The Flower Blog

Most florists get 10% of their sales for the entire year from Valentine’s Day. There is a ton of preparation that happens to get ready for this one day of business!

For me, I am in charge of anything that happens online. This includes Product Development, Designer recipes and marketing. Sometimes as early as November I will start making our Specials for Valentine’s Day and take pictures of them. Duane, one of our designers will help me with some of the designs. Then I compile the best pictures of the Management team to review. They select the pictures they want used for this year's specials and I start working with a graphic designer at a printing company to create a flier to distribute. I also have posters printed for our store and I upload the bouquets to our website. I thentype up a list of all the flowers needed for each bouquet ( we call that a recipe) and give a copy to each designer about 3 weeks before the holiday. I also make sure we have a good online presence before the holiday by sending out Tweets, posting pictures on Facebook, creating YouTube videos and writing a few blogs on the subject of the holiday. Then the week of Valentine’s Day, I join the design staff and help create bouquets to fill orders!


I asked our General Manager Sarah what she does to prepare for Valentine’s Day. This is what she had to say:

“The first thing I do is hire people for temporary sales, drivers, designers and flower processing positions at the beginning of January. I interview each candidate personally and I bring them in the second week of January for training and the training period lasts about three weeks. After that,  starting the fourth week of January going into the first week of February they go into their practical experience where they practice waiting on customers, answering phones and flower processing begins at that point as well. During the week of Valentine's we start tagging orders that have been placed early with the day of the week that they need to be designed and day of week they need to be delivered. We also determine of we have enough product for the more popular specials and if not make sure we get in enough product to cover our orders.”

Sarah is also in charge of pre-ordering all of our fresh flowers, she handles weddings and the Order Control desk!

I asked Pat our main delivery router what he does to prepare for Valentine’s Day. He told me that not only is he in charge of delivery but many others things in the store as well. He pre-orders all the supplies we need. That includes vases, ribbon, flower food and so much more! He orders a refrigerated semi and coordinates getting shelving being put up in it so we can fill it with our Valentine’s product! Then he lines up the drivers for the holiday and has a class with them and he gives each driver a kit that will help them during their hectic day. The kit includes things like Frequently Asked Questions, pens, door tags, ect.

The week before Valentine’s Day we try to do anything we can ahead of time, such as: filling vases with water and preservative, cutting balloon ribbon, filling water tubes, making bows, making extra planters, getting in extra chocolates, balloons, candles & plush, setting up additional cash drawers,  setting up temporary design tables and so much more!

Check out this video of our staff and see what they said they do to prepare for Valentine’s Day!



The most important thing we do is make sure we are surrounded by lots a great people who can help us help our customers!


Want to order your Valentine’s Day Flowers with Gillespie? Check out our wide selection of Custom Products by clicking below!

13V01                  Beary Lovable               $29.95

The Beary Lovable bud vase includes two red long stem premium roses, babys breath, seeded eucalyptus and a keepsake teddy bear! This is a gift perfect for a guy or girl and is the perfect size to sit on their desk at work!

13V02                  Tulips Renoir             $44.95

Send the gift of spring with the Tulips Renoir bouquet! This bouquet includes ten fresh cut tulips in mixed colors and tree fern elegantly designed in a keepsake vase decorated with hand painted tulips! This painted tulip vase will be cherished for years to come! 

13V03                  Love Is...                      $44.95

This bouquet is so popular that we remake it year after year! This year, Love is... is filled with tea roses, alstroemeria lilies, carnations, daisies, mini-carnations, limonium and a keepsake silver heart keychain. Roses, lilies and a heart! What can be more perfect than that?

13V04                  The Love Bug Bouquet                $39.95 

The Love Bug bouquet is a small vase filled with carnations, alstroemeria, limonium, daisies and a small keepsake plush love bug that makes kissing noises when you press on the belly! This bouquet is filled with all long lasting flowers! With proper care you can expect this bouquet to last your two weeks!


13V05                  The Key to My Heart Bouquet          $34.95

The Key to My Heart bouquet is filled with daisies, alstroemeria, carnations, limonium and a keepsake keychain!

The Key comes packaged with a poem that reads:
“Late at night when I’m sound asleep, Into my heart you so softly creep. I sit and wonder how it could be, But you must have stumbled across the key. This key holds the secret to true love and more, So take it now and unlock the door. And I pray that we will never part, Now that you have the key to my heart.”

13V06                  Sweet Annie                            $29.95

If your Valentine loves to get flowers but doesn’t get into the decorative hearts and roses, this will be the perfect gift for them! The Sweet Annie bouquet is a small vase filled with lavender daisies, alstroemeria lilies, carnations and wax flower! A long lasting bouquet in wonderful spring colors! 

