Alpine, CA Florists

Alpine Flower Shop News

No time to stop and smell the roses: Dream leads local florist to Rose Parade - Steamboat Pilot & Today

We got to go behind the scenes and meet all the main designers and went to the parade.”But even before that, Bostrom, who owned Alpine Floral & Atrium until she closed the business in 2012, dreamed of being a part of the New Year’s celebration. Last April, she learned she had been selected to work with Fiesta Parade Floats, one of the companies that build the nearly 30 floats in the parade. When she got the news, one of her first calls was to her former boss Roy Borodkin, who opened Alpine Floral in its first location at the Harbor Hotel in 1974.“I called him and said I’m working on the floats in the Rose Bowl Parade this year,” Bostrom said. “He said, ‘Finally.'”Bostrom hitchhiked from Boulder to Steamboat in 1975 and arrived with $78 in her pocket and no job. But by the end of her first day in town, she had lined up jobs as a lifeguard at the swimming pool, waiting tables at El Rancho and working at Alpine Floral.Her job at Alpine Floral proved to be a perfect fit for the girl who graduated with degrees in ornamental horticulture and business from Alfred State College.In college, Bostrom was required to gain experience running an actual store, so when she arrived in Steamboat, she already had experience ordering flowers, scheduling, designing and budgeting. She helped the store grow and, eventually, bought the business in April 1980 with partner Jackie Eatherton. In 1984, Bostrom and her husband, Daryl, become sole owners of the store.Susanne Bostrom takes a moment away from working on floats for the 2020 Rose Parade to take a photograph with fellow crew members. The floats Bostrom worked on will appear in the parade, which takes place on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California.Photo courtesy of Susanne BostromBostrom said the biggest reward... https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/no-time-to-stop-and-smell-the-roses-dream-leads-local-florist-to-rose-parade/

These BC Mountains Become A Floral Wonderland For 2 Days Only This Summer And You Need To See It - Narcity

Mountain, a stunning paradise is waiting to be discovered. Imagine the opening scene from The Sound Of Music, but with hundreds of colourful wildflowers. That's the sight that awaits you at BC's alpine floral festival, a magical event that uncovers the beauty of Sun Peak's mountains.Every summer, Canada's second largest ski resort sheds its blanket of snow and bursts into bloom. Wildflowers cover the alpine, attracting visitors from far and wide. The Alpine Blossom festival, held at Sun Peaks Ski Resort, is dedicated to showcasing these vibrant flowers when they are at their finest. The festival runs for only 2 days in mid-summer when the wildflowers reach their fullest bloom. This year, the festival will be held July 20 - 21. The event takes place at Sun Peaks Resort, less than an hour's drive from Kamloops, BC. It's a good idea to stay for the full two-days, as you won't want to leave Sun Peaks once you're immersed in its magnificent beauty. The festival includes tons of fun events that take place throughout the picturesque resort village.To access the hiking trails and wildflower views, you can take a scenic ride on the Sunburst chairlift. You can also bring your mountain bike along if you're looking for somethin... https://www.narcity.com/things-to-do/ca/bc/bcs-alpine-floral-festival-is-happening-this-month-and-you-dont-want-to-miss-it

Vancouver Christmas Events 2018: 100 ways to get into the holiday spirit - Vancouver Sun

