were pretty immune,” Ken says. “I’m not going to say we never flattened out, but we never went backwards.”

BAD TIMES, GOOD INVESTMENTS “My philosophy is that when everyone else is struggling, that’s when you have to get out there.

Tech-wise we were very aggressive during the recession and spent a lot of money,” says Ken, who was in the fortunate position of being able to finance the investments himself, a risk he felt comfortable taking due to son Chad’s knowledge of technology marketing. Chad had come up through the ranks at Freytag’s starting as a driver and learning all the processes and tasks that it takes to run a flower shop. Not a designer, over the years he gravitated towards busi-

ness processes and marketing and was tech savvy enough to steer the technology investments toward a social media marketing strategy that resulted in a highly profitable online order business.

The technology investments modernized the management and marketing of the shop.

“We installed a new phone system that gave us the ability to track what phone number our calls were coming in on,” says Ken. “This helped us hone in on what advertising was working and what was not working.

The phone system also has call recording, which has been a great training tool. Shortly thereafter, we upgraded to RTI, which has been a solid point-of-sale platform. Finally, we purchased a Flower Manager website from Gravity Free. We did extensive research on the website and were confident that we would see a sales increase from the site. To our delight, the return on investment was much greater than we imagined.

“These last seven years Chad has brought in a lot of new ideas that we’ve acted on,” Ken continues. “He took charge of them and he’s getting results. I have confidence in him. The investment came back twofold; it was just amazing.”

To make the most of his social media efforts, Chad hired a full-time, in-house marketing person who continually updates the shop’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts and does all the photography.

“We do all our own photography so the images you see on our website are ours,” says

Chad. “We have thousands of pictures in our portfolio, which is a major undertaking.

She takes care of all that.”

SIMPLICITY AND FOCUS In addition to closing the other stores and restaurants, Freytag’s has stepped away from wedding and event work, at least the kind that requires setup and breakdown. “We do a lot of setup during the day, like delivering 60 centerpieces to a University of Texas event,” explains Ken, “but we’re not chasing the kind of event business that has us tearing down at a hotel at 2:00 a.m. I did that for 30 years and I reached a point where I said no more.”

The retail experience for the customer is also simplified. When you enter Freytag’s you are met with rows of shelving containing potted plants, stem buckets, and flower vases more reminiscent of a garden center than a flower shop. Customers can choose stems or arrangements out of a large walkin cooler or have a designer create something new. A greeting card stand, some candles, plush animals and soft music are the only concessions Freytag’s makes to a touchy-feely browsing experience.

“We don’t do much merchandising,” admits Ken. “We’ve got our product out there and we have soft music but as far as a gift environment, a browsing experience…nah, that’s not us. But even so, 10 percent of our business is walk-in. We think that’s pretty good.”

Freytag’s ten full-time designers keep six

or seven delivery vehicles on the road every day serving the entire Austin metro area.

High turnover means longer-lasting flowers for the consumer. Most orders come in via the shop’s website. “Twenty-eight percent of our orders come from the website. But if you figure in the number of people who call while looking at the website, it is about 44 percent of our business,” says Ken. The shop offers a full range of design styles to fill the full spectrum of everyday orders including a large amount of sympathy work. Corporate work is abundant given Austin’s large technology sector; Dell Computers is headquartered there and Apple has a big presence.

Truly a family business, Freytag’s is owned by Ken and his wife Terri as a corporation; Chad serves on the board and will someday own the shop. (Chad also currently serves as a member of the Society of American Florists’ Retailers Council.)

Daughter Casey works part-time at the shop doing design work until the big holidays come up, at which point she goes full-time, plus as the whole family switches into high gear. In the ten days running up to Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, Casey packs up the kids and moves into her parents’ house. She’s at the shop with Ken at 6:00 a.m. and stays until closing. “My wife has never been involved in the business,” Ken says, “but she has always made it possible to have a family business. When my daughter’s here, my wife is picking up her kids.”

NEVER SAY NEVER With surging growth rates, the current strategy is working well at Freytag’s—but that doesn’t mean Ken is not prepared to continue changing with the times as needed. For example, he considers that at some point he may choose to turn the wedding business back on.

“As long as we continue to have growth in the 10 percent and above range, that’s about what we can handle,” Ken explains.

