The Flower Blog

Yes, you read it right. Don’t wear a corsage this year! Do something different, be daring! Why not wear flowers on your shoes or around your neck? If you want to be the one to set the trend then I’ve got some options for you!

If you are wearing a strapless dress to prom you might like our Haute Couture necklace. The Haute Couture necklace comes with a golden yellow mini cymbidium orchid with silver accents, gold leaves and gold ribbon, a little fresh greenery and a sparkling rhinestone necklace! You will sparkle and shine with this lush accessory!

Wearing a short dress? You may want to add some sparkle to your prom shoes! Let us create flowers that can be attached right to your shoe that match your dress perfectly! White Hot includes, white tea roses, glittered scabiosa pods, pink sequin accents and rhinestones. We create this with ribbons so you can easily attach the flowers to your shoe or bring in your shoes and we can do it for you!

If you get flowers for your prom shoes but you still want a little something else to accent
it, you might want to get one of our flower rings! The Sugar Sugar fresh flower ring is created with a pink sweetheart rose, wax flower, beads and a few rhinestones! We make this with an elastic band so this ring is a “one size fits all” item!

Wearing a long dress? Wearing a dress with long sleeves or a higher neck? Maybe a headband is in order!  The Sorbet headband is designed with soft pink sweetheart roses, rhinestone dazzle chain, glittered scabiosa pods, a rhinestone heart, ribbon, soft green leaves and a headband.

Wearing a bohemian or Greek style dress? Check out our bohemian style headband! Taylor is a bohemian headband with a green orchid, dragonfly pin, dangling beads, blue glittered leaves, silver accent ribbon, rhinestones and a braided silver and white headband! The bohemian style is intended to be worn across the forehead.

Do you want to feel like the prom queen for the entire night? Let us create a tiara with flowers to match your gown. We want you to feel special on the biggest night of the year with the Head Trip Tiara! This tiara includes, rhinestones, sweetheart roses, hydrangea blooms and limonium. We have different styles of tiaras for you to choose from!

Are you wearing a sleeveless dress? Try one of our island style armbands. The Callista armband is silver with rhinestones, lavender sweetheart roses, silver leaves, silver beads and metallic silver ribbon!

Want to see more? Check out our Prom Night Category by clicking below!

Check out this video of some of our prom corsages and boutonnieres below!

One of my favorite things to give for Christmas is the poinsettia! Poinsettias get a bad wrap because they are poisonous to animals but did you know that it can take up to 10 whole poinsettia plants to be poisonous to a cat?  I have two cats and they will nibble on various plants and flowers I bring into the house but they don’t eat the whole thing.

So, What is poisonous in the poinsettia? The milky white sap found in poinsettias contains the chemicals: saponin-like detergents & diterpenoid euphorbol esters.  While poinsettias are commonly known as poisonous plants, the poisoning is greatly exaggerated. Also remember that poinsettias on affect cats and dogs, they are not poisonous in any way to humans.

But just in case you are worried about your cat or dog being poisoned, here are a few symptoms to watch out for: vomiting, drooling, and rarely, diarrhea may be seen. If the milky sap is exposed to skin, dermal irritation - including redness, swelling, and itchiness- might develop. There is no at home treatment for poinsettia poison. If you feel your pet has been poinsettia poisoning, you will need to go see your vet.

Since there is no true threat to your animals from poinsettias, feel confident to pick up a poinsettia before Christmas and enjoy having the beautiful colorful plant in your home all winter and spring!

There are a few poisonous plants I want to note that you should worry about if you have pets.

Lilies, holly and mistletoe.

Just a few bites from a lily can result in severe acute kidney failure in cats. When holly is ingested, it can result in severe gastrointestinal upset thanks to the spiny leaves. If ingested, most dogs and cats lip smack, drool, and head shake excessively due to the mechanical injury from the spiny leaves. As for mistletoe, most of us hang it high enough so it’s out of reach of our dogs and cats but the leaves and berries can dry out then fall from the stem to the floor. So, keep an eye on your mistletoe after it is hung.  Thankfully, American mistletoe is less toxic than the European varieties of it. Usually mild signs of gastrointestinal irritation are seen with mistletoe ingestion.

