Aurora Flower Shop News
Elaine's Flower Shoppe in North Tonawanda will move to Amherst - Buffalo News
Tuesday, May 21, 2019Green Zone Hydroponics has a location at 2928 Southwestern Blvd. in Orchard Park.The North Tonawanda building is currently listed for sale at $159,900. Elaine's has two more locations, in East Aurora and Depew. ... https://buffalonews.com/2019/01/14/elaines-flower-shoppe-in-north-tonawanda-will-move/
Gardening: Enjoying the flowering rebirth of perennials while they bloom - OCRegister
Tuesday, April 16, 2019Blooming dahlias should be available now in most nurseries and garden centers.Tip of the Week: A special sale of orchids to readers is being held by Art and Aurora Mendoza on March 22, 23, and 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 16057 Nordhoff St., North Hills, 91343. Refreshments will be served. The Mendozas specialize in growing dozens of cymbidium orchid varieties, available in 8-inch and one-gallon containers for $5-10 dollars. Dendrobium and Cattleya orchids will also be on sale. Cymbidiums are nearly always grown in containers but they may also be planted in the ground in suitably amended soil. Just the other day in West Los Angeles, I saw the most glorious cymbidium growing in the protective shadow of a bronze Codyline. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/03/21/gardening-enjoying-the-flowering-rebirth-of-perennials-while-they-bloom/
From exquisite Orchids to lush Fuchsia, let the shades of ‘Awakening’ inspire your home garden - Architectural Digest India
Tuesday, April 16, 2019Also, known as the Red Edged Madagascar Dragon Tree, the staggered cane is a great alternative to the silk bamboo as an indoor plant with similar Feng Shui benefits.LIPSTICK PLANT Aglaonema Siam AuroraThis stunner has leaves has that show off dark green leaves elegantly flushed with bright pink veins that makes it look like a woman’s painted lips. A relatively new addition to the houseplant world, the stylish shrub grows best in mild, indirect light which is why it is best suited for coffee tables and office desks. The plant needs minimal care and its attractive features make it the perfect hostess gift! Place it in an ivory white planter alongside a pink polka dot plant (listed below) and you have a sureshot conversation starter!PINK POLKA DOT PLANT Hypoestes PhyllostachyaThe polka dot plant’s hot pink foliage would announce a pop of colour in even a plain jane living room! Get the most from the polka dot plant’s bright color by growing it a pot that contrasts or complements the colorful foliage. Mix it with other polka dot plant varieties that have white or red leaves to create a peppered look! The plant looks best short, so keep pruning and pinching it often and since it is an annual, do remember that it has a short shelf life.RED AMARANTH Amaranthus CruentusThis superfood looks superb when grown in the kitchen. Even if you do not have a green thumb, the salad leaf can be grown using soil-less gardening techniques, in a plant gel or hydroponically. Having a steady supply of the nutritious plant growing on the window sill also means you could save some grocery shopping money! Many small, tropical, songbirds draw nectar from the amaranth flower so expect pleasant surprises at the kitchen window, when this one blossoms!DWARF LILY Nymphaea RubraThis emerse plant comes from the same genus as the water lily and is a big hit with aquarium keepers! While you won’t be able to find one at a plant nursery, it is easily available at most tropical fish shops! It is fairly easy to grow even in low light plant which is why it is recommended even to amateur aquascapers. It grows from a bulb and has both leaves underwater and lily pads on top of the water. Even if you don’t keep fish as pets, this makes an attractive spectacle when grown in a glass vase or decanter! All you have to do is top up the water levels from time to time.ALSO READ:Kunal Maniar’s inspired design for this garden fuses nature with decor... https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/asian-paints-awakening-colour-of-the-year-indoor-plants/
Elaine's Flower Shoppe and Gifts expanding to East Aurora - Buffalo News
Sunday, February 10, 2019Elaine's Flower Shoppe and Gifts is getting ready to grow again.The florist will open its third location at 201 Main St. in East Aurora on April 2 in a former metal fabrication shop.Longtime Elaine's employees and sisters Dona Kurkowiak and Emma Patti, along with their partner Dale McCormick, bought the company's Depew store from its original owner, Elaine Bialecki, when she retired in 2015.Bialecki had the store in two different locations on George Urban Boulevard over a period of 36 years. The new owners moved the store to 5100 Transit Road in Depew in May. Shortly after buying Elaine's, the trio purchased Hock's in 2015. That flower shop, which opened as a greenhouse operation in 1922, was preparing to close.All three stores will now do business under the Elaine's banner.Elaine's also has partnered with Noco Express to sell affordable bouquets in 11 of its locations. ... https://buffalonews.com/2018/03/23/elaines-flower-shoppe-and-gifts-is-still-growing/
Kids plant flowers in Troy
Tuesday, July 17, 2018Sets of Hands Cleaning Service, Brunswick Esthetics, Brasi Media, Lewis Lawn Care & Masonry, Hewitt’s Garden Center, Bickford Landscaping, The Aurora Foundation, Corey Jamison Consulting and XperienceU Training and Leadership Development helped supply the program with materials for the project. “I really wanted to do something fun and hands on with the kids at the center,” said Domenica Hotte, who initiated the project. “Ray [Piscitelli, executive director] and the Catholic Youth Organization do so much for the kids in the community and I felt like this was a small way of giving back and at the same time beautifying downtown Troy.” In the future, Troy Youth Association plans to use the new flower bed each year, and possibly even add another one. More information about Troy Youth Association and its programs is available online at troycyo.com or by calling the center at (518) 274-2630. http://www.troyrecord.com/article/TR/20180620/NEWS/180629976
