Mother's Day Is Here!

The excitement is palpable, the air is thick with anticipation, the shop is stuffed to the brim with flowers... it's about to be MOTHERS' DAY!!  We all have mothers in our lives, and many people know many moms:  wives, daughters, grandmothers, and friends who deserve a bit of recognition for the hard work and love they give to their families.  We are just so excited to help you make her day special because really, what's better than fresh flowers and a hug?

This arrangement above, and the two at the top are examples of fun, springy fresh flowers that Mom will adore.  A colorful and fragrant mix of lilies, gerbera and pom daisies, iris, roses, tulips, alstroemeria, spider mums, stock, and waxflower bring spring into the home.  Don't know what everything is called?  Don't worry, we love to help!

Super cute daisy basket on the left or simple yet colorful tulip bunch tied with a bow on the right?  Flip a coin, you can't go wrong here.

Our designer Remy loves to make these topiary-like creations;  alstroemeria bunched and tied in raffia and decked at the base with greens and that awesome magenta heather.

One lucky mom out there is getting this huge arrangement of 2 dozen roses!  Very special.  Let's hope its not one for each kid!

Don't worry, this isn't an arrangement, its how we're keeping these incredible orchid stems to use in your order.  Phew!

Let's talk plants.  Sometimes people like to go for blooming plants because they last as long as you take care of them.  With our advice and pro tips, that will be easy!  Above are 4" and 6" azaleas that are looking just awesome!

In the center here is 6" kalanchoe in a bright magenta hue, and in front are these really cool double gloxinia I picked up today.  Most of these plants are going to have different bloom color and basket style options in stock, and we're always happy to swap things around to get just what you're looking for.

Adorned with colorful twigs and butterflies, these blooming gerbera plants are a great choice.

Or put the same gerbera plant in a euro garden basket with other green plants, and we have another great look.  There's a few more plant baskets to check out in the shop right now, so don't miss out!

A cactus garden can sometimes have a kitschy connotation, but we've been making super fun and unique succulent gardens with a much more elegant feel.  This one is getting sent out to a hospital on delivery this week, but there's more where that came from!   Succulents are great plants for less experienced caretakers, since they're used to surviving a massive drought (oops I forgot to water) or the blazing sun.

More succulent gardens, these two make a fun pair.

Ok, wow, I tried to get a photo of these massive orchid plants we have in the shop right now, and they completely outgrew my photo staging area.  This maroon colored intergenerational orchid in the front is nearly four feet tall!  We just started to carry orchid potting mix and bloom booster as well, so we'll get you on the track to orchid professional in no time.

These ready-to-go hanging planters with a variety of blooming plants are perfect for decorating mom's patio.  

Don't forget that as well as fresh flowers and plants, we have all sorts of gifts for mom and year-round.  From cards and candles, to decor, teddy bears, chocolate, silk flowers, and lights to this cool hanging succulent garden made with faux plants that even the most inept gardener couldn't kill, we have just what you're looking for.  Happy Mother's Day, see you soon!

Art In Bloom 2012

This year's Art In Bloom at MIA was a big success.  If you didn't get a chance to make it down to one of the Twin Cities' best events, shame on you!  Here's a few photos of our display, shared again this year with Gabbert's Design Studio, who provided the furniture.  Above is the star of the show, some dramatically wrapped curly willow branches sprouting from sod and fresh flower dishes and holding fresh flower arrangements of their own.  

Its always a bit difficult to properly capture our work in MIA (aside from the invigorating smells) due to the huge windows backlighting the entrance to the second-floor Target Gallery.  Here's an alternate view from behind.

The one piece of furniture that was not provided by Gabbert's is this awesome coffee table that worked as a hybrid glass-top table/fresh flower arrangement.  A base of sod grass holds lavender statice, bupleurum, scotch broom, and more.  A conversation piece for certain!

A splash of elegant yellow eremurus paired with lavender statice makes the arrangment on the right pop.

If you made it down, thank you for coming, and if not, these pictures are just a taste of the wonderful sights you missed!  Hopefully we'll see you there next year (and definitely before then at the shop)!

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!

Spring Update - Part 2

In the next installment of our Spring update, we've got plants, plants, plants, a few fresh cut arrangements and some home decor to show off for you.  The plant baskets in the previous post were very popular, there's only one left!  I'll be making more when we get new plants in the store on Monday.  In the meantime here's a selection of the beautiful single plants we have in the store.  We'd love to show you around when you come in to visit!  Above are a few of the Easter lilies we have in stock right now, some decorated with festive Easter grass and eggs, and some in more neutral baskets, with a bit of Spanish moss.

