Bernardsville Flower Shop News
22 ways to celebrate Mother's Day in Central Jersey - MyCentralJersey.com
Monday, May 02, 2016John Phillip Osborne: An American Master," and sale of works by American master painter John Phillip Osborne with the J. M. Stringer Gallery of Fine Art, formerly of Bernardsville and now based in Vero Beach, Florida. The collection includes approximately 30 oil paintings and pen and ink drawings depicting a range of subjects. The exhibition will be open noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Docents will be available for guided tours of the Vanderveer House and informational material about the 1772 Dutch-Colonial home, period rooms and furnishings are available throughout the house. Admission, $10; free for ages 12 and under. For details about John Phillip Osborne, visit www.jmstringergallery.com and www.johnphilliposborne.com. For details about the Jacobus Vanderveer House, visit www.jvanderveerhouse.org or call 908-396-6053. TEA RECEPTION CELEBRATING THE MORRIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S NEW EXHIBIT, "FINE, FANCY, AND FASHIONABLE: 125 YEARS OF DRESSING THE BRIDE AT ACORN HALL": 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Acorn Hall, 68 Morris Ave., Morristown. Displayed in the Exhibit Galleries and period rooms are 30 wedding gowns from the Society’s collections, highlighting the evolution of fashion through the single most important dress worn during a woman’s lifetime. To complement the exhibit opening, an afternoon tea buffet will be served on Acorn Hall’s historic back porch. The Oak Leaf Gallery gift shop will also be open, and available for shopping. Admission for the Sunday, May 8, event is $10; $7 for seniors; $5 for students, and free for children younger than 12. The exhibit, which opened Sunday, May 1, is on view through Sunday, Oct. 23. Call 973-267-3465.A tea reception celebrating The Morris County Historical Society’s new exhibit, “Fine, Fancy, and Fashionable: 125 Years of Dressing the Bride,“ will be held on Sunday, May 8, at Acorn Hall in Morristown. (Photo: ~Photo courtesy Morris County Historical Society at Acorn Hall)3 to 9: Food/DrinkMOTHER'S DAY BRUNCH & FASHION SHOW: 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Aleathea's Restaurant at the Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean St., Cape May. Bring Mom share a brunch that includes a fashion show from Lace Silhouettes and The Cotton Co. Admission: $30; sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). Call 609-884-5404, 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.strong... http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/how-we-live/2016/05/01/22-ways-celebrate-mothers-day-central-jersey/83497770/
Garden: Assessing visits to Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia flower shows - Allentown Morning Call
Monday, March 28, 2016However, I recut the stems and put them in a water-filled vase. They recovered and lasted almost a week.The only plant we brought back is a peony from a Bernardsville, N.J., nursery, Peony's Envy (peonysenvy.com). An intersectional peony (a cross between a herbaceous peony and a tree peony), the flowers are singles, opening apricot cream and maturing to pink. I don't usually buy pink flowers, but this particular peony is named Julia Rose, the same as my traveling companion. So we'll be adding this peony to the red, copper and white ones already established. While I have grown herbaceous and tree peonies, this is my first experience with an Intersectional variety.New vegetable booksThis spring I got several books on growing vegetables. These two books focus on less-common practices, appealing to gardeners with a variety of gardening styles."Stress-Free Vegetable Gardening" by Caleb Warnock (Hobble Creek Press, an imprint of Cedar Fort) focuses on gardens maintained with minimal effort. Caleb's approach is unconventional but based on sound gardening practices taken to the extreme. He advocates raised beds filled with raw organic matter, topped with compost — no soil or even soilless mix.One of the most interesting chapters, 9 Principles of Successful Stress-Free Gardening with Benign Neglect, caught my attention. One of Caleb's tenets: Recognize edible weeds and eat them. Mallow, purslane, dandelion and wild spinach appear on his dinner table as well as his pet rabbit's food tray. He uses a secret recipe weed killer, edible and vegetable based, available for a price (SeedRenaissance.com) and he doesn't stress about maintaining a perfectly groomed garden at all times.Another unique precept is that gardeners should only plant self-seeding vegetables and allow a few to go to seed. This limits the garden to non-hybrids, but many gardeners, particularly seed savers, already avoid hybrids.Other chapters cover raised beds, pest