The Flower Blog

We are having a big sale on Thanksgiving weekend! We are so excited about Small Business Saturday that we thought we should celebrate by having a sale! So, What all is on sale? 

• Fall gifts & silks 40% off
• Christmas gifts & silks 20% off
• Webkinz 30% off
• Candles Buy one Get one Free!
• All other gift items 20% off

This sale is for take out items only! If we need to make any changes to your silks, we can not offer you the discount. Restrictions may apply.

Every year Van’s has a Holiday Design show and everyone at Gillespie Florists loves to go to these shows! Van’s partners up with the Teleflora Indiana Unit to bring a great designer to the show to give us new ideas for the upcoming holiday season! This year we had Bert Ford AIFD, PFCI from Ford FlowerCompany in Salem, NH.

Treat or Flower!

Actually, Treat and Flower! This will be our third year having Trick or Treat hours at Gillespie Florists! We are excited to see what everyone will dress up as! I'm going to share some of my favorite pictures from the last  couple of years!

  As always we will be offering candy and free flowers to anyone coming in dressed up during our Treat or Treat hours!

We have some really cool displays that are perfect for taking pictures! We'll take pictures for you and will be happy to email you a copy of the picture!

  My English Bulldog Pearl will be joining Trick or Treat hours on Saturday! She loves to meet new people so, if you would like to visit with Pearl, be sure to be here Saturday!

Trick or Treat Hours

Saturday Oct. 29th 4p-6p

Sunday Oct. 30th 11a-3p

Monday Oct. 31st 5p-7p

Trick or Treat Sale!

Since you'll be in for Trick or Treating, why not pick up a few things? Especially since they will be on sale! We are having a store wide sale Oct. 29th, 30th & 31st! Everything in stock is on sale! Take out only!

Candles, Webkinz, Silks, Comfort Throws, Plants, Flowers, Angels, gift ware...Everything!

40% OFF!

This is for Take Out Only and on items already in stock. This sale does not include Serviced Product. Call us at 317.273.1100 for more details!

For Halloween, Pearl and I made a video that was supposed to be scary but ended up being very funny! Click below to watch the video!

Top 5 Colors for Fall

I asked Gillespie staff members and customers what colors come to mind when they think of fall flowers.Here are the top 5 answers I received; you may be surprised by some of the colors

5. Purple

Purple is a color that some people find surprising for fall flowers. I think it is a great accent color and can brighten up an otherwise dark bouquet.  It is easy to see how purple can work in a fall color scheme when looking at this picture.  Be careful when using purple in your fall bouquet. You want to make sure you are using a deep purple, if you use a lighter shade it will look out of place.

4. Burgundy

Burgundy is a rich color that will bring depth to your bouquet! Burgundy mums are a favorite among customers! Burgundy flowers pair up nicely with orange and rust flowers.  Cattails would go great with this combination of flowers, the chocolate colored spikes of the cattail will anchor the burgundy within the bouquet and the cattail’s unique texture will give added interest.

3. Golden Yellow

Golden Yellow flowers are a must in almost any fall bouquet!  Golden Yellow will not only brighten up the bouquet but also helps the other flowers pop! For instance, if you had Burgundy and rust flowers in a vase; it would be pretty but very dark and you may lose some of the definition of the individual blooms. If you add Golden Yellow flowers to the vase in between the other flowers, you will define the individual blooms and get more enjoyment out of the bouquet.

2. Orange

Think about when you go out shopping, what do you see this time of year almost everywhere?  Pumpkins! When we design our bouquets we make sure to add orange to our arrangements. We want to match the pumpkin orange color to incorporate the pillar of the fall season! The pumpkin! Sometimes we even design a bouquet in a ceramic pumpkin! The reason why orange is close to the top of our top 5 is because it is so versatile.  You can match up orange flowers with red, purple yellow and rust flowers or for a darker look; Burgundy, yellow and rust flowers. Orange is neutral color when you are dealing with fall so, it can go with just about any fall flower!

Drum Roll Please….

1. Rust

Now for me Rust can come in many shapes and sizes. Well, actually many different shades! Rust is an earthy color that can have hints of orange in it but also touches of brown and bronze. Rust is the true natural color of fall! Look around you and you will see it in the mums in people’s front yards, the falling leaves of the trees and in the décor of the stores you shop in. Almost everyone I asked about fall colors, the first color out of their mouths was: Rust.  You can see with the different pictures I have provided that Rust does have different shades to it. So, when dealing with its darkest version, make sure to pair it up with burgundy and a golden yellow for contrast. If you are working with a lighter shade of Rust, you can pair it with orange, yellow and red.

So what are your Top 5 Fall colors? Stop in the store and go through our walk in cooler and pick out your favorite fall colors and see how they go together! If you are not sure about what you picked out, our helpful staff will be glad to show you the ins and outs of the perfect color combination! Then see if you have an old watering can or pitcher at home you can put these great flowers into! You don’t have to use a plain old vase, look around your house and see what you can find!

Don’t have time to stop by? Check out our great selection of Fall flowers on our website! Click below!

As the boss, I often ask myself “How fortunate am I to have such an awesome staff”?

Just this week, several of my staff members worked over their scheduled hours and helped out in different departments to keep our business running smoothly. Truly, their commitment and dedication to our company is the best gift they could ever give to me.

For me, bosses day is a celebration of the team as a whole. Every staff member is an important piece of our business. From sales to design to delivery- there are many people involved in the process of getting our customer’s flowers processed, designed and delivered.

My employees always have something for me to show their appreciation on bosses day. I enjoy the recognition (everyone likes a little pat on the back)! However, this bosses day, I would like to thank my staff for making my job so wonderful every day of the year.

