The Flower Blog

What is the Fuzz that Wuzz?

We found out about a really great product called The Fuzz that Wuzz and had to have it! Mary Meyers created a line of plush stuffed animals made out of plastic bottles! It's incredible to think that these lovely, cuddly stuffed animals were once plastic bottles destined to be sitting in a landfill!

The 411 on the Fuzz

Each Fuzz that Wuzz animal is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. This means that each animal keeps over 10 bottles out of landfills! Mary Meyers says that two million plastic bottles are used in the U.S. every ten minutes and 51 billion go into landfills annually.

It will take 700 years before plastic bottles in landfills start to decompose and less than 30% of plastic bottles in the U.S. are actually recycled.  Wow, those numbers are staggering!

We recycle here at Gillespie Florists and we encourage for you to do the same! Every time I toss a plastic bottle into our recycle bin, I wonder, will this be an adorable stuffed animal someday? I'd like to think so!

To see this great line of The Fuzz that Wuzz, stop in our store at 10th & Raceway!

Looking for great gift ideas? Check out our website!

How does the weather impact my flower order?  

As operations manager of Gillespie Florists, one of my responsibilities is to keep our 500 square foot cooler stocked daily with the freshest flowers from around the world, and with not just a few varieties or colors- literally thousands!  Importing flowers from around the world is a lot of fun, but takes planning and patience.  Many of major crops are grown in America (California, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Washington State, Oregon, Indiana and more).  However, the weather in the United States is not always conducive for the growth of product throughout the year.  Therefore, we must go beyond our borders to find product that is off crop (not available) here.  South America, Canada, Holland and Italy are a few of my favorite exporters of quality product for our customers.

Not only does the seasonal change in weather affect the production of flowers, but severe or unexpected weather conditions can influence price and availability worldwide.  California's cold and rainy winter season affect the production of waxflower, stock and larkspur (just to name a few).  Florida's intense summer heat affects the production of gladiolus crops.  The severe flooding in Bogota, South America seriously contributed to the shortage and high cost of pom pons and alstroemeria during early May of this year.  A freeze in January of 2010 in Florida caused major damage to thousands of acres of fern crops, which in turn affected thousands of florists during the Valentine's Day holiday.

Typcially, poor weather conditions in one or two regions do not disturb the overall world wide production of floral crops.  It is my job to seek out product elsewhere to fill our cooler and keep our customers satisfied with the quality flowers they are used to seeing every day.  From time to time, minor substitutions may be made on popular arrangements due to seasonal or weather availability conditions.  However, you are still guaranteed a beautiful gift that will be pleasing to not only the senses, but to the heart as well.

Check out our wide selection of flowers by clicking below!

What can you find in our 500 square foot cooler? Whatch this video below to see!

  This year we asked Prom customers to post a snap shot of them selves wearing Gillespie Florists flowers on our Facebook Fan Page to get the chance to be crowned the Gillespie Florists Prom King & Queen!

Here is what our Prom King & Queen Hopefuls had to do:

·  Take a snapshot wearing Gillespie's Flowers.

·  Post it on our Wall.

·  Tag everyone in the picture.

·  Gillespie’s adds the picture to "Prom King & Queen Contest Album".

·  Then they ask friends and family to "Like" their photo or make a positive comment on the photo.

·  One week after the end of Prom Season, we will tally up the "Likes" and Comments and whoever has the most wins!

 What do they win?

The Queen will be crowned with a tiara and both King and Queen will be awarded with $25.00 Gift Cards to Gillespie Florists!  And don't forget, Bragging Rights!

Want to help decide who wins? Click Here to go to the "Prom King & Queen Contest Album" and “Like” your favorite Now!

Winners will be announced on Facebook May 21st!

Check out our Fabulous selection of Prom Flowers!

  What is an Order Gatherer?

Order Gatherer.  What is an Order Gatherer?  In the Flower Business, it is a company that is largely in the business of advertising a Product and Service that it does not actually produce.  This company is nothing more then a “middle man” that increases the cost to the consumer and reduces the level of efficiency, quality of service and therefore consumer satisfaction.  It also reduces the customer base and profit of the Local Florist.

This company could likely have no Design or Delivery Staff, no Inventory of Fresh Flowers or Live Plants, no Vases, Baskets or Pottery, no Delivery Vans, just office space.

How Does this Effect Me?

