Behind the Blooms

Video showcase

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:02:00 +0000

Click on the following link to see a video showcasing our arrangements and services:

http://charleston.tourvideo.com/play.aspx?tiger-lily-florist&ItemID=337

Let us know what you think.

Thank you,

Manny

National SAF Convention

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Just returned from the Society Of American Florist' Annual Convention in Phoenix. SAF packed the agenda with a lot of great seminars , but as usual the best part of the show were the attendees.

I left with that familar feeling of depression and inspiration I get when I'm around awesome people. Depression that I'm not doing some of the things they're doing, inspiration because I know we will. We have a great thing going at Tiger Lily, and I realize I'm comparing us with the best florists in the country . I'm not ready to jump off a cliff or anything, but still....I want to get better.

I could go on and on about who I met and what they're doing, but let's just say I have a lot of items on the "to do" list. I am happy to say that those awesome people are focusing on solid business practice like quality and service. We can all get better at those critical items, everyday. Sure, social networking was the topic du jour, and Twitter and Facebook is important. They are not a foundation for a successful business, however, more like crown moulding.

Above is a shot of the New Varieties floral room. There were some killer flowers in that ballroom, and our purchaser DD Parks is already tracking them down. We hope to have them in starting next week.

I also pictured the motorcycle I rented instead of a car. Renting a compact car was almost $600 for three days! The bike was less than half that and ten times the fun. Nothing like cruising through the Arizona desert at 80 mph with the sun setting behind the mountains! I saw two wild mustangs, two jack rabbits and a coyote.

I know some other florists read this blog. I want to HIGHLY recommend going to the SAF Conference next year in Orlando. I've attended five conferences so far, and have even spoken at two of them. I have never met anyone else from Charleston. It really gives a big advantage to see and hear firsthand the latest trends, ideas, flowers and designs. Now more than ever we have to be at our best. I'm excited about 2010, because I know Tiger Lily will be better than ever.

Through The Eyes of a Child

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Summer is here, the weather is HOT, and school is out. Holy Communion Church, located across the street from the shop, is having day camps for the parishoners children. They called us on a busy day to see if the youngsters could have a "Field Trip" to Tiger Lily. Of coursed we said yes.

Now there are two things that ruin our production schedule: puppies and babies. Whenever either come to Tiger Lily, all production comes to a screeching halt as the staff oohs and ahhs over the cuteness. This continues until the puppy or child leaves the premises, whether it's 5 minutes or an hour. The field trip was no different.

We could see the kids through the window as they were coming over. They were waiting to cross the street with their teachers, all neat and cute and holding hands. In short, "They had us at 'helllo' ". Once inside, their faces really lit up when they saw the flowers. We were working on an underwater-themed arrangement, and they all huddled around General Manager Lauren Seaborn as she explained the design. They especially loved the gerberas and fish props. The young 'uns got to make a little budvase, and stand inside the walk-in cooler. We should have "let" them wash buckets! Of course, during their stay nothing got done design wise. Luckily it was only 30 minutes or so. It the long run it benefitted us because we got to see the effects of flowers on the kids and it really energized us. Fun stuff!

A Shrimp-Tastical Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:28:00 +0000

One of my favorite aspects of what we do is where we do it. We're lucky to live in a town that has ancient plantations, beaches, historic churches, mansions, 5-star hotels and more. Between daily flower deliveries, wedding set-ups and event pick-ups we get to be in some pretty unique places.

Above is a photo of a wedding we recently did on a working shrimp boat. Designer Hayley Crislip set it up. It wasn't an extensive wedding flower-wise, but it sure was cool. The ship was moored at the famous Shem Creek in Mt Pleasant. While we were setting up, all kind of boats were cruising past giving us shout-outs. From 80 foot+ (and multi-million dollar) sportfishing yachts to paddlers in kayaks, they were all enjoying the water on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

The bride knew the shrimping family, and they thought the idea of hosting the wedding on the shrimp boat was brilliant. In typical lowcountry hospitality fashion, the shrimpers painted the entire boat just for the occassion! In fact the entire vessel was spotless and shrimp odor free. For outsiders, hosting a shrimp boat wedding may seem strange, but down here it is the ultimate local luxury. Call it "old school", "keeping it real", "on the down low" or whatever you want, you have to be real lucky to have the opportunity.

Other different places I've been: under a haunted oak tree on a plantation at midnight, behind the altar at just about every famous church in Charleston, wading in the surf under a full moon looking for a chuppa frame (lost it to the tide), several roof tops, cemeteries, restaurant kitchens, and crematoriums. Last month I was in the Injured Sea Turtle Rehab Center at the SC Aquarium...that was awesome.

After I took these photos, I stopped at the shrimp shack, bought two pounds large-"heads off", and grilled them up for my famous shrimp tacos family feast. Lowcountry Living indeed.

Bride's Magazine Features Tiger Lily

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Bride's Magazine gave us a national "shout out" for a bouquet inspired by a wedding we did last fall for a wedding at The Sanctuary. Click on the pic for a closer look. It's in the current issue (May/June 2009), where they featured "Inspired by Sea Shells" as a theme. Our bride wanted an all sea shell bouquet, which we were happy to design. I featured it in an earlier blog ( I think if you type "Sea Shell" in this blog's search box it pops right up). She loved it and somehow the photo got on the internet.

Bride's Magazine found it, and called us to see if we could re-create it and ship it to them. We were real busy, but when Bride's calls, you don't refuse. Each shell is hand selected, cleaned, glued to a heavy gauge wire, then arranged. The mechanics aren't difficult, just time consuming. Each shell takes about 5 minutes, and there were over 150 shells in the bouquet so you can figure out the design time. Also, you'd be surprised how few shells make the quality cut. We went through at least a thousand shells to find these. Some were too small, cracked, too big, or just too plain.

So we were working on it, when Bride's call back to say they needed it a week earlier due to a change in the shooting schedule. We put three folks on it and finished it that afternoon. At the last minute we added a seashell arm bouquet I had been kicking around in mind. It was made of larger shells presented in a palmetto tree frond husk. I loved it but I was the only one in the shop who did. Oh well. We shipped it to Manhattan overnight Fed Ex, and waited. There was no guarantee they were even going to use it, so all we could do was hope they liked it.

About a week later, Bride's called and said it was perfect, but they needed more Spanish Moss overnighted to them. I guess it got kicked around a little in shipping and a couple small gaps developed. We grabbed a couple handfuls of moss, stuffed it into a legal size envelope and shipped it. It cost $49 to ship $2 worth of moss! That was a bummer. I mean we could have called a florist in Manhattan and had it delivered for much less. Live and learn.

