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Local Flower Shop News

‘Master florist’ Haruko Adkins, 90, had a passion for flower arrangements and tennis - The Washington Post

She married Earl A. Adkins, a criminal investigator in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps. With his work, the couple traveled and lived in several places, including San Francisco and Germany, before settling in Arlington. He died in 1999.Adkins had a large group of friends and was known for helping others. If someone else wanted flowers she planned to use in an arrangement, she would happily give them away, Morhart said.“She was very, very generous,” Morhart said. “She was always willing to say: ‘Help yourself. Take that if you need it.’ She had a very sharing nature.”Adkins also did volunteer projects, including making sweaters and bags to carry food for those in need. She was once named Volunteer of the Year at Goodwin House.Valerie Burke, the chief philanthropy officer at Goodwin House, said Adkins also enjoyed working at a thrift shop on the property as a volunteer and was good at making displays.“She loved getting to know people and helping them find just the right trinket,” Burke said. In the dining room at Goodwin House, Burke said, Adkins would help if she noticed others weren’t eating enough or needed a hand.“She’d say, ‘You’re losing too much weight,’?” Burke said. “Then she’d go over and help them eat. She was a real connector.”In early May, Adkins came down to meet her weekly flower-arranging group but said she couldn’t stay because she didn’t feel well. A few days later she went to the hospital and tested positive for the coronavirus, according to friends. She died 12 days later. “We were all very, very sad,” Morhart said. “She was so easy to work with, so talented and just fun to be around.”Read more:... https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/haruko-adkins-coronavirus/2020/08/18/58bc3c7a-e13e-11ea-b69b-64f7b0477ed4_story.html

Berkeley Florist Remains Bitter That It Can't Do Curbside Sales While Whole Foods Sells Flowers Next Door - SFist

Walmart and Whole Foods have been allowed to remain open, often selling "non-essential" goods.On Monday, flower shops in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties will get to reopen for curbside pickup and sales along with the vast majority of other retailers, but the same will not yet be true for three other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley where stricter, Phase 1 sheltering orders are remaining in place a bit longer (pending any new revised orders from those counties' health officers). That isn't sitting well with Ashby Flowers co-owner Marcy Simon, whose Berkeley shop sits next door to an Amazon-owned Whole Foods location, where flowers are also for sale. Ashby Flowers has been allowed to stay open for deliveries only — KPIX reports that other flower shops elsewhere in Alameda County have begun doing curbside pickups but that is not clear from the most recent county health order issued last week. The City of Berkeley's public health department, which acts independently of the county, is maintaining no curbside retail reopenings for now, and Simon is getting impatient."At the beginning we immediately closed our store, shut off our lights, put up messages to the community saying 'we’re all in this together and... https://sfist.com/2020/05/14/berkeley-florist-bitter-about-curbside-retail-rules/

The Best Gift for a Flower Lover Is Moda Operandi's Flash Flower Box - TownandCountrymag.com

The box is a collaboration between Moda Operandi Co-Founder Lauren Santo Domingo and Lewis Miller, florist extraordinaire and the man behind the exuberant flower arrangements that have shown up around New York City, bursting out of trash cans and perched next to subway entrances. Each box—there are two you can choose from, Country Wildflower, or Beach Bloom—contains enough blooms for several generous arrangements. They're also accompanied by a series of breezy instructional videos starring Miller himself, explaining how to trim, hydrate, and arrange your flowers.The gift here is not just the gorgeous blossoms but the chance to spend an hour arranging them. My box arrived, neatly packed with 15 creamy white peonies, 10 stems of upright bouvardia, 10 stems of soulful, green helleborus, and 20 stems of cheerful white spray roses. I arrayed my collection of vases, pulled out my clippers, and for a brief moment in time I thought about nothing more than color, proportion, and the balance of green and white. It was a tonic. Here's a sampling of my handiwork: Elizabeth Angell(My only complaint is that I do not own a lazy susan for properly positioning my vase as I work to fill it. I may have to upgrade my set up for future floral-arranging sessions.)The incredible arrangements are available for one more week; a Standard Box is $265 and a Delux is $425. Even better, Moda Operandi will donate $15 from the sale of each Standard Box and $25 from each Deluxe Box to The Loveland Foundation, in support of its mission to bring opportunity and mental health services to Black women, girls, and communities of color. div clas... https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/home-decor/a32910308/moda-operandi-lewis-miller-flash-flower-box/