When ordering your Christmas bouquet or a bouquet at any time of year, just mention to our sales staff if the home the flowers are being delivered to has animals and we will make sure to exclude anything that may be harmful! Because our designers love the look of variegated holly, we keep silk holly on hand to use in bouquets for homes with pets!

Check out some of our great poinsettias and other plants by clicking below.

Check out our  Christmas Video below! 

Fall 2012 brought about the beauty in the season by way of autumn foliage, fall colors and of course gorgeous wedding flowers! Wedding Specialist Sarah describes a few of the wedding bouquets from the weekend and gives some solid advice regarding the best flowers to use during the cool autumn months.

Fall 2012, the Gillespie staff enjoyed designing a wedding with rich fall colors and textures.  I was especially thrilled with the bridal bouquet, which featured freesia, Lipstick roses, Eryngium, hypericum berry and carnations.  

The white freesia added a touch of white to blend with the bride’s gown.  More importantly, freesia adds a sweet, memorable fragrance.  Did you know that your sense of smell is linked to your memory?  I recommend that brides carry fresh, fragrant flowers to heighten their senses and to provide a lasting memory of their wedding day.

The Lipstick roses are a colorful addition to this bouquet.  This particular variety of rose features a bright yellow color with a deep red edge.  A popular choice during the late summer and fall, Lipstick is a unique addition to wedding bouquets.

Hypericum berry has been a fall favorite for the last several years.  Hypericum is available in several fall colors, including burgundy, which is featured in this bridal bouquet.  Hypericum adds a light fragrance and a beautiful texture.  

Carnations sometimes get a “bad rap” for being a common flower, but carnations are available in a wide palate of colors, as well as provide a unique texture of their own.  When grouped together, carnations take on a similar shape and texture to the peony (which is only available for a short time in the spring).  Although the fragrance of a peony cannot be duplicated, carnations have a light and pleasant scent of their own.

Eryngium, also known as thistle, is being used more often in wedding décor as a seasonal and textural accent.  The silvery, pale blue color lends itself to a variety of popular color schemes as well.  Pictured here are additional bridal bouquets featuring Eryngium.

Ready to start planning your dream Fall wedding? Click below to contact our wedding specialist!

Check out some of our designs online with pictures and pricing!

Also, Check out our great Fall wedding video! 

I have customers asking me all the time “Can you spray paint my flowers?” I always tell them that it is possible but not my first choice. We will not tell a customer “No” just because of personal preference of fresh flowers to painted flowers; but we will offer different options and make sure they understand the service or product they are getting. 

Say for instance a customer wants a blue rose to give to their date. We can buy stem dyed blue roses; however it will take a week or so to get in because it's a special order. There are a few other options such as blue flowers like iris or hydrangea. If we have silk blue roses in stock we could offer those or to paint a white rose. If the customer decided to have the white rose painted, it's possible the rose may lose a day of it's life.  If the customer is ok with the rose losing a day of life then we will happily paint the rose!

The reason why we say roses may lose a day of life when they are painted is because in our experience the flowers we have painted have not lasted quite as long unpainted roses. We use Just For Flowers paint made by Design Master. Their website advertises that Just For Flowers can actually extend the life of the flower. Per their information, the paint slows down the evaporation of water from the flower petal which is how the life is extended. This could be true in a setting where the flower does not have access to water, like a corsage or bridal bouquet. Just For Flowers may help the flower look better for the evening of an event but it may be a different story if the expectation is flowers lasting for two weeks which is why we caution customers regarding longevity. 

With that said, there are a lot of benefits to use Just For Flowers spray. Because the spray is a translucent color, it will not cover up the beautiful details of your flower. Its a fast drying spray that can be recoated without any streaking or clumping of color. When spraying the flower it almost looks like the flower is soaking up the color rather than the color sitting on top of the flower. It can also be used on ribbon such as satin, lace or almost any fabric. 

