Teleflora's Flower Blog

Announcing a new home for the Teleflora Community

atabor — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:29:00 -0700

Effective today, we’re moving this blog to our brand new Teleflora Community site. Some of you might have already explored this new site, which gives us the opportunity to offer many more features to our readers. We'll continue to feature Teleflora company news and announcements in the What's New category, along with holiday, event planning, and floral artistry tips and trends in the Teleflora Tips section. We've added our Flower News content to the community site as well, to keep you up-to-date on the latest floral headlines from around the world.

Teleflora Community is also a place to host giveaways and sweepstakes! Our first sweepstakes has already launched, and there's still time to enter our Meet Faith Hill sweepstakes, where one lucky winner will travel to Hollywood and go behind the scenes on our newest commercial shoot with musician Faith Hill. In an effort to increase community interaction, we've built our Community with a focus on you and integrated your product reviews, along with our social media channels.

The FlowerBlog will not be taken offline and it will still host our older posts, but all the new content will live on the new blog. Remember to update your bookmarks, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for even more great updates from the Teleflora team.

We hope you have enjoyed reading the FlowerBlog and hope you enjoy the Teleflora Community page even more! See you there!

Excitement builds for our Big Game spot

atabor — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:14:00 -0700

Congratulations to the Steelers and the Packers for their victories yesterday! Super Bowl XLV is promising to be a great matchup, and of course a must-watch TV event. We can hardly wait for game day: Sunday, February 6th! Teleflora is participating in the Big Game again this year with our third Super Bowl commercial. The media is buzzing with speculation and excitement over our spot featuring beloved musician Faith Hill.

A sneak peek behind the scenes on our commercial shoot

CNN teased our commercial, along with a few other highly-anticipated ads. We're delighted to be featured alongside Super Bowl veterans including the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales and the GoDaddy girls. USAToday also ran a story about our big game plans. Our commercial featuring Faith is part of a larger trend of women watching--and starring in--more Super Bowl ads than ever before. Faith Hill is no stranger to the NFL (she sings the theme song for Sunday Night Football), but this will be her first Teleflora commercial. "She relates to people on both sides of the gender divide," said Teleflora President Shawn Weidmann.

We're also happy to announce that Teleflora will participate in Youtube's Ad Blitz again this year. As soon as our Faith Hill commercial airs, during the second quarter of Super Bowl XLV, you'll be able to view it on Youtube. For a week after the commercials air, you can vote for Teleflora and Faith Hill as your favorite ad of 2011.

Enjoy the game (and our commercial)!

Kicking off for Valentine's Day with Faith Hill and our Super Bowl ad!

atabor — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:54:00 -0700

We're so excited to announce our partnership with musician Faith Hill as we debut a new line of bouquets - The Collection by Faith Hill, flowers inspired by her style and taste. The Collection features 6 brand new floral designs including "The Valentine's Bouquet." Each of these romantic flower arrangements evokes Faith’s elegance and will make the perfect statement this Valentine's Day.

Faith will also be starring in our third ever Super Bowl commercial, set to air during the second quarter of Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, February 6th on FOX. We'll be updating our Teleflora Facebook page with behind-the-scenes footage from this hilarious commercial, in which Faith coaches a young recording studio technician who is sending Valentine's flowers to his girlfriend.

The Valentine's Bouquet by Teleflora from The Collection by Faith Hill

"It's been a lot of fun designing a line of hand-arranged bouquets with Teleflora," said Faith Hill. "They're a great company that takes pride in their products, their flowers – and in their commercials. I can't think of any better way to be able to kick-off this partnership than with an ad during the Super Bowl." Read more about the collection in our official press release or shop our Valentine's Day flowers.

Faith Hill is an accomplished musical artist and a five-time Grammy Award winner. She is very excited about this project, and we're proud to partner with her as well. A celebrated entertainer, as well as devoted wife and mother, Faith is a great fit for our brand.

We'll continue to work with Faith throughout the year and add more bouquets to this exciting collection. There will be designs for holidays including Mother's Day and Christmas, as well as everyday flower arrangements, perfect for birthdays and anniversaries.