“It pushes us to the max.” If they do ever go back to serving weddings and events, he says, “it would be a separate business with its own employees, leasing space in this building and operating under our name.

We could turn the faucet back on anytime we want; it’s just a matter of deciding we want to.

“I will not be involved,” Ken says with a laugh. “I promise you that.” b In September, Ken Freytag became the first-ever recipient of the Tom Butler “Floral Retailer of the Year” Award. Established by Teleflora to honor the legacy of past chairman Tom Butler, the annual award recognizes a retail florist who shows a high level of commitment and service to the local community and provides leadership and guidance to fellow florists. The announcement was made at the American Floral Endowment Fundraising Dinner. Photo top left, opposite page, courtesy of the American Floral Endowment.

NOVEMBER 2015 63

where to buy

continued on page 64

For more information on merchandise featured in Flowers&, contact the supplier directly. Direct links to most suppliers can be found on the Flowers& website, www.flowersandmagazine.com. Use the links under “Advertisers in This Issue” or the link to our searchable, online Buyers’ Guide at the top of the Flowers& home page.

FEATURED SUPPLIERS

FOCUS ON DESIGN, pages 8-9

Newport bowl, plum midollino with beads, and pink Pearlized Glass, Accent Décor.

FLOWER TALES, pages 10-12

Low glass cylinder bowl, Syndicate Sales.

THEMES LIKES CHRISTMAS, pages 28-39

Fresh flowers and foliage throughout, Florabundance.

Permanent botanicals, ornaments (except as noted), and ribbon, Floral Supply Syndicate.

Mâché-backed floral-foam wreath forms, Smithers-Oasis.

A TOUCH OF BLUE, pages 29-31

Desiray Compote (mercury glass pedestal bowl) and Dazzle Cube, Accent Décor.

Blue icicle glass ornaments, Kurt Adler.

FIRE AND ICE, pages 32-35

Holiday Snow, Design Master.

White gloss bowls, Modern Collections.

Fiber Sticks, Accent Décor.

INTO THE WOODS,

pg 42

PRETTY IN PURPLE,

LEMON GARDEN,

Crinkle Taffeta Lavender tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Gathering Vase, Groovy Vase, Vibe Vase, Fusion Vase, Twisted Vases (used as holders for floating candles) and Glitter Stems, Syndicate Sales.

Iridescent Taffeta Mango tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Petra Vases and boxwood spheres, Accent Décor.

White Mist sprengeri, Wm. F. Puckett.

pages 40-41

TAKE FIVE,

pages 42-43

Hollywood Square Platinum tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Optic Stands and glittered silver Salix Branches, Accent Décor.

Frosted aralia leaves, Wm. F. Puckett.

BLACK TIE,

pages 44-45

Nu Silk Black tablecloth with Diamond Organza overlay, Wildflower Linen.

Frosted lily grass and fatsia leaves and White Mist foxtail fern, Wm. F. Puckett.

Mercury glass bowls and large and small julep cups, Teleflora.

ONE FOR EVERYONE, pages 46-47

pages 50-51

SWEET STUFF, pages 52-53

Nu Silk Rose tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Moonaqua carnations, Florigene.

White Mist sprengeri, Frosted aralia leaves and Frosted lily grass, Wm. F. Puckett.

Lotus Bowls and Parasol Vases in Seaside Pastel Assortment, Syndicate Sales.

SKY LIGHT,

pages 54-55

Opera Blue tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Pearlized Glass in white and turquoise, Water Pearls, Jumbo Pearls, Floating Glass, Sphere Garland, and Lumen Votive holders, Accent Décor.

Submersible LED lights, Acolyte.

REFLECTIONS, pages 56-57

Wood box containers (one with a wood log appliqué), Modern Collections.

Jar candles, Glint Candles.

Bunya Green tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Mini Vases, Teleflora.

Moonaqua, Moonshade, and Moonvista carnations, Florigene.

Butterflies, Berwick Offray.

Festive Bamboo in platinum, Accent Décor.

Recycled glass vases, Garcia Group Glass.

Silver floating candles, Candle Artisans.

Moon of Diamonds six-inch table runner, Fitz Design.

