Philadelphia Florist Shows Their Swag, Listening to the Language of Flowers and Following Their (Dub)steps

PHILADELPHIA FLORIST SHOWS THEIR SWAG, LISTENING TO THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS AND FOLLOWING THEIR (DUB)STEPS – Stein Your Florist Co. Keeps Current by Dancing Dubstep While Celebrating Their Milestone 125^th Anniversary

Belardo shows some smooth moves
listening to the language of flowers.

December 9, 2012 (Philadelphia, PA) Stein Your Florist Co. may be as old as an antique, celebrating their 125^th anniversary this year, but they are definitely keeping up with the times with a new hit YouTube video featuring Stein’s employee and popper Marc Belardo in a dubstep freestyle to the tune of “Saxon” by Chase and Status.

 

Belardo asks his boss, Stein’s owener/operator Patrick Kelly, “is it true flowers speak a language of their own?” to which he replies “Sure, all you have to do is listen,” the beat hits and Belardo shows off some smooth moves and fancy footwork across the slate floors of Stein’s Burlington, NJ location, Steins at Sunset Florist.

 

Belardo asks his boss, Patrick Kelly, if it's true that
flowers speak a language of their own.

Stein’s drew their inspiration for their latest video, following their hit Gangnam Style and Chanel No. 5 parodies as well as a poignant anti-bullying PSA, from the music and dance craze Dubstep. Dubstep is a type of electronic dance music described by Allmusic as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals." It has become wildly popular in the US in the last few years, heard in collaborations with mainstream artists such as Cee Lo Green and Rihanna and paired with amazing dances on shows like So You Think You Can Dance.

 

Kelly and his staff are always keeping their eyes on the latest trends in music, dance, fashion, and all of pop culture, and then they pair those trends with flowers. “Flowers are an amazing and wonderful part of our world and we love to couple them with whatever is trending to keep them top-of-mind, introduce them to people in a fun and innovative way, and make them relatable to all people,” Kelly says. “We’re receiving great responses, especially from younger generations that appreciate our fresh perspectives on the traditions of floral gifting.”

 

View Stein Your Florist Co.’s latest video “Dubstep Stein Style” and others on their YouTube channel.

 

365 Days of Floral Education - Days 21-25

As part of our 125^th Anniversary celebration at Stein Your Florist Co. we are sharing a year of floral education, November 1, 2012 thru October 31, 2013. Each day we will post something new on our Facebook page to share our knowledge of our favorite things, flowers and plants and we'll be updating our blog every 5 days or so. No need for pencils and notebooks, just sharing some simple lessons in floristry.

 

African Violet

Day 21 - A healthy African violet will bloom for nine months and then rest for three. Despite their delicate appearance, they are not difficult to care for. Keep their soil moist to dry and allow it to dry out between waterings to encourage blooming. Because water can damage their leaves, always water them from the bottom by placing the container in a tray of water. Allow the plant to absorb the water for about 30 minutes. Place your African violet in moderate to bright, indirect light, and avoid exposing them to sudden temperature changes. Pinch off wilted blossoms and leaves to encourage blooming, and fertilize monthly or when the plant is actively growing new leaves and buds.

 

Areca Palm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 22 - Areca palms are generally hardy plants and prefer medium to bright light. Keep their soil moist but not soggy. If you allow the soil to become too dry, areca palms wilt dramatically, but it's easy to revive them with just a little water (though some of their fronds may turn yellow). Trim back palm fronds that become damaged or turn brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spathiphyllum

Day 23 - With dark green leaves that can be more than a foot long, the spathiphyllum plant, commonly known as a peace lily, produces hood-shaped white blooms, and in some cases, can grow up to 4 feet tall (although many varieties are developed to be compact). These plants can wilt easily, so it's important to keep the soil moist, providing good drainage and emptying excess water from trays or saucers to prevent their roots from rotting. If your plant does begin to wilt it will typically perk right back up after being watered. Display them in a spot with bright, indirect light. Low light slows their blooming cycle, and too much direct sunlight may cause burn spots on their leaves. Wipe their leaves with a damp cloth to remove dust.