13V07                  Vin Rouge                     $79.95

Vin Rouge is the classic symbol of Valentine’s Day, an elegant dozen roses! This clear glass vase is filled with 12 long stem red roses with babies breath, greenery and a bow! Red roses represent love and this bouquet sends a lot of love! But if your Valentine doesn’t like the color red, ask about the other colors we have in stock for no extra charge! 

13V08                  Cupid's Choice                    $64.95

Send a bouquet that makes a big statement like a dozen roses with out hurting your wallet! The Cupids Choice bouquet is a clear glass vase filled with nine pink carnations, three pink roses babys breath and a keepsake plush bear! Pink roses stand for appreciation. Tell your Valentine you appreciate them with the pink roses in this bouquet! 

Check out our Valentine’s Day Specials and more on our website by clicking 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! 

At 29 years old, I feel like I am young enough keep up with ever changing social media and old enough to know when to listen to someone older and wiser, even though he has long passed away. 

Before we begin, if you don’t know what an order gatherer is or are unfamiliar with how wire orders work, then please read “What is a Order Gatherer and Why is it a problem?”

Florists around the country have been frustrated in recent years with the state of our industry. With more and more consumers buying online, order gatherers are forming and confusing consumers.  Order gatherers advertise online in a way that makes them appear to be a local flower shop, even though they are not. They sell orders undervalue and expect your local florist to fill and deliver the order.  Sadly, most florists are unable to break even on the cost of the bouquet and delivery service provided.
The filling florist has two choices: fill the order as close as possible to the product ordered at the price point provided or reject the order citing “undervalue” as an explanation as to why they can not fill the order. If we get a wire order from another florist and it is under value, we reject the order. The problem is, if the order gets rejected too many times, order gatherers have been known to take the original specific bouquet request and replace it with a more general and open bouquet request. This helps to get the order filled and delivered, however the customer who selected a specific bouquet will most likely be disappointed. Because of the lack of communication and customer service of order gatherers, disappointed customers make the assumption that no florist can be trusted and they will never have delivered what was ordered.

So, What does this have to do with Jim Arbogast? In November of 1967, Jim sent out a letter on behalf of his florist, Arbogast Floral Company, across the nation to all of the current FTD florist members. In this letter he included a minimum price list for items such as: fresh flower bouquets, blooming plants, fruit baskets, funeral arrangements and so on. He noted that his florist sold only arranged flowers, no boxed or loose flowers. (We also practice this) He also said the following:

“We suggest you ‘Sell Up’ on all orders -- Get a price better than minimum to insure customer satisfaction...we [are not] a part of a fraternal group.  We are organized for profit -- We expect profitable orders.  We will send you orders at least as good as our minimums -- We expect similar reciprocity! Please do not call us for orders for less than our prices listed in this letter.  PROFIT OR PERISH!  We wish you a profitable holiday season! “

After speaking with my dad (Patrick Gillespie) and Walter Metz of South Florida School of Floral Design, I found out that Jim Arbogast was frustrated with getting orders from other florists that were overpromised and undervalue. All too often when he would fill these orders, the sending flower shop would contact Jim, requesting a replacement or refund because their customer was dissatisfied with the size or content of the product. He was also tired of calling flower shops “on his own dime” (long distance was not “free” in the 1960’s) to explain why he was unable to fill their order. So, in frustration, he sent out the letter mentioned above.
Although many years have passed since 1967 and wire services have tried to fix the problem of selling undervalued product, the problem still remains. It just comes from a different source. That is why Jim Arbogast didn’t like order gatherers, he just didn’t know it! I know that my dad feels frustration when he is trying to educate others about the problems in this industry I wonder if that is how Jim Arbogast felt, too? I wish Jim knew that his letter, written 45 years ago, was impactful enough for at least a few people to save it for future reference. My dad and Walter Metz still refer to Jim’s letter today (parts of which I have scanned and posted on this blog)!

Today, most wire services have minimums for bouquets, plants, etc. This does help to a point with receiving undervalue orders. Occasionally, order gatherers send orders that meet the minimum for a bouquet however do not include monetary consideration for delivery service or over promise the content of a bouquet at the minimum price. For example, our minimum for bouquets is $30.00. This is a small bouquet, appropriate for a desk filled with utility flowers, such as carnations, alstroemeria, daisies, and/or accent flower. An order gatherer might request a medium or even a large bouquet, filled with premium flowers, such as lilies and roses at the $30.00 price point.