STYLISH CELEBRATIONS,

HOT CHOCOLATE,

pages 58-59

Candles throughout (pillar, floating and votive), Candle Artisans, available through the Pete Garcia Company.

Table linens throughout, Wildflower Linen.

Ultra Suede Oak tablecloth with Wave Chocolate overlay, Wildflower Linen.

Art-glass plate, amber ball paperweight, art-glass candleholders in three sizes, Diamond Star.

Chocolate-brown Patrician pillar candles, Candle Artisans.

pages 36-39

pages 40-59

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pages 48-49

BLOOMING DESERT,

Ottoman Paprika tablecloth, Wildflower Linen.

Myriad plate-glass containers and candleholders (used as risers) and permanent succulents and tillandsia, Pioneer Imports.

Colored sand, Sandtastik.

Manzanita branches, Schusters of Texas.

Accent Décor, Inc. Call 800-385-5114 or visit www.accentdecor.com.

Acolyte.

Call 888-ACOLYTE (226-5983) or visit www.888acolyte.com.

Berwick Offray.

Call 800-327-0350 or visit www.berwickoffray.com.

Candle Artisans.

Call 908-689-2000 or visit www.candleartisans.com.

Design Master Color Tool.

Call 800-525-2644 or visit www.dmcolor.com.

Diamond Star.

Call 888-866-8368 or visit www.diamondstarglass.com.

Fitz Design.

Call 800-500-2120 or visit www.creationsbyfitzdesign.com.

Florabundance.

Call 800-201-3597 or visit www.florabundance.com.

Floral Supply Syndicate.

Visit www.fss.com.

Florigene Flowers.

Visit www.florigene.com.

Garcia Group Glass.

Call 800-241-3733 or visit www.floramart.com.

Glint Candles.

Visit http://glintcandles.com/ wholesale-inquiries.

Kurt S. Adler, Inc. Call 800-243-9627 or visit www.kurtadler.com.

Modern Collections.

Call 818-718-1400 or visit www.themoderncollections.com.

Pete Garcia Company.

Call 800-241-3733 or visit www.floramart.com.

Pioneer Imports & Wholesale.

Call 888-234-5400 or visit www.pioneerwholesaleco.com.

Sandtastik Products Inc. Call 800-845-3845 or visit www.floralsand.com.

Schusters of Texas.

Call 800-351-1493 or visit www.schustersoftexas.com.

Smithers-Oasis.

Call 800-321-8286 or visit www.oasisfloral.com.

Syndicate Sales.

Call 800-428-0515 or visit www.syndicatesales.com.

Teleflora.

Call 800-333-0205 or visit themarket.myteleflora.com.

Wildflower Linen.

Call 866-965-7775 or visit www.wildflowerlinens.com.

Wm. F. Puckett.

Call 800-426-3376 or visit www.puckettfern.com.

what’s in store

THE COMFORT OF QUALITY Hand-glazing, hand-applied metallic silver details, and classic design assure stellar sales for Teleflora’s star keepsake container for Christmas 2015, the Silver and Joy Centerpiece bowl. Customers will love that it’s FDA-approved for serving food; designers will love the high sides and wide opening that make for easy arranging. Call 800-333-0205 or visit themarket.myteleflora.com.

OUT OF AFRICA Sell stunning, sophisticated handmade baskets, jewelry, and home decor and help lift African artisans out of poverty.

A wide range of products runs from trivets and coasters to clutches, bracelets and earrings. Retail and wholesale inquiries welcome. Call 858-333-8484 or visit www.allacrossafrica.org.

A FINE PATINA Pioneer Imports introduces their new series of Reclaimed Look Wood décor pieces. Shown here is a set of four wall pieces that are perfect for event décor or store merchandising. Nested tables are also available.

Visit the website to see the complete series.

Call 888-234-5400 or visit www.pioneerwholesaleco.com.

COLLECTIBLE GLASS ART Handcrafted, blownglass figurines from Glass Lilies contain no dyes, no paint, and no decals. Besides flowers, subjects include a wide variety of birds, animals and insects.

Wholesale prices are available to retailers who email a copy of their resale certificate to admin@glasslilies.com. Call 954-983-3060 or visit www.glasslilies.com.

