Azusa, CA Florists

Azusa Flower Shop News

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

Bostrom arrived in California on the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 26, and began working on the float two days later when the fresh flowers arrived. She has been living with other volunteers in Azusa — a town about 16 miles outside of Pasadena where the warehouses that house the floats are located.“They ask you to work straight through pretty much 15 hours a day,” Bostrom said. “Then, you’re done by the 31st, and that’s when the judging takes place.”The floats in the parade are created using chicken wire and plastic skin that become the frame for plants and flowers. The visible portion of the float must all be made from plant material, with roses being part of the design. Designers can also use seeds, grasses, leaves and bark for the remarkable creations.Susanne... https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/no-time-to-stop-and-smell-the-roses-dream-leads-local-florist-to-rose-parade/

Endangered Brodiaea plant produces 'super bloom' in hills above Glendora - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

This is the last place in Los Angeles County where they exist. And they are flourishing at super-bloom status,” said Ann Croissant, a plant physiologist, botanist, professor emeritus from Azusa Pacific University and the founder and president of the Glendora Community Conservancy.Listed as endangered by the state of California and threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, the shy plant that stopped a housing project in 1989 and sparked a community conservancy movement in this conservative town is now in the midst of the largest bloom in modern times. When the Conservancy began buying land to preserve plant and animal species in the hills above Glendora and Azusa, it purchased property known as the Colby Trail at the top of Loraine Avenue in eastern Glendora. On a meadow badly damaged by agricultural activity, botanists counted 900 plants in 1993. That grew to 6,900 plants in 2012 and about 8,500 today, Croissant estimates.“They are spectacular. It’s just incredible what’s going on even in the lower level of the Colby Trail,” she said. “This is the best bloom I’ve ever seen.”The debutantes of the bloom ball being celebrated in Southern California this spring don’t display a blanket-like palette like the state flower, the orange-hued California poppy, as seen in record numbers in Hemet, Lancaster and Chino Hills.Instead, the thread-leafed Brodiaea, as they are more commonly known, bunch in clusters of eight to 10, standing tall on thin, spindly, green stems, unfurling their star-like purple-striped flowers under the shade of an oak or amidst the shelter of the taller, beige-colored wild oat plants.AdvertisementOn Thursday, Croissant walked the lower meadow, explaining how the unusual plant deposits ... http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20170507/endangered-brodiaea-plant-produces-super-bloom-in-hills-above-glendora

Rose Parade floats -- including those of Disney and Irvine -- run on volunteer energy - OCRegister

Nearby, Chris Buck, director of the hit movie “Frozen,” knelt down to paint floorboards. Others in the Azusa warehouse stood on ladders and scaffolding, carrying boxes of pumpkin seeds and other plant material, gluing feverishly so that Disneyland’s 150-foot-long float could make its grand appearance in the 127th annual Rose Parade by dawn Friday.In the weeks, and then just days, and now final hours leading up to the parade, volunteers who want to be a part of the News Year’s Day tradition work long shifts doing whatever is needed to complete floats.While most Rose Parade floats are built entirely by professionals – and the electronics and mechanics of all modern floats are made by pros – several floats are still largely finished off and decorated by volunteer labor.“It’s just a small box, but I’m going to call all my friends to let them know that I cut the flowers for that,” said Deleskiewicz, 47, of Garden Grove, referencing the carton of petals that add some color to a section of the float known as “Disneyland Diamond Celebration – Awaken Your Adventure. ”“It’s fascinating to be part of this.”Prepping the massive floats for their public appearance requires a mix of time and volunteers, said Chris Paulson, media relations spokesman for Phoenix Decorating, a float-building and -marketing company that helped design the city of Irvine’s float, which is 55 feet long, 18 feet wide and 25 feet high.Working for free seems to be popular, at least if that work is connected to the Rose Parade. Paulson said more than 700 volunteers a day signed up this season to help decorate floats at Phoenix Decorating’s Pasadena location. Some started as early as 8 a.m., and others stayed as late as 11 p.m.A few hundred thousand people usually watch the parade live in Pasadena, and tens of millions more tune in on TV. This year’s grand marshal is documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and he’ll be followed by 44 floats, 20 marching bands and 400 horses. This year’s theme is “Find Your Adventure.”Not all of the float work can be done by volunteers.On Disney’s float, for example, faux snow will fall around an ice castle featuring Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Olaf the snowman and other “Frozen” characters. In the center, Mi... http://www.ocregister.com/articles/float-698024-parade-irvine.html

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

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

Detailed Floral Design rebrands, expands to offer wedding flowers in Fallbrook and Bonsall - Valley News

DeHaan said.DeHaan grew up in Fallbrook. Through Fallbrook’s National FFA Organization, she learned the art of floral design, and after several years of study, she won the California State FFA Floriculture Finals. This honor is the equivalent of winning a Grammy Award for floral design at that level. At the San Diego County Fair recently, her Detailed Floral Designs won more than 25 first-place ribbons in professional floral design, wedding floral design and cut flower specimens. More information about Detailed Floral Design and their award-winning, local wedding flowers is available at www.detailedfloraldesign.com.Submitted by Detailed Floral Design. https://myvalleynews.com/detailed-floral-design-rebrands-expands-to-offer-wedding-flowers-in-fallbrook-and-bonsall/

Our favorite houseplant stores in Los Angeles. - Los Angeles Times

Newsletter Get The Wild newsletter. The essential weekly guide to enjoying the outdoors in Southern California. Insider tips on the best of our beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Advertisement The Los Angeles retail plant community is a collegial group with a generous spirit that extends beyond its customers. At Folia Collective, owner Danae Horst recommends Leaf and Spine for rare plants. At Leaf and Spine, Ernestine Segura refers clients to Planta for larger containers. Potted’s Annette Gutierrez is a big fan of Jenkins of the Plant Provocateur, who in turn suggests Sunset Nursery for full-sun plants. Now that stores are beginning to reopen, we decided to list a few of our favorites. Have a preference of your own? Let us know. Because of the pandemic, not all of the businesses on our list will be open, some may have limited hours and some will be offering curbside pickup only. So call or check online before heading out. Deep Roots This South Bay garden center sells indoor and outdoor plants, natives and floral arrangements. 207 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Manhattan Beach, (310) 379-3634. Advertisement Fig Earth SupplyOwner Conor Fitzpatrick stocks a wide variety of houseplants in addition to edibles and herbs including fiddleleaf figs, philodendron and calathea. Fitzpatrick also presents regular classes spanning houseplant basics to cannabis cultivation. And there’s always something lovely in the Domecil store. 3577 N. Figueroa, Highland Park, (323) 224-3938. Folia Collective in Eagle Rock. (Danae Horst) Folia Collective Every plant at Folia Collective, from Peperomia ferreyraeto to staghor... https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-06-15/la-hm-our-favorite-places-to-shop-for-houseplants