These hydrangeas are looking just splendid with big and beautiful blooms full of color.  We're always happy to swap out baskets and other add-ons to get the exact style you're looking for.

This pretty pink azalea is just starting to pop open, and we have a few more in the cooler, keeping the buds tight so when you take them home, they'll put on their full blooming show just for you!

Here's some of the other blooming plants we have available right now, top and right are cyclamen, and on the left is a lovely yellow chrysanthemum plant.  We get the fresh cut 'mums in year round for arrangements, and now's the time to get the plants which have a nice fragrance;  very refreshing for Spring!

A few anthuriums, on the left is the pretty light pink spathes, and the one on the right is just starting to grow a few spathes which will be white when fully open.  In case you missed our earlier post about anthuriums, spathes are modified bracts that is the colorful part around the spikes, which are actually made up of very small flowers.  Thanks, Wikipedia!

This bromeliad is huge and absolutely beautiful in person, and really easy to take care of.  The smaller guy on the right is actually a variety of bromeliad as well, with a cool striped leaf pattern you don't see very often.

A few aloe vera plants (seen at the right) are in the shop right now, which live for a very long time.  You can also harvest the leaves for their healing and nutritional properties, very cool!  At the top and left are cactus-like succulent plants called gasteria, which are good for plant novices because they don't need water very often.  They remind me of the southwest and more arid climes, and being in the sun long enough to need some aloe vera!

At the far left and right in the picture are dark green ficus plants, in the center bottom a cute white cyclamen, directly in the center is a cool little bird's nest fern, to the left of that is special variety of croton with the most amazing circular leaves and is called croton Revolutions.  Up top is a sample of the beautiful phalenopsis orchid plants we have in store right now, come see the whole selection!

Our mini calla lilies are on special right now, $4.00 a stem, in yellow, pink and that beautiful bi-color white/purple.  We can add them to an arrangement of fresh spring flowers, or you can come and pick out a few and we'll wrap them up for you!

Here are some of the fresh cut flower arrangements available in our cooler right now, as you can see a variety of styles and colors.  Pick one out as-is, or we would love to make one up just how you like it!  Call us today to get your Passover centerpiece!

I snapped a couple pictures around the shop to show what we have for home decor, and there is so much more to see.  These ceramic bunnies are so adorable and have different flower illustrations printed on them, as well as plates to match.  I just love these guys!

Roosters and rabbits and pigs, oh my!  These critters come in different shapes and sizes, as well as on picks for a variety of uses.  They have that sort of country appeal, don't you think?

Who framed Brer Rabbit?

These frosted glass vases are really cool, they remind me of upside-down balloons.  The candle holders one either side of the picture are ceramic artichokes or pine cones, depending on your perspective, and hold votive candles as well as the battery-operated LED votives we have in the shop.

Best Wishes Floral wishes everyone the Happiest of Holidays this weekend! We can make your holiday tables as festive as the season. Don't forget to thank your host or hostess with a hand picked bouquet of fresh flowers.  See you soon!

Spring Update - Part 1

We're gearing up for Spring in a big way this week at Best Wishes.  If you need something to get you in the mood for the warm weather to come, stop in and we'll help you find just what you're looking for.

These garden baskets have been really fun to make, with our beautiful blooming hydrangea plants paired with a selection of other lovely blooming and green plants like spathiphyllum, purple passion and fittonia, they're sure to bring a fresh look to your home or office.  Some of them got the Easter treatment as well;  robin's eggs, Easter grass and colorful twigs give a very festive touch.

Our watch-them-grow bulb gardens are really the nicest around, in larger pots with an experienced design touch, you won't find them like this at the supermarket!  Great gifts or something to treat yourself with, you really can't go wrong.  Stop in and see the full selection!

The beautiful locally-grown pink tulips in this Easter centerpiece bring together a colorful spring look for the dinner table, just a sample of the awesome work we do!

Our terrariums are a unique and fun way to add a little bit of nature to your environment, and provide a miniature world to gaze into for hours.  If you're not sure of how to care for these or any plants, let us help.  We love to share our horticultural know-how!

Jade plants and Somona aka Crown of Thorns give an arid feel to this succulent terrarium.  Earthy!

This Crown of Thorns is sharing a bowl with fittonia, fittonia, and more fittonia!  Get out the shrink ray because I'm moving in to this miniature paradise!

We'll be posting more pictures here soon, like this amazing phalaenopsis orchid plant, so stay tuned.  Better yet stop in and see for yourself what we're up to!