Benton, KY Florists

Benton Flower Shop News

Maker Space: Eden Garrett's idea blossomed - NWAOnline

Northwest Arkansas."I love Northwest Arkansas," she says. "There are so many opportunities for growth here. And because I work out of a truck, I can go from Fayetteville to Rogers to Springdale to Bentonville and all of those towns in between -- so I catch more people than just being in the middle of Springfield."Garrett says part of the process of becoming a successful business person was learning how to be flexible when business was in a slow period."I'm just motivated every day to push forward and make the sales higher each day -- even if it's really slow, even if, that day, no one wants flowers," she says. "I'll think, 'OK, what else can I do? Can I do deliveries? Can I announce on social media that all bouquets are $5 or that delivery is free on this particular day?' Each day, I'm going to make as much money as I can and provide an excellent product."She's also available for parties and weddings; one popular option for celebrations are the custom flower crowns partygoers can make inside the truck.Garrett says she's wanted to own a business since she was a child. Her first business idea -- a boutique that would serve as both a makeup salon as well as an event space, so you could get ready for a party right there at the site -- came to her when she was just 10 years old."My mom owned her own business, and I was just super fascinated by it," she says. "I've always known I didn't want to have a 9-to-5 job where I sit behind a desk all day -- that's just not who I am. I've always wanted to own my own business."It's clear that her youth isn't holding her back. Eden's Flower Truck was recognized at the 2019 Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business Awards Ceremony, and she's opening up her first brick and mortar store called Eden's Botanicals this month. She says opening a storefront was in her five-year plan but, when she found a perfect location on North Steele Boulevard, her business instincts told her it was the right time to make a move."The storefront will mostly be for workshops and parties -- more of an event space," says Garrett, who adds that the mobile truck will still be used for floral sales. "We'll also sell flower gifts [in the store]. I'm super excited."Garrett is already looking towards the future and making plans -- big plans."I want to own some land, hopefully around the Fayetteville area, and have a mini-Magnolia Market, similar to [Fixer Upper stars] Chip and Joanna Gaines' business," she says. "I want there to be a few cottages, like an Airbnb, and then also have a spot to grow my own flowers so I don't have to buy them wholesale any more. And I would sell gifts and flowers and other merchandise and have it all be in one giant property, a destination that people from all over come to."If what she's accomplished so far is any indication, the goals of her 10-year plan may just be closer than she thinks..inline_item { float: left; display: inline; }div class="inline__bloc... https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/feb/13/maker-space-eden-garrett-s-idea-blossom/

Business Spotlight: Blooming Business - Springfield Business Journal

Springfield. Eden’s Flower Truck, a similar business concept, launched in Springfield in 2018. Owner Eden Garrett earlier this year moved the business to Arkansas, where the flower truck serves the Bentonville and Rogers areas.Hartman says she’s starting to see the trend grow nationally.“Since we’ve started, I’ve seen more pop up across the country,” Hartman says. “I still get emails pretty frequently asking how to start a flower truck, and the whole concept is gaining momentum.”Kate Penn, CEO of the Society of American Florists, says retail floral sales have been growing – to the tune of $35 billion in 2017, a $2 billion increase from the year prior, according to a U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report on personal consumption expenditures.Penn says the mobile floral business is catching on, and she describes it as “experiential, interactive purchasing.”“There’s a lot of innovation and entrepreneurialism in the flower-buying space right now,” Penn says, noting floral sales have steadily increased during the last decade. “There is a big trend across retail right now, and the floral industry is no different. It’s the idea of trying to do something creative that makes what you’re purchasing interactive and memorable and fun.”The consumer appeal, she says, is being able to walk down the street, stop at a flower truck and purchase flowers by the stem, or create an individual bouquet. “It’s a super smart business model,” Penn says. ... https://sbj.net/stories/business-spotlight-blooming-business,66208?