This company might charge you, the consumer a fee of $10.95 or more, just to accept your order.  That company then might use a Wire Service to forward the order to a real florist, with Design,  Delivery, Sales and Processing Staff, with Inventory,  Delivery Vans and Refrigeration and the Thousands of Dollars of investment and expenses that go with operating a flower shop, who will fill your order discounted by 27% or MORE, loosing money on each order that the florist is foolish enough to accept.

The Order gatherer on the other hand most likely collects a large Sending Rebate from the Wire Service plus a Large Percentage of the Price of the Product you purchased.

What can I do?

So take a minute next time you want to send flowers, if the flowers aren’t to be delivered in Marion or the 6 surrounding counties that we service, simply type: “florist, city, state or zip code”  and you should see Real Florists with local addresses and unfortunately most likely, the order gatherers you want to avoid.

Want to learn more about order gatherers? Check out this article from our old blog! Click Here!

 Every guy ends up in the Doghouse at one point or another in their lives and the big question is always: How do I get out of the Dog House?

Where does the phrase "in the Doghouse" come from? 

Its origin is from the old custom of banishing a bad dog outside to its doghouse. Though many believe that the phrase was coined after the story of Peter Pan. In the story, Mr. Darling treats their family dog badly by chaining her to the doghouse outside while the children fly off with Peter Pan.  Mr. Darling then feels so guilty that he lives in the doghouse until his children return home.

This phrase was also used as a railroad term in the late 1800's. The railroads had built a small windowed shelter on top of the engine tender because of union mandates. It was called a doghouse since it was so small and uncomfortable.

How do I get out of the Doghouse?

Let us help you get out of the doghouse with our easy 6-step guide! These are tried and true actions that work quickly and effectively! 

Click below to sign up for the Guide!

  What is your Favorite Flower?

We want to know what your favorite flower is! There are 1000's of species of flowers! With so many it is hard to tell what you will have to say!

My favorite flower is carnation because they smell wonderful and last a long time! I can get my carnations to last me up to three weeks! 

The name of the carnation is derived from the word “incarnacyon” (incarnation). This is referring to the original color of the carnation that had a pinkish hue. 

Other popular favorites are Lilies, Roses, Tulips and Gerber Daisies! So, What is your favorite flower? Use our voter to vote for your favorite flower or leave a comment.

If you don't see your favorite flower, let us know! Leave a comment here on the blog or fill out our form on the voter page!

Click below to use vote for your favorite flower!

How far do we deliver?

I get asked that all the time and it's a great question! Gillespie Florists can take care of your flower delivery worldwide! Because we are proud members of the Teleflora network your order will be hand delivered by us or through Teleflora to get the delivery made by one of our trusted network florists.

Local Delivery 

But what about here, in the neighborhood? Just how far does Gillespie's go? We deliver to Indianapolis and surrounding communities. 

Let me break it down. Our delivery area includes all of Marion County, plus afternoon service to: Acton, Avon, Bargersville, Beech Grove, Bridgeport, Brownsburg, Camby, Carmel, Castleton, Clayton, Cloverdale, Cumberland, Danville, Fishers, Friendswood, Greencastle, Greenfield, Greenwood, Lawrence, Mooresville, New Palestine, New Whiteland, Oaklandon, Pittsboro, Plainfield, Southport, Speedway, Wanamaker, Westfield, West Newton, Whiteland and Zionsville.

On special request, we will go out as far west as Coatesville, as far east as Greenfield, as far north as Noblesville, and as far south as Franklin! We have even taken special deliveries to Martinsville, Spencer, and West Lafayette. 

Special Events

We have on occasion made deliveries out of state from our shop. There will be special events like a wedding, company party or funeral where the customer feels that we would be the best man for the job! We have made deliveries to Illinois, Ohio and have gone as far north as South Bend!

Shipping

Because Gillespie Florists carries so many specialized gift items, sometimes we need to ship the item through the mail. We have shipped all over the country because we had that one thing our customer couldn't find anywhere else!

World Wide Delivery

As I mentioned before, we can deliver around the world or across the country through the Teleflora Network. The reason why we are with Teleflora is because they are the largest network of real local florists from around the world. Teleflora holds all members up to a certain standard to ensure our customers only get the best!

Send flowers World Wide!

Growers Cut Back Crop for Valentine's Day.

What you can do about it.

What's the deal with Grocery stores?