Ham Lake couple trust God as they grow family flower farm business - The Catholic Spirit

The Carlstroms were thinking produce and chickens when, in the winter of 2019, Kristen came across a book titled “The Cut Flower Garden” by Erin Benzakein, a florist farmer in Washington.“Basically, I just fell in love with it,” Kristen said. “It was kind of out of the blue for me.”She had always kept a small flower garden with sunflowers and zinnias, but nothing large-scale. But once she began to think about flowers, she became convinced that was the direction she wanted to move.“I knew we were going to take on something really big,” she said. “It was really important for me to be really passionate about it. And so, this was something that just really took a hold of me. And I had so much energy with thinking of doing really hard stuff to make it happen.”She and Jonah took Benzakein’s online course on flower farming, and dove into researching what would grow well in Minnesota’s climate. “Before we knew it, we’re like, we’re really doing it,” she said.Jonah gives Kristen all the credit for the flower focus. “I never thought I would be a flower farmer — I don’t think many men do think of that,” Jonah said, sitting near the field. He agreed to the online course, “and I was just sort of open with the Lord; ‘Wherever you lead us.’”“Ever since leaving school, I wanted to do something in nature. I love working outside. I’ve been praying along the way” for God’s guidance, he said. “Basically, I want to come home and I want to work from home.”The Carlstroms don’t know any other young farmers, but they’re not alone among Catholic millennials. Jim Ennis, executive director of St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life, said there are like-minded young Catholics across the United States who are exploring and adopting a rural lifestyle, including small-scale farming. Many are drawn to a slower, family-focused pace of life away from the demands of city living and corporate work.Like the Carlstroms, many don’t have farming backgrounds, Ennis said, and it’s hard work without the guarantee of financial sustainability. But it’s rewarding, he said. Farming is creative work, where people can work in nature, with their hands, alongside family members, for the benefit of their own tables and their community. And even young children can see, understand and participate in their parents’ work, he said.“There’s something very innate in many people’s DNA to connect with God’s creation in a closer way,” he said, “and I think that’s very Catholic and very Christian.”Kristen admits that sometimes she’s thought the idea of turning stay-at-home mom to cut-flower florist is “crazy.” But, “there was a lot of discouragement that came whenever I tried to let it (the idea) go, and a lot of joy that was there when we kept pursuing it,” she said, so they forged ahead.The field is easily accessible from the Carlstroms’ house through a path in the woods. Kristen spends patches of time throughout the day tending its 20, 100-foot rows as she learns to orchestrate timing their harvesting with flowers’ longevity onc... https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/ham-lake-couple-trust-god-as-they-grow-family-flower-farm-business/

‘The power of flowers’: Alabama’s florists cope with pandemic, recovery - AL.com

Volume dropped to almost nothing except what I could do,” Morris said.Morris’ experience was much like other industries, but it illustrates the particular challenges felt by florists around Alabama. The life events where people expect flowers - hospitalizations, funerals - were suddenly in the news, but the demand for them was all but extinguished.Cameron Pappas at Norton’s Florist in Birmingham said the lockdown, and the reopening that followed, has reminded him of the “power of flowers.”“We’ve had a lot of reminders of how important flowers are to everyone,” he said. “They keep people sane.”The pandemic hit America right in a peak season for florists - the rush before Easter, proms and spring events. Pappas said business began to slowdown by about 40 percent one week before his shop closed for two weeks on March 23. The store laid off all of its employees for that period.Cameron Pappas delivered flowers to Birmingham-area restaurants during the coronavirus shutdown.Thousands of floral businesses around America were left with perishable goods that they couldn’t sell. Just three days before Norton’s closed, it had received a shipment of about $5,000 in flowers. Rather than throw them out, Pappas said, they made bouquets to give away at restaurants and nursing homes that would accept them. In some cases, he hand delivered them.“We wanted the flowers to still do their job, to bring joy to bad situations,” he said. “We wanted them to say that we’re not going to let this virus take away the heart of our city.”Morris, 86, said he was reduced to little better than a one-man operation for about five weeks, with his nephew keeping the books. https://www.al.com/business/2020/06/the-power-of-flowers-alabamas-florists-cope-with-pandemic-recovery.html

