Calgary, AB Florists

Calgary Flower Shop News

Parker: Momentum carries new Canadians to successful floral business - Calgary Herald

I want to start a business here, but I don’t know how.”After relating her previous business history, she was told she had the ability to run her own enterprise in Calgary and was encouraged to take a six-month Momentum course. Her sink or swim attitude resulted in her quitting her job at Market Mall, dedicating her time to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, plus homework.Thanks to all that she learned from the course, she was granted a Momentum small business loan and a crucial, larger loan from BDC, and with some added family savings the couple bought the former Unique Flower Boutique business that had been in the same location for 22 years.That was in 2012, just over a year after they arrived here.Refat says he enjoyed being his own designer of floral arrangements and, with a number of inherited clients in the shop’s database, they were off and running.Then came the 2013 flood, and although they didn’t suffer water damage the shop was closed for two weeks and they lost another week due to an electrical outage downtown. A good number of the shop’s regular customers were in the oil and gas industry, so when the downturn hit, they were hit again. https://calgaryherald.com/business/commercial-real-estate/parker-momentum-carries-new-canadians-to-successful-floral-business

7 Calgary Plant Shops That Will Deliver Spring To Your Home - Narcity

It is time to bring the outdoors inside your home. You don't need to have a green thumb to turn your living room into a mini garden oasis. These cute Calgary plant shops will deliver a cheerful burst of spring right to your home.Hey you! Subscribe to Calgary for all the latest and greatest stories.With all of us spending our time indoors, prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Canada, you might be missing all the signs of spring.But instead of being sad about staying in your apartment, you can make the most of the situation. Local businesses are offering contactless delivery, allowing you to shop from your bed.Now is the perfect time to support a local shop and get a vase filled with tulips and daffodils for your desk.Or if you are looking for something that lasts a bit longer, you can even order a container of roses that will last an entire year.In addition to flowers, you can also purchase adorable terrarium kits or leafy tropical plants to begin indoor gardening. While you are staying inside, they can be a fun project to keep you busy.While you are at it, if any friends or family members are celebrating a birthday, make sure to order... https://www.narcity.com/things-to-do/ca/ab/calgary/7-calgary-plant-shops-that-will-deliver-a-cheerful-burst-of-spring-to-your-home

Calgary woman finds heirloom seeds in attic, hopes to grow vintage flowers - CBC.ca

It got her thinking about two things: whether she could grow the seeds, and who might have left them there. As Moore told the Calgary Eyeopener, it all started with some exploring around her Ramsay property. "I live in an old house in one of the original communities in Calgary, and we have this amazing little garage in the back. It's the cutest little thing, and one day I was kind of just puttering in it and I realized that there was a hole in the ceiling," Moore said. "I went up there and nobody had been up there in a really long time. It was full of old terracotta pots and canvas tarps, and this really cool seed tray." The seed tray is a wooden box, filled with little glass jars and seed packages. "I noticed on the glass jars there were handwritten labels that had dates on them, years, like 1935, 1939, which I thought was really cool," Moore said, adding that most of the seeds appear to be flowers. She said the dates range from the 1930s to the '40s — she spotted petunias, calendula and sweet william. A quick Google search revealed that vintage items may be not just valuable on Etsy, but also a collector's item. 'I noticed on the glass jars, there were handwritten labels that had dates on th... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/heirloom-seeds-attic-vintage-tray-florist-purver-1.5518367

Lethbridge-area garden centres slammed with curbside orders - Global News

Lethbridge and Coaldale areas. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] “We’re doing similar stuff in Calgary,” he said. “Especially the seniors in Calgary, they don’t want to leave their homes and they’ve really taken to the home delivery instead of going to the farmers’ markets.”On the same property as Broxburn Vegetables, Country Blooms Garden Centre sells gardening supplies, flowers and a variety of other plants for the spring and summer seasons.It is not letting people into the garden centre but is taking orders in advance and preparing them for pickup.“People are just dying to get plants,” said Erich Dyck, operator of Country Blooms. “People have been homebound… so they’re anxious to go out and do something in their yards.” READ MORE: Southern Alberta Filipino community ‘worried for our lives’ as members test positive for COVID-19 Green Haven Garden Centre has instated similar measures, taking orders online or by phone and having staff bring the orders to the customers’ vehicles. Credit card payments are made beforehand so customer contact is virtually non-existent. Story continues below advertisement Co-owner Karen Barby said it has been difficult to keep up, with wait times for orders up to five days as hundreds of calls and emails come in. The business also had to reduce its staff.“It’s just been getting busier and busier every day because the weather is beautiful,” Barby said.“We normally don’t see this kind of weather until mid-May, end of May sometimes.”Both Green Haven and Country Blooms said they hope to have their physical locations open in the first week of May, as they prepare to open with extra restrictions similar to the ones in grocery stores. View link » © 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS REPORT AN ERROR ... http://globalnews.ca/news/6868970/plants-gardening-lethbridge-covid-19-coronavirus/

