Castalia, OH Florists

Castalia Flower Shop News

'Utter chaos': ICE arrests 114 workers in immigration raid at Ohio gardening company

About 200 federal officers blitzed two locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center — one in Sandusky, on the shoreline of Lake Erie, and another in nearby Castalia, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Associated Press. Agents surrounded the perimeter of the Castalia location, blocking off nearby streets as helicopters flew overhead, AP and local television stations reported. They arrested 114 workers suspected of being in the country illegally and loaded many onto buses bound for ICE detention facilities. Dozens of the workers’ children were left stranded at day-care centers and with babysitters, local activists wrote on social media. Officials expect to charge the undocumented workers with identity theft and tax evasion. They reviewed 313 employee records and found that 123 were suspicious, agency officials told the AP. ICE is also investigating the role the employer played in hiring the undocumented immigrants but has not yet filed charges against the family business, said Khaalid Walls, an agency spokesman. Agents left the Sandusky location carrying boxes full of “a lot of documentary evidence,” Steve Francis, special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations, told the Sandusky Register. “We are attempting to identify what criminal network brought over 100 illegal aliens to Ohio to work.” The massive raid c... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/06/utter-chaos-ice-arrests-114-workers-in-immigration-raid-at-ohio-gardening-company/

Expert shares tips for cultivating these trendy plants - Fremont Tribune

Latin names -- and shares the story of an East German plant-swapping friend. In the 1960s, Hendricks had sent him seeds from this succulent found in Castalia, Ohio. Hendricks was surprised to learn in his friend's return letter that he was familiar with the town from his World War II days as a German officer; turns out, he had been a prisoner of war at nearby Camp Perry.As Hendricks walks to the center of the greenhouse, he shares a story of the ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) that once climbed to the ceiling with its Hershey Kiss-shaped base and palmlike top. In 1966, he purchased the plant in a 4-inch pot for $1.25. Over the years, it outgrew its various pots and eventually Hendricks' greenhouse. Although he found a new home for the plant at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the 1,000-pound plant was too difficult to move, so it had to be cut into pieces and removed from the greenhouse.GROWING TIPSHendricks, who is president of the Midwest Cactus and Succulent Society and a frequent lecturer on succulents, offers advice on growing succulents. He not only draws lessons from personal experience but also his library of some 2,000 succulent articles and books:Plant succulents in containers with drainage holes. If there are no holes, add some with a drill or use a liner pot with holes.Water succulents thoroughly. Try placing a succulent pot in the sink and drenching it until water runs out the bottom. Let the pot thoroughly drain, then return it to its saucer on a windowsill.Allow plants to dry out between waterings. Succulents prefer neglect, and one of the biggest mistakes made by beginners is overwatering them.Choose a well-draining potting mix. Look for a cactus potting mix or create your own mix with equal parts of potting soil, pea gravel and coarse sand.Give succulents as much sunlight as possible since most are sun lovers. A south- or eastern-facing window is ideal.Occasionally trim succulents to maintain a shape, clip away damaged leaves or clean up dried tips.In northern climates, keep succulents in a dry, indoor environment for the winter, then move outdoors for the summer. In southern climates, many succulents thrive outdoors year-round.Take a class at a garden center or public botanical garden. Many popular classes cover how to use succulents to create wreaths, vertical gardens, and terrariums or dish gardens.Join a local cactus or succulent society. For a listing, see the Cactus & Succulent Society of America's website (www.cssainc.org).SUCCULENT ADVENTURESYou'll find succulents at garden centers, botanical garden gift shops, big-box stores and succulent society plant sales. Also, many online sites specialize in succulents. For newbies, Bill Hendricks suggests the following:Aeonium: Enjoy these showy rosettes in green or dark burgundy.Aloe: Find variegated or textured varieties for something new.Crassula: Try jade plants or stacked varieties.Echeveria: Look for ones with fuzzy, ruffled and bordered leaves.Haworthia: Remember these aloelike miniatures for low-light conditions.Lobivia: Marvel at the vivid flowers of this easy-to-grow cactus.Mammillaria: Try one of the white-haired pincushion cacti.Notocactus: Never fail with one of these globular cacti.Rebutia: Count on these small, round cacti for their colorful blooms... http://fremonttribune.com/print_specific/centerpiece/expert-shares-tips-for-cultivating-these-trendy-plants/article_a7d612c4-406b-528b-96d7-dd5c9248b7af.html

Family Over Flowers - The New York Times

You find out what’s most important when you start removing things from your wedding day,” said Ms Fagan, who received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Master of Education from Fordham.“I came to learn, more than anyone, that the things that are most important are your family,” she said. “Like the flowers and the other stuff, you don’t need that, you just need family.”Mr. Bogle, 44, who teaches fourth graders at John B. Russwurm School (P.S. 197) in Harlem, said his wedding to Ms. Fagan provided a lesson for him as well.“It’s all about commitment,” said Mr. Bogle, the son of Lucena Jackson of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and the late Raymond Bogle.“Unless you are uncertain about marrying someone, you need to get what you have got to get done, done,” said Mr. Bogle, who received both a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of the West Indies and an Master of Education from the City College of New York.Despite the silver linings, the couple, who met in 2017 through mutual friends at the Carmel Hill Foundation’s party for Harlem District 5 teachers, admitted that they were both a bit disappointed as to how the coronavirus reshaped their wedding.“I could seriously say I was disappointed, but what can you do in that situation,” said Ms. Fagan, whom Mr. Bogle surprised with an engagement ring in April 2019 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.“You just have to hope that everyone else is safe and OK,” she said. “You just have to hope for the best, and just count your blessings.”... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/fashion/weddings/family-over-flowers.html

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

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 list of consumers struggling to make rent amid soaring unemployment numbers and a looming recession. Kuyvenhoven is hoping that families confined to their homes for most of the day will choose to spend what they've saved from unpurchased vacations and lattes on plants for their vases and flower beds. "That's part of what's carried us through downturns in the past," he said. Growers associations are in talks with federal and provincial governments over potential financial relief, with Flowers Canada Growers asking for a "cash injection" as well as extended debt repayment plans secured in part by Ottawa, Kuyvenhoven said. So far, the federal government has extended a stay of default for eligible farmers until Oct. 31, giving flower and potted plant producers an extra six months to pay off federal loans that would have been due at the end of April. Ottawa has also granted exemptions on air travel restrictions to temporary foreign workers and invested $50 mi... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flower-growers-hamilton-1.5546023

Outdoor flower displays around Cleveland bring color, vibrancy to gloomy times - cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Three very visible public sites in Cleveland recently bloomed into instant vibrant gardens filled with thousands of stem flowers, thanks to the owner of a design studio and flower wholesaler who believe the public could use some cheering up right about now.What’s more, passersby were and are free to take flowers to enjoy at home.“I did this because everyone has been so gloomy lately, and flowers are a luxury that bring joy to people,” said Andrew Thomas of Andrew Thomas Design in Wooster.Thomas, his staff and friends worked from about 8 p.m. until midnight Monday festooning the Cleveland Metroparks sign in Lakewood.“We used all kinds of flowers,” said Thomas. “We had everything they had left. There were at least 5,000 stems, if not more. It was fun.”The “they” that Thomas refers to is Mayesh Wholesale Florist Inc. in Parma.“Mayesh was going to dump all of their flowers, and I was like, ‘Well, I have this idea — would you be up to it?’ I want to do an installation at a public par... https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/03/outdoor-flower-displays-around-cleveland-bring-color-vibrancy-to-gloomy-times.html

Lakewood florist helps spread joy to those impacted by coronavirus - News 5 Cleveland

LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Despite the fear and feeling of uncertainty many of us are experiencing during this pandemic, Blossom Cleveland owner Megan Robinson is helping uplift others and her community one bouquet at a time. Like many small businesses, Blossom Cleveland has closed because of COVID-19. Robinson was forced to cancel orders for canceled events scheduled through April, but the flowers she has left in stock aren’t going to waste. “I feel like flowers are important,” she said. “It seems like a little thing to a lot of people but it’s not. They bring joy no matter what.” As COVID-19 forces more people to stay home, Robinson came up with the idea to arrange and deliver flower bouquets to those who have been impacted by the virus. “Most of the people are either nurses, they’re pregnant and they can’t leave the house. We do have some people that were quarantined that we’ve delivered to,” she explained. “People whose weddings were canceled so we have photographers and friends reaching out saying 'H... https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/made-us-smile/lakewood-florist-helps-spread-joy-to-those-impacted-by-coronavirus