Tips for festive holiday centerpieces

atabor — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:15:00 -0700

Many people are hosting holiday parties, dinners and get-togethers in the coming days. Before the guests arrive, hosts will busily cook, clean and decorate. Festive floral arrangements can really help set the mood of any event, whether it's a sit-down meal or a fun cocktail party.

"There are a lot of different ways to do it, but you want to have something pretty on the table because it's the center of attention," floral designer Mark Held told the Los Angeles Daily News. "If you have nothing on the table, it looks bare. So it's fun to have something there that people can look at and enjoy."

Held added that arrangements should be dictated by the type of event you're hosting. For instance, a formal dinner party should feature a simple, short centerpiece, as guests will want to be able to see over and around it to talk. It's also important to save room for the food!

Teleflora's Winter Glow is an on-trend monochromatic bouquet

When it comes to color and design, many experts are grouping shades of one color together to create stunning arrangements.

Floral arranger Orysia Krywiak tells the Vancouver Sun that rather than stick to a traditional red and green Christmas piece, she combines tones of dark pink, red, burgundy and fuchsia with a touch of orange.

Instead of using greenery, Krywiak suggests grouping similar flowers together and using fruit - like pomegranates and apples - to fill in spaces and add texture.

"I like to use fruit, different flowers, branches and berries," she told the news source.

Her favorite seasonal blooms include red amaryllis, carnations, tulips and tiny orange spray roses, along with dogwood branches and frothy evergreen skimmia.

Besides flowers, items such as simple Christmas balls and pine cones can be added to arrangements as well.

Teleflora's All Is Bright centerpiece gives a soft glow to your table

Décor experts also suggest using candles to enhance the look, like in Teleflora's All is Bright centerpiece. Glass tumblers filled with pillar candles, cranberries, water and tea lights are ideal for Christmas celebrations.

"Candles are important in any celebratory setting and the water-filled glasses magnify the light," Krywiak says. "I like to use a combination of tumblers, wine glasses, anything that I feel is fun and will look good with little tea candles."

Flameless candles are easy to use and safe for party settings, especially if kids will be present. These can also be used to illuminate some of your favorite holiday blossoms. Christmas lights can also add a festive feeling to the décor.

Experts remind hosts and party planners that floral arrangements aren't just for dining tables.

"You can do tablescapes on coffee tables, end tables and entryways, any surface," interior design professor from Mount Mary College, Leona Knobloch-Nelson, told Milwaukee's Journal-Sentinel.

Floral trend: Black is back

atabor — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:14:00 -0700

Once thought of as morbid, floral experts say black is back when it comes to choosing flower color.

"The trend comes from the fact that black goes with such a range of plants," chief horticultural advisor at the Royal Horticulture Society, Guy Barter, told the London Evening Standard. "People feel a pressure to get the combination of flowers right in the garden, so black and white flowering plants are safe because they go with anything."

Floral experts say that these dark-colored flowers, which are not really black, but usually a very dark shade of purple or red that appears black, are being seen in floral arrangements in restaurants and offices, on runways at London Fashion Week and even in wedding bouquets. A British floral expert told the news provider that he's seen several monochrome weddings in which the bride, wearing white, carries black flowers while the bridesmaids wear black dresses and carry white flowers.

Designer Karl Lagerfield had models walk the catwalk during his spring/summer 2010 fashion show carrying baskets of white flowers featuring a few stems of blacks as well.

Image credits: Randy OHC via Flickr - A black tulip in West Park, NY

Last week, horticulturists announced that they developed the world's first black petunia plant, called Black Velvet. The bloom was created using traditional flower breeding techniques, without the use of genetic modification.

Flower breeder Jianping Ren told the UK's Daily Mail, "The black color did not exist in petunias before, so it has to come from the right recombination of a novel color mutant and multiple regular color genetic backgrounds."

The Black Velvet will be available next spring and summer and will be advertised with the catch line, "black goes with everything."

"They say black goes with anything, and it really looks exceptionally striking in the garden - it goes very well with whites, yellows and pinks," Stuart Lowen, from the flower breeding company Ball Colegrave told the newspaper.

