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Alaska Rally Supports Gay Couple Denied Service by Florist - SouthFloridaGayNews.com

Residents show off their signs at the Ketchikan rally. (Photo courtesy Tacoma Kathryn Coronel, shared to Ketchikan Pride Alliance’s Facebook) (WM) Residents rallied in a small Alaska city to support LGBT rights after a florist declined to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding. Tommy Varela said Heavenly Creations in Ketchikan told his mother the business would not provide flowers for his wedding ceremony after learning there were two grooms, The Juneau Empire reported.Between 100 and 200 people attended the June 5 demonstration, lining the street and holding signs expressing support for the LGBT community.Kathleen Varela said she phoned the same florist her son used to get a boutonniere for his prom when she was seeking flowers for the nuptials in August.“I said, ‘It’s a wedding for two grooms, are you comfortable with that?’ And there was a long and awkward silence and then ‘No, I’m not comfortable with that,'” Kathleen Varela said.There was no exchange of names and she is not sure who was on the phone, but the florist has not previously expressed antipathy toward the LG... https://southfloridagaynews.com/National/alaska-rally-supports-gay-couple-denied-service-by-florist.html

After 125 years, Manatee company delivering fresh flowers differently - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The company requires that farms they work with have sustainability certifications, such as USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance or Fresh from Florida. According to the company, certified farms employ 60 percent women and are far more likely to offer higher wages and produce higher standards of living for their workers.Many of these farms also use integrated pest management as opposed to heavy pesticides, meaning that more common-sense, long-term practices are used to achieve the same results. Examples are vacuuming pests out of plants and using organisms like spiders to eat harmful pests, such as thrips, which puncture and damage plants.Getting the word outIn an effort to create a more direct link between customers and its product, the company is placing interactive digital kiosks in some stores that can help educate consumers about where their flowers come from.“We want to create a source for the consumers so that we’re reaching out in different ways and allowing access to all this information right in the retailer,” McLaughlin said.The ultimate goal is to attract customers, engage them, inform them and send them to the retailers that carry the Manatee Farms brand.For McLaughlin, part of the re-branding is taking into account a balanced three-pillar approach when talking about environmental sustainability: environmental, economic and social.“There tends to be a lot of misinformation. You can have something be organic, but that has nothing to do with whether or not you have chemical runoff,” McLaughlin said. “It’s about more than just having certifications or seals on a product.”Preston has seen a lot of change at the family company over the years, and someday there will be others in the family making the decisions right there beside him, he said, and maybe after him, too.But if Preston has his way, one thing will remain constant: the business will continue to serve the community and people will continue to feel good about the brand.“Branding is... https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180611/after-125-years-manatee-company-delivering-fresh-flowers-differently

11 Flower-Delivery Services for Mother’s Day That Are Clever-Approved - Architectural Digest

BloomsyboxIf you are going to go the rose route, we’d suggest you try the over-the-top, magenta-hued, Rainforest Alliance–certified sustainably farmed roses of Bloomsybox. With more than 15 varieties to choose from, as well as mixed bouquets and recurring flower subscription deliveries, you’ll definitely find what you’re looking for to mark this special occasion.a tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true" class="external-link product-embed__image-link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://cna.st/p/2hc5hQAHwjxFuVsKxVuxbTFca3ioGo2j14UtmkmDxziDY4sCL... https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/clever-approved-flower-delivery-services-for-mothers-day

Flower growers see sales wither as planting season launches - CBC.ca

This is when we sell. We're on the cusp of a critical period," said James Farrar, director of the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance. Trees, bushes and bedding plants are usually planted between May 1 and June 15, he said, with customers ranging from backyard gardeners to municipalities. In Ontario, flower producers discarded about 40 per cent of their Easter crop, according to Flowers Canada Growers. The province has designated garden centres as a non-essential service — a painful exclusion for the industry, since nearly two-thirds of Canadian production stems from Ontario. Neighbouring New York and Ohio have also forced garden centres to lock their doors, while Michigan and Vermont have banned retailers from selling non-essential products, including home gardening items. "If they don't open, the damage is going to be astronomical," said trade group head Andi Kuyvenhoven, noting garden centres' crucial role for bedding plants in particular. British Columbia — the second-biggest flower and plant producer — Alberta and Manitoba and have allowed garden centres to keep running, while Quebec deemed them essential along with nurseries as of April 15, though not in time for Easter. Kuyvenhoven, who with his wife co-owns a $2.5-million business selling potted Chrysanthemums and indoor calla lilies — largely to U.S. distributors — on a pair of farms west of Toronto, says clogged supply chains south of the border remain a problem. 'I haven't slept in five weeks' "U.S. customers for a time closed their distribution systems to floral and so the main grocery chains were not purchasing plants," he said, which was hard on growers of cut flowers such as roses and tulips. "If a truck can take 24 skids and four skids were flowers, the flowers came off the trucks and they put more food on the truck — which we completely understand. The only challenge is, when you're growing flowers as we do, they also have a shelf life," said Kuyvenhoven, who bought his business from his parents in 1990. "Now we're now facing liquidity issues...I haven't slept in five weeks." Flowers Canada Growers says exports to the U.S. make up about one-third of greenhouse flower and plant sales, which hit $1.6 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. Nursery sales topped $500 million. While garden centres can continue to operate across much of the continent, growers wonder whether bouquets and flower pots will remain on the shopping... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flower-growers-hamilton-1.5546023

