Caledonia, NY Florists

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The Gardeners Who Planted for US Presidents - Prescott eNews

Duke of Atholl, near Dunkeld. In 1856 McKerichar was hired as a foreman under John Watt, taking on the role of head gardener nine years later. Known for his hothouse grapes, he also raised off-season Caledonian cucumbers for President Grant. Like the gardeners before him, he resigned from the White House to open a garden center in Alexandria, Virginia.George Field (Served 1875–1877, under Ulysses Grant.) The first English gardener at the White House, Field's floral fame came after he left the White House. He opened a garden center on Georgia Avenue NW with his brother Thomas. Field was responsible for naming and promoting the 'American Beauty' rose, originally selected on historian George Bancroft's estate as 'La Madame Ferdinande Jamin.' Field supplied the cattleya orchids for Alice Roosevelt Longworth's bridal bouquet in 1906. The Washington Post described him as an orchid specialist. He was an active member of the Florist Club of Washington. In 1916, he sold his stock of orchid plants for $15,000.Henry Pfister (Served 1877–1902, under Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt.) A native of Zurich, Switzerland, Pfister trained in the conservatories of a Swiss banker and at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. He made his way to Cincinnati and then to Washington, where he was hired under Hayes. Pfister managed the greenhouses, designed and planted the ornamental beds around the White House lawns, and provided all indoor floral and plant decorations, including the wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom. He later opened his own florist and landscape design business on Connecticut Avenue.George Hay Brown (Served 1902–1909, under Theodore Roosevelt.) The son of a landscape gardener in Perthshire, Scotland, where he learned the family trade. In 1850, the family immigrated to the United States. In 1858, Brown took a job in Washington D.C. at the government experimental gardens. During the Civil War, he served with the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans. By 1890 he was back in Washington D.C. as a public gardener with the War Department. Brown worked on the Capitol grounds, city parks, and the government propagating gardens and greenhouses near the Washington Monument, as well as the White House. He taught Theodore Roosevelt's children how to propagate plants in his greenhouses.Charles Henlock (Served 1909–1931, under William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.) A Yorkshireman, and proud of his horticultural training, having worked for Lord Mowbray in Yorkshire, Lord Denbigh in Warwickshire, and Lord Harrington in Derbyshire before spending five years with the Royal Horticultural Society. Henlock arrived in Washington D.C. just before President Cleveland's wedding in 1886 and was hired as a foreman gardener at the White House, and grew to the propagating gardens and city parks. Henlock was the White House head gardener in 1909, where he was responsible for the first shipment of cherry trees sent from Japan as well as the successful plantings around the Tidal Basin.William Saunders Reeves (Served 1931–1945, under Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. William Saunders Reeves was the first American-born White House head gardener.) His grandfather, William Saunders, was the chief of experimental gardens for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and founder of the National Grange but is perhaps best remembered for introducing the navel orange. Reeves worked under both Roosevelt's, starting as a groundskeeper at the White House during... https://www.prescottenews.com/index.php/features/columnists/mountain-gardener/item/34856-the-gardeners-who-planted-for-u-s-presidents

Revealed: The First Flower, 140-million Years Old, Looked Like a Magnolia - Scientific American

Previous evidence pointed to different answers. On the one hand, one of the earliest diverging lineages of flowering plants, represented nowadays only by a rare shrub from the Pacific island of New Caledonia called Amborella, has flowers that are either male or female. On the other, most modern species combine both sexes in the same flower.The authors of the study settle the question and show that the ancestral flower was a hermaphrodite. This means that early flowering plants could reproduce both as a male and a female. Combined sexes can be advantageous when colonising new environments as a single individual can be its own mate, and indeed many plant species colonising remote oceanic islands tend to be hermaphrodite. Maybe the combination of sexes helped early flowering plants to outcompete their rivals.The devil’s in the detailDespite the apparent similarity with some modern flowers, their ultimate ancestor has a few surprises up its sleeve. For example, botanist have long thought that early flowers had floral parts arranged in a spiral around the centre of the flower as can be seen in modern species such as the star anise.The new reconstruction, though, strongly suggests that early flowers had their organs arranged not in a spiral, but in series of concentric circles or “whorls”, as in most modern plants. The early flower had more numerous whorls, however, suggesting flowers have become simpler over time. Paradoxically, this simpler architecture may have given modern plants a more stable base upon which to evolve and achieve more complex tasks such as sophisticated interaction with certain insects as in orchids, or the production of “flower heads” made of dozens or hundreds of simpler flowers as in the sunflower family.Although now we have a good idea of what one of the earliest flowers may have looked like, we still know little about how that flower came to be. The detailed steps leading to its evolution are unknown. Perhaps we will have to wait for the discovery of new fossil flowers spanning the gap around 250m-140m years ago, before we can understand the very origin of what is the most diverse sexual structure on the planet.This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Caledonia florist Mary Ann Schmitz is ready to retire after 65 years - La Crosse Tribune