Court again rules against florist who refused gay couple - The Spokesman-Review

She refused. Ferguson filed a complaint under the state’s consumer protection and anti-discrimination statutes, and the couple filed a separate lawsuit. A Benton County Superior Court judge combined the cases and reviewed the arguments, eventually issuing an injunction against Stutzman requested by Ferguson and awarding damages to the couple.The Washington Supreme Court upheld both decisions, and Stutzman appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But before it could be argued there, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding, saying that during the process of deciding whether he was violating that state’s anti-discrimination laws, a member of the Civil Rights Commission made disparaging remarks about the baker’s religion.The U.S. Supreme Court sent the Arlene’s Flowers case back to the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider it in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision. Attorneys for Stutzman argued the cases were the same, contending Ferguson was showing animus toward religion by taking action against Arlene’s Flowers but not against a Seattle coffee shop that refused to serve Christians. But McCloud wrote there is key distinction between the two cases because the Colorado case involved religious intolerance from an adjudicatory body. The only two such bodies – the trial court and the state Supreme Court – showed no such intolerance. The attorney general’s office isn’t an adjudicatory body and the coffee shop case is irrelevant, she wrote. The court also rejected Stutzman’s arguments that applying the state’s anti-discrimination laws to her refusal to provide floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding violates her constitutional rights. “Discrimination based on same sex-marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” McCloud wrote. Enforcing the anti-discrimination law in this case does not violate her rights of artistic expression because it doesn’t fit with previous cases that protect that right. Allowing such an exemption would create a two-tiered system system the law, similar to saying a dime-store lunch counter would have to serve an interracial couple but an upscale bistro wouldn’t, she wrote, quoting from a friend of the court brief.Stutzman can still freely practice her religion, McCloud wrote. She was never asked to attend the wedding ceremony. She has provided floral arrangements for weddings of Muslims and atheists, and wasn’t endorsing Islam or atheism by doing that.“After careful review on remand, we are confident that the courts resolved this dispute with tolerance, and we therefore find no reason to change our original judgment,” the court concluded. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/06/court-again-rules-against-florist-who-refused-gay-/

'The Fire Within': 9 years of honoring Great Falls women in business - Great Falls Tribune

I find it as an honor that they thought I stood out among the other nominees...to me a little surprising, but it's wonderful." She started at Riverview Floral in Fort Benton where her boss pointed out her eye for color. From there it was five years of delivering at Sally's Flowers, Electric City Conservatory for seven years and finally her own store in 2010. "She has hired staff with no floral experience and turned them into designers," Evans said. "Kari offers flower design classes throughout the year...as she shared her knowledge and skills with others," Evans said. Johnson said she has fun being a part of local events, but one of her biggest passions is being a part of weddings and teaching her flower classes. "I like to be able to help the brides and help them select what flowers they want to make them look beautiful," she said. "...the flower classes that I teach, those are always exciting, because I get to share my knowledge with the ladies." My Viola had outgrown its first building within four years and now resides at 716 Central Ave., where she said she's able to offer more classes and have more employees. In the future, Johnson sees herself and her employees continuing to serve the community by providing their flowers and services. "Still doing the fun events that we do like the Russell and the art auctions...," Johnson said. "I just hope I can continue doing what we do and expanding." As spring has shown its sun rays and prom season is here, Johnson said from now until Mother's Day is going to be full of flower galore. Susan Crocker of The Good Wood Guys Crocker is the 2019 Aspire Award recipient. She was nominated by business partner and husband, Chris Crocker who kept his nomination a secret. "I was shocked...I had no idea," she said. "It was pretty humbling. There's a lot of pretty amazing people in Great Falls, Montana, and so to know people thought I was doing something awesome felt really good." The Good Wood Guys live by their words as "born ra... https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/04/01/the-fire-within-9-years-honoring-great-falls-women-business/3314905002/

Caught on camera: Man burglarizes east Tulsa florist with toddler in tow - KTUL

What the gentleman took was of no real value, just some tools we've accumulated over the last 30 years," said Trey Benton, the owner of Greenleaf Wholesale.Benton's business is the one that was hit. His concern, and every one of the employees that we spoke to, was for that little girl."As a father, seeing how he treated a child that he would even bring along with him during this incident," he said.The girl dutifully follows him around, and several times reaches for him, but the man almost sees right through her."It just broke my heart seeing how many times that girl reached up to her daddy, I'm assuming. It was really troubling," said Benton.Finally, as the two walk off into a grassy field, the man acknowledges the little girl, picking her up and carrying her away.Anyone with information is asked to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers. http://ktul.com/news/local/man-robs-east-tulsa-florist-with-toddler-in-tow

Manchester Florist Offers Bows to Honor High School Seniors – Mix 94.7 KMCH - kmch.com

Saturday morning and by the afternoon, there was just one lonely bow left. She’s planning to make more on Monday.And her idea has been seen by other florists on Facebook – some as far away as Kentucky – who plan on making bows to show support for their high school seniors too.photo courtesy of Sarah’s Flowers & Gifts ... https://kmch.com/blog/2020/04/20/manchester-florist-offers-bows-to-honor-high-school-seniors/

With closed doors, Frankfort retailers, florist make alternative plans - State-Journal.com

