New Years Resolutions

I'm like everyone else- I'm going to lose weight in 2011. I really did join the gym yesterday. My husband has lost over 45 lbs this year, so, he's making me look bad!
Next resolution: Take care of myself. I will attend to the pain in my foot and the pain in my knee. One doctor appointment has been made. And I will take time off from work when I can until we get ramped up again for the 2011 floral holidays.

On the business side of New Years Resolutions-

I vow to cut back on expenses.
I will formulate a plan to get a new roof on the building or I will find a buyer for the property so I can move to a location with a good roof, more display space, and plenty of electrical outlets.
I will work my butt off to make my customers happy!!
I will search for the best, most up to date inventory of gifts and floral supplies.
I resolve to hire Meranda more help in the greenhouse and Melanie more help with customers.
I resolve to be successful in 2011! ( That will cover a lot of loose ends I can't think of right now)

Happy New Year, Everybody!!!

Fruits of the season

We shipped another 12 fruit & snack baskets to Jackson this a.m. Later in the morning I made the trip to Beattyville & Booneville to deliver baskets. Today was the first time I have ever been to Booneville, KY! It's about the size of Ravenna with a little extra added on each end. It was really a beautiful drive from Ravenna to Beattyville because everything was covered in snow & ice (except the highway). On the tops of the mountain ridges, the ground was covered in snow, the trees were covered in ice, and they were all the same color as the sky.
I passed by Booneville Florist on my way. It is situated in front of a really nice new funeral home, in a nice little building of it's own, next to a cemetary. It is one stop shopping for the bereaved. It is a monopoly on the funeral business- Get your funeral, your flowers, your stone, and your spot in the ground all in one convenient stop! How could anyone compete with that??
I must express a huge thank you to Monty Gabbard, who puts our fruit & snack baskets together! He's the best!!
Time to walk my best friend, Bruce! I hope I don't fall on the ice! Til tomorrow, my friends!

It's been a while

I have failed miserably at keeping up with this blog!
So it is Christmas time- only 9 days left! Today, Dec.16, is my inlaws' 60th anniversary. Wow!

In the last 2 days we have made 45 fruit & snack baskets- 24 for a bank and 21 for a doctor. I will dream about pineapples, oranges, apples, and summer sausage tonight! Delivering all these baskets has been somewhat of a challenge with the bad weather we have had this week.
Today has been mostly a mess with all the slushy icy gunk all over the place. We have hardly seen a customer all day, but we have been busy!!
This morning, Erin , Marty, & I loaded up 14 fruit baskets at 7:00 am. They went to Jackson for clients of Citizens Bank & Trust. Merry Christmas!!
Erin & Marty drove from Irvine to Jackson to work this a.m. while a large portion of the employees who live in Jackson didn't come to work.
So, we are ready for the bad weather to go away & let's get back to a normal Christmas season!!!

The end to a week of stress

Today the week closes on a happy note! We delivered flowers for Tyler & Sarah's wedding this morning and then I returned at 2:30 for the wedding. Sarah's family lives in the most beautiful place- an authentic log home in a picturesque setting out in the country. Ironically, as soon as the wedding started, a small plane began flying over head. It would have been fine if it had just flown on by, but, instead, it circled overhead repeatedly! Then, to top it off, an ambulance siren started and lasted long enough, as it made its way to the mountain, to drown out Seth as he read from the bible. Both of these annoying sounds were going on at the same time! What's the chances of that happening during a beautiful wedding taking place in a quiet(?) little country setting????

The setting was just perfect in all its fall splendor, with fodder shocks, pumpkins, gourds, mums colorful leaves, bales of straw, and quilts everywhere. The ceremony took place in the front yard in the sunshine and the reception was in the back under the shade of the trees on the creek bank. The temperature in the back yard felt 20 degrees cooler. There was a kettle sitting over an open fire in a pit on the creek bank that lent a country aroma to the air.

The wedding event gave me a warm, fuzzy, cozy feeling. It made me wish I could provide such a homey atmsophere at my house and I wish my daughters' weddings could be that special. I think I am more of a log home person than a 1914 built house kind of person. I love the country and primitives and gourds and pumpkins! I want to live at the Farris's house!!!!! I wonder if they would take me in......?????

Maybe they'll read this blog and invite me back....

Asters vs. Mums

I have been asked a thousand times "Are these hardy mums?" or "Will these mums come back next year?"

If you buy your mums early in the season and plant them in the ground right away, they will have time to grow roots before the killing frost comes. So this makes for a better chance for the mum to survive winter. If the mum survives, then the next growing season, pinch the tips pf the growing shoots off repeatedly until July4. After that, leave them alone and they will bloom in the fall. Regular fertilizing is also quite helpful throughout the growing season until they set flower buds, then lay off the fertilizer.

