Administrative Professionals Day

Next Wednesday, the 24th, is Administrative Professionals Day, and we have just what you need to show your appreciation for everyone in your office.  To make things easy we decided to feature a few arrangements here to illustrate the cheery, colorful, fresh-cut flowers that will perfectly fit on the recipient's desk, and brighten their day.

The two shots above are in 4" cube vases, and feature a bright, beautiful all-around presentation that will certainly show appreciation for all the people working hard to make your office function.  Available in the $25-$35 range, as pictured above is $30, not including delivery.  Feel free to tell us the colors and flowers you'd like to see, and we will do our best to accommodate your preference.

This is the same as above, only in a larger 5" cube vase, which holds a few more stems.  These can be made in the $40 - $60 range, as pictured above is $50.  Beautiful with fresh springy tulips, gerbera daisies, spray roses, alstroemeria, stock, hydrangea, and solidago.  Again, let us know your color/flower choices and we will make it to order!

This beautiful arrangement is in one of our large ginger vases, and features all the bright hues and spring-season flowers you would want to make a co-worker or employee feel appreciated.  As shown, this arrangement is $50, and can be made in this size vase for $45-$70.  We also carry medium (6 1/4") and small (5") sized ginger vases that can be made in the $25-$40 and $20-$30 ranges, respectively.

Don't forget, next weekend is Art In Bloom at MIA in Minneapolis, look here next week for updates!  Since it will be a busy week for us, we'd love to take your orders ASAP, though we always help the last-minute types as well!☺

Spring(?) Update

Looking at the weather outside its been hard to hold out hope for Summer, or any sign of Spring, but we have all sorts of ideas to help remind you warmer weather is actually on its way, bringing with it the lush sights and smells of nature in bloom.  Above is a large arrangement we made for a funeral, putting together a large ivy plant and a colorful burst of fresh cut flowers.

Here is a fresh cut arrangement we made for another funeral, a glorious splash of colorful flowers that bring to mind the rebirth that is Spring.  Cherry blossoms and forsythia branches accent the locally-grown red and yellow roses, orange tulips and orange and pink lilies.

A vase of fresh-cuts with our locally-grown Len Busch lilies, alstro and gerbera daisies.

Bright Spring colors like these are sure to chase away the Winter blues and blahs.  This arrangement has yellow freesia that has a lovely peppery aroma distinct from other floral scents.  Its paired with some Asiatic lilies and waxflower that also provide a beautiful fresh flower smell.  Then throw in some hydrangea, alstromeria and a rose for some vibrant hues.

We have a nice selection of blooming plants available in-store, and are able to order most popular green and blooming plants.  These blooming gerbera plants were sent out as centerpieces for an event, a simple idea that provided a nice pop of color and vitality to the tables.

The 4-inch blooming gerberas are really cute, and are sending up all sorts of new blooms!

Tulips have become a symbol of the beginning of spring because they are often the first plants to pop up with colorful blooms in the early months of the season.  We have plenty of them at Best Wishes this time of year, and are great in small desk arrangements as well as large splashy buffet table arrangements.

This big arrangement of tulips and two varieties of myrtle was prepared for our neighbor Doolittle's weekly standing order.

An elegant birthday bouquet with iris, roses, gerbera, alstroemeria, lily, statice and waxflower.  The branchy sweet huck adds texture and character.

This was made for a get-well-soon gift.  The orange ranunculus and yellow freesia are contrasted with the vivid pinks and purples in the spray roses, alstroemeria, waxflower and calla lily, all gathered into a bubble bowl that is the perfect size for a bedside table.

We send and receive orders through the Teleflora network, and occasionally an order comes through for one of their products where we must make substitutions in the recipe due to what is available in-store.  The above picture was what we were aiming for and below is what we came up with.

Subbing out the blue asters for some blue iris did wonders!

Lovely bi-color gerbera daisies, a very cool dark green peperomia, and an adorable little terrarium.

Dish gardens can be the perfect antidote to the current lack-of-springness in the air, since they sit on your desk at work or on your table in the living room and have the lushness of a verdant forest in some tropical (or arid) place.  They are quite easy to maintain and take care of and should last at least a year before they need to be replanted.  We're always happy to share our plant care tips with our customers, just drop in and ask!

Spring is the time for succulent dish gardens, and these easy-to-care-for creations are beautiful for the home or office.

Don't forget that next week, Wednesday the 24th is Administrative Professionals Day!  We will post specials here on our blog later this week.  Also, Art in Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is coming up next week and we are working with them in an exciting new capacity this year so look for that announcement next week.

Spring Update - Part 3

This week we're going to post a bit of what's in the store as well as some of the arrangements we've been making, but first there are a few announcements to make.  Next Wednesday the 25th is Administrative Professionals Day, and we will be delivering thank-you gifts of all kinds to the Admin Pros at your workplace who deserve that special recognition for the hard work they do.  Don't forget to give us a call; some fresh flowers and plants can really brighten up your office, and everyone's day!

We're very excited to announce that the 29th Annual Art In Bloom at Minneapolis Institute of the Arts is coming up next weekend, April 26-29th.  Each year local floral designers, amateur and professional, are invited to create work inspired by works in the museum collection.  Over the weekend, the museum becomes a veritable garden of delight where art and nature come together in a celebration of Spring.  We are partnering as we have in years past with Gabbert's Design Studio in one of the many commercial floral displays that are part of the event.  You'll find us in the entrance to the Target Gallery on the second floor.  Frank just told me he had a vision of what he wants to do, so we can't wait to show you what we have in store.  We'll be posting more about this next week, and a wrap-up following the event.  If you haven't been to the museum or this event before, you are absolutely required to visit!

Now for the pictures!  At the top of this post was a detail of this arrangement we did for a funeral last week.  We specialize in creative and non-traditional arrangements for all occasions, and are happy to work with you to get the style you like.

We do a lot of work for events, making centerpieces, buffet, and table arrangements that give and elegant and stylish pop to special occasions and gatherings.  One of our frequent event clients had a showcase last week and asked Frank to put together a few examples of what we do.  This table arrangement is making a bold statement with orange roses and tulips and those tall flowers in the center, called eremurus, provide maximum height and interest.

This matching arrangement, with orange roses and gerbera daisies, hydrangea, and beautiful dark blue delphinium, works as an accent for a buffet, or prominently displayed at the entrance, inviting your guests inside.  The showcase event this was made for last week was held outside on a windy day, and you wouldn't believe that this was blown over once or twice in a strong gust, and it still looks great!  What is not captured very well in this photo are the battery-operated LED accent lights adorning the outside of the vase, and even in the water (!) that can add a great glow to those evening events.  Come in and see them in person, and we'll show you all the cool ways we can use them!

This centerpiece, in complimentary orange, sits low at table, so your guests can still talk to each other across the table.  Whether you need 2 or 29 (or more), we can hand-craft them for your next event.

A customer brought in her own ceramic bowls to use for a few centerpieces last week, and we are always happy to use whatever vase or container you'd like, so bring 'em in!  This photo didn't look quite so blurry on my phone, but you can sort of see those great big green spider 'mums paired with orange tulips, pink spray roses, and that dark purple statice makes for a colorful and cute look for the table.

We got some great unique green plants in the store last week, and this muehlenbeckia hanging on the far left was just begging for a Euro basket treatment.  Remember, this is just an example of what we have in-store, and what we can make, so come and see us and get your little slice of spring today!

See you soon!