 

Pollen

Day 24 – What’s up with plant allergies? Allergyware.comreports one of the main reasons certain plants and flowers effect people with allergies stems from the plant's gender. Monoecious plants are ones that have separate male and female flowers living on the same plant, such as a corn plant. Because the male and female flowers are separated, the males, which contain the pollen, must send the pollen through the air to fertilize the female flowers, in order to make more blooms. Although the pollen is meant to be delivered to the female, some bits get sent out into the air, causing people to have allergies. Plants that are dioecious, that have either all male or female flowers also rely on wind travel to pollinate and create more blooms. Allergy sufferers may want to instead look for what is referred to as "perfect flowers," or ones that contain both female and male parts, like the rose. This is the best option as these flowers don't need to use air travel to pollinate.



Pet Friendly Bachelor's Buttons

Day 25 - Here is a brief list of common pet friendly flowers and plants:

· Common Name| Scientific name
· African daisy | Arctotis stoechadifolia
· African violet | Saintpaulia spp.
· Alyssum | Allysum spp.
· Bachelors buttons | Centaureaa cyanus
· Begonia | Begonia spp.
· Celosia | Celosia spp.
· Common Snapdragon | Antirrhinum majus
· Easter Daisy | Townsendia sevicea
· Orchids | Barbrodia, Sophronitis, etc.
· Peruvian lily, Brazilian lily | Alstroemeria spp.
· Rose | Rosa spp.
~Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, DVM, PhD, DABVT, DABT
Vice President and Medical Director
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

Stop Bullying!

Almost everyone has been affected by bullying in some way. Whether you have been bullied yourself, have been a bully, or have witnessed bullying.

 

It is an epidemic that is sweeping our nation, causing pain, sorrow, and in the worst circumstances, death. Suicide as a result of bullying, known as bullicide, is an unfortunate reality that we hear about all too often on the news and in our communities.

 

October is Bullying Prevention and Awareness Month, so we thought it would be the perfect time to remind everyone that bullying is a real problem and it is not ok.

As in all things that we do, we always look to flowers to guide us, so we used a traditional technique for designing floral set pieces and created a floral plaque to convey our message:  Stop Bullying.

We then invited Stein’s employees, family, friends and neighbors to hold our sign and say something inspirational about bullying.

 

 

This created a rather touching and inspirational video. We hope you enjoy it and that you do your part to end the cycle of bullying, this month and always. Speak up, stand up, and don't let anyone be bullied.

 

Some statistics about bullying:

·         1 out of every 4 teens are bullied.
·         As many as 160,000 students stay home on any given
          day because they’re afraid of being bullied.
·         1 out of every 5 kids admits to being a “bully” or doing
          some bullying.
·         282,000 students are physically attacked in
          secondary schools each month.
·         80% of the time an argument with a bully will end up
          in a physical fight.
·         On the playground, a child is bullied every 7 minutes…
   o   4% of the time an adult intervenes,
   o   11% of the time a peer intervenes,
       o   85% of the time no one intervenes.
·         97% of middle schoolers are bullied while online.
·          33% of students have heard another student threaten
          to kill someone.


When we visited our neighbors at the convenient store we caught this young man off guard with our large sign and camera. When we told him what we were doing he was so moved that he opened up and said that he too had been bullied and would be happy to be in our video. Thank you for helping us spread this important message.

For more information about bullying prevention  visit

http://www.stopbullying.gov

The Humanization of Flowers




Statice

A few days ago we found a bag of googly eyes here at the shop.  You know, the little white plastic disks with the smaller black disk trapped under clear lens that jiggles and shakes when they move about.


Carnations

 

 

Sunflower

 

No idea why we have them… we’re not making a bunch of pipe cleaner animals or anything here!

So we started sticking them on all kinds of silly things, our water cooler, a lamp, and then flowers… that’s when things got ridiculous.

Antherium

 

 

 

Before we knew it we had eyebombed our own store. From roses to liatris, almost every flower in the shop had been humanized.

 

Hydrangea

 

We set up our video camera and about 45 minutes of silly unscripted floral puppetry ensued.





Pom Pon

We always thought our crew was a bit wacky, but now we know for sure!

 




Heliconia

 

 

 

 

Some of our "performance" was slightly reminiscent of the talking flowers of Alice in Wonderland (without the lovely singing), but most was just absurd.



Calla Lilies

 

 

 

 

  

Iris

We’d like to say that no flowers were harmed in the making of this film, but that would be a lie. Our laughing orange lily didn’t make it (we didn't even get a picture of the poor guy)…

 

while twirling he lost 3 of his 6 petals, but he shall be forever immortalized in the archives of You Tube.



