Bassfield, MS Florists

Bassfield Flower Shop News

Rising shipping costs spell the end of Norridgewock Christmas wreath company - Press Herald

Newburgh, which also makes wreathes. Corliss said the struggles for wreath-makers in Maine and beyond just keep mounting.Piper Mountain charges $26 per wreath, with $13 for shipping east of the Mississippi and another $1 westward.“Absolutely, shipping has become a bear,” Corliss said, saying the mailing companies have jacked costs severely the last six years and added additional home delivery fees. “It’s got me a little unawares this year. We did not raise our price, and, of course, when you say shipping, you don’t just blame UPS and FedEx; it’s also the cost of the box, the cost of the labor to decorate that wreath and put it in the box.”There’s also a growing challenge getting so-called “fir tippers” who bring in the balsam harvest from the woods, Corliss said.“The tips that we used to make the wreaths for years was 25 cents a pound for people to go out into the woods. Last year we were paying 40 cents a pound. This year I was offering 40 cents and no one came until I discovered some people offering 50 cents in this area,” he said.In Norridgewock, Christmas Tree Acres was once one of the largest Christmas tree farms in the state, and its former owner and founder, Dwight Newman, was a past president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association.Bolduc did not respond to a message left on his home phone or an email sent to the business. A phone call to the number on a “For Sale” sign on the building at 69 Depot St. also was not returned.Newman, who died in 2012, was a florist and greenhouse owner in Winchester, Massachusetts, when he started the tree farm on Sandy River Road in 1965. He eventually moved to Maine and with his wife, Nancy, started a mail-order Christmas tree and wreath business out of the Depot Street building, according to Newman’s obituary and Morning Sentinel archives.Newman retired in 1995, at which point he sold the wreath company to its current owner, David Bolduc.In the message on the website, Bolduc talks about shipping expenses increasing more than 27 percent in a single year. It said the average cost for shipping a wreath is $18 to $20 each, but the company charged only $11.25 for shipping.Leman, the Ellsworth wreath maker, said that sounds about right. His company ships about 6,000 wreaths each year to places all around the country. Six years ago, he said the average shipping cost per wreath was about $8 to $12, with $12 for wreaths going to the West Coast.Now it costs $25 to $30 to send a wreath to the west coast via UPS and “close to $16 bucks to send it next door.”The U.S. Postal Service is also an option, but the rates are generally more expensive than UPS or FedEx to ship wreaths across the country, Leman said.Representatives for both companies said in emails that dimensional weight pricing is a common industry practice, and they have efforts in place to help customers improve their packaging practices.“It allows us to make the best use of space in our vehicles and encourages customers to make packaging adjustments,” said FedEx spokeswoman Rae Lyn. “Ultimately, more efficient packaging is good for our customers and ... https://www.pressherald.com/2018/12/08/closure-of-longtime-norridgewock-christmas-wreath-company-a-sign-of-higher-costs-industry-challenges/

Closure of longtime Norridgewock Christmas wreath company a sign of higher costs, industry challenges - Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel

Newburgh, which also makes wreathes. Corliss said the struggles for wreath-makers in Maine and beyond just keep mounting.Piper Mountain charges $26 per wreath, with $13 for shipping east of the Mississippi and another $1 westward.“Absolutely, shipping has become a bear,” Corliss said, saying the mailing companies have jacked costs severely the last six years and added additional home delivery fees. “It’s got me a little unawares this year. We did not raise our price, and, of course, when you say shipping, you don’t just blame UPS and FedEx; it’s also the cost of the box, the cost of the labor to decorate that wreath and put it in the box.”There’s also a growing challenge getting so-called “fir tippers” who bring in the balsam harvest from the woods, Corliss said.“The tips that we used to make the wreaths for years was 25 cents a pound for people to go out into the woods. Last year we were paying 40 cents a pound. This year I was offering 40 cents and no one came until I discovered some people offering 50 cents in this area,” he said.In Norridgewock, Christmas Tree Acres was once one of the largest Christmas tree farms in the state, and its former owner and founder, Dwight Newman, was a past president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association.Bolduc did not respond to a message left on his home phone or an email sent to the business. A phone call to the number on a “For Sale” sign on the building at 69 Depot St. also was not returned.Newman, who died in 2012, was a florist and greenhouse owner in Winchester, Massachusetts, when he started the tree farm on Sandy River Road in 1965. He eventually moved to Maine and with his wife, Nancy, started a mail-order Christmas tree and wreath business out of the Depot Street building, according to Newman’s obituary and Morning Sentinel archives.Newman retired in 1995, at which point he sold the wreath company to its current owner, David Bolduc.In the message on the website, Bolduc talks about shipping expenses increasing more than 27 percent in a single year. It said the average cost for shipping a wreath is $18 to $20 each, but the company charged only $11.25 for shipping.Leman, the Ellsworth wreath maker, said that sounds about right. His company ships about 6,000 wreaths each year to places all around the country. Six years ago, he said the average shipping cost per wreath was about $8 to $12, with $12 for wreaths going to the West Coast.Now it costs $25 to $30 to send a wreath to the west coast via UPS and “close to $16 bucks to send it next door.”The U.S. Postal Service is also an option, but the rates are generally more expensive than UPS or FedEx to ship wreaths across the country, Leman said.Representatives for both companies said in emails that dimensional weight pricing is a common industry practice, and they have efforts in place to help customers improve their packaging practices.“It allows us to make the best use of space in our vehicles and encourages customers to make packaging adjustments,” said FedEx spokeswoman Rae Lyn. “Ultimately, more efficient packaging is good for our customers and ... https://www.centralmaine.com/2018/12/08/closure-of-longtime-norridgewock-christmas-wreath-company-a-sign-of-higher-costs-industry-challenges/

MSU Florist invites public to holiday open house - Mississippi State Newsroom

Contact: Vanessa BeesonSTARKVILLE, Miss.—The public is invited to ring in the holiday cheer at the upcoming Mississippi State University Florist open house. The event, which includes coffee, cookies and a McCarty pottery door prize giveaway, takes place Friday [Nov. 16] from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the flower shop located at 100 Lee Blvd. in the center of campus.The holiday open house is a chance for Bulldog fans to shop local and check out all that the University Florist has to offer from made-in-Mississippi gift selections, including McCarty pottery and Wolfe Studio ceramic birds, to unique MSU gifts and much more. A complete array of MSU ornaments and holiday arrangements also will be on display and available to order or purchase.“This is our way of kicking off the holiday season and giving the community a chance to stop by and check out all we have to offer,” said Taylor Bowden, florist manager.The University Florist at Mississippi State is a retail shop operated by the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It serves as a practi... https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2018/11/msu-florist-invites-public-holiday-open-house/

$60,000 in wild irises disappeared from Coast highway. Here’s why. - Sun Herald

The flowers on Mississippi 603 apparently were mowed down in late September before Cruisin’ The Coast. Their disappearance left many to wonder what happened and why, and drew criticism on social media from Bay St. Louis and Waveland residents. The mostly dark-blue, purplish wildflowers, which grow to 4 or 5 feet tall and have spear-like leaves, were cut down by a county work crew, Mayor Mike Favre confirmed Friday. “They were cut down last year and they came back and looked good this year,” Favre said. “They will come back as good as ever. So that’s where we’re at.” ... https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/hancock-county/article221343810.html