CALEDONIA, Minn. – At age 87 and after more than six decades in business, Mary Ann Schmitz is finally ready to retire and sell Mary Ann’s Floral & Gift in downtown Caledonia to her great-niece.Schmitz is selling the business and building to Aimee Welscher as of Jan. 1. She will help Welscher until she retires April 2 – exactly 65 years after she and her late husband opened the shop.“Willie and I started the business on April 2, 1952,” said Schmitz, who was parade marshal for the local Founder’s Day Winter Wonderland parade earlier this month (on Dec. 2).Willie died in 1994.Mary Ann’s Floral was in two other Caledonia locations before the Schmitzes bought the house at 308 E. Main St. where the shop has been since 1955. It’s also the home where they raised their children, Ken, Steve, Bill and Debbie.Schmitz said she is retiring for health reasons, and expects to miss operating the floral and gift shop. She plans to continue enjoying playing cards.“I love it,” Schmitz said of being in... http://lacrossetribune.com/business/local/caledonia-florist-mary-ann-schmitz-is-ready-to-retire-after/article_8b06e1cf-2fa6-5dc1-832e-744d35eeb25c.html

Best Flower Shop: Julie's Personal Touch Flowers - Journal Times

First place: Julie's Personal Touch Flowers, 5445 Spring St., Mount Pleasant; and 4060 N. Main St., CaledoniaSecond place: Millers Flowers,  219 Sixth St, RacineThird place: Milaeger's, 4838 Douglas Ave., Racine; and 8717 Durand Ave., SturtevantSpring is in the air year-round at Julie's Personal Touch Flowers as flowers and vibrant colors fill the shop.Julie Mohrbacher opened the shop in her basement in 1971. Demand for her work grew quickly. She started doing funerals as well and opened a brick-and-mortar location in 1977.Years of experience and honest service is what Mohrbacher believes makes them the number one flower shop in Racine County.“Originally I only did weddings," Mohrbacher said. "Mothers started calling and thought of me as their florist so I expanded."Her two daughters, Melissa Mohrbacher and Jamie Doe, manage the stores with her — Jamie at the Spring Street location and Melissa at the Main Street location.The locations offer green plants, blooming plants, arrangements, and fresh flowers among its products."We get flowers from all over the world," Doe said. "We get flo... http://journaltimes.com/best-flower-shop-julie-s-personal-touch-flowers/article_f8a5c3ed-cf6b-5f20-8e82-36041e2806d0.html

Getting a green thumb — tips for beautiful plants - WOODTV.com

Harder and Warner gave us some tips.Tip #1 – pruningTip #2 – waterTip #3 – fertilizeHarder and Warner is located at 6464 Broadmoor AveCaledonia(616) 698-6910Share this:AdvertisementWOOD TV8 provides commenting to allow for constructive discussion on the stories we cover. In order to comment here, you acknowledge you have read and agreed to our Terms of Service. Commenters who violate these terms, including use of vulgar language or racial slurs, will be banned. Please be respectful of the opinions of others. If you see an inappropriate comment, please flag it for our moderators to review. http://woodtv.com/2015/07/23/getting-a-green-thumb-tips-for-beautiful-plants/

As Mother’s Day approaches, florists watch business wilt during NY coronavirus shutdown - syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. — Mother’s Day is the biggest holiday of the year for florists, but many shops across Central New York won’t be open.The flower business is taking a huge hit financially since New York imposed a statewide coronavirus shutdown for non-essential retail businesses in March.That’s on top of lost sales as normal funerals and school dances are canceled. And who knows about high school and college graduations?New York has limited florists to a single employee at a time and no walk-ins.Some in Central New York are doing their best to stay open under those rules, but others have decided it’s not worth it.At first, the pandemic made flowers more difficult to acquire.“Early on, supply was an issue,” said Kate Penn, the chief executive offer of the Society of American Florists. “There was plenty of fresh product available, but the logistics — getting it from farms to the destination — were not running smoothly."Penn said the supply chain has improved. As long as retailers aren’t ordering at the last minute, they should be able to get the fresh flowers and plants they need for Mother’s Day. https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/05/as-mothers-day-approaches-florists-watch-business-wilt-during-ny-coronavirus-shutdown.html