The next best way to get "hardy mums" is to plant asters instead of chrysanthemums! Asters are extremely hardy, since they are a native prairie wildflower and have survived the elements for centuries. The blooms are daisy-like and closely resemble a mum. The only hitch is that color is limited to purple and pink to reddish hues. Yellow daisy-like flowers for fall can be aquired by planting Heliopsis or Helianthus, which are perennial sunflowers. I know that you can pinch aster plants just like mum plants to delay flowering and to make the plants stay shorter. I'll have to get back to you later on whether or not heliopsis can be treated the same way.
Asters can be purchased at garden centers with large perennial inventories in the spring like Wilson's in Frankfort. Or you can mail order them.
In closing, I can tell you there is nothing any easier to grow than asters!!!

Mums have been completely unpredictable this year! Who knows when any of them will bloom?? The consistently high temps above 90 degrees in August & September threw the mums completely off schedule and we still can't figure out when the mid & late season plants will bloom. Just keep on watering them and hope for the best! Looking on the bright side, we may have mums just bursting into bloom at Thanksgiving!

Pansies will live all winter! Plant them now. Enjoy them now and EARLY in spring!!!

Stop pruning your shrubs now- wait until after a killing frost. Pruning promotes growth and new growth will be frost bitten, leaving ugly brown foliage on your plants. After a killing frost, plants go dormant, so they will not grow if they are pruned after a killing frost. We usually have killing frost near the end of October.

Pumpkins make cute holders of flower arrangements. Call me & I'll make you an adorable arrangement in a pumpkin.

Scarecrows and nice people

My feet & legs are really tired & sore, but I'm happy because our day today was a success! We got fifteen entries in the scarecrow contest. I am very pleased to have that number. I hope next year we have twice as many! Everybody had so much fun planning and building their scarecrows. And they were proud of themselves when they finished and they stood back and looked at what they created.
So many people made the festival a success. Estine and Joan on the Ravenna City Council, and Kim, the City Clerk, Joe of many hats, Penny, and Sandy & John.
My staff was great, all getting on board with my crazy ideas. Melanie is my rock, Meranda my partner in my adventures. I couldn't make it without them! And of course, Myra is always there for support and fantastic food! The 3 M's!
Next year we better get 100 pie size pumpkins! The kids were adorable painting their pumpkins.
It feels great to have done something to showcase our little village of Ravenna. It's a great place to live and to work. I'm proud of Ravenna.

Planting Pansies & fall bulbs

Some Fall notes:

(When I refer to bulbs in this blog, I am referring to bulbs that you plant in the fall & they bloom in the spring, other wise known as "Fall bulbs". These can include tulips, daffodils, crocus, alliums, fritillarias, hyacinths. "Spring or Summer bulbs" are planted in the spring, bloom in the summer and should be dug in the fall and stored for winter. These include caladiums, begonias, glads, some lilies, Dutch iris, dahlias, cannas.)

People get frustrated with tulips because they plant them & then they don't don't come up well after the first spring. They look fantastic the first time & then the next year there won't be as many, then the next year is even worse. Maybe you have noticed the big landscaping companies in Lexington digging up tulip bulbs in front of large businesses- they plant them & then throw them away just like they were marigolds or any other annual flower. Here's the problem: tulips are not winter hardy enough to live a long time, or... squirrels or chipmunks might be eating them. When you buy tulip bulbs, instead of buying the prettiest, most tantalizing varieties in the pictures, look for tulips that are "good for naturalizing" or are described as perennial. These tulips will rebloom each spring for you!! As for the rodent problems- put bird netting or chicken wire down on the ground where the bulbs are planted to keep them from digging in your flower bed. Side note: the wire or netting will annoy cats so bad that will stop using that spot for a litter box!

Now is a fantastic time to plant pansies!!! And it has finally rained!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pansies will live all winter here. They will bloom on days when it is sunny in winter and look wonderful in the early spring when it is still too early to plant flowers that cannot tolerate frost!

Dig up a spot & plant bulbs, then plant pansies on top of the bulbs. Day lilies are another great companion plant for bulbs. Plant the bulbs, especially daffodils, and then plant day lilies on top and the day lily foliage will camoflage the bulb foliage as it dies back. Bulb foliage should be allowed to die back naturally instead of cutting it down because the leafs provide nutrients to the bulb to help it bloom well the next spring.

If you plant hyacinths, WEAR GLOVES!!!!! The bulbs will burn your skin!