We didn't know it made the magazine until we started getting emails from folks around the country wanting more info on it. Three brides wanted us to make and ship it them, but we recommended they use a local florist due to the shipping damage that might occur. Funny, those bride's weren't near the coast at all. I really liked the seashell boutonniere in the photo next to our pic. We create those too, but Rosenow Floral got it just right.

So that was a fun experience. Last week while waiting at the grocery check-out line I picked up a copy of the magazine, flipped it to page 154 and felt like a big shot. Until my kids starting arguing over a pack of gum. Then I just felt like a regular guy again.

the knot's! Best Of.....We're On A Roll!

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Man, good things keep happening to Tiger Lily! A couple weeks ago we were voted Charleston's Best Florist for the 10th consecutive years. We were notified yesterday that we were chosen as the knots! Best of Weddings 2009. What a great honor. We won it in 2007, then were told we won it again in 2008 but never received the official email. There may have been confusion, or a glitch in our email. We were too busy to follow up on it. It was great to be recognized again this year.

As the knot! said in the notification "What sets this award apart from others is that it is not your colleagues (or even the knot!) bestowing this award on your business. The recognition comes from real brides who were thrilled with the level of service brought to their wedding day." That's what I'm talking about!

Also, last week Bride Magazine featured our work in their current issue. It was a photo of our bouquet made of entirely of seashells. We designed it for a bride last fall, a photo of it got out on the internet and it was traced back to us. They asked us to re-create it and send it to them. We did and the rest is history. I'll make a seperate blog entry about that recognition once I get the photo scanned.

So 2009 is looking better already. We have a lot of awesome weddings planned in the next few months and that's exciting. What is that saying "Love springs hope eternal" or something like that? That's certainly appropriate for our times. Inspite of what we hear about our future on cable news channels, that human quality of hope or love or faith or humor or whatever you want to call it maybe just the thing that gets America through it current challenges. Rock on!

School Is In Session

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Clara's been busy teaching Floral Design Classes by request for special groups. Lately she presented for the Seabrook Island Garden Club and Wine Savvy Women. Both groups had a blast, as Clara wowed 'em with early spring arrangements. The classes are a way for us to show our stuff, meet new people, and feel like a rock star.

Here's a little irony for you. Before we started Tiger Lily, Clara took a floral design class at our local technical college. No credits or anything, just an evening "fun" class taught by a local florist. She had never made a single arrangement before then, and didn't even know the names of the flowers. She enjoyed the lessons, and took a picture of her very first arrangement. She was so proud of it she put the photo on our home refrigerator for all to see. Alas, the instructor wasn't too impressed and told Clara to "stick to her day job." He shouldn't have said that. It was kind of like when Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. There was going to be a reckoning.

So 14 years later, Clara now owns the largest florist in South Carolina, voted the City's Best for a decade and won Charleston's Business of the Year award. She's been in Southern Living, televison, radio and all that. She also teaches the class that started her on the floral path. So there.

Actually, Clara and our staff teach 4 classes throughout the week for Trident Technical College. The classes are Floral Design I, Floral Design II, Wedding Design and Sympathy Designs. All are sold out every session, and people always call trying to sneak in. Several florists send their designers to the class for training. We also hold the special classes for various organizations.

Honestly, we get as much out of the classes as the students. After a long day of designing and processing flowers, consultations and ringing phones, we're often exhausted. We may have just finished processing 500 roses, making 40 centerpieces and and a bunch of large event focal arrangements. We're wiped out. At 6pm the students roll in all stoked about flowers they see, it reminds us what a great job we have. We know it's the highlight of their day, and we feed off of that and get re-energized too. All good stuff.

Once in a while our staff will come across the photo of Clara's first arrangement. The design is way out of date and there were some serious flaws with it. It would never leave the shop now. We'll smirk and poke fun out of it to her. She's still proud of it though, and we're proud of her.

Gourmet & Grapes at The Sanctuary for MUSC

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:03:00 +0000

Charleston is a very giving town, even during this economic meltdown. Recently The Sanctuary Resort on Kiawah Island created it's innagural "Gourmet & Grapes" fundraiser. It benefitted the Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center. The MUSC Hollings Cancer Center was recently recognized as one of the best in the country. The Sanctuary has also been recognized as one of the best resorts in the country. It was a great partnership and we were proud to be part of it.

As the florist and event decor specialist for the Sanctuary, we do a lot of work with Adventures in Charleston, their destination management company. Hope Sweeney of Adventures in Charleston and our own Gayla Harvey brainstormed with The Sanctuary's Director of Catering Pam Russell on the look of the event.

They decided we needed a very large, contemporary design element for the center of the room. Something colorful, bold and well, LARGE. In fact, the goal was to completely cover the giant chandelier and take emphasis away from the lighting truss being installed for the event. Gayla and I kicked around different options, and eventually sketched out a square, tiered "lamp shade". We thought about making it entirely of Hawaiian orchid garlands...until we crunched the numbers and realized it would cost over $10,000 just for the flowers. Instead we decided to use a shimmering fabric in shades of dark red, the event's colors. Including the frame, fabrics and labor, it totalled just over $1,000. We also donated all of the flowers and other design elements for the three day event.

The photos you see take you from the brainstorming sketch we made in the office, to installation and finally during the actual event. I just thought it was a unique opportunity to see the entire process. Click on the photos to see larger images.

We attended the event, and it was a great success. It raised over $100,000 for the MUSC Cancer Center...great for the first year! It's always tough to start a fundraiser from nothing, and all the folks at The Sanctuary worked real hard on the event. I'm sure it will grow every year. Kudos to The Sanctuary, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, and especially the fine folks who attended the event and graciously donated their time and money. With all the negative stuff we see on in the news, it's inspiring to see these folks stepping up. Ultimately it will be that type of energy that will be the "bail-out" from the economic troubles we are in. I left the event Saturday night understanding the solution to our troubles. It will not be the government, the banks, nor the money. It will be individuals, stepping up and leading the way.

OOPS! We Did It Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Ten years in a row! That's right, we have been selected "Best Florist in Charleston" for the last TEN consecutive years. At the awards party someone asked me "C'mon, do you still get excited about winning it every year?" I told him this story:

When Clara and I started Tiger Lily, we had no floral experience. Clara was a personal banker, opening accounts and helping folks with general questions. I was a catering director for Marriott Hotels, in charge of banquet sales and operations. Clara worked for a short stint at a local florist, about 6 weeks. I was part of thousands of events and meetings over my 12 year Marriott career, but not really into the flower part of it. We wanted to try our own business and felt we could teach ourselves the floral business. We bought Tiger Lily just before it went out of business. We figured if we could just follow the "rules" of the floral industry we would be just fine. Afterall, the floral industry has been around for hundreds of years, surely there was a formula.