German delicacies: sizzling sausages, two warming Glühwein (mulled wine) locations, old world confections, handcrafted gifts, and so much more! Share food and drink in the cozy Alpine Lounge, or relax in the sleek new WunderBAR and indulge in Christmas Cocktails, charcuterie or German desserts in a twinkling winter oasis. Delight in the Winterdeck, featuring stunning views of the North Shore. Venture down Lovers Lane – an Instagram-worthy 20-foot long tunnel adorned with 10,000 twinkling lights and mistletoe, or enjoy live seasonal entertainment performed on the Christmas Pyramid’s Flying Stage. Be dazzled by a floating Santa underneath the Olympic Cauldron, a shimmering 30-foot tall Walk-in Christmas tree, a glittering carousel, and a multitude of festive family activities. • Jack Poole Plaza, until Dec. 24, extended hours: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., closes at 6 p.m. on December 24. • vancouverchristmasmarket.comHeritage Christmas at the Burnaby Village MuseumStroll through the streets of the Village to see wreaths, cedar swags and vintage-themed displays. At the bandstand, visitors can create their own magical holiday show with lights that change colours to sound. Special entertainment is scheduled throughout the season including theatre performances, community choirs, street characters and musicians. Many family-favourite activities are back including crafts for the kids, baking in the Farmhouse, and visits with Father Christmas. • Burnaby Village Museum, 6501 Deer Lake Ave., until Jan. 4, gates open at 1 p.m. • Free admission, carousel rides $2.65 each, burnabyvillagemuseum.caVancouver Santa Claus Parade The largest Christmas parade celebrated in Western Canada, featuring marching bands, dance troupes, festive floats and community groups. In the spirit of giving this event is also one of the largest food and fundraising events for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society and the CKNW Kids’ Fund. • Dec., 2, the parade begins at noon at West Georgia and Broughton, ending at Howe and Davie. vancouversantaclausparade.com/ (READ MORE... https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/festivals/vancouver-christmas-events-2018-100-ways-to-get-into-the-holiday-spirit

Put names on the faces of the state's flowers

You'll appreciate Montana flowers more if you know their names, from the dainty flax along River's Edge Trail to the elusive fairy slippers of the forest to the dramatic bear grass of alpine meadows. A new guide can help you on your way to becoming a wildflower expert, or at least satisfy your curiosity about the fetching flowers you encounter. "Wondering about Wildflowers," a new book by Sharon Huff, Stephen Love and Sharron Akers features over 490 different plants and over 1,400 color photographs from the Northern Rocky Mountains. The flowers are sorted by color, with pages trimmed in the blossom color. The guide has at least one photo but often several photos of a given flower, with a description, common and scientific name, a timeline on when it blooms and what kind of landscape one would find the flower. Take prairie smoke, or old man's whiskers, or geum triflorum. A member of the rose family, it has hairy, feathery leaves, nodding bell-shaped pink to rose-maroon flowers with five petals on long stalks. It's found in meadows, in forests and on sagebrush plains. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/outdoors/2018/07/17/put-names-faces-montana-flowers-new-guidebook-wondering-wildflowers-stephen-love-sharon-huff-akers/792122002/

