
After reaching in my mailbox and pulling out four Christmas cards, the realization kicked in that the holiday season has arrived and with it all emotions it entails. At this point it has more than just arrived; the season is well underway! How did this happen? I believe it has something to do with the hustle and bustle and hurry-scurry of preparation and celebration of impending finale of Christmas and New Years.
Remember Black Friday and it's array of great deals around town and online? It was over a weekend, the month of December is jam-packed full of things to do. Cards to send, parties to attend, gifts to wrap, closets and rooms to ransack for places to put said gifts, and let's not forget our daily responsibilities such as jobs, laundry, cleaning, child rearing, etc. wow, just reading this made my heart rate tweak! That or the highly caffeinated holiday blend coffee I just drank...
But hang on! let's slow down a moment and bask in the glow of the seasons memories.The ones centered around love, family, friendship, and joy, because that is what it is about, right? The warm glow of the Chrismas tree lights, scent of fresh cookies and seasonal casseroles baking...cuddling on the couch watching the traditional classic shows such as Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer, How the The Grinch Stole Christmas, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown...ah yes, this is what gets me in the spirit and slows me down.
You know what else slows me down? nature...

What better way to appreciate what this holiday is about than to have an unexpected snow storm? Oh sure, you have things to do, but it can wait one or two days, right? You don't have to start baking your cookies this instant! Trip to the Toy Store? They're open pretty late on Christmas eve...I should know and by my experience and observations so do few other parents. Back to the point about nature and slowing down!
One of my favorite memories of Christmas is when my husband and I were marooned at my parents house with my siblings and their significant others. We ate all the leftovers, cookies, sat around talking about growing up together, the guys played video games, gals watched movies. We went outside for snowball fights, walking in the woods and sledding, I think we ordered pizza a day later when the roads cleared up and there was an extensive discussion on who would brave the weather to go get it...they came back an hour and a half later. Oh bad weather is tricky and inconvenient but it has the power to strengthen family bonds and give new meaning to season. Or rather it serves as a reminder of what the season is about to begin with. I love how nature has the capacity to change our attitude and reboot our frazzled minds into the calm peacefulness which gets lost in the shuffle too often during the season of joy and love. 
We seem to be programmed to go through the harangue of the hustle, bustle to get to the grand finale of late Christmas Eve when time gloriously slows down. Why do we wait so long and late into the season to experience this "silent night"? Ever try to put a moment like that into words? What does it feel like?
To me, it feels like a mountain. Quiet, calm, overwhelming and sheltering. The outside world disappears and all that is left is peace. It's a truly wonderful feeling...so wonderful and dense is this feeling that I could walk out the door and see my calm mountain in the backyard! Of course, when I do open the door I usually get a blast of cold air, a tiny dog yipping in dismay that the breeze has interrupted his slumber, and a few cars zoom by...possibly trying to catch Santa before he hits their house...the spell is broken till the door shuts and I am back in my peaceful silent night of a world after taking in the ambiance and lovely pine scent of our Christmas tree. I am reminded of the outdoors and the calm it represents without freezing to death.
I love having these reminders to slow down in my house. Admiring the brilliant red carnations mixed with evergreen and pine cones in the arrangement sitting on my kitchen table while drinking early morning coffee and planning out the day. Pausing by our little tree full of light and memories of selecting ornaments each year to add to it. Smiling at the realistic but fake palm tree dressed up in lights and tiny ornaments reminding me of past Christmases with my family in Florida...It is amazing how a bit of the outdoors reconnects me to what this season is all about and dims the busyness which can overwhelm us if we let it.

The season isn't over yet. There is still time to slow down before the candle-lit gathering of friends and family singing "Silent Night" at church together. Take a moment from worrying whether anyone is going to notice your gift-wrapping skills aren't up to par and look at your tree or out the window, take a deep breath and savor the experience and memories of this season. Maybe reflect on a favorite family memory.
Would you like more nature inside your home? Something to admire while making a holiday feast or maybe just cereal while getting ready for the work day? You don't even have to battle traffic to have it. Click here to view our Blue Mountain Christmas collection and let us bring the peaceful outdoors to you.




