The Flower Blog

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.

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!

 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!

There are a few days in our lives that we can remember exactly where we were and what you were doing. With the 10-year anniversary coming up in a little over a week, it brings back the memories of that day.

I was going to Butler University as well as being a high school senior. I had just gotten out of an early class at Butler and was driving back to my high school when the radio DJ announced the World Trade Centers in New York had been hit by a plane. Honestly, I thought it was a joke. It took a few minutes to realize this was no joke, this was for real.

When I got to school, there was a somber atmosphere.  Every classroom had TV’s on watching the news.  There was no way the teachers would be able to get our minds off the terrible tragedy that went on that day.

I asked my sister, Sarah Gillespie, to tell me about that day because she was working here at Gillespie Florists. 

As was usual every morning, I had the television on the local news, quietly in the background. As I was preparing to head out the door to work, an anchor broke in suddenly with news that a plane had crashed into an office building in New York.

Details were scarce, but it appeared to be a horrible, unthinkable accident. I put my things down and watched the events unfold before my eyes. When the second plane hit the World Trade center, it became apparent to the media that this was no ordinary accident. I became uneasy; worrying what other places might be attacked.

I finally tore myself away from my television set because I was 20 minutes late leaving for work. When I got into my car, I turned on the radio to continue listening to the latest on the events unfolding that day. As I traveled, I heard about the plane crashing into the pentagon. Suddenly, I was overcome with fear that the plane flying above me might suddenly crash into a building here in Indianapolis!

When I got to work, surprisingly, the two or so people who had come in “on time” were not aware of what was happening on the East Coast. We turned on the radio so we could all listen together. We worried, waited and prayed as more details came across the airwaves. We do not have a television set in the store but someone brought one from their home during their lunch break so we could listen and see what was going on all around us. Once the planes were grounded, it was oddly quiet, as our store is located within a few miles of the airport. There was less traffic. It was very eerie and stayed that way for a few days beyond the attacks.

We have no record of any sales that day… we did have deliveries that were previously scheduled that we delivered, but no actual new sales in the twelve hours that we were open. Only one sale the next day (the 12th) and no sales again on the 13th.

We at Gillespie Florists want to thank all of the firemen, police officers and other emergency crews who risked their lives to save others.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones on that day. 

Where were you on 9/11? We’d like to know. Leave a comment on our blog.

Did you know people use our design tables and cooler? This is a world of DIY and we love to help! Our customers can save anywhere from 20 – 50% off the designed price on flowers when they buy them “Take Out”.

What is Take-Out?

Take out flowers are flowers customers pick out of our current stock from our 500 sq ft cooler. We wrap the flowers in cellophane and the customer takes the flowers home to vase.  But sometimes our customers are on their way to the hospital, special occasion or event and want to have the flowers vased before they get to their destination. They will bring their own vase and use one of our design tables to create their bouquet.

*Our designers are happy to give tips and tricks for your first DIY; however they cannot design the bouquet for you!*

I’m in Over My Head!

Sometimes we can have great ideas and want to "DIY" but things just aren't turning out the way we want them too. Don't worry; if your masterpiece is looking more like a master mess then you can still pay to have one of our designers to make something beautiful!  

DIY Weddings

Brides need to stretch their dollar a lot further these days and a great way to do that is to buy “Take Out” flowers and use our design space to create the wedding flowers. Usually because the bride is very busy the day of the wedding, she will come in with her bridesmaids and create her wedding flowers the day before the wedding and then store her flowers overnight in our cooler and send someone to pick them up. 

Some brides pay a small fee to have a designer spend a dedicated hour with them to teach them how to create her bridal bouquet, corsages and boutonnières!  Read more about our DIY Wedding flowers here!

Want to book your DIY Wedding flowers? Click below to contact our Wedding Specialist!

When I have time to relax and watch a little TV, I love to watch House Hunters! My husband loves to make fun of me for it because we are not moving but I love looking at houses! I love to see the prospective buyers talk about the potential in the home and what they might like to do with the property. I also love to disagree with those buyers and think about what I might do instead.  My favorite part of the show is to try and guess which house they will choose! 

Recently I watched an episode titled: Single in Seattle. It’s about a stylish single guy looking for a very small one-bedroom, one-bath place and he was looking in the downtown Seattle area. He had a crazy budget of $450,000 and I thought for sure he was allowing way too much money. But once they started showing properties, I soon learned prices are much higher in Seattle than they are here in corn filled Indiana.

The property I liked the best was a houseboat. It actually seemed to be very open and airy. But what made it so inviting was a vase of Stargazer lilies sitting on a table in the living area.  It was simple and beautiful! The owner of the house probably just stopped by their local flower shop picked up 3 or 4 stems of Stargazers and popped them into the vase. No greens, no accent flowers, no fuss! It made me wish I had smellevision!

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple can change a room? You don’t have to be having an open house to get flowers! Stop in to your local florist and pick up some flowers to give a room in your house a completely different feel…and smell!

Don’t have time to stop in? No worries! We’ll bring the flowers to you! Just click below to select your room changing bouquet!

  “Well, that’s what you get….”

That was the response given by the package delivery person to the patient at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, Indiana when he observed the broken pottery pictured here.

Upon receipt of their package, the patient insisted the parcel carrier make a notation of the broken container.  However, the patient must have felt unsure of the outcome of his complaint because I received a call from him claiming that the dish garden (planter) he received from Gillespie Florists was broken.

While on the phone with the patient, I put in and order for a replacement of this planter; not knowing at the time it was not our product. I noticed during the call that indeed an order was placed by one of our corporate clients.   When our driver arrived there to replace it, I received another phone call from my driver.   Although our dish garden was in the room, with the yellow daisies and ribbon in a wicker basket as described by a member of our design staff on the order, the patient insisted that the planter in a broken ceramic container wrapped tightly in saran wrap complete with a black and gold card was ours! Because an order had been placed by our client and I had already committed to the replacement of the product (even though it wasn’t our product), I instructed my delivery person to leave the replacement planter and return to the store with the damaged product from the drop ship florist.

Whether you are a florist doing business with a “drop ship” program as this was, or a consumer looking for convenience, value, savings, or responding to incessant pop-ups or radio ads instead of using a traditional florist, you will most likely experience a feeling of:

“Well, that’s what you get…”

If you want to send something special to a loved one, be sure to call your local florist. Your local florist will work hard to earn your confidence and will add the personal touch no drop shipped product ever could.

Gillespie Florists always adds a personal touch to each design. Click below to see our custom products!

Vote for Us!

The A-List Competition is on! Help us get voted THE BEST FLORIST IN THE INDIANAPOLIS AREA! As an added bonus, if you vote for us and bring in proof of the vote you can save 20% off your next $10.00 (or greater) IN-STORE purchase.

Here is How:

Go to:

http://wrtv.cityvoter.com/gillespie-florists/biz/93649

Click on [Vote for Us]

Complete the short registration form.

If you are a new account on the A-List you will have to go to your e-mail and confirm that it is you on the Indy Channel A-List e-mail in your inbox.

If you have an A-List account, log in and vote for us!

Once your confirmation page pops up and says you voted, print that page and bring it in to us for your discount!

Contest Ends: Aug. 19th