Four Oaks Trade Show 2018 - New plants set to shine

Kernock’s other new petunias include ‘Vista Fuchsia’ and ‘Purple Cream’. There are perennials galore, from alpines to hardy and herbaceous types. Beschornaria ‘Flamingo Glow’ is a yucca-type variegated plant. Harnett adds: "Nowadays we select our heuchera from 50ft. If they’re not good enough to set themselves apart from other heuchera at that distance, then they don’t make the grade." Kernock has also introduced ‘Forever Red’ and ‘Champagne’ as well as its Heucherella ‘Leapfrog’.Diervilla ‘Diva’ is the main launch from Seiont Nurseries with Van Vliet New Plants. It is a "great new purple form with lots of bee-friendly yellow flowers", says Seiont’s Neil Alcock. There is also an "amazing" new UK-bred hardy fern, Dryopteris ‘Jurassic Gold’, launching with Genesis Plant Marketing."It has fantastic rose/bronze new fronds in spring to early summer which age to a golden frond and is perfectly hardy," says Alcock. "I am particularly pleased to see a new hardy fern development as they are increasing in popularity and there hasn’t been much work on new ferns — apart from my Blechnum ‘Volcano’ of course."For 2019, he would like to have more plants ready earlier and, even after the slow start to 2018, he plans to increase production by 5% in 2019 after upping it by 10% in 2018. Over the past three years, production has risen by 50% at the North Wales nursery. Launches in 2018 include Dreaming buddlieas and Fox series heucheras.Alpha Plants is exhibiting 40 varieties of salvia plugs, including shrub, perennial and annual types. Alpha is also introducing hardy, perennial Victorian Violas, bred over a 10-year period by Rob Chapman and winning nine RHS gold medals.Pentland Plants is entering Dianthus ‘Peach Party’ into the new plant awards at the Four Oaks Trade Show. A new variety from Selecta-One breeding, it is a hardy dianthus suitable for various pot sizes and has a long flowering period of up to 10 weeks. The next flush of flowers follows a few weeks later. An abundance of attractive, small, apricot-coloured flowers are produced in spring. In summer, these flowers develop a strong red eye that contrasts nicely against the lighter apricot edge.John Richards: ‘Strawberries & Cream’- image: John Richards NurseriesFloranova is showcasing Celosia ‘Bright Sparks’, Geranium ‘Reach Out’, F1 ivy leaf geraniums and pansy Freefall XL.Genesis Plant Marketing has a range of new introductions from its UK breeders, focusing on a group of six new nemesia colours that will come onto the market. Commercial director Nigel Judd says these are bred for good, strong garden performance, contrasting bicolour flowers, scent and good cutting production potential.There will be two new additions to the three Penstemon Pentastic series over 2019 and 2020, starting with Pentastic Blush. Forming a well-branched plant with one pinch, the Pentastics are programmable to flower from April to October.Carpinus ‘Rockhampton Red’, already introduced for the garden and landscape market, is also at the show, aimed this time at sales being developed into the hedging market. The advantage of this over other hornbeam is its beautiful red and orange autumn leaves.Botanics International has new Elsner Pac introductions to the Flower Fairy line of zonal geraniums, including red Splash. Also from Elsner Pac is the addition of ‘Vera Apricot’ to the hanging verbena li... https://www.hortweek.com/four-oaks-trade-show-2018-new-plants-set-shine/ornamentals/article/1488590

Small but mighty, a Washington florist battles back in the pandemic - Reuters

I really think they did a good job by not reopening too soon, because look at all the places that are having to close back down, like California, Texas,” Banks said. As the White House and Congress debate the next coronavirus relief bill, Banks said she would like more business funding and clarity on Paycheck Protection Program loans. The shop received a $75,000 loan under the program, allowing it to rehire furloughed staff. “They say it’s forgivable, but they haven’t come out with any clear-cut rules on how to make it forgivable,” Banks said. “I am on pins and needles.” Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Dan Burns and Richard ChangOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-smallbusiness/small-but-mighty-a-washington-florist-battles-back-in-the-pandemic-idUSKCN2511D6

Flower Power: Farm-to-Vase Movement Takes Root on Chicago's South and West Sides - WTTW News

U.S., is more often than not Colombia or possibly Ecuador. The small slice of the market not dominated by imports is, in turn, almost entirely monopolized by California growers. Before they reach Chicago, the blooms, most of which are cultivated in greenhouses, will have traveled thousands of miles via energy-guzzling refrigerated planes, cargo ships and trucks, passing from farmer to exporter to wholesaler to retailer. Plenty won’t survive. What you wind up holding in your hand is less a natural wonder than a marvel of logistics and the modern global supply chain. All of which serves as a prologue to the story of Eco House. Eco House founder Quilen Blackwell. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) Rain barrels are the sole source of water for the farm's irrigation system. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) Beehives at the farm. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) Lilies, biding their time before blooming. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) Southside Blooms' floral studio, in the basement of the Blackwells' home. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) What a Midwestern flower farm looks like, when spring bloomers are spent, and summer's are freshly planted. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) Southside Blooms seasonal spring bouquet. (Southside Blooms) Eco House upends pretty much everything we just told you about the flower industry. Here’s a farm with land located not in South America but the South and West sides of Chicago. Flowers are grown outdoors in the dirt on formerly vacant lots in E... https://news.wttw.com/2020/07/08/slow-flower-movement-chicago-eco-house

Flower power: Business continues to bloom at Skyway Creations in Colorado Springs - Colorado Springs Gazette