Every flower shop deals with order gatherers differently. This is subject is debated 24/7 on online forums and groups for florists across the country. Some have completely dropped out of wire services, making it harder for them to send orders across the country and almost impossible to send out of the country. The biggest downfall to this choice, is the florist loses all of the advantages a wire service can provide; such as ecommerce website, Point of Sale computers and programming, selection guides and more. Some florists stay with their wire services (sometimes more than one) and accept every order that they get and do the best they can for the recipient no matter how little money allotted.  The biggest downfall with filling undervalue orders is that the florist will be losing money and will ultimately fail. Many florists, like us, maintain one wire service and closely examine the orders we accept. Reciprocation is important to us at Gillespie Florists. For example, if a florist in another city and/or state fills an order for us and takes care of our customer as we would, then we want to do the same for them. Order gatherers cannot reciprocate!

How each florist deals with order gatherers is up to them. Perhaps more importantly, how do you, the consumer, deal with order gatherers? How do you make sure that every dollar you spend is represented in the product and service that you receive? Educate yourself! Call a REAL florist and find out exactly what product and service you will receive for your money. Customers have told me our prices might be a bit higher than order gatherers, but they always get exactly what they ask for and are never disappointed. I have customers call me and say the bouquet was even more beautiful than the picture!

Here are some resources for you:

How do you know if you are talking to a REAL florist? CLICK HERE to find out.

Here another Flower shops opinion on Order Gatherers & wire services. CLICK HERE to find out.  

Learn the difference between Order Gatherers and Drop-Shippers. CLICK HERE to find out.

Here’s even more on the subject of Order Gatherers and wire services. CLICK HERE to find out.

Also, read about how some funeral homes are adding to the confusion. CLICK HERE to find out. 

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!

We are so excited to have gotten in a new line of wind chimes in!Gillespie Florists has been offering Wind chimes from different vendors for the past few years but we decided we wanted better. After some research we decided to go with QMT Windchimes! 

QMT Windchimes has been manufacturing hand-tuned wind chimes right here in the USA for over 30 years. They manufacture their chimes in Manassas Park, Virginia and use raw materials from American lumber and aluminum suppliers! They manufacture over 600 varieties of wind chimes so you can imagine that could not order all 600! What did we order? Check it out below!

Corinthian Bells

Corinthian Bells combine excellence in design with incredible tones and resonance. They are visually and acoustically exceptional chimes! The centrally suspended heavy-walled aluminum tubes along with the high-density striker give these chimes their outstanding tones and resonance. The tubes are powder coated to match the dome and wind sail, giving a complete finished look to the chime.

Shenandoah Melodies

Shenandoah Melodies are designed to resonate beautiful tones in the slightest breeze. Powder coated aluminum on the top, tubes, and sail provide weather resistance to the chimes, as well as a sophisticated, finished look.  Shenandoah Melodies are individually hand-tuned to provide years of musical enjoyment.

Arias & Arias Elite

For more than twenty years, the Arias have been built to last the test of time.  The wood components are redwood with a penetrating oil-resin finish. The aluminum is anodized or powder-coated to stand up to the elements, and everything is held together with a strong cord.  Durable and weather-resistant, they will provide you years of enjoyment. They have an earthy, natural look that will easily become part of the scenery in your landscape.  Whether in gentle breezes or strong winds, the Arias chimes will generate beautiful music to surround your home.

Weatherland

Weatherland wind chimes are individually hand-tuned to clear, classical notes that resonate peaceful melodies. Weatherland wind chimes are made of weather-resistant materials for year-round enjoyment! Weatherland wind chimes are available in Walnut-finish or Oak. The wood components are varnished with an exterior satin finish for a polished, yet natural look. The Oak components tend to have soft, light coloring, while the Walnut-finish components have rich dark hues, with hints of light coloring.

Wind chimes can be appropriate to send to someone for a wide variety of occasions! You can have us box it in one of our white gift boxes wrapped with tissue and a bow, have us deliver it on one of our hand crafted wind chime easel stands with a bow and trailing ribbons or have us incorporate it into a large plant or bouquet! With wind chimes ranging in size from 12” - 67”, we will have the right size for you! Call us at 317.273.1100 for more details!

Although we do not have these new wind chimes on our site yet, take a few minutes to check out the other wonderful gift items we have for you to choose from by clicking below!

A bouquet of Olympic proportions; The London 2012 Olympic Victory Bouquet!  Just like every aspect of the Olympics, much thought, planning and attention to detail goes into designing flowers presented to the Olympic Champions during the medal ceremony.   World-renowned florist, Jane Packer, selected roses, rosemary, apple mint, lavender and wheat for the 2012 Olympic Victory Bouquets.