Changing of the Season

Here at Gillespie Florists we are always under going dramatic changes with in the display room floors.  Every season, we have the most complete changes with specialty displays for the individual holidays.  We always start in the entrance foyer and move forward into the main room pulling seasonal fixtures to go into storage at our residential Gillespie garage or barn. Currently, we are fully engaged into bringing Christmas to life.  Half of the store has gone through a transformation of Summer to Fall and of course, Halloween!

A Touch of Christmas

A touch of Christmas has already been put out for our customers to preview. As soon as we get new Christmas products in, we are excited to show off the festive items!

We are proud to have one of the largest and most complete lines of plush available in Indianapolis.  Featuring elite lines not easily found at other retailers such as London based "Jelly Cats" and New York style, Manhattan Toy. You'll see them in the video below along with some of our current displays!

Our designers are busily designing outstanding set pieces to complete our eye-catching displays. It is our hope that every time you stop by you will see something new and interesting.

 Don't have time to stop by the shop but want an eye-catching bouquet? Just have it delivered! Pick a beautiful bouquet from our wide online selection! Click Below!

 Sweetest Day is Oct. 15th!

Sweetest Day was first observed in 1921, which I found surprising because I thought it was a much younger holiday. Like many people, I thought it was a holiday made up recently by retailers to boost up October sales.  The holiday came about with what I believe is good intentions.

Sweetest Day was originally meant to be a day to remember husbands, boyfriends, elderly, sick and orphaned children. A committee of 12 confectioners planned the first Sweetest Day and they distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy orphans, the elderly, and the poor. They used the tag line “ The Sweetest Day in the year”.  I like the fact they gave away all of that candy to well deserving people.

 But today it focused more on remembering husbands, boyfriends, wives and girlfriends. There is nothing wrong with showing your appreciation for someone special in your life! Sometimes it does take a holiday like this to remind us to thank those we love.  But in a perfect world, I would like this holiday to return to its humble beginnings. It should be about the other people in our lives everyday that we appreciate very much but don’t say it.

This Sweetest Day remember someone special in your life and remember those who may need a little sweetness in their lives. Drop off some candy at the local shelter or bring your grandparents some flowers and chocolates!  Honestly, your grandparents will just be happy to see you!

Watch this video with gift ideas for your “Sweetest”.

Want to remember someone special in your life this Sweetest Day?  Click Below!

 Early Beginnings  

Prior to 1895, my (3 times) great Aunt Clara, Uncle Al Grande and family owned andoperated John Grande Greenhouse on Grande Avenue between Michigan and 10^th Streets.  In 1895, the greenhouse operation was expanded to include a full service florist shop on the same property:  John Grande and Sons.  In the late 40’s, the retail florist business was moved to a house at 2401 W. Washington Street (near George Washington High School).  In 1951, John Grande and Sons built a new facility at that same location, where it remained for 27 years.  The Gillespie Family, a generation removed from Aunt Clara and Uncle Al, purchased the business in 1960 and changed the name to reflect the current ownership in 1975.

The store front is pictured here facing East towards downtown on Washington Street.  The address was 2401 West Washington Street (near George Washington High School) which housed John Grande and Sons until 1978.
This picture of a casket spray was taken in the late 1960's and represents the style of that era.  Jim Gillespie, who owned John Grande and Sons at that time, was well known to his customers for this style of design.  Notice the carnation bloom attached to the end of each ribbon.

Two designers are pictured working at the front counter.  It is interesting to note the decor of the day, which has changed a lot. The traditional style of design has remained largely the same through the years.

Flowers For Life

When the business name changed in 1975, my father developed the idea of “Flowers for Life”.  This motto articulated the presence of flowers during the important occasions of our lives: birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, new babies, illness and sympathy expressions- all are enhanced with the gift of flowers.

To celebrate the grand opening of the business with the “new” name, a contest was held in which the winner would receive “Flowers for Life”.  The winning contestant received flowers on the first day of each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) for over 30 years.  When she passed away, her daughter shared with me how much her mother looked forward to receiving her flowers each season.  Gillespie Florists was honored to be a part of her life for many years.  We are proud to be a part of your life for years to come.

Get the flowers for your life! Click below to shop now!

  As some of you may know, I love watching HGTV in my spare time. I think that flowers relate to interior design quite a bit! You are dealing with color pallets, textures, and patterns and more, I’m sure.  I wanted to get a chance to check out an episode of the new show HGTV Great Rooms because I really like the new Design Star Meg Caswell.

Divalicious Kitchen

I tuned into a great episode!  I watched a new episode titled “Divalicious Kitchen”. This was a great episode to me because there were tons of flowers in the design of Meg’s client’s kitchen. Not fresh flowers though. I think she should have had a small vase of flowers to tie everything together instead of a carafe of water with lime slices. Meg used a floral pattern window treatment that was bright and fun. She also used a mid-century chandelier that she repainted and kind of looked like it had a flower feel. But my most favorite part of the design was a wall sculpture of flowers she commissioned a local artist to do! It was amazing and beautiful! I tried to find a picture of it but couldn’t which is too bad because it was the best part of the kitchen. So, I guess you will have to tune into HGTV to see this great design!  The picture I did find is just an example of decorative flowers for a wall but this is not nearly as cool as what is seen on the show!

Something More...

IF Meg had added a small bouquet to her design, I think it may have looked something like Baroque Garden.  This is a small cube filled with gerbera daisies, purple iris, hypericum berry and other flowers.  The only thing this bouquet is missing is some orange to match Meg’s design.

Flowers (of any kind) brighten any room. It livens up the space with a splash of color and they smell great too!  You can “commission” Gillespie Florists to make you a lovely bouquet for your home or office and I promise it will change your mood for the better!