Where to have a small wedding in Westchester, Rockland - The Journal News

Surrounded by stone walls from the turn-of-the-century, it can be set up for both a ceremony and reception for up to 50 guests."I can do pretty much anything," said Kelly, an expert florist who has worked side by side with his brother, famed Hudson Valley chef Peter X. Kelly (of Restaurant X in Congers and X20 in Yonkers), for over 30 years. He also works with other local caterers, including Mimi's Plate in Tappan. The garden, with its variety of shade-loving plants, has been the scene for many an engagement photo, so branching out into weddings under this "new normal" just makes sense, said Kelly. Ideally, he'd like two weeks in advance but will try to accommodate folks as much as possible. Book it: 456 Piermont Ave., 845-359-4480, nedkellyandco.comPeter Pratt's Inn, Yorktown HeightsThere's plenty of outdoor space at this historic property with a sizeable lawn and a tented area on their back terrace. There's also plenty of room inside.The 1700s farmhouse restaurant, with the cozy ambiance of a New England inn, has recently been renovated; it was taken over March 11 by Kujtim (Tim) Lajqi and his wife, Liridona. Tim grew up in the area and has a deep love and affinity for the property. He and Liridona are happy to work with couples and figure out what works best for their budget.Book it: 673 Croton Heights Road, 914-962-4090, peterprattsinn.comThe Abbey Inn & Spa, PeekskillPerched on a hill overlooking the Hudson, this new property, formerly the convent of the Episcopal Sisters of Saint Mary’s, is offering both indoor and outdoor weddings, albeit with new rules. According to General Manager Gilbert Baeriswil, events can be on the terrace outside, in the Cornerstone Room (with room for 30), in the hotel's private dining room (up to 10) or in the Hudson Room in Apropos restaurant (up to 22). There's also the option of the Highland Ballroom.Other rules require a 30-minute cocktail hour with passed hors d’oeuvres that are handed to the guest by a server. During the cocktail hour, guests are supposed to stay in one location (table) while wine, champagne and non-alcoholic beverages are passed. There's also the option of four- to six-course tasting menus with wine pairings. A band or DJ are allowed, but there is no dancing except for the first dance and parents' dances. And, as per t... https://www.lohud.com/story/life/2020/07/29/coronavirus-changes-wedding-plans-places-readjust-your-nuptials/5449704002/

Florists add much needed color to seniors' lives in dark times - KTVU San Francisco

Florists add much needed color to senior housing residents during these dark times With the coronavirus draining much of the joy and color from the world these days, a small group of florists in San Ramon are trying to put some of it back, for people who perhaps need it most--those who are tucked away in senior care homes.SAN RAMON, Calif. - With the Coronavirus draining much of the joy and color from the world these days, a small group of florists in San Ramon are trying to put some of it back, for people who perhaps need it most--those who are tucked away in senior care homes. "They are just there scared. No visitors. I just want to give them some flowers to make them happy," said Sharon Enea, owner of the Enchanted Florist. The staff was creating about 50 bouquets Tuesday morning.While the vases and some of the flowers are donated, the owner is doing much of this out of her pocket.That is not easy, considering her business has plummeted by about 60 percent during the pandemic. "D... https://www.ktvu.com/news/florists-add-much-needed-color-to-seniors-lives-in-dark-times

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