VIDEO: Flower fans push industry to be more eco-conscious - Kelowna Capital News

Crump of ReBloom, which collects event flowers that would otherwise be thrown out and donates them to nursing homes, hospices, shelters and other organizations.Crump says she started her company in Calgary in 2014 after working in public relations and seeing gorgeous blooms tossed as soon as a party ended — sometimes thousands of dollars worth of flowers that had only been enjoyed for a few hours.“The florist would come in and just grab the vase, throw the flowers down on the table, and that was it, they wanted their vase back because they were rented,” says Crump, whose coast-to-coast clients include businesses and wedding couples, but also event venues that are gradually realizing their own role in curbing waste.Crump recalls coming across a dumpster full of beautiful white hydrangeas behind a posh downtown Toronto hotel, the aftermath of a big wedding where she guesses staff were forced to quickly clear a ballroom to make way for the next big event.She showed them the photo and that hotel is now a client, she says, noting a “significant change” in attitude among businesses and hotel chains over the past two years. She says ReBloom diverted 43 tons of floral waste from landfills since 2014 and wants to divert 20 more tons this year.Zini used ReBloom to donate flowers from her 2018 wedding in Toronto to a local women’s shelter and seniors’ home. She estimates spending about $3,000 on the flowers and an additional $800 to turn them into smaller bouquets and arrangements.“Ideally, (a wedding) happens once and there are things that you want to be special because they happen once,” she acknowledges.“But that being said, the waste (includes) wasted food, dresses that are never worn again, flowers in the garbage. I wanted that special day, but I wanted to reduce the waste as much as I could.”That’s a sentiment the similarly themed Violet Heart Project in Toronto — a not-for-profit that also repurposes event flowers — hopes will one day be inextricably linked with the floral industry.“This just needs to be the normal thing that everybody does,” says Julie Danaylov, one of the founding board members.Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian PressLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Gift GuideHolidays and Seasonal EventsNature Get local stories you won't find anywhere else right to your inbox.Sign up here... https://www.kelownacapnews.com/trending-now/flower-lovers-tackle-waste-push-industry-towards-sustainable-measures/

Parker: Momentum carries new Canadians to successful floral business - Calgary Herald

It was while perusing the web that she discovered Momentum — a program that provides training to new Canadians and low-income Albertans in a bid to improve the economy as a whole — made an appointment and told the counsellor, “I want to start a business here, but I don’t know how.”After relating her previous business history, she was told she had the ability to run her own enterprise in Calgary and was encouraged to take a six-month Momentum course. Her sink or swim attitude resulted in her quitting her job at Market Mall, dedicating her time to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, plus homework.Thanks to all that she learned from the course, she was granted a Momentum small business loan and a crucial, larger loan from BDC, and with some added family savings the couple bought the former Unique Flower Boutique business that had been in the same location for 22 years.That was in 2012, just over a year after they arrived here.Refat says he enjoyed being his own designer of floral arrangements and, with a number of inherited clients in the shop’s database, they were off and running.Then came the 2013 flood, and although they didn’t suffer water damage the shop was closed for two weeks and they lost another week due to an ele... https://calgaryherald.com/business/commercial-real-estate/parker-momentum-carries-new-canadians-to-successful-floral-business

Man to be sentenced in Edmonton flower store owner’s mall death during robbery - theglobeandmail.com

