Wedding Wednesday

A bridal cascade of purple and lavender
blooms by Stein Your Florist Co.

Here comes the bride!! 

Being in the floral business since 1887 we have seen more happy couples than we can count! From traditional to contemporary and everything in between we have designed custom bouquets for a myriad of wedding styles and themes.

Today is, what we like to call, Wedding Wednesday and our bouquet of the week is this bridal cascade of purple and lavender blooms. The bouquet features lavender roses with accents of purple larkspur, lavender lisianthus, purple statice, novi belgi asters, and white Queen Anne’s lace.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Lavender Roses

Purple Larkspur

Lisianthus

For the Love of Cats

Shop Cat Poly on the Green Roof at Stein Your Florist Co.

We love our furry feline friends! They are wonderful companions without the over neediness of their canine counterparts. Our shop cats, Cat and Poly, make our work days a joy and remind us to play, stretch, relax, gaze out the window and enjoy the occasional catnap or two.

Gerbera daisies are non-toxic to cats and dogs.

Cats are the furry part of our families that make our houses homes. They tend to be curious, eager to take a nibble or two (or many many more) on that beautiful bouquet of flowers your beau just brought you, so it is important that when you’re enjoying your flowers and plants they can be enjoyed by your kitties too!

Carnations are toxic to dogs and cats,
but they make a lovely collar.

Roses are non-toxic to cats and dogs.

So how will you know if a particular plant or flower is potentially toxic? Thanks to the internet we can check these things out in a flash! We recommend starting with the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center website where you can find a searchable list of both toxic and non-toxic plants for both cats and dogs. It’s best to know the scientific name as well as the common name of the plants or flowers when doing your pet homework, since sometimes multiple plants with different characteristics may share the same common name.

Coxcomb are non-toxic to cats and dogs.

Many plants that your cats may munch of will cause nothing worse than a little digestive upset, but some may cause more serious health issues. Some common flowers and plants that are toxic to both cats and dogs are:  aloe, amaryllis, azaleas, baby’s breath, begonias, bird of paradise, and tulips. Members of the Lilium genus, including asiatic, casablanca, Easter, and stargazer lilies, can cause serious kidney problems (and possibly even death) if ingested by cats.

Phillip is ready for date night with
his top hat and non-toxic rose.

So what is a pet friendly bouquet? A bouquet consisting of plants and flowers that are not considered to be toxic to pets (primarily cats and dogs) of course. Flowers such as roses, African daisies, orchids and most ferns and plants such as bromeliads, African violets and Christmas cactus are non-toxic (although any ingested plant material might occasionally cause mild upset) and would be suitable as to have in households with pets.

Here is a brief list of "pet friendly" flowers and plants courtesy of Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, Vice President and Medical Director of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

·        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. (Not a true lily, so it’s a great alternative!)

·         Rose | Rosa spp.

Chrysanthemums are toxic to dogs and cats,
but ok for stuffed dinosaurs.

So love your cats and your flowers too! Be sure to seek out or create “pet friendly” bouquets and plants when looking for something special for yourself or when sending a gift to a pet owner. Call us at 800-887-4013 and we can help you in your cat friendly quest. Meow!

Cecilia is catching up on some of her cat reading.

Dean Cat is ordering flowers online from his favorite florist,
Stein Your Florist Co.!

  

Roes and orchids are feline friendly, but avoid chrysanthemums.

These kitties love flowers. Roses and liatris are thier friends, but avoid tasting
the chrysanthemums, solidego, and delphinium.

Paintings of flowers are always feline friendly!

Flower photos are always safe too!

Psychic cat Cecilia sees bad things in your pet's future if they much on
these blooms! Avoid hydrangea and carnations around your cats and dogs.

Penelope is pleased that she's safe to sample these rose petals.

Avoid stock, aka gillyflower, around your cats and dogs.
Find more cats on our Facebook page!

Look, but don't much on chrysanthemums, calla lilies, and carnations you curious cats!
The orchids are pet friendly.

Mom, may I taste the roses?
Yes you may, roses are feline friendly.

Orchids look like a tasty snack... they are pet friendly after all.

Zinnias are pet friendly!

Look, but don't taste the Lucky Bamboo samurai cat,
they are toxic.

Rose Petals are pet friendly!

Feiline Fred isn't too sure about this bouquet...
Some of the flowers are pet friendly, some are not.
Call us at 800-887-4013 and we can help you create an
arrangement that is perfect for pets!