Other flowers varieties available in black include the iconic black dahlia as well as iris, tulip, orchid, calla lily, and rose. When it comes to using black flowers in a floral arrangement, experts say a few blooms can make a bold statement. Combining black and white flowers with small hints of a bright accent color can create a fantastic cut flower arrangement. Using different color flowers from the same variety can make the effect even more dramatic in a centerpiece or bouquet.

Tips for Perfect Poinsettias

atabor — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:50:00 -0700

A sure sign of winter, the appearance of poinsettias on storefront windows is a momentary spectacle, readily abandoned along with the holiday decor. Few may know, however, that these Christmas-season icons hail from tropical climes. Giving them a chance to flower through the months following the holiday season can bring unexpected rewards for those willing to make the effort!

Poinsettias are a fairly recent Christmas tradition brought to us from Mexico by U.S. ambassador Joel Poinsett in 1828. Since then, changes in poinsettia breeding have resulted in a whole range of colored plants. The advances have also extended the life of these flowers. What used to be a weeks-long bloom can now last for months--even into May! Despite this potential, many people toss their bouquets in late December like so many useless scraps of gift wrap.

A few tips on extending the life of your poinsettias this year, from Kentucky's KYPost.com:

Poinsettias do best in non-direct, bright sunlight in an area that's kept above 50 degrees with little to no drafts. You can begin to move them outside at night once it gets to be above 55.
Give the plants enough water to keep the soil moist, but take care not to flood them. Consider giving them plant food in the winter.
To really make the most of your poinsettias, cut them back to about 8 inches in March or April to stimulate new growth for the spring.
If they make it through the summer and fall, start to move the plants into an area with no light for 14 hours each day, starting in October, since the plants only bloom when subjected to long nights.

Sound complicated? Even if you don't have a green thumb, recycling your plant is a great green alternative to simly dumping it in the trash. Add the potting soil to your other plants, and tear up the poinsettia leaves to use as compost.

Happy Holidays! Hanukkah begins today!

Getting Ready for Black Friday at Teleflora

atabor — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:02:00 -0700

With several days still to go until Black Friday, the madness is well underway. This year, stores are stocking up for “Pre-Black Friday” sales on Thanksgiving Day and customers are already camped out awaiting those early morning deals. Here at Teleflora, we’re busy rolling out lots of exciting changes for Black Friday and its online cousin, Cyber Monday.

New Products
We’re very excited to announce the launch of our new product line—and what better day to do it than Black Friday? Check out our site this holiday weekend for all of our stylish new flower arrangements. With so many new options, why not send something completely original for Christmas or an upcoming winter birthday? We couldn’t be happier with the new bouquets, created by the most talented floral designers in the industry. We hope the designs delight you, too! Let us know which new bouquet is your favorite in the comments.

For a sneak peek, check out these highlights from our new collection:

Coupons and Promotions
What would Black Friday be without a sweet deal? Come visit our newly launched Teleflora coupons page, where we’ll list fresh deals and discounts as they become available. Don’t bother wading through tons of useless and outdated codes on other coupon sites this year. Because these Teleflora promo codes come directly from us, you know they’ll work until the posted expiration date.

Order for Christmas Now

By the time Black Friday rolls around, Teleflora will be decked for the holidays. We’ll roll out our entire Christmas line early. So rather than braving the crowds at the local mall, you can take care of all your Black Friday shopping right at home. We have something for everyone—even the Scrooge on your list! When you place your Christmas flower orders early, you’ll have one less thing to worry about this December.

Happy Thanksgiving, and good luck this Black Friday!

Warm Hearts this Thanksgiving

atabor — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:40:00 -0700

It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving, and most people are just starting to plan their holiday feasts. But for the last month, my mom’s been diligently polishing her silver, scouring the web for new recipes, and setting the table. Now she’s ready to welcome family from far and wide this Thanksgiving. I don’t know how she does it. (And somehow she’s managed to get most of the Christmas shopping done, too!)