After two years of following the rules of the industry, we were about out of business. Frustrated, broke and desperate, Clara and I had what we now call our "Kitchen Table Meeting". With the kids (1 and 2 years old at the time) sleeping upstairs, we talked about our future. Should we bag the business and go back to corporate America? Do we keep it and radically change the way operate it? Do we continue to drive it in the ground? (sound ridiculous but a lot of small business folks do just that)

We decided to keep it, but throw out the "rule book" and do it our way. Succeed or fail, it would be our way. There were a lot of things we didn't agree with in the floral industry, and we would have always regretted letting go of Tiger Lily without following our instincts. So we tapped into my retirement fund, put another $35,000 in to Tiger Lily, and started all over again.

The first things we did would have been considered crimes against nature to other florists. We cancelled our Yellow Pages ad. We fired our wire services. We threw out all of our plastic novelty vases, balloons, stuffed animals and toys. We stopped carrying carnations and mumms. We stopped using the oldest flowers in the cooler first to "get rid of them" and began throwing out any flowers that weren't absolutely awesome. We told customers "no" when they wanted something that we weren't going to be proud of, like sending a dozen dead roses to an ex-girlfriend. We only had one goal: Be the Best Florist in Charleston.

Once our new stuff starting hitting the streets, the response was almost immediate. Hotels began calling. Caterers, wedding planners, even the famous Charleston South of Broad crowd began ordering from us. It was like we were satisfying a long thirst for our customers. We started getting resumes, a lot of resumes, from designers wanting to work for Tiger Lily. Good things were happening.

Six months later, I got the call from Charleston City Paper....We had won the award. It wasn't even on the radar for me. The awards were announced in March and it was only January. Man, what a feeling! Someone, a lot of people, noticed and appreciated our efforts! It was just the vote of confidence we needed at the time to follow our path of trying to Be The Best.

Ten years later, that vote of confidence is more important than ever. Yeah, I sweat out the results of the reader's poll every year. Rue the day we don't win it. Our staff will not want to be around if that happens, it won't be pretty. But by working hard every day, and focusing on each and every order, maybe that day will never come. I know I wake up every day thinking "we have to be really good today".

One Manny March On Washington

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:31:00 +0000

The Society of American Florists (SAF) had their annual Congressional Action Days event on Tuesday. SAF provides the opportunity to it's members to travel to Washington DC and speak to their respective politicians with one voice regarding floral industry concerns. SAF sets up the appointments, educates us on our issues, and coordinates the entire process.

Now I'm not "Mr. Politics". I watch and read the news, have my opinions, but the political process is too slow and complicated for my ADD nature. Still, I gave it a shot last year at the urging of SAF, and it was awesome. I learned a ton about the political process, our industry and how the two relate.

I traveled with another SC floral professional, Jim Daly who is the vice president of FloralLife out of Walterboro. FloralLife is the flower food used all over the world. Jim invented it, and is a key player in the worldwide flower industry. Together we met with the staff of SC Senators Lindsay Graham and Jim DeMint. We also met with the staff of Congressman Jim Clyburn the Majority Whip of the House. The highlight though was when we met Congressman Henry Brown.

I first met Mr. Brown last year when he came to the SAF reception after our appointment with his staff. He made a special stop just to introduce himself to me and hear my concerns. Wow! That's an elected official doing the work!

This year he had about 15 people in his waiting room, but when Jim and I walked in for our appointment he ushered us right into his office, closed the door and gave us his undivided attention. We discussed our issues; Immigration Reform, Floriculture Research Funding, the Estate Tax Repeal, and The Employee Free Choice Act. He is knowledgeable and passionate about each of the issues and already strongly representing us. I already knew that and just wanted to thank him for his support. Then he asked if we had the time to accompany him to the House Floor for a vote on a bill he co-sponsored. The House Floor...ground zero of American Government. Heck Yeah!

So Jim and I tried hard to keep with Mr. Brown as we hustled down elevators, past security check points, and through basement service halls. I was lost and disoriented in 30 seconds, but we kept walking for at least 5 minutes. Thinking about it now, I realize that we travelled from the basement of the Cannon Senate Building, under the street, under the sidewalk and greens area until we reached the basement of the Capitol Building. Real secret passage kind of stuff. Then we took the elevator up to the House Floor, Mr Brown ducked in and voted, then he took us up to the Gallery to check out the action. We all sat together with just a couple other people up there, talking about the process and the issues with Mr. Brown. On the floor we could see all the politicians that are on the news shows every evening. Exactly one week earlier President Obama gave his Presidential address in the same room. I remembered him signing all those autographs on the way out, Congressman Brown said he had one. We were in the room that is the cornerstone of world politics. Awesome.

We continued to pick Mr. Brown's brain about things. Again, he was knowledgeable and passionate about everything. With all the craziness in the world, the economy and our government, I can't tell you how inspiring Congressman's Brown's meeting was. His nickname is "The Workhorse" and now I know why. His pace and engagement reminded me of all the small business owners I know. We wear many hats and try to get as much done as possible every single day, just like The Workhorse. The fact that he took the time to talk with a flower shop owner about his concerns and was acting on them gave me a lot of confidence for our future. With elected officials like Mr. Brown representing their constituents, we'll get this thing turned around.

Look Who I Bumped Into

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:35:00 +0000

So I'm in Washington DC these last few days with the Society of American Florists. I'm part of a group of retail florists, wholesale florists and growers. Really amazing people, leaders in our industry. We're talking about the major issues of the floral world and what we can do about it. On Tuesday March 3 we'll take our issues to Capitol Hill and meet with our respective state representatives. I'll be with Jim Daly, Vice President of Floral Life/Smithers Oasis. Jim is a scientist/business man with a great personality, kind of like our own Indiana Jones. We'll be meeting with South Carolina Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, and Congressmen Henry Brown and James Clyburn. Graham is all over the news everyday on the national level, and Clyburn is the majority whip, most powerful position in Congress....YIKES!

Anyway, I'm walking around the corner and look who I bump into! This town is President Obama crazy, but he was gracious enough to spend a few minutes with me. He asked me a lot of questions about what he should do regarding the economy, military, healthcare and more. It was flattering that he asked for my advice and I gave it to him no holds barred. I'm sure things will start getting better any day now. Honestly, though, I found President Obama to be a little stiff and one-dimensional...maybe he was just nervous meeting a real floral shop owner.

Hope to post another blog from "The Hill".