Now that we have explored some specific types of seasonal/winter greenery, let’s look at where we can obtain the product. Most of our product comes from out West, in Oregon, Colorado and Washington State. We do obtain product from Florida, Michigan and right here in Indiana, too! One of our designers, Duane, harvests boxwood from his own Indiana garden for our seasonal/winter arrangements. Harvesting at the correct time, especially in Indiana, can be a tricky task! Duane watches the weather closely in October to determine when the first hard freeze will arrive. The harvesting must occur BEFORE the first hard freeze because of the effect that the cold weather has on the color and quality of the boxwood. The boxwood can be stored at cool temperatures, in water for several weeks. The greenery that we purchase from companies out of state are harvesting and packaging their products in 20-50 pound boxes throughout October and November for shipping in November and December. One company, located in Colorado, dedicates over 50% of their cold storage to seasonal/winter greenery every fall for the busy winter shipping season. Since the demand is high for a short period of time, these companies must harvest early and store their product until their customers are ready to receive shipment. 














Or consider yet another one, a few white roses mixed with some eucalyptus, delphinium, cornflower, kale, thistle eryngium, tree fern and voila!. A soft whimsical bouquet to compliment a light and airy wedding dress for a summer wedding outdoors.

The past couple of years I have been blogging about ‘Glee’ Prom and have received positive feedback. So here’s the scoop on what flowers our favorite characters wore to ‘Glee’ Prom 2013! First and foremost, I noticed there were way more characters on ‘Glee’ wearing prom flowers this season compared to past seasons; which as a florist, makes me very happy!
BrundleProm?

With that said, I LOVED the fact that almost every single person in the cast was wearing prom flowers! Even all the extras were wearing prom flowers! They had a scene where some of the Glee Club members were performing on stage and the crowd of high schoolers were jumping and dancing and you could see the corsages bouncing around on their wrists! For that reason, Glee producers; you are forgiven for not putting more thought into your leads’ prom flowers!
Once Last Thing...

DIY is not a new concept to Gillespie Florists. As a matter of fact, Gillespie Florists has been offering our staple DIY bouquet (The Sunshine Bouquet) since 1975. This simple, loose stem bouquet includes two stems of carnations, one stem of pomps (spray daisies or cushions), ½ stem of accent flower (babies breath, solidego, statice, limonium) and one stem of leatherfern for the unbelievable price of $3.95 each. We sell dozens of Sunshine Bouquets each week to customers for every occasion. We even have customers that purchase one or two Sunshine bouquets every week to have a few flowers at home to enjoy for themselves.
Did you know that you can bring your own vase into our store and fill it with flowers yourself at one of our design stations? We provide the tools, water and flower preservative and you become the artist! If you don’t have your own vase, no problem! We have plenty of vases to choose from at the discounted, DIY rate!


With the technology available to us today, working with brides from out of town is not an impossible mission. As a matter of fact, it can be a very positive and rewarding experience! Of course, I prefer to meet brides face to face. However, in the case of 4K miles, a bride just can’t hop a flight to Indy at a moment’s notice! Therefore, the bride and I worked together to create an open line of communication and plan her flower selection down to the finest details.
Our bride, who lives and works in Alaska, contacted me about the possibility of designing the flowers for her wedding. She inquired as to whether or not we could work with her from such a distance. Fortunately, this bride was able to meet with me in person during a visit to Indianapolis a several months prior to her wedding. At that time, I was able to show her samples and begin planning her order with her in person. After our meeting, we corresponded via email, sharing photos and samples of flowers digitally. Over the course of several months, the bride and I kept in close contact via email.
Finally, the weekend of the wedding arrived! The bride came to our store to preview the completed/designed wedding flower order the day before her wedding. The arrangements turned out wonderfully and she was pleased with the result of our coordinated efforts. I really must give the bride most of the credit, she was fantastic to work with and corresponded with me frequently so we could have all the details worked out in advance.
If you are planning a wedding from across town or out of town, never fear! We are able to accommodate any distance (even 4K miles!) with a little help from technology.


Additional experiments that I have conducted compare varieties and grades of flowers against one another. For example, the vase life of a Freedom rose versus a Forever Young rose. Both roses are a rich red color, but it can be surprising that they open (bloom) differently and have different vase lives. I test fancy grade versus select grade carnations or alstroemeria frequently. I also test identical products from different vendors to see if a particular flower has a better vase life. For example, I have studied gerbera from Rosa Flora versus Maximum.
I wrote a blog recently that we had starting carrying a new line of Windchimes! I also said at that time we would soon be offering these new windchimes on our website. Well the wait is over! We have a great selection of windchimes on our website that I would love to introduce to you!