I wrote an article for All Things Country & they want me to do it each month. I've thought hard to come up with a name for this new "column", and then it hit me: it could be my blog! So watch for it it upcoming issues of All Things Country.

I wrote about laying your flower garden down for winter in the October issue.

So, I think everybody needs a day off! I got mine Saturday by way of an outing with the Bunco Babes to Lake Cumberland. It is a beautiful place and I learned that one of the Babes could write several novels about her experiences. But, what happens or is said at the lake stays at the lake!!!
And today we had a busy day at the shop with two funerals. It's been 3 weeks since we've had much to do, so I had difficulties remembering how to buy flowers for the occasion. I got to meet a lovely lady today that I have talked to several times over the years when she called to order flowers for her mother. She is one of many people that have accounts at the shop even though they haven't lived here for years. They call us to send flowers here or to any town other than the one they live in.
And we got a nice compliment from a florist in Mt Sterling who was happy that she got to call us to deliver flowers for them in Irvine. Thank you!!!

The Interview

I was interviewed today by a nice fellow for a 2 minute presentation on Sept 13 at the Center in Somerset for the Excellence in Entrepreneurship small business award. I am one of 3 finalists for the award. Kathy Samples at Citizens Guaranty Bank nominated me. Kathy is so good to her friends and customers! She is a wonderful asset to our community.
I played with a ball of yarn through out the interview so I wouldn't wave my hands around nervously. I really dread seeing myself on video, dark circles around my eyes & all.

And on another note- an uprising is underway- a revolt among florists- a mutiny on the floral bounty!!! Boycott the wire services!!!!!!!!!!!

The wedding Saturday night went great! It took an hour to load 2 vehicles. We arrived at 4:00 & went straight to work! The cake table top was put in place first and the finishing touches put on it. Since it was outdoors & it was pretty warm, the cake was not placed on the table until after the wedding started so it wouldn't melt.
We filled jars with zinnias for the reception tables & dropped the submersible lights into the water in each one. Last of all we hung the kissing balls on the chairs & placed flowers on the gazebo.
The farm is beautiful, as is the big house the bride's grandparents live in on the farm. Llamas live there too and lots of flowers grow there!
A strange looking thing with a para sail on it came buzzing through the sky toward the wedding at about the time it started. We thought it was the groom dropping in, but it wasn't! However, the bride did arrive a little later in an unusual way in a beautiful white carriage.

It feels great to have all our hard work come together and contribute to a bride having the wedding of her dreams. That is what my job is all about!

Thank Meranda & Derrick for all the help and thanks to Erin & Myra for the help with setup.

It's late- I'm tired -I've got to sleep! Later!

Hot Wednesday!!

We spent the day in a hot oven (that's what it felt like)- is this what hell feels like??

On a cooler note.....watermelons and apples and pumpkins were the popular items today! Fake ones, of course!

Part of our flowers for this weekend's wedding arrived today & we divvied them up according to what they would be used for- bride, bridesmaid, kissing ball, topiary, etc.
A facebook florist friend commented Monday that she cut 17 boxes of flowers for this weekend's weddings. SEVENTEEN!!!!!! A box might have 100 roses, or 125 pompons, or 250 carnations, for example. Another florist posted pictures of last weekend's weddings-all 8 of them! Their world is so different from mine! My biggest weekend was 2 weddings and 1 large funeral! I read tonight about one florist who has four wedding consultants on staff. In defense of my little world, I have to say that having that big a flower shop would mean I wouldn't get to personally do each wedding or birthday bouquet, or funeral arrangement myself and that would take away a lot of what I love most.
And did you know that July is now the biggest wedding month instead of June? August is also a big month and October weddings are increasing each year.

See ya l8r!

I got to arrange some pretty bouquets today!! We sent a beautiful standing spray to a Stanton funeral home today. It's picture is on facebook.
I am learning the technique to making wreaths out of Deco poly mesh. I made wreaths for the Estill Engineer fan today out of royal blue deco mesh with black & white ribbons- turned out prety nice!!! And someone bought the wreath I made out of black & silver mesh with silver ribbon.
We have begun construction on the flower covered tabletop for the cake table at this weekend's wedding in Madison County. Sometimes I feel like my brother, the engineer, as I figure out how to construct the unusual things that we make at the shop! I am so excited to get to make this piece- I'll show pictures as we go along!
Paige researched Scarecrow decorating contests for me and we got a lot done on that little activity for the Railroad Festival in October.
Off now to a hospice benefit planning meeting. Can't wait to see what we come up with this year for decorations!
Talk to you later!