Because Mom insists on preparing the bulk of the feast herself, the rest of us have to be creative and come up with ways to help out. Even if the founder of your feast seems to have all the bases covered, she’ll never turn down a tray of appetizers, a bottle of wine, or a bouquet of flowers from a loved one.

These gifts all express your gratitude, without interfering with the meal your hostess has carefully planned.

I’m planning on sending Teleflora’s Bountiful Beauty cornucopia this year. I’ve always loved the cornucopia as a centerpiece, and this one will match perfectly with Mom’s maroon table linens.

Some other Thanksgiving centerpieces do double duty, with fresh flowers and candles combined in one bouquet. Teleflora’s Harvest Bowl centerpiece will look great on the table this year, and mom will love using it as a serving dish for many Thanksgivings to come. Since Thanksgiving is the typical kick-off to the holiday season, try a hostess gift that will easily transition into winter. Teleflora’s Pine for Me bouquet, with its pinecone and evergreen motif, will look great as part of her Christmas décor.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for our bounty, but also the perfect time to help those in need. Consider giving a donation to your host’s favorite charity or contributing to a local food drive this holiday season. These are great ways to take the generosity of your Thanksgiving hosts and “pay it forward.” Fire stations and religious organizations are perfect places to look for charity opportunities. Select bouquets from Teleflora’s 2010 Thanksgiving collection benefit Share Our Strength, an organization working to end childhood hunger in the United States. There are so many ways to warm the hearts of those less fortunate.

How will you say thanks and spread gratitude this year? Let us know in the comments!

Decorate your home for autumn

nderuiter — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:12:00 -0700

As the warmer weather of summer wanes, many people start spending more time at home, preparing to snuggle in for the winter months. This makes autumn a great time to turn your eye toward seasonal home decor, especially with such a wonderful palette of nature-inspired hues such as red, gold and orange, drawn from the beautiful colored autumn leaves that change and seasonal flowers coming up wild or in cultivated gardens.

Image credits: Valerie Everett via Flickr - Fall decorations in Nashville, TN

We scoured the web for ideas we particularly loved to share with you.

First up, a beautiful idea for outdoor decor - an autumn porch idea from Country Living magazine. They suggest placing comfortable outdoor future, an outdoor-friendly blanket and a wreath or bouquet of fall flowers to set an outdoor living area where you can enjoy the crisp fall air and the beauty of nature from your own home. Setting a wreath or a bouquet of flowers outdoors is a great idea, in fact, because cut flowers tend to last longer in a cool (though not freezing) environment. The cooler fall weather will help a cut bouquet stay lovely a bit longer!

About.com is often a good resource for ideas, and that's no exception when it comes to fall decorating and decorating with flowers. This photo gallery from About.com's Interior Decorating section has a two wonderful selections of fall decor pictures, both for the inside and outside of your home. Let those photos inspire your autumn decor theme, and then come to Teleflora.com to check out the fall and Thanksgiving centerpieces, plants and fall color bouquet arrangements that will match your plans!

If you're still stuck as to where and how you'd like to feature fall decor in your home, you might turn to this article about autumn tablescapes on RafterTales.com. They offer a number of ideas for displaying seasonal touches in your home, from creating a lovely tablescape with a centerpiece to placing fall colored bouquets paired with small pumpkins or gourds on end tables and coffee tables in the living room.

I love this idea from Better Homes & Gardens online - instead of carving faces into your pumpkins, try going a bit more modern and do repeated shapes (in their article, they went simple and drilled holes in pumpkins). These graphic, modern pumpkins (lit with a tea light candle or LED 'candle') will add a bit of sparkle and pair beautifully with modern fall floral arrangements for a beautiful, up-to-date, seasonal table.

I hope these ideas for bringing a bit of autumn beauty indoors help your fall decor efforts!

Fall - In love with flowers!

nderuiter — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:58:00 -0700

Today is the first day of Fall! Or the first day of autumn if you prefer. Though it may not be something you think of right away, fall is actually a great season for many beautiful flowers! Fall brings several holiday, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, which can be celebrated with lovely blooms. Additionally, many beautiful flowers are seasonal to fall.

