Valentine's Day Preview

It's February which means we're getting ready here at Best Wishes Floral for Valentine's Day!  If you're looking for something to let your wife, husband, partner, friends, and the special people in your life know you are thinking of them with love.  Whether you're looking to make a romantic gesture or just hoping to brighten their day, we've got what you need to make it happen.  Here's a peek at some of the arrows in Cupid's quiver.

Our locally grown Len Busch Roses continue to be utmost in lasting, fragrant, beautiful roses you'll find anywhere in the Midwest.  Here are a dozen long-stemmed red LBR's arranged in our traditional style with leather leaf fern, seeded eucalyptus and delicate white and purple limonium as an accent flower.  Guarding this symbol of romance and passion is one of our cute mini teddy bears, made by Ganz, which are just about the softest little guys on earth!  Available in 4 different sizes and a variety of colors.

Here's a close-up view of the limonium we like to use to accent our roses and other arrangements.

Another dozen roses, seen here in a red vase.  Remember we will gladly help you reuse and recycle your vase collection from home, just bring them in and we'll fill them for you.

Another dozen Len Busch Roses, this vibrant pink color is named Orlando, which is appropriately evocative of the tropical climes we are all longing for this time of year.

Here's a cute arrangement that would be appropriate for a host of Valentines.  Two red Len Busch Roses in a cube vase with seeded eucalyptus, green hydrangea, pink waxflower, and a little heart tucked in.  Adding the Hammond's Candy Cane Crunch dark chocolate bar makes just one more sense this gift will stimulate.  We have the Hammond's bars in 5 delicious flavors, and carry the gourmet boxes in 4, 9, and 16 pieces.  Sometimes the surest way to someone's heart is through their taste buds!

Here's an order that went out today and is a perfect example of a bright, cheery mix of fresh cut flowers that we specialize in putting together here at Best Wishes.  The yellow and red Len Busch Roses are the rich center to the arrangement that includes yellow alstroemeria, hot pink spray roses, lavender stock, magnenta dianthus, bupleurum, and limonium.

Birds of paradise and purple cymbidium orchids provide a beautiful tropical style in this arrangement.  

We have a selection of orchid plants in stock right now, as well, and they are a great gift anytime of year.  The white phalenopsis is blooming beautifully, and the miniature plants are about the cutest things.  We are happy to share our expertise in caring for all of our live plants and fresh cut flowers anytime!

Details of those orchid blooms.

This red kalanchoe plant is beautifully vibrant and would be perfect to liven up anyone's office, desk, or home and remind them that Spring is on its way.

Our bulb gardens are just getting started, maximizing the time you'll enjoy them this spring.  The larger ones include iris, daffodil, tulips and hyacinth, and the small sized ones will bloom with iris and daffodils.  They're quite easy to take care of, just keep them moist and let them have a bit of sun.  Keeping them in cooler temperatures will extend the blooming time as well.

Here's a fun dish garden that will add a pop of spring freshness to any space (provided its above freezing).  A spathiphyllum paired with a few other green plants and some silk blooms so that there will always be some color to gaze at.

A bit larger version of the dish garden above, with some purple passion included.

This large silk flower arrangement is not only impossible to kill and will last forever, those yellow forsythia stems actually light up!  Add a natural glow to your living room or bedroom you can enjoy year-round.  Suggested card message: "You light up my life."

Our super soft plush animals are lining the shelves, ready to add a cuddle to your gift.

Whatever the occasion that will be candle-lit on Valentines (a bath, a movie on the couch) these crystal-encrusted votive-holders will make it 100% more elegant.

We will be here and ready to help you for extended hours next week, Monday - Thursday, 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. so be sure to give us a call make your Valentine's Day special!

Holiday 2012 Retrospective

As we prepare for one of our busiest days here at Best Wishes Floral (Valentine's), here's a quick document of what we were up to in the 2012 holiday season.  It was an adventure setting up our newly remodeled space for Christmas and Hanukkah, playing with all the new ways we can use our ceiling, for example.

These hanging lanterns with their nice glass cylinder vases inside have all kinds of possibilities for home decor.  Either hung from the ceiling or placed on a shelf or table, you'll have all kinds of fun filling them with interesting textures and shapes.  Here, we've strung some Christmas lights through them and filled them with brightly colored wire balls and then adorned them with this great natural-looking snowy garland.

Mark models our fun light-up headbands and Undercover Santa glasses.  These are certainly a way to brighten your holiday gathering.  When you're tired of decorating the tree, decorate your head!