Let’s get down to the brass tax. Do we suggest painting fresh flowers? Although I prefer flowers in their natural color and state, painting flowers can be beneficial under certain circumstances. If you want flowers in colors that are unavailable, asking your florist to use Just For Flowers spray is the best way to get the color you want on a fresh flower!

Click Below to Browse Our Entire Line of Fresh Cut Bouquets!

Check out this video about painting flowers below!

The Fall flowers are here! I look forward to getting in fall flowers every year! I don’t think I will ever get tired of the beautiful colors! The deep burgundy, rich bronzes, bright oranges, lush creams, dark plum and everything inbetween! Although Fall colors do tend to be darker, it works by giving you a warm, rich and fuzzy feeling!

If you are going to send flowers during the Fall season, I suggest sending a Fall themed bouquet! We make Fall bouquets for every occasion, from Anniversaries to Sympathy bouquets!

Fall Anniversary

Autumn Fire is the perfect Anniversary gift, especially if you are sending flowers to your wife’s work! Autumn Fire is designed in a clear glass cube with tea roses, tropical leucadendron, carnations, safflower and greenery! This compact bouquet is perfect for an office desk or somewhere with limited space. She will love the rich colors and the wonderful smell of the roses!

Fall Birthday

The Harvest Moon bouquet makes a special birthday gift! This ceramic pumpkin is filled with large sunflowers, curly willow, hypericum berries, fall daisies, solidego, wheat and greenery! This bouquet is the perfect mix of Fall rich colors with bright birthday colors! This medium sized arrangement will fit perfectly at work but will also work as a great centerpiece on your dining room table! An added bonus is the ceramic pumpkin that can be used as decoration for the fall season, candy dish or add your own flowers to it for Thanksgiving! 

Fall Get Well

It is never fun to be sick, especially on a beautiful Fall day. Bring the Fall season to someone who is feeling under the weather with the Morning Meadow bouquet! This clear glass vase is filled with daisies, alstroemeria lilies, sunflowers, safflower, carnations and greenery! This will surely brighten their room and lift their spirits!

Fall Sympathy

It is never easy to lose a loved one and it can be hard to know how to express your sympathy to the family. Our designers create beautiful and tasteful bouquets just for these occasions. Some customers ask me if it is appropriate to send flowers of the season and I always say “Yes”. There are a few things to keep in mind though. If you are sending sympathy flowers during the Christmas 

season, it would not be appropriate to send a bouquet with glitter and a Santa in it. You must keep in mind what you are trying to convey to the family. You want to bring comfort in their time of loss. You want to them see something beautiful that might lift their spirits and mayremind them of happy memories with their loved one.  

For the Fall Sympathy, I would send the Morning’s First Light bouquet. This bouquet can be sent to the services or the home. It has a lasting gift of the WoodWick candle that comes in the center of a fragrant fresh flower bouquet filled with roses, carnations, button daisies and more!

Want to see more Fall Flower bouquets? Check out this Video below!

Father’s Day is this Sunday and millions of children out there are scrambling to find Dad the perfect gift. Studies have shown that the Necktie is the most popular gift choice for Father’s Day. Don’t you think Dad has enough neckties? Don’t just get Dad something different this year, get him something he will never forget!

We make several bouquets with keepsake containers with Dad in mind. Year after year we get calls from customers who send Dad one of these keepsake arrangements and we always get rave reviews! Customers order these bouquets year after year because they say “He talks about that bouquet all the time!” So, really Wow him this year with a mini Jeep filled with flowers, a Ford Truck filled with plants or a Weber Grill filled with candy!

If you don’t see a keepsake container that Dad will go crazy for, Check out our Terrariums! What is A Terrarium? A terrarium is a miniature indoor landscape with living plants that are perfect for people who want to decorate their office or home with house plants but don’t have a lot of space and time to care for them. These mini gardens are easy to maintain and a popular gift for men!

