We have a wonderful new line of umbrellas available at the shops
in colors and styles brighten any rainy day. They may be designed to keep
you dry, but our umbrellas are making a splash!
A profusion of pink
roses bending ragged in the rain speaks to me of all gentleness and its
enduring. ~The Collected Later Poems of William Carlos Williams
It is not raining
to me, It's raining daffodils; In every dimpled drop I see Wild flowers on
distant hills. ~Robert Loveman
It will never rain
roses. When we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses. ~George Eliot
I miss it if I’m not in it for any length of
time; I don’t feel comfortable. I want trees and I want frequent rain.
~Murray Morgan
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,
you gotta put up with the rain. ~Dolly Parton
To see more great umbrella styles, flowers and more, stop in one of our stores today!
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 125th
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 125th 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
byAllmusic 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.”
As part of our 125th
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
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… o4% of
the time an adult intervenes, o11%
of the time a peer intervenes, o85%
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
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!
We have a wonderful new line of umbrellas available at the shops
in colors and styles brighten any rainy day. They may be designed to keep
you dry, but our umbrellas are making a splash! 