Valentines Day is Over...Love Doesn't Need a Bailout

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:54:00 +0000

Whew! Done and Done! Valentines Day is always a double-edged sword for us florists. We look forward to snapping out of the winter doldrums. The constant ringing of telephones (and the cash register) is an exciting and welcome sound. But of course we also know there will be pressure and drama involved. Between employees, customers and flowers, there is bound to be a few flash points.

This year V Day fell on a Saturday. Weekend V Days always result in less sales for florists. People have time to go to dinner, see a movie or play, or just walk hand in hand on the beach. They'll skip ordering flowers. For a weekday V Day, the guys don't even think about it until a day or two before, and have no time to plan or get out and do something...instead they order flowers. That's great for us!

With all the economic turmoil, we didn't know what to expect this year. In fact, the photo above is from a TV crew who came out to the shop on Friday Feb 13th to ask us if the economy was going to ruin our V Day. It was our local ABC affiliate with anchorwoman Patrice Smith. Everytime she comes to our shop she mentions how much she would love to be a florist "It must be so relaxing". Except for the sleepless nights of wondering if your 3,000 flowers have been left overnight on the tarmac at the FedEx terminal in Memphis, worrying if you over ordered, under ordered, over staffed, under staffed , should have stayed in school, and the kids science test on Tuesday, sure, it's a dream job. A few folks told me they saw me on the news over the following days, that was cool.

Actually, for all the stress, it's still fun. For that holiday, the whole city it seems is all about flowers. Young guys trying hard to look cool when placing their order, dads coming in with toddlers to pick out something special for mommy, and older dudes who know how lucky they are and just want to spoil their ladies. Our vans were coming and going, each driver paired with a runner. It's especially needed in the busy downtown streets of Charleston. The driver stops, the runner runs to the back, grabs the right arrangement and takes off to the house or office building. If possible the driver waits. More often than not, the push of the traffic makes him circle around the block, hopefully timing it just right to pick up the runner as he returns from the delivery.

We came in at 8am Thurs -Sat. We left at 7p on Thur and Fri, but turned some folks loose at 3pm Saturday. Everyone left by 5pm. That was nice. It seemed the orders were split evenly between work deliveries on Fri and home deliveries on Sat. Spreading it out over two days made it a lot more manageable. We hear about other shops who work until 2am and come back at 5am, and we just never did that. Staff right, plan right, and stay aggressive with your production schedule and there's no reason to. Give us enough money, time and folks, and we can do anything.

Anyway, we sold out of roses on Friday, and had just a few flowers left on Sat. Planned it just about perfect in fact. Shout out to our purchaser DD Parks and General Manager Lauren Seaborn for making it all happen so smoothly. Great folks who really care.

The other photo is of our staff the morning of Valentine's Day, around 8am just as the staff was arriving. We don't sell stuffed animals (called "plush" in the biz), balloons, chocolate or any of that stuff. We focus on the best darn flowers we can possibly provide. But this customer wanted to include a stuffed bear with his flowers. He asked if he could bring one in that we could attach to the floral arrangement. We told him "Sure, no problem" and were waiting on a 10 inch little bear. So we see him walking up through the parking lot, carrying this gigantical beast of love. All the ladies just wanted to hug it and stuff, but we had to make sure it stayed nice and clean. We put him on a high shelf over the design studio where he wouldn't fall down or get knocked over. And there he stayed for three days, looking over us as we worked. We got kind of attached to him. When it came time to pair him up with the floral arrangement for delivery, we took a quick pic with him. He's on Gayla's shoulders. Gayla is usually softspoken, but she jumped at the chance to share the limelight with that big boy! Good way to start a busy day.

So that was Valentine's Day 2009. What did I get Clara? Yeah, I brought her flowers. A killer tight centerpiece of ranunculus, hydrangeas, hyacinth and lillies (thanks DD!) and a quart of Baskin Robbins double chocolate peanut butter ice cream. She had meatloaf waiting when I got home. Life is good.

Valentine's In Full Swing

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:49:00 +0000

It's a busy week at The Lily, as it should be! Valentine's Day always kicks off the busy season for us. This year it falls right in the middle of Charleston's Southeastern Wildlife Expo (SEWE). SEWE is one of the busiest tourist weekends of the year, so this town is hopping!

It's nice to be back rocking and rolling. The post holiday season is always a slow time for us. Other than a lot of wedding consultations, it's a time for our staff to take some extra time off and re-acquaint themselves with their families. That's all over now. Phones are ringing off the hook, all vans are on the road, and thousands of flowers are coming and going constantly.

A couple things about Valentine's Day:

1) Guys order too many roses. Roses are great and we love them. The roses we get are extraordinary. I measured a bunch this morning that was almost three feet long! But they are done a lot, are expensive at Valentine's Day, and there are other wonderful options. Because of the demand for them, their price doubles all along the supply chain, especially for the quality we require. Imagine growers and shipper increasing their volume by 800-1000% just for one week of the year! Just the logistics are mind boggling. Meanwhile, guys will overlook what is often their girl's favorite flowers like daffodils, tulips, colored calla lilies, hydrangea and hyacinth. We try to talk some of the guys into these other arrangements which actually costs less, but sometimes it just has to be roses. Either way, we try to offer the best they can get anywhere.

2) Valentine's Day creates a lot of pressure for us. We know people call Tiger Lily because they want to send something very special. We try hard to make that happen. With the ringing phones, late orders from good customers, and inevitable design studio "flower crisises", it is easy to get caught up in the stress of it all. But let me tell you, it's fun to talk to those guys who are sending the flowers. They're excited, want to do it right, and just want to spoil their ladies.

I had a gentleman come in Monday, he was at least 80 years old. He was with a younger friend who drove him to the shop, helped him get around, and place the order. The older gentleman looked at our flowers for around 15 minutes, deep in thought. Finally he told me that back in the spring, his wife saw an arrangement we did for an event that she just thought was the prettiest thing she ever saw. It was a large cymbidium orchid stem placed in a four foot tall cylinder vase with stone accents. Now, I knew what he was talking about, we did it a few times. It's big, bold, contemporary and clean. A cool event focal point, often lit with a pin spot for extra drama. Definitely not your everyday home order. I explained all that to him, and that the huge vase itself was $90. He just gave me a little smile and whispered "She's worth it". We delivering it on Friday. So this 80+ year old guy is still so in love with his wife after all those years, that he makes a special trip to our place , remembers the arrangement she liked so much, will not compromise on what he envisions, and makes absolutely 100% sure that his wife is happy on Valentine's Day. That's good stuff. That's wisdom. There is a lot we can all learn from that. Life is short, make the people you love happy. It might be flowers, chocolate, a trip or a love note tucked in her favorite bag of chips. That's what Valentine's Day is all about.