VIDEO: Flower fans push industry to be more eco-conscious - Kelowna Capital News

United States, it says, producing 9,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.A flower’s end-of-life can be problematic, too.Emily Alfred of the Toronto Environmental Alliance reminds recipients to put their spent bouquets in the green bin for compost, not the trash.Like all organic material, flowers that go to landfill end up decomposing and releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to smog and global climate change.Corporate events and weddings are where floral waste can really add up, says Kalynn Crump of ReBloom, which collects event flowers that would otherwise be thrown out and donates them to nursing homes, hospices, shelters and other organizations.Crump says she started her company in Calgary in 2014 after working in public relations and seeing gorgeous blooms tossed as soon as a party ended — sometimes thousands of dollars worth of flowers that had only been enjoyed for a few hours.“The florist would come in and just grab the vase, throw the flowers down on the table, and that was it, they wanted their vase back because they were rented,” says Crump, whose coast-to-coast clients include businesses and wedding couples, but also event venues that are gradually realizing their own role in curbing waste.Crump recalls coming across a dumpster full of beautiful white hydrangeas behind a posh downtown Toronto hotel, the aftermath of a big wedding where she guesses staff were forced to quickly clear a ballroom to make way for the next big event.She showed them the photo and that hotel is now a client, she says, noting a “significant change” in attitude among businesses and hotel chains over the past two years. She says ReBloom diverted 43 tons of floral waste from landfills since 2014 and wants to divert 20 more tons this year.Zini used ReBloom to donate flowers from her 2018 wedding in Toronto to a local women’s shelter and seniors’ home. She estimates spending about $3,000 on the flowers and an additional $800 to turn them into smaller bouquets and arrangements.“Ideally, (a wedding) happens once and there are things that you want to be special because they happen once,” she acknowledges.“But that being said, the waste (includes) wasted food, dresses that are never worn again, flowers in the garbage. I wanted that special day, but I wanted to reduce the waste as much as I could.”That’s a sentiment the similarly themed Violet Heart Project in Toronto — a not-for-profit that also repurposes event flowers — hopes will one day be inextricably linked with the floral industry.“This just needs to be the normal thing that everybody does,” says Julie Danaylov, one of the founding board members.Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian PressLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Gift GuideHolidays and Seasonal EventsNature Get local stories you won't find anywhere else right to your inbox.Sign up here... https://www.kelownacapnews.com/trending-now/flower-lovers-tackle-waste-push-industry-towards-sustainable-measures/

Ham Lake couple trust God as they grow family flower farm business - The Catholic Spirit

Jonah grew up on a farm. High school sweethearts, the 30-year-olds met at the parish they still attend, St. Paul in Ham Lake. They went to college together at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio and married in 2012.Six years ago, they rented a farmhouse near Ham Lake, on 20 acres with a field bordered by pines. After it sat fallow for a few seasons, they approached their landlord and arranged to begin farming it. This spring, they planted a plot with 50 different types of flowers. Kristen cuts, arranges and sells bouquets.Kristen and Jonah are convinced that God has led them to begin this venture, but they wear no rose-colored glasses about the challenge they’ve taken on. When asked July 30 what he sees when he looks over the field, Jonah chuckled and said, “a lot of labor.” In the spring, he and Kristen ordered mounds of compost to prepare the field’s otherwise “sandbox” soil, spreading it over layers of salvaged cardboard to help retain moisture and quality. He built a fence to keep out deer, like the five he observed grazing across the road that evening, as well as an irrigation system.Jonah holds a master’s degree in counseling, but decided the career wasn’t for him. He works as a house inspector, but is an entrepreneur at heart. The flower farm by far is the biggest risk he and Kristen have taken, he said. They hope that eventually it could become their full-time business.When they began researching farming, they planned to grow organic food. They were inspired by the writings of Joel Salatin, a Christian farmer in Virginia who has become the godfather of a movement favoring small-scale, sustainable, family-based farming. The Carlstroms were thinking produce and chickens when, in the winter of 2019, Kristen came across a book titled “The Cut Flower Garden” by Erin Benzakein, a florist farmer in Washington.“Basically, I just fell in love with it,” Kristen said. “It was kind of out of the blue for me.”She had always kept a small flower garden with sunflowers and zinnias, but nothing large-scale. But once she began to think about flowers, she became convinced that was the direction she wanted to move.“I knew we were going to take on something really big,” she said. “It was really important for me to be really passionate about it. And so, this was something that just really took a hold of me. And 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... https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/ham-lake-couple-trust-god-as-they-grow-family-flower-farm-business/

