Monday, April 19, 2010

Gearing up for another busy season

Mother's Day is on the way and we have already started the count down here at the store.  We are figuring out ways to say I love you, Thanks Mom, and Happy Mother's Day!  We have started designing this years unique arrangements.  These arrangements are exclusive to The Secret Garden and hand made by our designers.  This year we have decided to honor our Moms by naming the arrangements after them!  
We will have, Linda's Loving Blooms, Betty's Touch of Elegance, Billie's Lady Bug Landing, and Evelyn's Butterfly Garden.  These designs will be of limited quantity and we suggest you order early! 
Mother's Day is a day to tell your mom that you love and appreciate all she has done for you.  Mom's young and old look forward to all of those fun hand made crafts from kids and grandchildren.  If the day of Macaroni art are behind you we can help!
Mother's day had it's start in early greek times and found a home here in America over 150 years ago.  It has changed and evolved into one of the most loved Holidays of our time.   Here is the full story brought to you by 123holiday.net:
Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not conceived and fine-tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.



In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."



Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.



In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."



Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.



At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.



Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers.


So this Mother's Day make sure you take a moment to tell your mother how much she means to you. 
For those of you who have suffered the loss of your mother we are very sorry for your loss and encourage you to spend the day with your memories.  We offer a wide assortment of memorials that will let you express your love.  


We will post some great pictures later today of our Mother's Day 2010 collection!  Thank you for stopping in.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Tulip Giveaway!

Due to an ordering mishap we are in Tulip Trouble!  So to remedy the situation we have decided to hold a Tulip giveaway!  Every day for the next week we will be giving away a beautiful lavender Tulip.


3 Ways to Enter ~
  • Place an order and you are instantly entered to win
  • Stop in and register to win
  • Email us at: secretgardendecatur@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number to register
We will post the winner each day at: www.facebook.com/secretgardendecatur so fan our page and see if you have won!  

If you wish to purchase a tulip for yourself or someone else simply call the store at: 875-9038 or stop in and see us to get a special tulip price!
Tulip in green pot - $15.00
Tulip Foil Wrapped with bow - $21.99
Tulip in basket with bow - $25.99


Don't wait to enter!  The first tulip we be given away around 4pm Monday the 5th and the last tulip will be given away on Saturday April 10th.

The fine print ~ No purchase needed to enter.  Tulips need to be picked up at the shop no later then April 14th.  If you choose to have your tulip delivered then delivery fees will apply.  Local delivery and pick up only. 


Thank you for checking out our offer.  We hope you have a great week!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Wedding ideas!

At the Illinois State Florist Convention we also had the opportunity to attend a hands on class in cascade bouquet arranging.  Here are some of the things we saw that day!



Sunday, March 7, 2010


We have just returned from the Illinois State Florist Convention in Springfield Illinois! These are some fun new ideas we have for Body Flowers this spring! We are excited to roll these out just in time for proms and weddings. We look forward to creating these in our shop and showcasing them at the schools we will visit this April. More pictures and new ideas are on the way. The Secret Garden is transforming into the premier place in Decatur to buy flowers! Come along for the ride with us. So much more will be in store this spring and summer.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Fresh Flower Care ~ Freesia


This is one of our favorite flowers to have around for the spring!  Freesia is one of the most fragrant and widely grown flower in the world.  Here are some facts and care tips about Freesia.