A Break From The Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:46:00 +0000

January is time for a break for the Tiger Lily staff. The holidays are over, it's not yet wedding season, and Valentine's Day is still a couple weeks away. Valentines Day is on the same weekend as the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, one of Charleston's biggest tourism draws of the year. That weekend has always marked the kick-off of our busy season, and we'll stay rocking until Thanksgiving, with just a couple slow weeks (4th of July) mixed in.

I decided to take the down time and go fishing in the NC mountains last weekend. Clara was home with the kids, planning to make her famous lasagna and a new hardcore chocolate cake recipe. So I dropped the kids off at school Friday morning, grabbed a quick workout, and busted tail at 80mph towards Pisgah National Forest. Just Me, Myself, and I.

It was a perfect "timeout" weekend to think about things, and there was a LOT to think about. President Obama, layoffs, the wars, bailouts and trying to run a small business in that environment. Heck, trying to raise a family in that environment! And what about the environment? Global warming, alternate energy sources, and much more. Well, the bad news is I didn't solve any of the problems during the four hour ride. But I did arrive in Brevard with a resolve that we will overcome all of these challenges, eventually. As a business owner, I hope that following solid business principles and pursuing quality will see us through. I'm confident it will.

But to more important matters, the Davidson River and the East Fork of the French Broad looked prime. So I spent the next day and a half flyfishing and wading these two rivers. It was chilly, with remnants of ice and snow still hanging on in the shady patches. Even with two pairs of socks, long johns and insulated waders, feeling in my feet left after about an hour of wading. The fish were willing though, and that kept me going for 6 hours straight on Saturday. At the end of the session, I caught 18, including the big brown trout pictured. Not bad for a guy who is not a very good fly fisherman. That brown was a day maker, along with the crystal clear water, cascading waterfalls, riffles and pools

As I headed back on Sunday, everything seemed a little more in order. Yes, we have our problems but things eventually will be OK. The wars will end, the economy will come around, and we will even figure out the whole energy thing. We all just have to work hard, be smart and have faith. Bring on Valentine's Day!

When "Disaster" Strikes

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:12:00 +0000

It's not always fairies and unicorns, even the "glamorous" life of a florist! Folks in love, love to get married in Charleston. Often, they plan outdoor weddings beachside, at a plantation, country club or even rooftop. The vision is perfect, but the lingering thought is "What if the weather turns bad?"

Relax. In the 13 years we've been in the floral and wedding biz, we've only had two weekends lost because of hurricanes. On one of those cancelled weekends the weather turned out to be terrific. We've had rain, but it doesn't ruin the event unless you let it. It may sound easy for us to say...let's face it we're not the ones getting married. Believe me, we live and die with every event as if it were ours. Let me tell you about a secret dynamic I've observed over the years: Bad weather MAKES a great party!

I've seen it happen many times, going back to my hotel career. Something special happens when a storm comes rolling in during an event. People get excited, there's electricity in the air (no, not lightening). Folks go into disaster mode and pitch in moving furniture, gathering the kids, saving the cake. Heroes are made! If the bride and groom can keep their poise and go with the flow, all goes great.

Now I'm not saying to stand on the beach and exchange your vows during a torrential downpour. That would be silly and dangerous. Tweek your event around the storm. Wait 30 minutes for the rain to pass. Or exchange your vows in the tent and have your first dance on the beach. Relax, react, and enjoy.

The photos above are from an event on Kiawah Island that was planned to be on the Sanctuary's Grand Lawn. 30 minutes before the event, a storm blew in out of nowhere and we moved everything inside. The hydrangea topiary on top was one of two used to frame the bride and groom during thier vows. The rose petal aisle was moved from the lawn to a ballroom. The dining tables were as well. Now, we took those photos in a hurry, soaking wet, just before we left. Admittedly, they are not going to be on the cover of Modern Bride Magazine. But use your imagination for a minute, because this turned out to be a great wedding ceremony and event.

Look closely at the photo of the rose petal aisle and the dining table. You'll see clear vases with candles. A lot of candles.

Now imagine the rain beating down on the roof, thunder shaking the walls and lightning flashing through the windows showing the surf pounding on the beach. The bride and groom, family, and guests are safe and snug in the ballroom. The lights are dimmed, candle light flickering and the soft music of a harpist playing "Here Comes the Bride". Later, the bar opens, the dining is extraordinary, and the power of the storm seems to have energized the entire event. I've seen it happen many times.

A couple years ago this happened on a private plantation in Mt Pleasant. It was an awesome event, took a LOT of planning. The fine event planners at WED did a great job. It was 300 people in a tent. Since it was a private plantation there was no indoor alternative; they were committed to the tent. It rained as hard as it possibly could. Part of the tent began to collapse and when the lightning fried an amp, enough was enough. The wedding reception was cancelled just a few dances after the dinner. The entire party squeezed into the rambling old home, in the kitchen, the garage, anywhere they could fit.

I went the next morning to pick up our rental items. I never saw anything like it. Tables were flipped over, half the dance floor floated away, champagne glasses were filled to the rim with rain water. As I was gathering our rental items, feeling terrible for the event gone bad, an elderly couple crossed the lawn. I think they were the aunt and uncle of the groom. They walked over to me and I said something about feeling bad about the weather and all. The woman said "Child, that was the best wedding I ever went to! So much excitement!" The man agreed, and then a few more guests showed up to survey the storm damage. They all had a great time, and said they wouldn't have changed a thing. They all mentioned how nothing seemed to fluster the bride, and when they saw she was having fun they just joined in. That was the important lesson for me.

If you're planning an outdoor event, I hope it is exactly what you envision. But remember, if it starts to blow hard or rain, stay flexible, relax, react and enjoy!

"Flowers for Food" Fundraiser

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:55:00 +0000

How could Tiger Lily best support a great organization, the Lowcountry Food Bank? I cut them a check already, but surely there was something else we could do. The Lowcountry Food Bank (LCFB) feeds thousands of folks everyday, between Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head. Many of those folks are children. Kids who would otherwise go to bed hungry, everyday. I don't like that, not in my town!

So we came up with the idea of teaching a flower design class and donating all the proceeds to the LCFB. We held the class at the Food Bank, so folks can see and appreciate the new facility and the great challenge.

We teach flower design courses throughout the year for Trident Technical College. They sell out quickly and have a waiting list. We hoped some of that demand would fuel a good turnout. Clara taught the class, Tiger Lily employees DD, Robin, Nicole and Brenda volunteered their time to help out. Several of our vendors stepped up and donated their flowers at no charge. Way to go folks we really appreciate it. Remember, some of these farms are overseas and look up to the U.S. as the "land of plenty". For them to donate to us is kind of like us donating to GM or Chrysler....oh wait a second, forget about that analogy.

