Super Saver Tips Continued!

For flower shops, Easter is over, and I have some super saver tips for you!

Flower shops tend to carry a lot of holiday themed flowers, containers, vases, and accessories. At Christmas time we have lots of winter containers, ornaments, and santas. Valentine's day calls for heart containers, chocolates, stuffed animals, and occasionally an overflow of roses. The lovely Easter holiday means we have lots of Easter lilies, bunny containers, and other themed items around the shop. Every holiday comes with some sort of theme!

This means those flower shops probably have some leftover holiday stock, and they will want to get rid of it. Bunnies are cute and all, but if we have them laying around the shop for no good reason, we tend to look (and feel!) a bit cluttered. If you're looking to be prepared for decorating your house next year, or want to celebrate a little later, it's a great idea to head to a flower shop a day or two after the chosen holiday and check out their sale selection! My mom and I do this every Christmas, and I think it's slowly becoming an every holiday tradition for me...

Sometimes it pays to be frugal :)

We Love Wedding Season!

To continue on our wedding-themed topic, today I am going to talk about the 2011 wedding season's color choice of the year... Honeysuckle!

For those of you unfamiliar with honeysuckle, it is a gorgeous shade of pink with hints of darker rose hues. It is very feminine and perfect for spring and summer weddings! You can expect to see it used in textiles, accessories, apparel, decor, attire, and of course FLOWERS!

When it comes to using honeysuckle colors in a flower bouquet you have lots of options. You can have the color stand alone with a simple monochromatic bouquet, or you can pair it with neutrals like whites and creams- perfect for the classical romantic garden wedding which is so very popular right now! Some flowers that can come in these shades are roses, gerbera daisies, lilies, and even tulips... and those are only a few examples!

Honeysuckle isn't just a color either. They are actual plants that springs beautiful flowers! The flowers are sweetly scented and trumpet shaped. They bloom primarily in early spring and last all summer. These plants do best outside, often being used as a ground cover. They also prefer lots of light and moderate water.

So set up your wedding consultation with us and we'll make sure you have the brightest and best wedding you could ever imagine <3

Wedding Season Starts with a Royal Theme

Celebrity gossip has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, and I know I'm not alone. The highly anticipated royal wedding is quickly approaching [April 29th], and what we're most excited about at Arapahoe Floral are, of course, the wedding flowers! With Kate's class and elegance, there are some pretty high expectations for the wedding bouquets. Not to mention, a whole new trend is likely to emerge from the royal theme and decor!

So I've been snooping and guessing. Assuming you are as excited as I am, I figured it would be fun to share it with you all! There have been reports that the flowers at the ceremony alone are going to be budgeted around $800,000. [Woah, right? If only we were all princesses...] The "experts" are saying that Kate will be carrying an all white bouquet. The flowers are also going to be locally grown. The only ones predicted to be flown in are fair-trade roses from Kenya, where the couple was engaged. Adorable and responsible; I would expect nothing less :)

I think we can make some educated guesses when it comes to flower specifics, as well. Kate's wedding flowers will most likely be of a very different style than Princess Diana's were [pictured], but they will probably be as extravagant, dramatic, and breathtaking. They will be spring flowers [seasonally appropriate]. White lilies are Kate's favorites, so I bet we will see those featured. Myrtle is traditional in royal wedding bouquets. Myrtle is a beautiful green sprig with a lovely fragrance. Other flowers that people are guessing to be present include gardenias, lilies of the valley, delphinium, and [like I previously mentioned] roses.

The cake will also be adorned with flowers! All will be symbolic. They will represent the four corners of the United Kingdom: the English rose, Scottish thistle, Irish shamrock, and the Welsh daffodil.

So future brides-to-be, get ready for some new and excited trends. Expect a follow up after the wedding and details are released :)

In Your Dreams!

I don't know about you, but I have some crazy dreams. [Don't worry, I won't make you read the specifics.] When it comes down to it, no one really knows the exact reason or meanings behind dreams, but recently Arapahoe Floral discovered some very interesting influences on them.

German researchers performed a smell-exposure experiment in 2008 which consisted of three sleeping groups. While the first group slept they were exposed to rotten-egg smells. The second group was flushed with the scent of roses, and the third group was the control group therefore they were not introduced to any smells while sleeping. All of these people were roused and asked to describe their dreams. The incredible conclusion, you ask?

Good smells = good dreams! Smell significantly affects the emotional coloration of one's dreams. The sweet and lovely smell of roses lead to sweet dreams. The unpleasant smells resulted in a more than average unpleasant dream experience, often creating nightmares for the participants.

Our conclusion from the researches conclusion, you ask, again? Flowers! If you want sweet dreams and a good night of sleep, keep a nice, fresh, and fragrant bouquet by your bed! I would recommend roses, as they used in the experiment, but also stock, oriental [aka stargazer] lilies, carnations, and eucalyptus because they also have lovely scents about them.

So, avid readers, it really is science. Let Arapahoe Floral will tuck you in with some of our freshest flowers, and let your dreams come true :)

Easter is Coming!

Easter is approaching and we at Arapahoe Floral are getting ready! You might not automatically associate flower shops with Easter, but one of the most prominent Easter symbols is the Easter lily [pictured].

Easter lilies represent purity, virtue, innocence, grace, hope, and life. They are also directly related to Easter; tradition has it that these white lilies grew where Christ’s tears and sweat fell in the Garden of Gethsemane after His agony. At churches during the Easter season lilies are used to decorate altars and crosses, reminding everyone, through their symbolism, of hope, virtue, and innocence.

Easter lilies are fairly easy to take care of. They like indirect light and moderately cool temperatures. Make sure they avoid direct light, drafts, and excessive heat. Keep their soil moist, but not over watered. When you do water them, make sure the water drains out; don’t leave them in foil or in a pot that retains all the water!

We carry Easter lilies in a few different forms. We have them in stems, so you can buy them individually or have us put them in an arrangement for you. However, around Easter we carry them in plant form. This means you can give them as a gift, keep them in your home, and replant them outside so they can bloom again in the future.