This was a simple artificial arrangement we put together for a customer who wanted to use some of the beautiful light-up birch branches we carry.  A festive look that lights up the often very dark winter nights.

This arrangement went to one of our weekly standing orders, and this is what it looked like after a week!  Evergreens paired with green hydrangea, red alstroemeria, silver seeded eucalyptus, some leucadendron, and red curly ting stuck through shiny green wire balls.

Another of our weekly standing order, this one shot on location at Doolittle's Woodfire Grill in Golden Valley.  Besides the incredible food and great service, its worth the weekly trip alone to check out our flowers next to the host stand!  This is giant purple kale, purple stock, yellow lily, and Peruvian star alstroemeria, accented with curly willow.

This was a trio of table arrangements for a holiday party.  Each was complimentary and unique, bringing a bright festive feel with the gold Italian ruscus, and fresh white freesia, heather, and snapdragons.

For one of our lucky customers that receives a weekly flower bouquet.  A bubble bowl with river rocks, hydrangea, hot pink spray roses, yellow gerbera, dark brown myrtle and those beautiful coral colored succulent flower spikes.  This is simple but has lots of visual interest to enjoy.

This arrangement had almost a desert/southwest flair with the cactus-like evergreens accenting the Douglas fir, fresh hydrangea and carnations.  Very unique and long lasting.

A wreath with matching garland for the mantle.

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!

Valentine's Day 2012 (Part 2)

Sometimes a dozen red roses is not quite the right gift on Valentine's day, whether you are giving to a friend, family member, or someone that you would like to eventually be sending red roses to, but haven't quite reached that stage.  We have so many options and gift ideas in the shop right now, we want to share some of them with you.  Like the 12 long-stemmed roses above, in stunning pink and lavender hues, here's some special things you can find that say "Be Mine" in many different ways.

Clever (or not so clever) puns about "two lips" are entirely optional when you give beautiful Minnesota-grown tulips as gifts.  We can put them in a nice arrangement alone or with some other nice fresh cut flowers and greens, or wrap them up for you to take them home.  The best part is they will remind everyone who sees them that spring is coming soon!

Speaking of spring, we have a selection of ready-to-go bulb gardens in the shop that are sprouting up like crazy.  If you don't have much of a way with plants, its fine with these guys, they just like a splash of water now and then, and they'll be blooming in a matter of weeks.  We always love to share our knowledge of plant care with our customers, and these are great for beginners.  Also, what better way to say "our Love will grow and grow" to your special someone?

I already see a touch of color in this one!

These Anthurium (ann-THIR-ee-um) plants such a cool a colorful gift year-round gift, but especially for Valentine's because the flowers have one big petal shaped just like a heart!  (Well, the iconic version, not an actual heart organ) (and Frank would correct me to say that it's not technically a petal but a modified bracht called a spathe)  <3  For more info on these fun tropical plants check here or read the rather jargon-y wiki page here.

Here are couple of examples of Valentine's colored Cyclamen (SIGH-cla-men) we have in the store.  There's lots more blooming and green plants to choose from, so come check 'em out!

These lovely lavender and white Azaleas (ah-ZAY-lee-ah) are just about ready to pop open to full bloom, and there are lots of blooms on them.  

As mentioned in the previous post, we will be open extended hours, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

<3 <3 <3  Happy Valentine's Day!  <3 <3 <3

Valentine's Day Is Next Week!

This Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and Best Wishes is here to help you express your love for that special someone, or those special people in your life.  We're getting stocked up on red roses for the traditional symbol of romantic love, a dozen long-stemmed beauties like the ones seen above.  Our roses are a cut above the ones you'd find at the gas station or grocery store, as they are fresh from Len Busch Roses in Plymouth, MN, and cared for from the moment we receive them and arrange them, to when we hand them off to you.

We have an awesome selection of gourmet chocolates to go along with your "I Love You" greetings, most of them locally made!  From unique flavors like Licorice Bite and Dark Salted Caramel to standard Milk Chocolate, these bars and truffles are delicious!

Besides roses, we make all sorts of flower arrangements to make all those loved ones in your life feel special, or to give to yourself to brighten up your home or desk at work.

In the shop right now we have all kinds of great plants, cards, gifts, and decor items.  These little orchid plants are pretty much the cutest thing, and gift that will last for years.  The flower spikes will grow back!

As well as the orchid cuties, we have a few incredible orchid plants in the shop with lots of really unique blossoms.  They are not your typical phalenopsis!

We'll be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. this Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, then open early in the morning 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. both Monday and Tuesday so you can come in before or after you head to work.  

Have a Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo