Abington, PA Florists

Abington Flower Shop News

William Richardson Sr., owner of Rose Flower Shop and many other businesses - The Philadelphia Inquirer

William Buchanan Richardson Sr., 81, of Abington, who owned the Rose Flower Shop in the Ogontz section of the city and several other businesses, died as the result of a heart attack Saturday, Oct. 12, at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Richardson was the sixth of nine children born to Virginia and Edward “Bobby” Richardson. He grew up in North Philadelphia and attended Gratz High School. As a teenager, Mr. Richardson began his career as an entrepreneur by opening a small fruit-and-vegetable store, said his daughter Donna Richardson-Glover. He later owned ice cream parlors and night clubs. For the last 30 years of his life, he was known as “the Flower Man.” He owned the Rose shop at Ogontz and Stenton Avenues for about 15 years, until 2018, when he decided to retire. “But he didn’t know what to do with himself,” his daughter said. So, a few months later, he opened Hamilton Flower Shop in Abington and worked there until he retired for a second time in July. In the 19... https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/william-b-richardson-rose-flower-shop-philadelphia-abington-20191024.html

Actor Hugh Bonneville was on hand to launch aa new flower wall at Breast Cancer Haven, Wessex

Abbey and Paddington star helped highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month at the haven in Titchfield. The wall has been funded by The Rare Brand Market and created with the help of florist Susie Babington. Covering the front of their Titchfield centre, this large-scale display of locally sourced, in-season flowers mirrors the Breast Cancer Haven brand’s colours. The Rare Brand Market founder Emma Schwarz said: “I am thrilled to champion independent florist Susie Babington and reflect the inspiring and positive work carried out by Breast Cancer Haven, Wessex. “My mother is currently receiving help from Breast Cancer Haven after a second diagnosis of breast cancer so this is an association very close to my own heart.” Breast Cancer Haven, Wessex opened its welcoming centre in Titchfield in 2015. It is from here that counsellors, therapists and health professionals offer the support needed to help individuals facing the challenge of living with breast cancer. Florist Susie said: “Having been the primary carer to my mother during her battle with cancer, I was delighted to lend a hand to this project to raise awareness of the disease, which sadly affects so many of us today, either directly or indirectly, and of the Breast Cancer Haven which supports no... https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/16909909.actor-hugh-bonneville-was-on-hand-to-launch-a-a-new-flower-wall-at-breast-cancer-haven-wessex/

'Gardening with Jenny Rose Carey' set for April 7 at Kettle Creek - Pocono Record

Carey was involved with the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show for many years. She is the director of PHS Meadowbrook Farm, the society’s public garden and nursery in Abington Township. She lives with her husband, a Philadelphia native, at their beautiful Victorian property, Northview, where they have raised three daughters.Meadowbrook FarmWhen he died in 2003, J. Liddon Pennock, renowned florist and landscape artist, bequeathed Meadowbrook Farm to PHS. My favorite part of a visit to Meadowbrook (except for the retail nursery and gift shop, of course) is touring the beautiful English Cotswold-style house with Carey.The house is set on 18 wooded acres with seven acres of gardens and greenhouses. Pennock’s in-laws gave it to Pennock and his wife, Alice, as a wedding gift. The rooms are somewhat quirky in their decoration exemplifying Pennock's eccentric personality. Rich details are abundant inside and outside. The rooms open onto garden rooms functioning as outdoor living spaces. There are 15 small gardens in all. I don't have a favorite, loving the formal statuary and the sense of enclosure created by walls, wrought iron fences and boxwood hedges in each area. Meadowbrook Farm has a beautiful legacy, and Carey is bringing it to life with her promotion of wildlife gardening and sustainable practices. It is a pivotal learning venue.Northview GardensCarey’s magnificent Victorian home and 4.5-acre garden are known to thousands of visitors. It was originally part of Wilmer and Anna Atkinson’s 1888 100-acre farm. Here, Carey has created a work of stunning originality with 31 distinct garden spaces: from the Blast from the Past Garden, Italian Garden, Dry Garden, Herb Garden and Victorian Stumpery, to the Fountain Garden — to name just a few.My favorite spot is Rose Cottage, Carey’s potting shed. As a fellow Brit, I know the importance of the garden shed, and this one is magnificent. It is functional — containing plant records, collected seeds, garden tools and catalogues, and the like — while acting as a cozy retreat. Carey is a hands-on gardener, believing that gardening feeds your soul and body. The goal of her work at Northview is to educate visitors about plants, planting techniques and garden design features. She succeeds in her vision magnificently. Her gardens have been featured on the TV series, "The Victory Garden," in the Wall Street Journal, and in numerous new... http://www.poconorecord.com/entertainmentlife/20180323/gardening-with-jenny-rose-carey-set-for-april-7-at-kettle-creek

This is how thousands of plants at the Philadelphia Flower Show bloom early and on time - LancasterOnline

Philadelphia Flower Show, which opens Saturday.North of Philadelphia, in the greenhouses at Meadowbrook Farm in Abington Township, growers use cold rooms, hot water, special lightbulbs and carbon dioxide to trick a wide range of plants into blooming. They have ways to handle a plant blooming too fast or not quick enough for the show.It’s a complicated dance that’s equal parts science and art, and it requires a lot of planning, says Nate Roehrich, manager of the greenhouses at Meadowbrook, which is one of the show’s plant providers.This year’s flower show, the largest and longest-running in the country, will focus on water. Designers will build a rainforest, a 28-foot-tall waterfall and other plant-filled landscapes, all inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The show runs through March 11.Planning for the show started months ago. At Meadowbrook Farm, the planning started back in September. For decades, renowned florist and landscape artist J. Liddon Pennock grew and forced plants for the flower show at Meadowbrook, formerly his estate. After Pennock’s death in 2003, the farm and greenhouses were given to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the nonprofit that organizes the flower show.These days, Meadowbrook’s small staff, along with society volunteers, grow plants for the show as well as for commercial customers. Roe... http://lancasteronline.com/features/home_garden/this-is-how-thousands-of-plants-at-the-philadelphia-flower/article_ac4ef9d2-1cbe-11e8-b76e-53ae7a3503de.html

Open house, with holiday greens and flowers, at Meadowbrook Farm in Abington - Bucks County Courier Times

It's a gardener's Christmas any time of year at historic Meadowbrook Farm in Abington, where many of the blooms to debut at the Philadelphia Flower Show are growing right now. But when it's Christmas for everybody, the setting is a resource for holiday trimmings of the greener sort. The farm has scheduled an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, offering a look at the grounds, the mansion formerly inhabited by the late flower show powerhouse J. Liddon Pennock Jr. and his wife, Alice, and a garden center packed with fresh decorations.Among the offerings are greens, wreaths and swags; plus cyclamen, paperwhites and amaryllis. Free crafting, storytime, s'mores and cocoa are on offer for youngsters. The Streetside BBQ food truck also is expected to be on hand. Self-guided tours may be taken until 4 p.m. in the stone house, built for the Pennocks by Alice's wealthy father as a wedding present for the couple in 1936. Pennock, a well-known florist and flower show exhibitor, created a small wonderland of linked gardens around the mansion over many decades. When h... http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/life-style/local-feature/open-house-with-holiday-greens-and-flowers-at-meadowbrook-farm/article_5612771a-b7fc-11e6-a34b-fb490c580a21.html

Downingtown’s Petals Please recycles wedding and funeral flowers into free bouquets for lonely seniors - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Doing research online, Adams found no national organization, let alone a template for putting together a sustainable, all-volunteer flower recovery and repurposing system. But a Northeastern Pennsylvania group was having great success with an approach similar to her idea. So she drove to Scranton, where the volunteers of Petals for Goodness Sake were “so generous and so helpful,” Adams said. “It was, OK, let’s do this.” She began networking from home, calling friends and neighbors. “Because I worked in hospice I knew all of the nursing homes and the assisted living places, and I knew a lot of staff there,” said Adams. “Unfortunately, I knew a lot of funeral directors.” In July 2018, a volunteer picked up the first donation and returned ”with so many flowers in her SUV you couldn’t even see her.” Petals Please has since shifted its arranging sessions from Adams’ dining-room table to a space at Downingtown United Methodist Church. Flowers and vases or other containers are donated, and everything gets recycled, including flower petals, which get taken to a chicken farm in Malvern. Amelia Wondrasch especially enjoys that task. A 15-year-old student at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square whose family is close to the Adamses, she has been a volunteer pretty much from the beginning. “I’ve always been a big one for recycling and composting,” she said. “And I love the idea of being able to r... https://www.inquirer.com/life/petals-please-recycled-flowers-downingtown-20200720.html

Sales aren’t blooming: Florists adjust during pandemic - Midland Daily News

Ms. Bobola said she had to shut down the florist because wholesalers where Bobola Farms receives flowers from in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were closed. Bobola Farms will begin selling some produce in the upcoming weeks; first up are strawberries, which have started to bloom. Bobola Farms has been open since the late 1990s and Ms. Bobola said she never experienced anything like this. She hopes Mother’s Day can help bring back some normalcy but reminded that everything is limited. “It’s the longest we’ve ever been closed,” Ms. Bobola said. “You’ve got to get started somewhere, so we’re just going to do the best we can. I hope people will be patient. We’ll do everything we can to be as close to normal but there will be substitutions. I hope people understand this isn’t easy but we’ll work with them.” Florists are following all protocols recommend by the Centers for Disease Control to help limit the spread of COVID-19. This includes wiping down all vases, wearing gloves while handling flowers and disinfecting the store every night. It also includes contact-free delivery, where the driver will call the customer when the flowers are on the steps of their home. Mrs. Fries said Jen-Mor had to lay off part of its staff when the pandemic first began. She added it has been able to slowly bring back some of the staff. The loss of workers has made the busy weeks even more stressful. “It’s been exhausting,” Mrs. Fries said. “The few of us that are here are doing the work of more people. There’s only so much we can do with this staff so our inventory is smaller than usual.”... https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Sales-aren-t-blooming-Florists-adjust-during-15258683.php

Nunan Florist & Greenhouses giving away free bouquets - Garden Center Magazine

Garden Center talked to two IGCs to gain some insight on the process.At Stan’s Garden Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, Valerie Bloom, a retail associate, says the days gearing up to the IGC’s reopen date, May 1, have been busy. At Stan’s, management has modified many aspects of the customer shopping experience. Bloom says the main focus will be on social distancing practices, but they’ve also taken additional steps out of an abundance of caution. “The lavatories will be closed, and they are bringing in portable toilets for people. We are going to have the floors clearly marked six feet apart, and they're going to have to wear their face masks,” Bloom says. “We do have different hand sanitizers, plus a hand washing station available to the customers. And every checkout will have hand sanitizers at it for them.”On April 3, Gov. Tom Wolf strongly urged all Pennsylvanians to wear either homemade or cloth face masks in public, and many businesses are expected to heed the recommendation ahead of the state’s phased reopening. “We have at least 5 acres under glass, we carry thousands and thousands of plants. We have over a million dollars in plant material right now, just waiting to go out to the general public,” Bloom says.Stan’s offers a large variety of items, such as hanging baskets, vegetable plants, bare root items, edibles and year-round annuals. “We carry a ton of product between shrubberies, trees and fruit trees. We really do carry a lot of items, so the guys are just trying to get ... https://www.gardencentermag.com/article/nunan-florist-greenhouses-bouquet-giveaway/

Spring flowers fight off frost attack - lehighvalleylive.com

There have been some scattered reports of rubythroats showing up here and there both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. So any day now I expect to see a male, although it probably won’t stick around. The frost also made daffodil flowers bend over but most of them recovered and survived. And now that a lot of what we know as normal-sized daffodils are getting to the end of their blooming period, smaller but very fragrant multiple-blooming narcissi are taking over. Daffodils, jonquils, and narcissi are all plants in the Narcissus family. From what I’ve read, the name daffodil is an aberration of an “asphodel” flower wherein the letter “d” somehow got added. But the name narcissus has a much more interesting background. Greek mythology holds that there was an extremely handsome young man named Narcissus. And, depending on what you read, either he liked his reflection in the water so much he died from looking at it, or he committed suicide because he couldn’t possess himself, or he died knowing no one else he could ever want would be as handsome as him. But that’s how the term narcissistic, meaning self-centered, evolved. Impervious to the recent below average temperatures, though, some extremely attractive ornamental trees are now covered with rosy pink blossoms, and soon flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) will be all white. However, the white you see isn’t the flower but rather a group of four notched bracts surrounding a small flower cluster in its middle. One recent afternoon I looked out the kitchen door at the daffodils still blooming there when I spotted movement under my car. An eastern cottontail rabbit was eating millet from nearby grass and at first I thought it was another rabbit. But it wasn’t. It was a groundhog standing on it... https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/2020/04/spring-flowers-fight-off-frost-attack.html