control, year-round harvesting and helpful notes on growing individual vegetables."Gardening like a Ninja" by Angela England (Hobble Creek Press) advocates adding edibles into the garden landscape. The first two sections are an overview of principles of edible landscaping, landscape design and general garden principles. Section III was my favorite: examples and plans for garden beds that integrated edibles into attractive beds. Adding hyacinth bean, chives, thyme and New Zealand spinach to a bed with hibiscus and daylily plants; and a three-season bed with tulips violas and daffodils, then lettuce, asparagus, moving on to squash and okra with persimmon and a containerized peach tree are examples on integrating food plants in the landscape.The final section of the book lists and describes a good variety of plants that add both beauty and harvestable crops to the garden. This is a good source for those who want to add some edibles but are not interested in the usual vegetable garden patch.Sue Kittek is a freelance garden columnist, writer and lecturer. Send que... http://www.mcall.com/features/home/mc-garden-flower-show-lehigh-philadelphia-20160318-story.html
Third-generation owner seeks to turn retail plant shop into lifestyle brand - Crains New York Business
Sunday, February 10, 2019My family owns the West 96th Street building and has considered selling it, but we want to keep a retail presence there. PlantShed needs more space for production, though. We might move offices to New Jersey—where we recently got a warehouse—Long Island City or further uptown. There are stresses on the business, but we're making it work. When I took over, I realized we could not just be a retail flower store. The numbers wouldn't support it. That's why we pursued the idea of putting cafés in our shops. Retail stores also need to be a lifestyle brand.Our goal is to spread our love of plants and flowers to people around the city and beyond. I've hired employees to facilitate partnerships and make our stores young and hip. Through the cafés, we have created a way for people to gather and be surrounded by nature. Those who come in every morning for a cup of coffee think of us when they need to buy a bouquet of flowers. We want to foster community and build a local attachment to our brand.I'm a partner in Haven, a boutique hotel in Montauk, which is a separate business from PlantShed. In the past few years, we have blown Haven out with plants, putting custom-made hanging baskets in the walkways and tropical houseplants in the hotel rooms. Guests love it. Now I am working on a hotel concept. I'm trying to find a location for a farmstead, greenhouse and inn in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills. PlantShed would own it, and it would be something really unique, bridging biophilia and hospitality.It's definitely something we could bring to New York City or another city down the line. We have found that incorporating plant life in an urban setting is appealing to people. We assume these travelers want a city vibe, rather than a country or tropical feel. So it would be a matter of incorporating plants and flowers in a way that accentuates the look and feel of a city. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/asked-answered/third-generation-owner-seeks-turn-retail-plant-shop-lifestyle-brand
Better Than Roses - The Newtown Bee
Sunday, February 10, 2019The Sunshine Bouquet Company began in New Jersey before branching out to Florida and Columbia, which allowed “Sunshine to provide efficient, rapid delivery to the United States.”Ms Brisch said Big Y also offers flower bouquets and potted plants from local farms, like Cavicchio Greenhouse in Sudbury, Mass. Since Big Y is headquartered in Springfield, Mass., its local farms are located in Massachusetts or Connecticut. Newtown Big Y Store Director Angelo Soto shared a list of all of its local farms, and those include Casertano’s Greenhouse in Cheshire, Connecticut Valley Flower in Hamden, Geremia Greenhouse in Wallingford, and Grower Direct in Somers.“There are so many local things to chose from,” said Ms Brisch.From choosing to support a conscientious company to finding ways to support local farms there is more to consider than just the color of a bouquet’s assorted flowers.Off-Season OptionsConnecticut-grown flowers can be hard to find in the winter.Natalie Collette of The Gardenist of Norwalk offers floral arrangements and designs, along with garden design support and maintenance, according to her Facebook page, The Gardenist. She mostly sells her flowers to local florists and people who contact her directly. A farmer florist, Ms Collette said she has private properties where she plants seasonal flowers, all organically. She harvests and creates bouquets along with maintaining a dahlia farm in New Haven. Growers in Connecticut, unless they have a greenhouse, do not grow flowers out of season, she observed. This makes it harder for local shops to maintain locally grown flowers in the winter months.When asked for ideas for alternative Valentine’s Day presents, Ms Collette recommended gifting a living flower arrangement or foraging for a bouquet of seasonal elements. Potted plants from a nursery also provide year-long enjoyment.“If it is a perennial, you can enjoy the plant from when you purchase it [until you] plant it in the spring,” said Ms Collette, who is currently selling hous... https://www.newtownbee.com/better-roses/02102019