Fall flowers are usually found in 'fall colors' like yellow, orange, red and brown - mimicking all of the beautiful colors that people seek out on fall color tours in wooded areas.

Here's a top list of several flowers available in fall:

Asters
Sunflowers - the sunflower sticks around from summer into fall and makes a great addition to a tablescape as part of a floral centerpiece
Celosia
Dahlia - I was in Seattle the other week and dahlia season was definitely on at the flower stalls in the Pike Place Market! There are a wide variety of dahlias in many different shapes and colors to brighten up your fall decor. Check out this gallery of dahlias on Dahlia.com to see the wide number of varities!
Marigold - While it seems marigolds aren't used as often in floral arrangements anymore, they are a lovely autumn flower and can add a nice yellow/gold color to an arrangement if you want to ask your florist to include them in an arrangement you're sending to friends or family.
Goldenrod
Mums (or chrysanthemums)
Daisies
Alstroemeria (also known as Peruvian Lily)
Lilies

What's your favorite fall flower? Let us know in the comments section!

(*Image credits: Homepage image courtesy hello-julie via Flickr)

Grandparent's Day is almost here!

nderuiter — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:19:00 -0700

Sunday, September 12th is National Grandparent's Day. Each year, Grandparent's Day is celebrated the first Sunday following Labor Day. The idea for celebrating Grandparent's Day was dreamt up by Marian McQuade, according to the official Grandparent's Day website. Marian was a housewife from West Virginia who hoped to bring attention to the elderly population, especially those living in nursing homes or assisted living and not near their families. In the United States, it was officially recognized and celebrated by President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

Grandparent's Day is a great occasion, reminding grandchildren to celebrate the special relationship with their grandparents. It's also a good day to spend some time with a grandparent or adopted grandparent and learn about the world from someone with many years of experience.

If you live far from your grandparents, what better way to reach out for Grandparent's Day than with flowers! Teleflora offers several bouquets that are perfect for Grandfathers and Grandmothers.

Other ways to celebrate Grandparent's Day are suggested by the National Grandparent's Day website:

Visit your grandparent!
Use the free download available through the Grandparent's Day website to write your grandparent's life story with them.
If you can't visit your own grandparents, for some reason, why not adopt one? Adopt-a-Grandparent, an Atlanta-based charity, pairs younger people with elderly friends to help support one another.

Sisters and Friends - Summer holidays to share your love

nderuiter — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:24:00 -0700

Did you know that female friendships are good for your health? A UCLA research study from 2002 shows that friendships among women are unique and that friendship and group cohesion can help calm our body's feelings of stress. You've always known that having good friends to turn to helped your feelings of well being, but now there's proof! That means there's also no better reason to thank your girlfriends (including your sisters!) than for just 'being there'.

Next week you'll have the opportunity to say "Thanks"; Friendship Day is August 1st! It's a perfect time to pause and do a little something special for the girlfriend you always turn to. And if that girlfriend happens to be your sister, there's a special day just for her (or for them if you have several!). The first Sunday in August, according to Giftypedia, Holiday Insights and a few other resources, is Sister's Day. You may see other dates elsewhere online, as other calendars offer varying dates, but the 1st Sunday in August seems to be the most frequently repeated.

With some wonderful calendar sharing, Sister's Day and Friendship Day both fall on the 1st Sunday of August each year, making the opportunity even better to share your feelings of gratitude with your sisters (whether they're sisters through blood or through choice).

If you live far away from your girlfriend or sister(s), a blooming plant like a mini-rose or a potted azalea makes a wonderful gift for these special holidays. It's a long lasting way to remind her how much you appreciate all she does for you, and it will be hand delivered to her door with an enclosure card to make the occasion special.

If your sister or girlfriend doesn't have a green thumb, you can also look for a bouquet of summer flowers like bright, cheerful sunflowers or impactful dahlias.

(Image source: discoodoni via Flickr)

Parents Day is almost here!

nderuiter — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:15:00 -0700

Did you know that the US, in addition to Mother's Day and Father's Day, also celebrates Parents Day? Each year on the 4th Sunday in July, this fairly young holiday (it was signed into law in 1994 by President Clinton) highlights the idea of parenting and the importance of parents, rather than just celebrating the contributions of a particular parent as Mother's Day or Father's Day do.