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industry events For the most recent additions to Teleflora Unit Programs, go to www.MyTeleflora.com and click on Design Education to access the Floral Event Calendar in the Unit Program section.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 7-23, ATLANTA, GA FloraMart market dates for fall/ Christmas 2016 merchandise, FloraMart. Visit www.floramart.com.

JANUARY 2-15, 2016, ATLANTA, GA

JULY 11-22, 2016, ATLANTA, GA FloraMart market dates for spring/ summer 2017 merchandise, FloraMart. Visit www.floramart.com.

SEPTEMBER 21-24, 2016, MAUI, HI SAF Annual Convention, Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. Call the Society of American Florists at 800-336-4743 or visit www.safnow.org.

DECEMBER 5-16, 2016, ATLANTA, GA FloraMart market dates for fall/ Christmas 2017 merchandise, FloraMart. Visit www.floramart.com.

JULY 1-5, 2017, SEATTLE, WA

FloraMart market dates for fall/ Christmas 2016 merchandise, FloraMart. Visit www.floramart.com.

National AIFD Symposium, Sheraton Seattle. Call the American Institute of Floral Designers at 410-752-3318 or visit www.aifd.org.

JANUARY 11-13, 2016, SANTA BARBARA, CA

JUNE 30-JULY 5, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC

Florabundance Inspirational Design Days, The Orchid Farm at Dos Pueblos Ranch. Call 800-201-3597 or visit www.florabundance.com.

JANUARY 12-14, 2016, ORLANDO, FL The Special Event, Orange County Convention Center. Visit www.thespecialeventshow.com.

JANUARY 20-22, 2016, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE), Broward County Convention Center. Call the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association at 800-375-3642 or visit www.fngla.org.

JANUARY 26-29, 2016, ESSEN, GERMANY IPM Essen, Messe Essen exhibition complex. Visit www.essentradeshows.com.

MARCH 14-15, 2016, ARLINGTON, VA SAF Congressional Action Days, Ritz Carlton Pentagon City. Call the Society of American Florists at 800336-4743 or visit www.safnow.org.

JUNE 6-JULY 1, 2016, ATLANTA, GA FloraMart market dates for spring/ summer 2017 merchandise (closed on Father’s Day, June 19), FloraMart.

Visit www.floramart.com.

JULY 3-7, 2016, ORANGE COUNTY, CA AIFD National Symposium: “Inspiration,” Anaheim Marriott.

Call the American Institute of Floral Designers at 410-752-3318 or visit www.aifd.org.

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National AIFD Symposium, Washington Marriott Wardman Park.

Call the American Institute of Floral Designers at 410-752-3318 or visit www.aifd.org.

CENTRAL REGION MARCH 3-6, 2016, GRAND RAPIDS, MI Great Lakes Floral Expo, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place Convention Center. Call 517-575-0110 or visit www.greatlakesfloralexpo.com.

MARCH 11-13, 2016, PIERRE, SD South Dakota Florists Association Convention, Ramkota Hotel & Suites.

Visit www.sdflorists.org.

APRIL 1-3, 2016, GREEN BAY, WI Wisconsin & Upper Michigan Florists’ Association Convention, Radisson Hotel & Conference Center. Call 517253-7730 or visit www.wumfa.org.

WESTERN REGION NOVEMBER 6-8, PORTLAND, OR Ninth Moon Floral Design Showcase, featuring Louisa Lam AIFD, CPFD and other top designers, Lan Su Chinese Garden. Visit www.lansugarden.org/ ninthmoon.

JANUARY 11-13, 2016, SANTA BARBARA, CA Florabundance Inspirational Design Days, The Orchid Farm at Dos Pueblos Ranch. Call 800-201-3597 or visit www.florabundance.com.

BG IDEAS every month, along with flower news & business advice A digital subscription is only $19.95 for a full year.

Visit: www.flowersandmagazine.com & click on the “subscribe” tab.

advertiser links

emporium

Advertisers’ websites are hyperlinked on the Flowers& website. Go to www.flowersandmagazine.com and click on “Advertisers in This Issue.”