If Dad isn’t much of a plant man, maybe you should check out our Gift Baskets! We have a wide selection of baskets that can include anything from Gourmet food, Fruit, Junk food snack to candy! Our Junk Food baskets are popular for Father’s Day, probably because they have everything you shouldn’t eat!

To get some other great ideas, check out our Father’s Day video!

Gillespie Florists is open 12 hours daily Monday-Friday from 7am -7pm (we’re open on Saturday and Sunday too, just shorter hours). There’s a lot that can happen in a day and here’s the synopsis of a typical day here at the shop.

6:45am - 7:00am: Duane and Nancy come in to open the store. Nancy will start filling orders for plants, planters and Terrariums. When needed, she also designs beautiful corsages and dish gardens. Duane begins his day filling fresh flower orders.  Both Nancy and Duane will help customers as needed until the Customer Care staff arrives. Many customers stop in on their way to work, so the first hour of the day can be pretty exciting! Several days a week, Sarah is at the local wholesalers buying flowers during this hour.

8:00am - 9:00am: Two drivers, Debbie, Sarah and Sheila come in. The “Delivery Pool” driver loads up the morning deliveries for outlying areas and drives to a central location downtown, where he/she will meet with 30 other drivers in an industrial type building. The “Local” driver loads up the morning deliveries that have destinations that are nearby. Debbie, a member of the Customer Care team, will answer phones and assist walk-in customers.  Between customers and phone calls, she wraps “sunshine” bouquets (our very popular $3.95 take-out bouquet). All staff members will assist customers and answer phones when needed. Sarah, the Operations Manager, is responsible for ordering flowers from around the world, processing orders in the Order Control Department, routing deliveries/drivers, coordinating weddings and special events! Generally in this hour, you will find her in Order Control, processing and distributing orders to the design team. Sheila will design extra flower arrangements or help Duane with orders.

10:00am - 11:00am: Jacklyn and Della arrive. Jacklyn assists in the Customer Care and design departments.  Della is the “Web” Administrator and works on product development (to get new products to our website), write blogs, attend to our social media presence, work on PPC marketing and traditional marketing. Della is also the giftware buyer! Both delivery drivers are returning from their morning routes in the latter half of this hour. The drivers begin loading their afternoon deliveries and they will process new flower shipments, time permitting.

12:00pm: This is a crucial time of our day. Our “Pool” truck leaves at 12:30 and all orders for the greater metropolitan area must be ready to go with this driver. You will find everyone assisting customers, designing, processing flowers or loading a delivery vehicle during this hour. At 12:30-1:00, we begin rotating lunch breaks!

1:00pm - 2:00pm: Lunchtime!  Everyone gets a chance to catch their breath and a bite before the afternoon rush.  Duane, Elaine, Nancy and Sheila are working on orders for the next day and making extra bouquets. If Duane has weddings to work on for the weekend, this is the time of day he would get started on them.  Debbie, Jacklyn, Sarah and Della are all hard at work with the daily tasks assigned to them.

3:00pm - 4:00pm: Sarah and Nancy leave between 3-4pm. Before leaving she makes sure we are all on task and all orders have been processed. Our delivery drivers are usually finishing up deliveries in the latter half of this hour. As the drivers return, they will check to see if there are any additional deliveries to be made, check to see if there  flowers that need processed and assist the designers with clean-up before leaving for the day.

5:00pm - 600pm: Duane usually leaves around 5pm but is always happy to stay longer if needed! Sheila leaves between 6-7pm. Business also picks up for the 5 o’clock rush because customers stop by on their way home from work. This is my favorite time of day because most flower shops are closed and customers are pleasantly surprised to see us open!

7:00pm-7:30pm: We close at 7pm (sometimes later, if we have orders to finish or customers to assist). Jacklyn, Sheila and I get the drawers balanced, finish cleaning up and go home!

There you have it! 12 hours in the life of Gillespie Florists!

Check out our latest video of what we have in stock in our cooler below!