Anyway these generous donations enabled us to give 100% of the proceeds to the LCFB. The money raised created 6,000 meals!

The best part of it was that the participants made and kept two killer holiday arrangments each! Most of the folks were novices and never made an arrangement before. Once they got over their initial hesitations they did great! They taped vases, greened, then added the flowers. Clara made model arrangements for them to follow. Some followed them perfectly, others quickly went in their own direction. All turned out great. I think their favorite part was throwing the leaves and cut stems on the floor.

In the photos above, it is easy to see the stoke of the participants. The photo on the left includes a group that came from Wild Wing Cafe corporate office. I'm a big fan of Wild Wing, both as a diner, and as a business owner. I really look up to them as a business inspiration. Great food, great service, great business model, everyday. They make all of their stuff at each restaurant: sauces, dressings, salsas, etc. That committment to quality is apparent everytime I sit down to a 25 wing sampler.

We kind of slammed this event together at the last minute, but it was good for a first time. I would like to try it again, give ourselves a couple months to promote it, and get 50 people there. If we hold 4 a year we would raise $10,000 for the LCFB. That's our goal. Not bad for a little flower shop. We would also show folks what the LCFB is all about.

Things are tough all over, and I dont' want to get "preachy". If you get a chance to help someone this holiday season, go for it. You'll be the one who benefits the most.

Keeping It Real

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:01:00 +0000

It's been a tough year for a lot of folks. We've all had headaches and drama, but some people have it real bad.

Earlier this year I became involved with the Lowcountry Food Bank through a mutual friend, Mark Smith. Mark is a partner in the McAlister-Smith Funeral Home chain here in Charleston. Mark is a great guy, hard worker, smart, and runs a real successful business. Like me, he is also raising a family and trying to balance it all. When he invited me to be on the Board of Directors for the LCFB, he assured me it was a special opportunity. Because of my respect for him, I told him I would check it out.

I've served on boards before, and find that I'm just not cut out for it. Things move too slowly, too few people are active, things get off on tangents, the politics involved, and overall I just find it a frustrating experience. Not so with the LCFB.

From the first board meeting, I realized I was sitting in a room with a bunch of overacheivers. The board is made up of folks from all walks of life, but they all have one thing in common: They get it DONE. From preparing the financial statements, to filling at-risk school kids backpacks with food for the weekend, to the new multi-million distribution facility, it's getting DONE. For a guy like me, that's real inspiring. So to see these people rocking and rolling, well it challenged me to take action. But what could a flower shop owner do?

I was in the process of having our four delivery vehicles graphics re-worked. Driving down the I-26 one day, I saw a billboard for the LCFB stating "Together we can end hunger in the lowcountry". I thought it was a great sign, and was surprised I hadn't seen it before. Then I realized that I was on a section of highway I just don't drive very often. I thought it would be great if I could put it on one of our vans and create a moving billboard. Craig McLaughlin of McLaughlin Design created the lay-out, donating his time and expertise. Matt Brooks of Fast Signs jumped on board and did it at a discount. Again, it was inspiring how these folks just stepped up and made it happen. Now this van is on the road 40 hours a week, spreading the word. It won't change the world, but it might help just a bit.

We came up with another opportunity to help the LCFB. As you may know, we teach many flower design classes at Tiger Lily through Trident Technical College. They are very successful, and quickly sell out with a waiting list. We wanted to use that pent-up demand to help the LCFB.

On December 16th, we are holding a one night Tiger Lily Holiday Flower Design Class to benefit the LCFB. We hope to have 50 people at the new LCFB Center. Each will donate $50 to the LCFB, roll up their sleeves, and create their own fresh flower holiday arrangement valued at $100. Clara and the rest of our award-winning design team will be on hand to instruct. We will donate our time, flowers and other product, with the help of several of our vendors. It should be a high-energy, fun evening raising $2,500 for the LCFB. We would love to hold at least four per year, with an overall annual contribution of $10,000. That will fill a lot of backpacks with food.

This year Paul Hulsey committed to a $1 Million donation to the LCFB. He is a very successful local lawyer, who grew up with personal experiences of hunger. What a story. Anita Zucker committed a $500,000 donation. The Zucker family has long been an inspiration to me and Clara. Everyone in Charleston knows them as probably the most successful business people in our community. It's no secret that are on the list of the world's billionaires. I've had the oppotunity to speak with them a couple of times and it was easy to see what they are all about. It is NOT business, money, or stuff. It IS family, children and education. That's keeping it real.

Not all of us can cut a check for a hundred grand, but we can do something. We'll start with a moving billboard and a flower design fund raiser and see where it takes us.

Mingo Point "Marsh Madness"

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:49:00 +0000

Mingo Point, the rustic outdoor venue on Kiawah Island is one of my favorite places in the world. Just 5 minutes from the 5-Star Sanctuary Resort, it's a slice of our pristine lowcountry natural treasure.

The saltwater Kiawah River wraps around Mingo Point almost 360 degrees. Everywhere you look it's water, spartina grass, live oaks, cypress, egrets, heron, osprey, palmettos and more.

Most of our events there are in the evening, and the setting sun over the marsh and river is a living work of art. When the full moon is shining through the live oaks, well you just have to experience it yourself.

I love to fish, and let me tell you the Kiawah River is an amazing fishery. It is absolutely loaded with speckled trout, spottail bass (redfish) and flounder. It's rare when you DON'T see folks fishing at the nearby bridge. With it's remote location, the vast majority of the gamefish there have never seen a hook! Add in the short distance to the ocean, and the result is an angler's dream. Bring stout gear, those Kiawah River spottails can reach thirty pounds. During the summer and fall, you can net a shrimp dinner for an entire family in about 15 minutes. TIP: Go at low tide.

About the flowers, simple, rustic, lowcountry is the rule at Mingo. We shouldn't and don't try to compete with the natural beauty on Mingo, just accent it a little. The earthy colors of the rented linens, seagrass container and local sunflowers are all we need to make the point "POP".

Kiawah Resort is smart about using Mingo Point the "right" way. While it has all the amenities you expect, it has kept its natural appeal. Kayak, fishing and dolphin trips are all offered through the resort, and all are great for the family day trippers or the serious nature enthusiasts.