Frankfort retailers are making alternative plans after Gov. Andy Beshear issued an order mandating all nonessential Kentucky retail businesses to close to in-person traffic by 8 p.m. Monday.Nonessential retail businesses include auto and vehicle dealers; furniture and home furnishing stores; electronics and appliance stores; cosmetics, beauty supply and perfume stores; optical good stores; other health and personal care stores; shoe stores; clothing stores; sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores; department stores; florists; office supplies, stationary and gift stores; and used merchandise stores.At Poor Richard’s Books — an anchor shop in downtown Frankfort for more than 30 years — owner Lizz Taylor worries that the closure will make it more difficult to get educational materials, especially books, into children’s hands.“I’m concerned that this will be a long haul and video screens will get old,” she said.The Paul Sawyier Public Library closed and ceased all operations — with the exception of online services — on Saturday. ... https://www.state-journal.com/business/with-closed-doors-frankfort-retailers-florist-make-alternative-plans/article_298b2460-6d36-11ea-b291-63a3f84599ce.html

With the right placement and little care, hydrangeas can make your Kentucky garden pop - Courier Journal

But while these are better garden plants and work well outside, the fact of the matter is that they work much better in Savannah or Charleston than they do in Kentucky. Bigleaf hydrangeas struggle in Kentucky because we are way too dry in summer (ever try to keep one of these from wilting in July or August?), and they also get their blooms blasted by Kentucky’s annual late spring freezes. The moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean tends to help Savannah-grown hydrangeas avoid that fate. There are forms that bloom on new wood each year (so still bloom if hit with a spring freeze) but they still have that darned constant wilting thing ...And now to what should be considered the state tree of most northern states, Hydrangea paniculata. When I lived in Maine, not having a PG hydrangea in your front yard was a bit like not raking your leaves in fall or not shoveling the sidewalk in front of your house. Nobody wants to be that guy! Suffice to say, they were omnipresent. But after a while, it can get a little monotonous. Fortunately, plant breeders jumped in, and we now have a gigantic slate of varieties from which to choose.There are types with gigantic, white, globular flower heads that can reach 10-12 inches long. They have mostly sterile flowers with four petals each — the fertile flowers are tiny and buried deep in the flower cluster. Then there are those with a mixture of showy, sterile flowers and the non-show, fertile flowers. This gives the whole flower head (inflorescence) a lighter and more airy feel. A bit less like a Nerf football. Most are white flowering, but there are some (the variety Pillow Talk comes to mind) that start out greenish, go to white and then end the show with rich pink.But I prefer to look at the various varieties out there as opportunities to extend the bloom season. To that end, two of my favorites are the earliest of the H. paniculatas to bloom, "Dharuma" and the latest, "Tardiva.""Dharuma" is a Dutch selection that has a white, lace cap bloom type with a mix of sterile and fertile flowers. It is one of the smaller growing forms with 10-year-old plants at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens topping out at around 5-feet tall, less than half the size of the straight species. But it is also the very first one in our collection to bloom each year, usually starting to show its color in May.Then, when "Dharuma" is just making its last gasp of show, "Tardiva" bursts into bloom. Another lace cap type bloom, this one is just about the last one to flower in the group. It blooms in pure white and flowers through late July and August. So, with one plant of each in the garden, you can have flowers almost all summer long.But wait, there’s more.Another development in the large hydrangea world over the last few decades has been the discovery of the North American native oakleaf hydrangea. A large grower to 10-feet-plus tall and wide with thick, leathery leaves, this is an understory plant that graces the garden with billowy white blooms in late spring and early summer. And like all the ... https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/home-garden/2020/05/08/hydrangeas-give-your-kentucky-gardens-ample-variety-color/3047641001/

Arnold, Carl J. - The Chattanoogan

Carl was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, January 25, 1917 and attended Franklin County Public school. He earned his B.S. from Bowling Green College of Commerce (now Western Kentucky) in 1939 and taught school in Wellsburg, West Va.   He was employed by TVA before entering the Navy in 1942. After being honorably discharged as Lieutenant Senior Grade in 1946, he went to work for Interstate Life and Accident Insurance Company and retired in 1984 as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Carl was an active member of the First Centenary United Methodist Church having served as Treasurer, leader of the Discussion Sunday School Class and President of the Baker-New-Mur class. He was a member of the Chattanooga Kiwanis Club serving as Treasurer, Finance Chairman and Board Member with almost 40 years of perfect attendance. He had a special interest in the Educational Assistance Committee and served as its Chairman for many years. He served as Chairman and was a long-time member of Citizens Committee for Better Schools and was a member of the first Contact class in 1969 serving in some capacity with this telephone ministry until it ceased operating. Carl was the oldest member of the Chattanooga... https://www.chattanoogan.com/2019/11/14/399569/Arnold-Carl-J..aspx