Third-generation owner seeks to turn retail plant shop into lifestyle brand
Tuesday, February 05, 2019My family owns the West 96th Street building and has considered selling it, but we want to keep a retail presence there. PlantShed needs more space for production, though. We might move offices to New Jersey—where we recently got a warehouse—Long Island City or further uptown. There are stresses on the business, but we're making it work. When I took over, I realized we could not just be a retail flower store. The numbers wouldn't support it. That's why we pursued the idea of putting cafés in our shops. Retail stores also need to be a lifestyle brand.Our goal is to spread our love of plants and flowers to people around the city and beyond. I've hired employees to facilitate partnerships and make our stores young and hip. Through the cafés, we have created a way for people to gather and be surrounded by nature. Those who come in every morning for a cup of coffee think of us when they need to buy a bouquet of flowers. We want to foster community and build a local attachment to our brand.I'm a partner in Haven, a boutique hotel in Montauk, which is a separate business from PlantShed. In the past few years, we have blown Haven out with plants, putting custom-made hanging baskets in the walkways and tropical houseplants in the hotel rooms. Guests love it. Now I am working on a hotel concept. I'm trying to find a location for a farmstead, greenhouse and inn in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills. PlantShed would own it, and it would be something really unique, bridging biophilia and hospitality.It's definitely something we could bring to New York City or another city down the line. We have found that incorporating plant life in an urban setting is appealing to people. We assume these travelers want a city vibe, rather than a country or tropical feel. So it would be a matter of incorporating plants and flowers in a way that accentuates the look and feel of a city. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/asked-answered/third-generation-owner-seeks-turn-retail-plant-shop-lifestyle-brand
N.Y. man who buried the man he murdered behind a N.J. florist shop found guilty - NJ.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2019Vance said in a release. "He was murdered in cold blood in a crime of unconscionable violence, his body mutilated, thrown from a fourth-story window, and abandoned behind a florist's shop in New Jersey."Comunale was stabbed 15 times on Nov. 13 at Rackover's East 59th Street apartment following a party also attended by Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City and Max Gemma, 30, of Oceanport, authorities said.Both men are also facing charges related to the incident, including a second-degree murder charge for Dilione.At about 9:45 p.m. that night, Rackover and Dilione drove Comunale's body, which had been burned, to a field behind a florist on Monmouth Boulevard in Oceanport and buried it, investigators have said. A court motion filed on behalf of Gemma, who is the son of former Oceanport Mayor Gordon Gemma in January claimed Dilione, a former Oceanport resident, admitted to investigators that he knocked Comunale unconscious after an argument over cigarettes, the New York Post reported.Dilione told investigators that Rackover then viciously kicked and beat the defenseless Comunale. After realizing Comunale was severely injured and afraid of being arrested, the motion says, Rackover said: "We have to kill him," according to the report.Rackover is expected to be sentenced on Dec. 5, a release from the district attorney's office said.The charges against Dilione and Gemma were still pending Friday, Vance said.Dilione was charged with second-degree murder, hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and three counts of concealment of a human corpse. Gemma was charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.Dilione was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 14 and Gemma's court da... https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2018/11/ny_man_who_buried_the_man_he_murdered_behind_a_nj_florist_shop_found_guilty.html