Helping Out at the Ronald MacDonald House

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:24:00 +0000

The Sanctuary Resort asked us to help out with an idea for the Ronald McDonald House. Bill Lacey, Sanctuary Director of Operations (that's him in the left photo with Sanctuary Housekeeping Director Anna Glac) decided to turn the House into a 5 Star Resort for the day. What a great concept. As everybody knows, The Sanctuary is a 5 Star, 5 Diamond resort on Kiawah Island. They really do it right out there, and I find their focus and standards very inspiring. When they asked us to provide the flowers for their 5-Star Ronald McDonald House, well it was a slam dunk.

Every knows what great work the RM House does in providing a comfortable, home-like setting for families eduring long hospital stays. Located across from our Medical University of SC Children's Hospital, it is unfortunately a very busy place.

Bill asked us to participate and of course we said "yes". So late last week, during a very busy, hectic day at the shop, Gayla and I snuck over to the RM House to get an idea of colors and decor. Talk about a reality check. We were wrapped up in our production schedule, ringing telephones and mounting emails, but seeing families taking a break from a hospital vigil with a snack and a nap really hit us hard. I've got two kids, and like all dads I would walk through fire rather than see them hurt or sick. Gayla and I both felt humbled and fortunate.

So we made some nice arrangements for the lobby and each guest room. The RM House was in full holiday decor, so we created our first Christmas designs of the year for them. That's a picture of Taylor posing with The Big Guy while delivering one of our centerpieces. Ronald's the one on the right.

Bill, Anna and a large Sanctuary volunteer staff made the house look great. White linen tableclothes, doorman, full 5-Star buffet complete with uniformed servers, they even provided spa massages for guests!

Hopefully, we made their day a little brighter. I don't want to get preachy, but if you can make the time or have a few extra bucks, there are a lot of good folks out there who could use a little comfort.

The Morning After....

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:30:00 +0000

You know that saying "What goes up must come down"? Well it's definitely true in event decor. We spend months planning events, from the wash lighting on the ceiling to the napkin ties. We order linen from Chicago, props from China, and flowers from everywhere just to bring them all together for one night. All week we'll have folks making floral arrangements, cleaning lanterns, scheduling vehicles....the list goes on and on. Then, in a frantic but well choreographed excercise we'll put them all up in several locations in a matter of a few hours. The event will look great, and a "good time will be had by all."
Then what?
Well, after the last dance has been danced and the last drink has been drunk, that decor needs to come down. Pronto. That's when the Tiger Lily Pick-Up Artists take over.
On a typical event night, we'll have one, two, maybe even four vans hitting the road around 10pm. Each driver, or "pick-up artist" will have a list of venues they need to visit and items they need to retrieve.
The pick-up artists, Taylor, Kim, Steve and at times myself have our own "tales from the front" to tell. Let's see, wading into waste deep surf to retrieve a chuppa frame after the tide came up, climbing in the rafters at Wild Dunes at midnight during a hurricane warning, or a real threatening situation: tipsy, frisky bridesmaids after last call! Don't forget about our Charleston ghosts either.
There is a story about a ghost at Middleton Place Plantation. Tiger Lily is the official florist at Middleton Place, and we do a LOT of events there. I might have some of the facts wrong, but the jist of the story is this: During the civil war, the owner of Middleton Place buried his valuables under a giant oak tree while Union General Tecumsuh Sherman conductued his infamous March to the Sea. Mr Middleton told only one person of the location of the treasure, a trusted black servant. Legend has it the Union soldiers threatened to hang the servant if he did not tell them the location of the treasure. The servant did not tell the soldiers, and they indeed hung him from an oak tree, THE oak tree where the treasure was buried! His ghost haunts that tree to this day. Tragic and ironic. Also ironic is that the oak tree is the same oak tree that bridal couples get married under at Middleton.
And there I was at midnight on a cool, windy, moonless night trying to do the pick-up. Now I'm not much for ghosts ,and I didn't actually see anything but I came away a believer of ghosts after that night. I had no flashlight, it's about a 100 yard walk from the van to the tree, and I stumbled over every root inbetween. The noise out there was deafening. Crickets, cicadas, jumping fish, rustling leaves, creaking tree limbs. I think I even heard a couple snakes slithering. Ever hear a snake slither? It's pretty wild. Of course, I may have just imagined that part, but that's where my head was by the time I made it to the tree.
I knew the story of the tree and the trusted servant. I felt the chill down my back, I was waiting for his voice in my ear, his hand on my back. Doing the math, I figured I had a 50-50 chance of making it back to the van that night. Well, it all happened and I survived. But let me tell you, midnight on an ancient plantation, all alone under a haunted oak tree, that's an experience!
Sorry for the rambling there, but this blog is "Behind the Blooms" a behind the scenes look at what we do at Tiger Lily, so there you go.
Back to the pick-ups. After the pick-up artists have gathered all the items and dodged all the bridesmaids, they park and lock the now fully loaded vans back at the shop. On Monday, the first thing we do is unload the vans and start seperating, cleaning and storing all the items. It takes a couple of folks all day Monday to get it done. The top photo is of Brenda sorting rented linen. This stuff needs to be sorted, counted, verified, packed in the large blue shipping bags and sent back to where it came from, in this case Chicago. Brenda found a couple dinner rolls and dessert spoons in this pile!
The bottom photo is of Marisol surrounded by 25 large cylinder vases. Each have to be counted, emptied and painstakingly cleaned before they are stored. We're talking washed, dried, then Windexed. Scraping the melted candle wax from hurricane shades and lantern glass is the toughest job. Each takes about 30 minutes and it's not uncommon to have 20 or more out on a Saturday. That's a long day. We store all of our items cleaned, so that when we need them we can just reach for them and they are ready to go.
So a lot of folks think that they know what we do at Tiger Lily: Stand behind tables and make pretty flowers. We do that, along with scraping wax, sorting linen, climbing rafters, cleaning glass, and dodging ghosts. And bridesmaids.

Beachside Wedding At Sanctuary Kiawah Island

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Probably the best thing Charleston has to offer for events and weddings are the awesome venues! It's not unusual for us to set-up beachside, at a plantation, country club, historic mansion, grand ballroom....all on the same day!

Here we have a wedding ceremony on the Terrace Lawn at The Sanctuary Resort on Kiawah Island. We put a little lowcountry island flair in the design. This was Gayla Harvey's event, she is our designer dedicated just to the Sanctuary.

You have to be careful with the island look in our area. Get too tropical and it has a Florida/Hawaii feel. Stay strictly with local blooms and it goes to "wildflower". We like this look with hydrangeas, roses, palms and fern. Definitely less is more with a background like that! Love the windswept live oak tree seen within the arch. That is a Kiawah trademark, in fact it's part of their logo.