Farmer/florist to speak to the Boca Grande Garden Club - Boca Beacon

And it answers the question of many a dinner party guest, blinded by a towering bouquet, about just who it is sitting on the other side of the table.Her original work has won her callouts from the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Bride’s Magazine. Notably, the exacting Martha Stewart organization named Jennie Love among the nation’s “62 Top Floral Designers.”As for the rest of her work life, somehow Ms. Love shoehorns workshops, online classes, webinars, public speaking and even a unique flower strategy for the do-it-yourself bride into her jam-packed life. She is vice president of the International Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ascfg.org) and a columnist for Cut Flower Quarterly.Check out the Love n’ Fresh website at lovenfreshflowers.com; not only is it pretty but highly educational, as well. Her drool-producing Instagram account is lovenfreshflowers, and she is on Pinterest. Posted by Marcy Shortuse Marcy Shortuse is the editor of the Boca Beacon, and has been with the paper since 2007. She is also editor of the Boca Beacon's sister publication, Gasparilla Magazine.She has more than 20 years of experience writing and editing local newspapers and is originally from the Chicago area. ... https://bocabeacon.com/wordpress/news/farmer-florist-to-speak-to-the-boca-grande-garden-club/

Oceanside, East Rockaway florist continues to grow neighborhood support - liherald.com

Mount Sinai South Nassau, to show support for front-line workers. Graham said the coronavirus took a toll on his business because he had to close his shop from mid-March through early May by order of New York state. He is still feeling the effects of the pandemic, he added, because there has been a shortage of supplies, so costs have increased. “Another challenge is day to day, you don’t know what’s going to occur with the pandemic,” Graham said. “You don’t know what business is going to be like, and there’s really no way to project anything.”With Valentine’s Day coming up, Graham said he thinks his shop will likely sell out of product early. He said some positive changes also came with the pandemic, leading his shop to start offering curbside pick-up and increasing its delivery service. With stores in Oceanside and East Rockaway, Graham said he was hopeful to open businesses in other towns.“I think in the future, our goal is to continue to grow and to continue to do everything we can to give back to the community,” he said. “Whether it’s fundraisers, hospital donations or anything else, we want to be a place where the community comes, and we want to be a part of something to help others. Whatever we can do.” ... https://www.liherald.com/stories/oceanside-east-rockaway-florist-continues-to-grow-neighborhood-support,129886

Livingston Mother and Daughter Spread Love with Anonymous Bouquets - TAPinto.net

Sanborn and her daughter have also been known to write anonymous inspirational notes to leave on random windshields throughout town and assemble gift bags for New York City’s homeless population.For a few years, Sanborn set up a blow-up couch on the sidewalks of Manhattan offering “free advice” to passerby. Today, Sanborn displays a “free advice” bumper sticker on her vehicle accompanied by her phone number.As an inspirational guidance coach for her own business, Sanborn aims to “help people rediscover their true purpose and give them tools to live a happier, healthier life.”Noting that she had a life-altering realization when she turned 41, Sanborn said that “everything about life and love and contribution" suddenly became very clear to her.“I believe that we all spend a lot of time doing for ourselves when we are younger—not knowing that true happiness comes from giving, not receiving," she said. “Giving to others doesn’t have to cost anything. You can offer someone a smile, or a hello, or just pray for them. When you practice giving to others in this way, your own life magically transforms.” Sanborn recalled that despite not having a great deal of money, her father was always a very generous tipper. She specifically reflected on a moment in the 1990s when her father presented $50 to a homeless man, who she remembers jumping up and down and laughing at the stranger’s generosity.“My dad taught me if someone asks you for something and you can help, by all means, help,” she said. “If you are not feeling happy these days, the fastest way to feel better is to do something nice for someone else. One step further: make it anonymous.” Community members are invited to assist in Sanborn’s endeavor by donating flowers, vases, ribbons or gift cards to local florists or by making a monetary contribution.To donate or to place an order, contact Sanborn at more.alignment@yahoo.com or 856-397-7879.Don’t miss important news in Livingston. Click HERE to subscribe for free, or follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at @LivingstonTAP. Are you a business owner looking to reach our audience? Please reach out to us at dsantola@tapinto.net for information about our digital marketing packages. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/livingston/sections/giving-back/articles/livingston-mother-and-daughter-spread-love-with-anonymous-bouquets