Top 5 Bestsellers for Prom 2012

The Prom season is officially over for us here at Gillespie Florists and I like to print product analysis reports to see what we sold more or less of to help me order supplies for next year's Proms. While doing this I thought, "why not share with everyone our best sellers?"


5. Three Alstroemeria Corsage - GFP7

In fifth place is the Alstroemeria Corsage! Alstroemeria lilies are not well known for being a popular corsage flower but here at Gillespie’s we use them quite a bit. We love using them in conjunction with other flowers; customers also usually like them by themselves. The corsage pictured here is the base priced Prom alstroemeria corsage on our free wristlet. Many customers chose to add on an upgraded keepsake wristlet. Alstroemeria lilies come in dozens of colors, which makes it easy for us to make the perfect match to your dress!


4. Three Mini Carnations & Two Sweetheart Rose Corsage - GFP5

In fourth place is the Three Mini Carnations & Two Sweetheart Rose Corsage! This is a combination of some of our most popular corsage flowers; no wonder this corsage is in the Top 5! Roses and Carnations come in a wide variety of colors therefore matching to your dress will be a breeze! This corsage works really well with multicolored dresses because of vast opportunities to mix colors.
The corsage pictured here is the base priced Prom alstroemeria corsage on our free wristlet. Many customers chose to add on an upgraded keepsake wristlet as well.

3. Dendrobium Orchid Corsage - Flower Bombe - 12PN06

In Third place is the Dendrobium Orchid Corsage! I think this one is popular because the classic Mother’s Day corsage is the cymbidium orchid corsage. although the cymbidiums are far too big for most teens taste, girls still want to emulate their Moms by wearing a similar type of flower. Dendrobium Orchids come in a limited colors but are still very versatile; thanks to new dyeing techniques the number of available colors is increasing!
If we cannot match your dress with the color of orchid, we can use white dendrobiums and match your dress with ribbons, leaves, beads, tulle and rhinestones instead! The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet, item #GFPBC!

2. Three Mini Carnation Corsage - Bauble On - 11PN12

In second place is the Three Mini Carnation Corsage! This corsage is so popular because of the versatility of colors! Carnations not only come in lots of colors but they also tip very well. Tipping is when we take a paint and tip the edges of a flower with it. Tipping can be harmful to some flowers but carnations tend to hold up pretty well with it! I believe carnations are so popular because they hardy enough to survive a night of dancing!
The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet, item #GFPAM

1. Three Sweetheart Rose Corsage - BoHo - 10PN24

In first place is the Three Sweetheart Rose corsage! Roses will always be a favorite among teens! Prom corsages are sometimes the very first flowers they will give or receive. Teenagers may act like they don’t pay attention to Mom or Dad but they do! They see Dad getting Mom roses for their anniversary or special occasions so the first flower that comes to mind is of course, roses! The great thing about roses is they are coming in more and more colors every year and that makes it very easy to match or compliment your dress! The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet!


We sell keepsake bracelets with our corsages about 40% of the time! Here’s a quick look at our Top 5 Bestselling
bracelets!

5. Triple Threat Bracelet - Dazzle - GFPAX
4.  Diamond & Pearl Bracelet - Sugarplum - GFPAZ
3.   Sophisticated Lady Wristlet - GFPAH
2.  Cream Pearl w/ Rhinestones - GFPBG
1.  Dancing Butterfly Bracelet - Midnight - GFPBD

Our Top Selling keepsake boutonniere holder this year was:

Silver Boutonniere Holder - GFPJ

The great thing about our prom corsages is that there are thousand of combinations! We have over 100 ribbon choices, dozens of leaf, bead and tulle choices! We of dozens of keepsake bracelets to put your corsage on and most importantly we have hundreds of flower combinations! Best of all, don't see what you need? Just ask! We would love to help you get the perfect corsage for the perfect night!

See the perfect corsage on our site and want to share it with your friends or your date? There's an easy Facebook and Twitter button on each product!

Check out our Prom Corsages and Boutonnieres by clicking below!

Watch the video below to see our designer favorites for 2012!