Behind the Blooms
School Is In Session
Thursday, April 2, 2009



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 The design is way out of date and there were some serious flaws with it.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.

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Posted by Manny Gonzales
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"Flowers for Food" Fundraiser
Thursday, December 18, 2008






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.

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Posted by Manny Gonzales
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