The business has seen many changes, Don says, though there’s also a lot that hasn’t changed. “You’re still dealing with the trucks and the delivery and the product.”That product comes largely from California, with flowers bred in that state, and from Florida, a conduit for flowers from South America.“We’ve always bought from California and Florida,” Don says. But he’s also had to look to producers closer to home to fulfill a growing desire for more unusual flowers.“We need so many varieties of flowers now. We used to be able to order a big case of this and that. Now we need this special flower.”A desire for more variety isn’t the only change he has seen in consumer tastes. “They say the rose will never die, it will always be a contender,” he says, But, “the rose has finally faded a little bit in the public eye.” One increasingly popular flower, particularly with “the younger crowd,” is the Gerbera daisy.Those younger buyers have also spurred plant sales.“The millennials,” he says, “have caught on to plants again. In some ways, green plant sales died for a while, but millennials really like what we do here. The succulents are quite popular.”At the same time, though, the corporate world is embracing artificial greenery as a way to cut down on maintenance costs, Don says.“We’re doing more artificial than we’ve ever done, and that’s definitely the wave of the future.” He admires how far the artificial greenery has come — “some of the artificial these days will totally fool you” — but cautions that even artificial plants need care, specifically dusting. Colorado Springs workshop teaches ancient craft of blacksmithingWeddings continue to provide steady business. “We do as many as 100 weddings a year, so two a weekend.”Corporate customers, such as local hotels, also remain key to the business.“The hotels are still strong,” Don says. “We’re not doing the centerpiece work, the party work, that we used to get with the hotels.”He calls the 2008 economic crisis “the 25% recession.”“We lost about 25% of our customers, and the rest were asking for a 25% discount. If you can’t do it, somebody else will, so what do you do? You sharpen your pencil and go for it.”That was just one of many economic downturns the business has survived over a half-century.“We’ve always been lucky, we’ve never laid anybody off,” Don says. There have been times where he has gone to his staff and warned them that either someone would have to go or everyone would need to trim their hours, “and everyone has always been willing to do that. That says a lot for my crew.”Other flower shops have not fared as well; Don has seen several vanish over the years. He looks at Skyway and Platte Floral, which has been around for nearly 100 years, as “the two big guns on the block as far as full service.”“We’re so lucky to both still be here in the town,” Lori says.Big-box stores and grocery stores emerged as competition 20 or 30 years ago, and Don thinks that is finally taking its toll a bit. “You see an awful lot of people lined up at the supermarkets at holiday time.”But, he said, “we still get them with the quality,” and the customer service.“We spend the time with people,” he says. He u... https://gazette.com/business/flower-power-business-continues-to-bloom-at-skyway-creations-in-colorado-springs/article_d5c342b4-5821-11ea-b62d-7be600878467.html

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

Governor Gavin Newsom made announcements about curbside retail being allowed to start last Friday, and now 18 rural counties across California are already moving into the second half of Phase 2 in which dine-in restaurants get to reopen. This acceleration is based on the relatively low prevalence of the coronavirus in those counties thus far — and based on their being able to document hospital capacity to handle a potential surge in cases, if it comes.As one Yuba County resident told a reporter last week, upon the reopening of a shopping mall there in defiance of the state, "It’s always the big box stores that can stay open, and not the small ones."Last week, Ms. Simon told a reporter from ABC 7 that she planned to reopen Ashby Flowers for curbside pickups on May 8 along with other florists in the state just in time for Mother's Day, in defiance of Alameda County. But she later relented and chose to remain closed.In announcing the loosening of retail restrictions in his county on Wednesday, San Mateo County health officer Dr. Scott Morrow said, "The virus continues to circulate in our community, and this increase in interactions among people is likely to spread the virus at a higher rate. Whether these modifications allow the virus to spread out of control, as we saw in February and March and resulted in the first shelter in place order, is yet to be seen."As of Thursday morning, San Francisco had 1,999 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 65 people hospitalized, and Alameda County has 2,178 cases with 79 people hospitalized. San Mateo County has 1,536 cases with 63 in the hospital.Related: Mayor Breed Gives Green Light For Most SF Retail to Open For Curbside Sales and Delivery on MondayPhoto: Facebook... https://sfist.com/2020/05/14/berkeley-florist-bitter-about-curbside-retail-rules/