Jane Packer became well known in the late 1980’s for offering an alternative view to the use of flowers. She employed a casual design style that was more accessible than the formal design style of the time. She felt that flowers could brighten any interior setting and could be as exciting as fashion!  She is known for grouping individual blooms together in a bouquet in more recent years. She passed away unexpectedly during preparations for the Olympics and her husband Gary Wallis and Susan Lapworth took over responsibilities for creating the victory bouquet.

Why did Jane choose these particular varieties of flowers?

She chose roses because they are an iconic British flower. She wanted to give the bouquet vibrancy so she used four distinct colors of roses divided into quadrants. She used yellow, orange, green and pink roses. To give definition to the quadrants she added British grown rosemary, apple mint, lavender and wheat.  She wanted to provide not only a beautiful bouquet but also a fragrant one that would enhance the Victory Ceremony experience. Then it was all finished off with an elegant purple ribbon.

It is great to come up with a design for a beautiful bouquet but when you have to make 4,800 of them, how do you get it done? With a lot of help! Forestry students from three different colleges around the country have come together to help with this monumental task. The students had training sessions weeks before the Olympics to be sure they were comfortable creating bouquets great enough for champions. It’s an exciting experience for all involved!

My favorite part of these bouquets is the fact that Jane insisted on using local growers for these bouquets!  By using flowers from local growers, Jane was keeping the income with the local economy. Anytime you can keep it local, you should!  What is your favorite aspect of the Olympic Victory Bouquet? Leave me a comment!

CLICK HERE to learn more about shopping local.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Jane Packer.

To shop with us, click below!

I recently had someone post a question to our blog “About how many stems do you go through in a Gillespie day?” The short answer is 1200 stems on average. But I thought it would be interesting to look at the long answer too!

Though we go through 1200 stems a day most of the year, during major floral holidays the stem count increases dramatically! For example, during Valentines Day holiday, we can go through more than 13,200 stems per day!

I asked Sarah, our General Manager, what she orders on a weekly basis during the summer months to help me get an idea of what varieties of flowers we stock in addition to the stem count. Here is what she told me:

150 bunches of Leatherleaf
12 bunches of Solidego
10 bunches of Limonium
10 bunches of Iris
1000 - 1500 stems of Carnations
10 bunches of Stock
20 bunches of Babies Breath
10 bunches of larkspur
10 bunches of Gladiolus
10 bunches of Sunflowers
15 bunches of Mini-carnations
40 bunches of Alstroemeria
50 bunches of Daisies
7 bunches of Fuji Mums
80 stems of Gerbera Daisies
1000 stems of Roses
5 bunches of Hybrid Lilies
10 bunches of Statice
3 bunches of Curly Willow
10 bunches of Spray Roses
3 Bunches of Liatris
5 bunches of Delphinium
10 bunches of Snapdragons
3 bunches of Tree Fern
1 bunch of Myrtle
1 bunch of Spiral Eucalyptus
2 bunches of Seeded Eucalyptus
2 bunches of Pittosporum
2 bunches of hypericum

Sarah told me that throughout the week she has to order additional flowers to replace flowers we run out of or to fill an order requesting specific flowers that we don’t have in stock at the time. Several days a week, you can find her at the wholesale house at 6:30 a.m. picking up flowers for orders.

We have a 500 square foot cooler that houses all of our flowers at a chilly 34 degrees! Be sure to stop in and ask to hand pick your flowers from our cooler! We are open seven days a week so you can stop in when it’s best for you!

Don’t have time to stop by? Check out our Website by clicking below!

My sister and I are attending a workshop on advanced design techniques for wedding flowers. One of the common themes that I have noticed in wedding trends this year is the Boomerang effect of designs. Simply put, a design or style of the past is coming into fashion again. For those of you with parachute pants, I would not put them on quite yet, but who knows? Those pants could be the next big thing… again!

First of all, I should probably explain what a Glamillia is! A Glamillia is made from multiple florets of gladiolus, which are carefully pulled apart and repositioned within a composite style bouquet. The end result is a unique looking, single bloom effect. The name is derived from the camellia, which is a large-headed, single bloom flower.

The idea of composite style bouquets is not new. As a matter of fact, Glamillia bouquets were widely carried by brides in the 1960’s. Recently, I have noticed many brides are choosing to wear vintage wedding gowns on their wedding day. When the demand for vintage gowns increases, so does the demand for vintage style bridal bouquets. To that end, we designed a composite calla lily bouquet for a wedding last month (with the added effect of a rose and jeweled accents).

Composite type bouquets can be made of roses, tulips, gladiolus and calla lilies. The end result is a simple, yet elegant bouquet (or corsage) that is both stunning and (re) trend setting!