Local florist brings joy to Clevelanders with massive floral installation at Edgewater Park - News 5 Cleveland

At the same time, Mayesh, who is the largest flower wholesaler in Northeast Ohio, had a significant amount of inventory on hand as they prepared to close through April. Bob Fenner Flower display at Edgewater Park. So Thomas loaded up as many flowers as he could, approximately 5,000 stems, onto the bed of his pick up truck.Working after dusk, plucking and arranging each flower with intent, Thomas created an 8-foot tall floral billboard at Edgewater Park.At the base of the installation reads, “Individually, we are one flower. Together we are a beautiful garden,” — a message Thomas hopes reaches as many people as possible during this difficult time. Cleveland Metroparks/Kyle Lanzer. Floral design at the Cleveland Metroparks. Cleveland Metroparks/Kyle Lanzer. “Having flowers is a luxury for most people who think twice about having them even when the economy is good. I had all these flowers and thought this would be a great way to bring joy into as many homes as possible,” he said.Every visitor is encouraged to take a flower or two home to remind them of better times ahead."I designed it so it's easy for visitors to grab flowers," Thomas said.The Cleveland Metroparks, who operates the area where the display is located at, encourages visitors practice social distancing.Spreading joy and hope through flowers is something that runs deep for Thomas, who, for as long as he can remember, has been surrounded by flowers and plants.For generations, his family has been in the flower business, o... https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/made-us-smile/local-florist-brings-joy-to-clevelanders-with-massive-floral-installation-at-edgewater-park

Looters Ransack Streeterville Florist Shop That Opened Just A Few Months Ago - CBS Chicago

It was difficult to see the shop like this,” Nima Manhas said.The refrigerators were shattered, the computers were broken, and the new small business at 209 E. Ohio St. was totally ransacked.“All of us are trying to get back to normal, and it’s just so difficult,” Nima Manhas said.They did deal with some theft.“Just garbage and trash everywhere,” said Gur Manhas.But for the most part, City Scents Flowers was destroyed for the sake of destruction – almost eerily so.You can see the flowers behind the broken refrigerators still arranged in place.“It seemed like the purpose was just to damage,” Gur Manhas said.Their purpose since taking over in April is supporting their community, even when it meant closing down during the protests in May after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.“We handed out daisies and white roses to protestors to show support for the protesters,” Nima Manhas said.“We do not believe that the violence that occurred this morning had anything to do with any kind of social justice theme,” Gur Manhas said.Now, as they process and finish picking up the pieces, things that can be replaced.“We don’t want people to move away from the city,” Gur Manhas said.Their focus is on a feeling throughout the city right now that’s not as easily replaceable.“I think it’s important for everyone to feel safe in our community,” Nima Manhas said.City Scents is hoping to open back up soon in Streeterville. And on Monday night, like other businesses in this area, big and small, all hit in the early morning, they’re asking for one thing – protection from the city. https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/08/10/looters-ransack-streeterville-florist-shop-that-opened-just-a-few-months-ago/

Local florist offering delivery specials to nursing homes - 13abc Action News

SYLVANIA, Ohio (WTVG) - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered the closure of all dine-in restaurants, bars, theaters, and gyms, making it an uneasy and sure time to own a small business or to be planning large events. However, one Sylvania florist is trying to make the best of an awful situation. Jen Linehan owns the flower shop Beautiful Blooms by Jen in Sylvania, which has already seen its fair share in wedding cancellations. "Brides are all calling to apologize, and I tell them it's not your fault, we'll do the best we can to reschedule," says Linehan. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing homes are also closed to visitors. That's when Jen had the idea for "Blooms for the Blues" -- a special delivery rate to send a bud vase with some fresh blooms to lift the spirits of nursing home residents. ... https://www.13abc.com/content/news/Local-florist-making-smiles-bloom-568863591.html