The Terrace Lawn is a wonderful place for a ceremony or cocktail hour. It has a beautiful view, yet because it is just outside the Terrace Ballroom it is sheltered from sun, wind and weather. On mild days the French doors to the ballroom remain open creating a great inside/outside event. Nothing like watching shrimp boats and dolphin while partying! It also lights up great at night with tikis or our wrought iron lanterns.

Fall Is In The Air-Kiawah River Course

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:12:00 +0000

I love fall flowers! Rich, full, overwhelming colors that really burst in candlelit events! This is Clara's event at the River Course on Kiawah Island tomorrow night. She just finished them up in the design studio and I took a quick photo before they were treated and placed in a cooler. Dahlias, hypericum, gerberas and several types of orchids bloom out of a container made of real birch branches. The earthy textures will be a great contrast to the luxury of the River Course Country Club.

We are also making a matching collar for the bride's dog to wear. We've done that a few times before, it really works great. I swear, it seems the dog is aware that she is wearing some bling and walks a little taller, a little prouder. Good stuff! It;s a busy weekend, several weddings and events going on. The weather is going to be perfect, 71 degrees and sunny. Bring it on!

Employee Represents City

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Kim Drayton, a part-time delivery driver for Tiger Lily is a full-time City of Charleston Firefighter. As you may know, in the summer of 2007 a tragic fire claimed nine Charleston Firefighters. It is the greatest loss of firefighters in the U.S. since September 11th. It deeply touched our entire community. For the funeral, hundreds of firefighters from across the country drove their fire engines to Charleston in tribute. It was amazing and humbling.

Kim is part of the honor guard, the team that honors fallen firefighters. He also lost an uncle in the tragedy. Here he represents the Charleston Fire Department in yesterday's renaming of Hwy 17S to "Charleston Nine Memorial Highway". It was renamed to keep "alive a tragic memory of courage and sacrifice."

I met Kim when I first came to Charleston in 1993. I was transferred here from Chicago to run a hotel catering operation for Marriott Corporation. There were 60 people in the department, but only about 6 who carried the load. Kim was one of them and we leaned on each other to get it done. Kim left to pursue his firefighting passion, eventually getting a coveted position with the Charleston Fire Department. We bumped into each other again as I began renovating our present location. Kim would help us paint the new facility on his off days. When the renovation was complete, he started driving for us. His flexible work schedule, hotel catering experience and knowledge of the city makes him a great fit. Again, he has proven to be an extremely important member or our team.

Kim is happily married to a great lady, Consuela and has a son in college and two beautiful and mischevious girls in middle school. He is a great role model and an overall great guy.

Let me tell you, when we first heard of the Charleston Nine Tragedy, we were absolutely numb until we heard from Kim. He was on site that day and thankfully escaped harm. It was a very personal reminder of what all first responders put on the line everyday. Everytime I hear a siren I think of the Charleston Nine.

The City of Charleston asked us to provide the nine fresh floral wreaths for the first anniversay memorial service held this summer. You can check them out further down the blog.

It IS easy being green!

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:07:00 +0000

We've been hearing a lot about the "Green" movement lately. Reduce, reuse, recycle....it's hard to argue against. But what's the big deal, shouldn't we be doing all that stuff anyway? I mean, it's just common sense.

If you've been following our blog, you have seen how flowers get shipped from all over the world directly to Tiger Lily daily. You've seen they arrive in cardboard boxes. We get between 100-200 boxes weekly. That's a lot of boxes! We could either put them in our trash dumpster, leave them for weekly garbage pick-up destined to a landfill, or recycle them. Obviously we recycle them.

We built an enclosure to hide them from view, and take them to the Romney Street Recycling Center about twice a week. Above is a photo of Taylor loading them into a van. It's not too bad unless the boxes are wet and it's a 100 degrees outside, then it's a drag. Sometimes we'll have to take three vanfuls to get them all there!

Our newest step in the "Green" movement is composting our spent blooms and foliage. We've talked about composting for years. The greens and flowers we use are the best available. They have been meticulously planted, nurtured and harvested. Imagine what an incredible compost they would make. The problem was the volume! It takes a couple months to breakdown the material in to compost. By then we would have a mountain of cut flowers and greens. We just couldn't accommodate it all.

To start , we've been piggybacking on the composting project on Kiawah Island. Kiawah is a world class resort island. It is also fanatically environmentally conscience. Featuring scenic marsh savannas, bobcats, alligators, egrets and dolphins, Kiawah is a natural gem. Even the home owners feature low-impact landscaping; less imported azaleas and more natural scrub palmettos. It's a really cool look.

We provide virtually all the flowers for the resorts and country clubs on the island. Wednesday is the day we switch them out. Here Robin Smith, our Corporate Contract Floral Director is placing some of last week's flowers in the composting area near Night Heron Park. Nice sunglasses. The stuff still looks great in the photo, but will only be presentable for a day or two. Imagine the nutrients in those greens. This compost should be the bomb!

I really hopes this leads to more composting of our used flowers and greens. I've thought about buying a chipper and running all of our flower waste through it to expedite the process. We've thought about giving away the chipped stems as ground cover. Again the high volume we would create is the challenge. Still, a first step is a good start. We will see where it leads. If anyone has any insight as to how we could compost the large amount of flowers and greens we generate, please give me a call pronto at 843-723-2808. It's not too late to save the planet!

Fall Artichoke Arrangement

noreply@blogger.com (Manny Gonzales) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Here is a simple arrangement to capture the essence of our spectacular harvest season. When most folks think of flowers, they think spring and summer. Fall is my favorite time of the flower year. Rich oranges, burgundies, yellows and chocolate colors combine to create earthy, warm arrangements. It's also a fantastic time of the year to incorporate vegetables into arrangements.

Here Brenda is turning a fresh artichoke into a flower container. Note the artichoke on the right, this is how we purchased them. First we cut off the stem to create a flat bottom for a stable foot. Then we begin to cut out the center. There is no real trick to this, just start with some scissors and cut the center into shreds. Then pull/cut/tear it out until you get to the bottom shell. Preserve the outer third of the 'choke, it's important to have that layered effect for the visual texture.

Once you have it looking like the one in Brenda's hand, just slide a small vase (votive candle glass works perfect) and you're ready to design. A stem or two of just about anything will work, just make sure you hide the mechanics. You can even put a frog in there to create a tall, contemporary design, or even a candle for a unique votive.

Gords, pumpkins, cabbages and more could all be used this way. Just realize they will only last a day or two, so don't make them too early.

We created nine of these for a recent corporate event. I meant to take a photo of the finished version, but got caught up on a client call. When I returned to the design studio, Brenda had them finished and gone! Have to move fast around here. Beware of the cost of the artichokes. These 'chokes were $4 each, and would quickly add up if you put a couple on each table for a large event!.