EMPLOYMENT

ACCENT DÉCOR, INC. 800-385-5114 www.accentdecor.com

13

DESIGN MASTER COLOR TOOL 800-525-2644 www.dmcolor.com

23

DOLLAR TREE DIRECT 877-530-TREE (8733) www.dollartree.com/floral/559/index.cat

INSIDE BACK COVER

21

FLORACRAFT CORPORATION 800-253-0409 www.floracraft.com

19

FLORAL SUPPLY SYNDICATE 800-347-9994 www.fss.com

21

FLOWERBOX 866-396-1185 www.flowerbox.com

25

HORTICA INSURANCE AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 800-851-7740 www.hortica-insurance.com

17

KAY BERRY 800-426-1932 www.kayberry.com

27

KRISTIN & COMPANY 800-433-0983 www.kristinandco.com

25

MODERN COLLECTIONS 818-718-1400 www.themoderncollections.com

11

PETE GARCIA COMPANY 800-241-3733 www.floramart.com

Refrigerators For Flowers

Combo walkins, storage, reach-ins 800-729-5964 www.flotaire.com

SCHOOLS

6

BACK COVER

ROYAL FLOWERS 800-977-4483 www.royalflowersecuador.com

1

SEMINOLE 800-638-3378 www.seminoleds.com

6

SMITHERS-OASIS 800-321-8286 www.oasisfloral.com

3

SYNDICATE SALES 800-428-0515 www.syndicatesales.com

E-mail: search@florasearch.com Website: http://www.florasearch.com

EQUIPMENT

DRAMM & ECHTER 800-854-7021 www.drammechter.com

NASHVILLE WRAPS, LLC 800-547-9727 www.nashvillewraps.com

Florasearch, Inc.

In our third decade of performing confidential key employee searches for the floriculture industry and allied trades worldwide. Retained basis only. Candidate contact welcome, confidential, and always free.

1740 Lake Markham Rd., Sanford, FL 32771 Phone: (407) 320-8177 / Fax: (407) 320-8083

Portland, Oregon

WEDDINGS

INSIDE FRONT COVER

John Toomey Co

(800) 421-0052

Wedding Aisle Runners Rentals & Sales

TELEFLORA 800-333-0205 www.myteleflora.com

7, 14

WM. F. PUCKETT, INC. 800-426-3376 www.puckettfern.com

5

UPS Shipments

White Cotton Runners

NOVEMBER 2015 67

wholesaler connection ARIZONA PHOENIX Conroy Wholesale Florist The Roy Houff Company CALIFORNIA FRESNO Designer Flower Center INGLEWOOD American Magazines & Books OAKLAND Piazza International Floral SACRAMENTO Flora Fresh SAN DIEGO San Diego Florist Supplies SANTA ROSA Sequoia Floral International FLORIDA PENSACOLA American Floral Wholesale of Pensacola Carlstedt’s, LLC GEORGIA OMEGA Hornbuckle Wholesale Florist HAWAII HONOLULU Flora-Dec Sales ILLINOIS CHICAGO The Roy Houff Company NORMAL The Roy Houff Company WHEELING The Roy Houff Company

KANSAS WICHITA Valley Floral Company KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE The Roy Houff Company LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE Louisiana Wholesale Florists MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON Jacobson Floral Supply

PENNSYLVANIA PITTSBURGH Keystone Ribbon & Floral Pittsburgh Cut Flower Company SOUTH DAKOTA SIOUX FALLS North American Wholesale Florist, Inc. TENNESSEE NASHVILLE The Roy Houff Company

MICHIGAN WARREN Nordlie, Inc.

VIRGINIA NORFOLK The Roy Houff Company RICHMOND The Roy Houff Company

MINNESOTA MINNEAPOLIS Koehler and Dramm

WASHINGTON TACOMA Washington Floral Service

MISSOURI ST LOUIS LaSalle Wholesale Florist

CANADA BURNABY, BC Kirby/Signature Floral Supply

NEW YORK CAMPBELL HALL Alders Wholesale Florist OHIO DAYTON Nordlie, Inc. NORTH CANTON Canton Wholesale Floral

MALAYSIA SELANGOR Worldwide Floral Services SINGAPORE Worldwide Floral Services

ATTENTION

FLORAL WHOLESALERS

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Sell Flowers& in your store! for extra profits Select any quantity— no minimum Whatever you don’t sell we buy back!

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Call 800-321-2665

OREGON PORTLAND Floral Design Institute

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