Rainbow Rose

 

 

And to think this was all part of a day’s work ;-P




Mum

 

 

Check out our video and let us know what you think!

Fuji Mum

Protea

Lisianthus



Liatris

 

Spring is Upon Us

By Jessi Rose - Stein Your Florist Co.

One of my favorite times of the year is finally here, Spring! I love Spring, for it brings us tons of beautiful flowers and gorgeous weather to enjoy them. With a warm breeze caressing the air and the sun in the sky, we can all spend more time outside in nature, before Summer’s hot temperatures drive us back indoors to our air conditioning. It is time to start forgetting the cold days of winter, and start warming up for Spring-time fun!

My most beloved Spring-time holiday is Easter, for all of the fun flowers that come with it. Lilies, daisies, azaleas, daffodils, chrysanthemums, tulips, and hyacinths… the list goes on and on. Though many of these flowers can be found at your local florist year round, they wait until the vernal days are upon us to being to show themselves in our backyards and public gardens. Their popularity peaks for Easter celebrations and we gather them from nature, bringing them into our homes. Centerpieces grace family dinner tables for holiday feasts and we decorate our houses with our favorites of these delicate blossoms to enhance Spring-time gatherings with loved ones. 

To extend the temporary beauty of Spring blooms I recommend starting a garden. While a cut flower’s life may be all too short, live plants growing and thriving will share their beauty much longer. Though this will require a bit more work than picking up a bunch of blooms from your local flower shop, the results will be lovely. One of my absolute favorite parts of Spring is seeing my garden come to life with white azaleas, red cosmos, pink begonia, yellow daffodils, purple hyacinths, orange gerbera daisies - a rainbow of blooms. There are endless possibilities when it comes to your personal garden, because you choose what flowers are grown. You can have an endless amount of flowers all through the season, and even through Summer. Take time to plan your garden well and you will be treated to lush blooms until the first frost.

Spring is a wonderful season when it comes to the beauty of the great outdoors. We watch Winter’s dreary trees transform into luscious verdant vegetation. Through the environment’s annual metamorphosis we are able to observe nature’s beauty as plants grow and blossom into the flowers we know and love. Before the, all too brief, days of Spring are taken over by the heat of Summer use this time to enjoy the floral bounty and the warm weather. Get outside as the sun glows longer, and the flowers grow bigger, and most of all just remember... to have a happy Spring!

The Joy of Flowers

Flowers make the moment. They set the mood, set the tone, create an ambiance, accent décor, bring warmth, bring style, bring life, add vibrance, add fragrance, evoke joy, excite passions, provide comfort, and are perfect for every occasion and for no occasion at all. It was these qualities that helped us develop our company slogan:  “Flowers make the moment… Let us make a moment for you, at Stein Your Florist Co.” A moment enthralled with the joy of flowers is what we are all about.

We are so excited to have started our blog, The Enchanted Petal! To think, 125 years ago we delivered flowers by horse and buggy…  Back then the word “blog” was better served as an onamonapia for the buggy wheels over the city’s cobble stone streets. Everything was hand written, carbon paper was our copy machine, and there were almost as many papers around as there were flowers! Years passed, flowers flourished, and we finally had our first computer system. It consisted of big clunky monitors with buzzing black screens with bright green text. Coming from such primitive beginnings, we’re sure that our company founders, Abraham and Bertha Stein, couldn’t even dream of being able to share their love of flowers like this! From our website, to Facebook and Twitter, and finally this blog… It’s the closest we’ve come to giving a flower to everyone in the world.

We hope you enjoy this blog. We’ll be featuring the latest in floral trends, old traditions, tips, and designs. We’ll share new ways to incorporate flowers and plants into your home, your office, and your life. We’ll share our stories and the emotions of flowers, the latest happenings at our flower shops, and hundreds of beautiful and inspiring photos.

It was Beverly Nichols who said “To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.” We couldn’t agree more. We are fortunate to be overcome by flowers every day; their scent, their beauty, even the simple feeling of their cool petals in our hands. It is the overwhelming joy that flowers and plants bring to us that we wish to share with you.

Welcome to The Enchanted Petal, a moment enthralled with the joy of flowers, by Stein Your Florist Co.