Upended by COVID-19, a Wayzata florist landed a federal loan. And then the wait started. - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sunday, January 17, 2021Mattingly started her business nine years ago, and it was coming off its best year — posting $500,000 in sales — when COVID-19 reached Minnesota. Though her shop was allowed to remain open, Mattingly said her event business plummeted as couples postponed weddings and restaurants closed across the state. She applied for a PPP loan in April. “We’ve lost about 50% of our income because of weddings,” said Mattingly, whose shop usually does $150,000 in wedding arrangements each summer. “People aren’t canceling on us, but they are rescheduling, and a lot of that work won’t happen until 2021.” Mattingly’s small shop has just two full-time employees, and she sent them home in late March, shortly after the governor issued his first stay-home order. Flower shops were allowed to remain open for delivery business because they were deemed “critical” to the economy. She expected her retail business to collapse, but the shop stayed surprisingly busy. Mattingly said her online sales tripled as customers called in large orders for birthdays and anniversaries as a substitute for taking a loved one to dinner. But with her employees at home, Mattingly, who is pregnant, and her husband, Julian, had to do all the work. “It’s been a really crazy two months,” said Mattingly, who is due to deliver her first baby in July. “We have been working 12- and 14-hour days every week.” Mattingly wanted to rehire her workers shortly after Mother’s Day, but her PPP application was put on hold when the program ran out of money in mid-April. On April 25, after Congress agreed to make another $310 billion available to small-business owners, Wells Fargo sent her an e-mail telling her the bank would soon submit her paperwork. “These are truly unprecedented times that we know are impacting both you and your business, and we will continue to partner and communicate with you throughout this crisis,” Wells Fargo said in the e-mail. ... https://www.startribune.com/upended-by-covid-19-a-wayzata-florist-landed-a-federal-loan-and-then-the-wait-started/571366132/
Getting married? Designers make case for 'unusual and beautiful' Minnesota-grown flowers - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Monday, August 24, 2020And that doesn’t have to mean settling for common garden-variety blooms picked in someone’s backyard. Minnesota flower farmers are growing increasingly varied and distinctive options for bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces. “I make the case for local with every bride, and I include local product in every wedding I do,” said Ashley Fox, Ashley Fox Designs, Woodbury. “As a designer and somebody who cares about the planet, it just feels good to do this.” There’s a misperception that local means rustic, she said. “We want brides to know that local flowers can look modern and innovative — not just a Mason jar full of daisies. We want to show people these flowers are cool.” It’s a message that Debra Prinzing, the Seattle-based author and founder of the “slow flowers” movement, has been spreading for more than a decade. Her books, “Slow Flowers” and “The 50-Mile Bouquet,” celebrate small flower farmers who are struggling to compete as big chain stores buy in bulk from growers all over the globe, driving prices down. ... https://www.startribune.com/getting-married-designers-make-case-for-unusual-and-beautiful-minnesota-grown-flowers/561464922/
Ham Lake couple trust God as they grow family flower farm business - The Catholic Spirit
Monday, August 24, 2020And 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/
Rosemary-Duff Florist: a landmark business - times-advocate.com
Thursday, March 12, 2020South Broadway and was sold to Bob Socin in 1956.Mr. Socin sold Duff Gardens to Pete, Dolly and Rosemary in 1976. Pete & Dolly Santrach and their two children moved from Minnesota to California in 1956. Pete was a Marine at Camp Lejeune until sent to Camp Pendleton. Pete left the service and over the years worked as an administrator for the Escondido school districts, for groups of doctors and for Baker Enterprises. Pete & Dolly had six more children in California. Four boys and four girls and now 16 grandchildren and one great grandchild.Dolly’s sister Rosemary Gornick learned the techniques of the floral business from a school in Cleveland, Ohio and opened her floral business in her hometown of Chisholm, Minnesota. In 1957 she moved to California (following her sister) and worked for Casa De Las Florist in Del Mar for many years and for Bob Socin and Duff Gardens before starting Rosemary’s Floral on Grand Avenue in downtown Escondido in 1974.Duff Gardens and Rosemary’s Floral merged in 1982 and built the Spanish style building where the business resides today.Aunt Rosemary passed away in 2015. Dolly Santrach passed in 2018.Today the business has four partners: Mary Ann Santrach, Rozanne Reguly, Luanne Csonka and Joanne Santrach. The sisters/nieces bought the business from their parents, Pete and Dolly and aunt, Rosemary in 1988.Mary Ann’s specialty is floral design. She says planning is important. “Ordering for a holiday like Valentine’s Day requires placing an order for roses by mid-January if not earlier to reserve the product desired. That can be up to 2,500 red roses alone!” she said.Rozanne Reguly is the primary decorator for the window displays and a floral designer.The interior of Rosemary-Duff Florist.Luanne Csonka is the managing partner. She says, “It has been said that floral arrangements were the only gift item besides pizza that you could have made and delivered – all in the same day! Our business is unique, sending floral gifts to express one’s emotions from happy occasions like birthdays to condolences for the loss of loved ones.”The sisters credit much of their success to Aunt Rosemary for sharing with them the techniques she leaned from floral school and her years of experience. Remember Bob Socin? I can think of no greater testimony than praise from the former business owner. Mary Ann says that nearly every day Bob will stop by the shop to say hello. Rosemary Duff Florist has designed florals for many weddings, events and special occasions throughout San Diego and designed florals for celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Streisand and Martha Stewart. “But we most appreciate our lon... https://www.times-advocate.com/articles/rosemary-duff-florist-a-landmark-business/