Behind the Blooms
It IS easy being green!
Thursday, October 30, 2008



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!
Posted by Manny Gonzales
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Fall Artichoke Arrangement
Friday, October 24, 2008

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!.

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Posted by Manny Gonzales
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Back From SAF Conference
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

So I just returned from the Society of American Florist convention in West Palm Beach, Florida. Actually it was a couple of weeks ago, but upon return my laptop had a small virus that eventually became a total meltdown of my hard drive. Lost email addresses, pass codes, and other stuff but managed to keep my documents and financials so it could have been worse. So, I've been going "old school" in the office the last couple of weeks. I felt like Ben Franklin scratching out my work with a quill pen or something! I'm back to the digital age now. Funny, though, I may have been getting more done the old school way.


The SAF Conference was great. It was a meeting of the industry's best floral professionals. Growers, wholesalers, retailers and designers all together in one place. Generally I find the floral industry to be fragmented and somewhat of a half step behind other industries. These folks however are very smart, professional and inspiring. Real leaders.


A couple years ago I was honored to be invited to serve on the Floral Management Committee. This committee meets a couple times a year to discuss our industry's leading publication, Floral Management Magazine. The photo is of our committee in sesson. It's lead by FM editor Kate Penn. We discuss the magazine's recent performance and future path. Kate is someone very special; smart, creative, passionate and efficient. She "gets things done", a trait I really admire. We had fun and sometimes heated discussions about the floral industry. All good stuff!


I could go on and on about the conference, but I found one aspect of it as truly important. We hear a lot of doom and gloom everyday. The war, credit problems, billion dollar bail outs, plummeting stock prices, global recessions and more are all on our minds. But when I hear good folks with great ideas and the energy of optimism, I know all the bad stuff is temporary. I have a lot of faith in our country and more importantly the folks who live in it. Those attendees at the SAF conference came from all over, with different backgrounds, experiences and challenges. Yet they all had one thing in common; they are going to be successful. They are going to do their job well, make their customers happy, and build a great business. Everything else is just details.


It really inspired me to go out there and keep slaying dragons. Thanks to SAF for the opportunity and to my fellow SAF attendees for the stoke!
Posted by Manny Gonzales
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