When she arrived at the mall, she saw the building surrounded by emergency vehicles, she said. “I felt my heart drop,” she told court. She was diverted to the University of Alberta Hospital, where she was met by police and called her son and daughter to meet her. “We were all so scared and confused,” said Ms. Armstrong, who added that doctors started using words like “dire, catastrophic” to describe her husband’s injuries. The family decided to take him off life support three days later. Story continues below advertisement Sharon Armstrong was one of eight family members and friends who provided victim impact statements. The couple’s daughter, Dana Mikulasik, said her world came crashing down when she received the call that her dad was in the hospital. “I was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe.” Ms. Mikulasik said her family has a tradition in which members get to pick their favourite meal for dinner on their birthdays. “That Friday, I was supposed to come home to my favourite food: my father’s homemade pizza,” she said through sobs. “Instead, on the eve of my 29th birthday, I sat with my family in the hospital making the decision to take my father off of life support.” Ms. Mikulasik said her mental health has been seriously damaged. Sean Armstrong said he will never forget hearing his mom’s voice on the phone, running in his work boots to the hospital emergency room and seeing his father on a hospital gurney. Story continues below advertisement “Such a sight was something previously unfathomable, unimaginable to me.” He said his father was a titan among men, full of kindness and a role model. Others – including Mr. Armstrong’s brother, sister-in-law, a friend and employees – spoke of his “ordinary goodness,” his hard-working nature and his willingness to help others. The Crown and the defence jointly recommended the six-year sentence. Mr. Cushnie had been in custody while waiting the conclusion of his case. Justice Simpson said manslaughter cases can be difficult because they range from near accidents to near murders. “Obviously, the close friends and family of Mr. Armstrong have been forever harmed,” the judge said. “Society has also been harmed.” Story continues below advertisement He said society loses its sense of safety when a tragedy happens in a public place such as a mall. The justice said he accepted the joint recommendation because Mr. Cushnie pleaded guilty and may not have anticipated that the blows would lead to Mr. Armstrong’s death. Mr. Cushnie was also sentenced to three years for the robbery... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-man-to-be-sentenced-in-edmonton-flower-store-owners-mall-death-during/

Flower growers see sales wither as planting season launches - CBC.ca

Andi Kuyvenhoven, noting garden centres' crucial role for bedding plants in particular. British Columbia — the second-biggest flower and plant producer — Alberta and Manitoba and have allowed garden centres to keep running, while Quebec deemed them essential along with nurseries as of April 15, though not in time for Easter. Kuyvenhoven, who with his wife co-owns a $2.5-million business selling potted Chrysanthemums and indoor calla lilies — largely to U.S. distributors — on a pair of farms west of Toronto, says clogged supply chains south of the border remain a problem. 'I haven't slept in five weeks' "U.S. customers for a time closed their distribution systems to floral and so the main grocery chains were not purchasing plants," he said, which was hard on growers of cut flowers such as roses and tulips. "If a truck can take 24 skids and four skids were flowers, the flowers came off the trucks and they put more food on the truck — which we completely understand. The only challenge is, when you're growing flowers as we do, they also have a shelf life," said Kuyvenhoven, who bought his business from his parents in 1990. "Now we're now facing liquidity issues...I haven't slept in five weeks." Flowers Canada Growers says exports to the U.S. make up about one-third of greenhouse flower and plant sales, which hit $1.6 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. Nursery sales topped $500 million. While garden centres can continue to operate across much of the continent, growers wonder whether bouquets and flower pots will remain on the shopping list of consumers struggling to make rent amid soaring unemployment numbers and a looming recession. Kuyvenhoven is hoping that families confined to their homes for most of the day will choose to spend what they've saved from unpurchased vacations and lattes on plants for their vases and flower beds. "That's part of what's carried us through downturns in the past," he said. Growers associations are in talks with federal and provincial governments over potential financial relief, with Flowers Canada Growers asking for a "cash injection" as well as extended debt repayment plans secured in part by Ottawa, Kuyvenhoven said. So far, the federal government has extended a stay of default for eligible farmers until Oct. 31, giving flower and potted plant producers an extra six months to pay off federal loans that would have been due at the end of April. Ottawa has also granted exemptions on air travel restrictions to temporary foreign workers and invested $50 million to help farmers fly in labourers on charter trips. "New flights are being booked ever day," the agriculture department said in an email. Back at the greenhouse, VanZanten mulls the overripe lilies and orchids. "Flowers do make you happier, they do actually lift your spirits...but there are farms that can't bounce back from this," he said. "This all happened at the wrong time."... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flower-growers-hamilton-1.5546023

Lethbridge-area garden centres slammed with curbside orders - Global News

Spring weather has officially hit southern Alberta, and with warm weather comes gardening season. READ MORE: Coronavirus: Alberta announces 216 more cases, 1 new death Related News With COVID-19 impacting businesses of all avenues, Lethbridge County garden centres and vegetable markets have had to adjust.Paul De Jonge has owned and operated Broxburn Vegetables and Café since 1994. He said there is no other place like it in the area.“Broxburn Vegetables has always been kind of a destination,” he said.“The food in the café, of course, reflects what we grow here. We have a ‘you-pick’ strawberry farm so a lot of families in the summertime want to come out and pick strawberries.”However, due to COVID-19 health concerns, De Jonge said he has closed the café and limited customers who shop in the store for peppers, eggplants, cauliflower, broccoli and other products. Story continues below advertisement Workers hired from Mexico arrived later than usual due to travel restrictions an... http://globalnews.ca/news/6868970/plants-gardening-lethbridge-covid-19-coronavirus/