7 Fun activities with flowers

It's summer! Summer means swimming, playing outside until the streetlights come on, and roasting marshmallows over a campfire. Especially for children, summer is a time of freedom and exploration. Summer is also a great time for some family bonding. 

If you are looking for fun things to do with your children, here is a list of fun activities that you can do together:

1.) Grow a flower- Using a Dixie cup, and some soil, plant a seed or two in the soil. Poke several holes in the bottom so that water can drain. Water a little each day and see how long it takes for the flower to sprout.

2.) Visit a flower shop- Take a field trip to your local flower shop to look at all the flowers and plants that they have. Ask the florists and staff about care tips for flowers at home. Buy some loose flowers like daisies, carnations, alstromeria to take with you!

3.) Make an arrangement- After your trip to the flower shop you and your children can make arrangements! You will be surprised to see what neat arrangement children come up with.

4.) Botanical Gardens trip- Take another field trip to the Toledo Botanical Gardens. Explore all the different types of garden areas and see how they use different plants and flowers in each one.

5.) Coffee Filter Flowers- This fun art project is lots of fun but probably best done outside. Using markers, color lightly on the coffee filters. Then lightly moisten the filters which will cause the colors to run together! As you let them dry in the sun, take green construction paper to make a stem and some leaves. then glue the two halves together. Voila! You can put the flowers on the refrigerator, back door or on their walls.

6.) Magic Flowers- This takes a little time. Take bud vases or clear glasses filled with water. put in a few drops of food coloring of choice, then, putting a fresh cut at the bottom at an angle, stick a white carnation or daisy chrysanthemum in the vase. Kids will be amazed to see the flower change color as it drinks water.

7.) Art Museum trip- For centuries artists like Claude Monet and Georgia O'Keeffe have been inspired by nature and flowers. Take a visit to the Toledo Museum of Art and meander through the galleries. Look at the works of world class artists and discuss how they perceive nature. Then at home children can create their own artworks based on nature and flowers.

I hope that this gives you some fun ideas for summer activities. I have at one point or another done all of these activities and I had a lot of fun. If you try any of them, let me know how your experience went down in the comments. (And as always, you can look at my inspiration board for this blog.)

Summertime!

I know it is already the middle of June but I can not believe that it is already summer. Maybe it is because it is unseasonably chilly yet, here in Ohio. Maybe it is because I haven't really done many of the summery things yet. Maybe it is because the summer growers haven't started making their rounds yet. I don't know but I am having a hard time registering this time as "summer." But summer means quite a few things when you work in the flower business

Summer in the flower business means weddings. We have lots of weddings coming up and June is a very popular time for weddings since it is perfect for outdoor locations.  It is also a good time for business parties.

Another sign that it is summer is having our local growers return. we have several local growers that are able to come all year round because they have hot houses to grow flowers in. We also have several that still have plantings outside who start coming towards the end of June. It is so much fun to look through their vans and pick out stunning dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias, and so much more. Sometimes they even bring vegetables by. It is so great to finally be able to get summer flowers that are grown right here in the Toledo area.

Summer also means that garden flowers are out. People who stop by the store look for interesting vases or for tips on how to arrange flowers at home. People are also looking for sunflowers. Sunflowers seem to be one of the most popular flowers of the season. They are bright and cheerful and come in various sizes, shades, and styles.

Summer is truly an interesting time to work in a flower shop. There is so much to see and do. There are so many interesting flowers that are coming in. I think there is so much for us to look forward to!

What summertime thing are you looking forward to the most?

The Earth Laughs in Flowers

One of my favorite quotes for the Flower Shop to use for newsletters, Facebook, emails, etc., is

"[The] earth laughs in flowers."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote says everything that I feel about my job. Flowers are fun, festive, and spunky. Most of the people that I have delivered flowers to have been excited to get an arrangement. They look joyful and pleased that someone has thought of them.

I agree with Mr.Emerson. If flowers were to be any sort of expression of the earth, they would be laughter. Pure, exuberant, throw-your-head-back, wildly musical laughter. Flowers are great that way. They are care free and spirited.

White and purple Calla lilies. 

My favorite color hydrangea: White!

Mixed arrangement: a semi paved.

Well we are currently in the process of rearranging the store. It's time to give the store a face-lift now that it is June. I will hopefully have some pictures of all the awesome tweaks and lifts that we are doing in the store. As always, you can take a look at the Pinterest board that goes along with this post by clicking here.

If you could only have one flower in an arrangement what would it be?