This year, Parents' Day falls on Sunday, July 25th - that's just 3 days away!

Parents Day is championed by the Parents' Day Council in the US. The Parents' Day Council identifies numerous "Parents of the Year" in various cities and states, and even chooses a family to highlight for being "Parents of the Year" on a national level. For Parents Day 2010, it doesn't look like the Parents' Day Council has yet named their "Parents of the Year", but you may want to check their website for profiles on those who've won the honor in prior years.

An obvious question (at least to me!) is how a family might choose to celebrate Parents' Day, since at Mother's Day or Father's Day the 'other' parent usually helps make preparations.

Here are a few ideas for kids (young or old) looking to celebrate Parents Day in 2010...

Breakfast is popular, but why not think outside the house and plan a picnic instead? Make use of the beautiful summer weather and ask your family to head out for a nice day out of doors, and offer to do the hard work of preparing the dishes, utensils, blanket and snacks for your picnic lunch!
Make a homemade card with a nice Parents Day poem or a picture you've drawn yourself!
Older kids can do more involved crafts, such as making a photo album or photo slideshow on the computer to remember favorite times as a family. Get everyone together and watch them to remember the reason for Parents Day.

What ideas do you have for celebrating Parents Day?

Make Someone Smile Week in the News!

nderuiter — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:30:00 -0700

We're excited to see how well our 10th anniversary of Make Someone Smile Week is managing to reach people across the country! We'd like to share a few links to the heartwarming stories that have been collected by press nationwide this week.

From Springfield, MO, KOLR-TV followed Teleflora's Louis & Clark Unit representatives from Flowers A Plenty flower shop, along with many community volunteers who gave of their time to assist, on their goodwill delivery.

And WDTV of Clarksburg/Weston, VA talked with Teleflora florist Sheila Larew about Make Someone Smile Week and how nice it is to share smiles with the members of the Taylor county community.

NBC-25 in Mid-Michigan posted a story about Make Someone Smile Week on their website, which was so nice!

And big thanks to KMAX-TV and Good Day Sacramento, who put together a wonderful story, as well. You can find it online at Good Day Sacramento's site.

We'll certainly have more great clips to share before the week is through, we're sure!

Update: We've got 3 more clips to share this morning (Wednesday)!

Jacksonville.com from The Florida Times-Union posted a nice video on their website.

From Farmington, N.M. the local newspaper The Daily Times posted a wonderful article, as well.

The Sikeston Standard Democrat from Sikeston, Mo. wrote a nice piece in their newspaper, as well. You can see the picture and a short excerpt, but only subscribers to The Sikeston Standard-Democrat can see the full story, unfortunately.

10 years of Make Someone Smile Week

nderuiter — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:13:00 -0700

It began with leftovers. A group of florists wondered why the flowers left after a florist convention were simply disposed of and not enjoyed by someone who could use a little added cheer. That question grew into what is now Make Someone Smile Week - the florist industry's leading benevolent program, celebrated each year in July by Teleflora and thousands of Teleflora member florists.

The goal of each and every Make Someone Smile Week for 10 years has been to deliver smiles, in the form of a bouquet of flowers in Teleflora's happy keepsake Be Happy Mug, to those who need it most. We have delivered to senior citizens living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, to children's hospitals, to women's aid shelters, to recipients of Meals-on-Wheels programs, and so forth. And, to make the program even more special (since we think 10 years is a big deal), 10 regional groups of Teleflora members will be awarded a $1,000 check to be given to the charity of their choice this year.

This year, Teleflora and local Teleflora members across two countries (the US and Canada) celebrate the 10th anniversary of Make Someone Smile Week to deliver more bouquets than ever before - around 50,000 bouquets. That's a lot of flowers, a lot of florists and a lot of smiles!

In the past decade of Make Someone Smile Week celebrations more than 22,000 florists have participated in these joyful deliveries. And more than 200,000 bouquets (and smiles!) have been given to those most in need.