~ Freesia is native to South Africa, mainly found around the Cape province.  It takes it's name from a German physician Friedrich Freese, he was a student of South African plants.  
~ They are a member of the Iridaceae family.  Most of the hybrids are close relatives to: Watsonia, Iris, Gladiolus, Crocus, and Ixia.
~ Today over 300 hybrids of Freesia are grown.  The majority of those are greenhouse cultivated.
~ They are grown from corms - bulb like structures that look a lot like small onions.
~ The slender stems are home to six or seven trumpet shaped florets that bloom in a row on a "comb". 
~ The single and double flowered cultivars are mostly seen in, white, cream, pink, red, orange, yellow, bronze, violet, lavender, mauve, and bicolor.
~ Freesia is available year around.  The best supplies are from March to May and again from October to December.
~ The best time to purchase Freesia is when the first floret on each stem has started to open and at least a few others show color.  More florets will open but it is very rare to see all of them open.  
~ Avoid buying any that are brown or shriveled.  This is the sign that they are on the way out of this world.
~ Place your Freesia arrangements in cool locations out of direct sunlight and away from air vents.  Add warm preservative water daily or as needed to prolong vase life.  Re-cut stems at an angle and under water every few days.  Put Freesia in the coldest room of the house at night.  Mist them daily with cool water for longer enjoyment.

This is our first "Facts & Care" segment and we hope you learned something new today.  We are going to share our knowledge about fresh, potted, and silk plants with you.  Please let us know what plants or flowers you would like to learn about.  We love to hear from you.  You can post here or go to our facebook page and leave us a message by clicking here. 

Thanks for stopping in today and we hope to see you again soon!


For more fresh flower care visit our Care & Handling Blog.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day

Well our busiest season came to a close today.  I will be sad to see the hustle and bustle go!  It was a fun and frantic time and we enjoyed every minute of it.  The store looks a bit empty and the cooler is waiting to be filled in the morning.  Customers were shopping up until 2'oclock today and it was such a treat to help those last minute shoppers!  If I had it to do over again... I would!  I am already thinking and planning in my head for next year.... getting it all written down.  Now it's time for SPRING!!  This is my all time favorite season.  Fall is nice with the changing of the colors but it does not hold a candle to spring!


Spring is trees budding, flowers blooming, birds chirping, Easter, Mother's Day, planting in the flower beds, and soooo much more.  It is a time for new growth, rebirths, and new beginnings.  That is what I have decided this spring will be at the store.  A little bit of all of that.  We are already looking for new merchandise and have some new items arriving now.  We are going to make up fresh silk wreaths and arrangements to go on eBay for all the world to see.  The colors and the flowers this season will just bring that little store to life.  I am looking forward to all of that and more.  The ladies at the shop are so creative, I can't wait to see what they come up with for the spring season.  As a new owner each day is an adventure and I am loving the ride! 

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Forever Young ~ how to keep and care for your roses

 
Forever Young
The brand of red rose we have in our shop is called Forever Young.  After many years in the floral business, our designers have found this red rose to be one of the most beautiful and longest lasting of the roses.

Petal Number: About 75
Color: Red
Vase Life- 7 - 15 days.

Wow that is a lot of days!  Now remember some of those days may be in the cooler at the local flower shop.  We have had customers report that the roses they received lasted a little over 2 weeks.  So how do you get your rose to do that?  Good question, here are some tips.

1. Always keep your roses out of direct sunlight, heat, and cold drafts.  Sitting your vase of flowers on your TV or stereo is not a good idea.  The heat that is put out will actually heat the water and damage your flowers.  Also direct sunlight can also effect the life of your rose.   Watch out for those pesky winter drafts as well, they can chill your roses and shorten the life of your flower.

2.  Roses love to drink so make sure that they have plenty of clean fresh water.  If your florist provided flower food with the roses follow the directions on the package.  Most florists and even super markets sell flower food by packets that you can add to your vase to make your roses last days longer then water alone. 

3. It is best to re-cut your roses every other day.  As a florist we realize this may not always be the case so this is what we do suggest.  When you re-cut your roses do so in warm water.  Keep the stems under water and cut at a 45 degree angle.  This way when you place the rose back in the vase it has a nice wide mouth to drink in the fresh water.  Remove all leaves that will sit under the water level, these green leaves can bread bacteria in your water.  Rinse and clean your vase with a mild detergent and fill with tepid water (room temperature) and your flower food.  

If you follow these steps the roses you receive this Valentine's Day will provide you with days and days of enjoyment.  

For more on fresh flower care visit us here.

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