A collar of daisies is all the rage in feline fashion, but they are for
looking, not eating, as they are toxic to dogs and cats.

The Dog Days of Summer

Great Dane Elliott enjoying a wee bouquet of blooms.

It’s hot. The sun beats down from a cloudless sky through stagnant humid air, falling upon human, animal, plant and the inanimate alike. The streets absorb the heat to the point that the tar becomes almost fluid and if a car drove by it would surely find itself stuck. As you stand stationary you feel beads of sweat form and roll down your face and back; any movement would surely cause a sweat so profuse it would seep through your clothes leaving you wet, embarrassed and somehow even hotter still. The air is so thick you could practically chew on it if it wasn’t choking you. Vision clouding waves of heat fall into view, distorting the landscape of motionless blades of grass and unmoving trees full and heavy with summer’s bounty. Squirrels, birds, feral cats and that fat backyard groundhog you nicknamed Sebastian long for any kind relief as they struggle just to breathe, and you swear they somehow know about air conditioning and are jealous when they see humans retreat indoors with their beloved chosen pets. The sun is a relentless furnace with no breeze to calm its fiery breath. It’s just... So. Damn. Hot. These are the dog days of summer.

Poodle Winston couldn't be happier with his yellow ranunculus!

We are in the thick of it! The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. We thought the best way to pass this time would be to pair some of our favorite pooches with pretty petals!

Miniature poodle Sherman is celebrating with flowers!

The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major or Great Dog.

Layla enjoyed her visit to Steins!

The Ancient Greeks thought that Sirius's emanations could affect dogs adversely, making them behave abnormally during the "dog days," the hottest days of the summer. Their excessive panting in hot weather was thought to place them at risk of desiccation and disease.

Those cats are interfering with my flowers!

According to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria, 1813, the Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."

If you can tolerate an outdoor picnic during the dog days 
of summer, don't forget to pack your poodle!

Here at Stein Your Florist we have a mixed bag of feelings about the Dog Days of Summer… Some of us love it, enjoying every second they can in the heat, reveling in a visit to the beach, basking in the sun’s rays and holding joyous backyard barbecues full of levity and fireworks…

Leo loves his rainbow roses!

Others not so much, longing for the days of winter, stating “those snowstorms weren’t so bad,” lamenting over how hot it’s going to be when they get in their cars to go home, complaining about their summer wardrobe and emphatically stating that the flowers just don’t like it!

That's one patriotic pooch!

Like it or lump it, it is what it is. The Dog Days of Summer are here, but autumn’s relief will arrive soon enough and we may find that we miss summer’s verdant hues and that devastating feeling of passing out as soon as you step outside.

Elliott is looking good in his floral anklet!

Sherman is stylin' in his collar of black-eyed Susans!

It's hot out! Stay inside and pamper your pooch with 
peonies and a PETicure (wow, that was a cheesy pun even for us).

Jah Rastafari!

For those hot summer weddings when you 
ask, "why didn't we get married in the spring?"

Art in Bloom 2015

"Prayer Rug 1" by Karen S. Davies interpreted by
Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

The Cheltenham Art Center once again invited our floral artists to their annual Art in Bloom, Floral Interpretations of Paintings event. The event is a fundraiser benefiting many of the wonderful programs that take place all year at the art center. Six of our talented designers took to their workbenches to create their floral versions of beautiful paintings by local artists.

Stein Your Florist Co. owner/operator and designer Patrick Kelly chose to interpret “Prayer Rug One” by Karen S. Davies. Patrick chose a heavy stone container as the base of his arrangement and added matching pebbles to the surface of the pedestal to accent the dark blacks and grays of the painting. All the flora is dried and preserved, including:  millet, hydrangea, Spanish moss, branches, grasses, berries, seed pods, limonium, and heather. The dried materials have a wonderful textural look, which complimented the painting’s dimensional qualities perfectly. The painting’s artist was so impressed with Patrick’s interpretation that she made a donation and bought the piece herself! She said she simply couldn’t picture the painting without it! 

"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Patrick also hosted a live demonstration during the event, designing his interpretation of “Chaos in Purple/Blue” by Norman Soong for the attendees. He created a chaotic purple/blue design of his own with delphinium, agapanthus, statice, and novi belgi asters, while also picking up on the painting’s flecks of orange with hypericum berries. The arrangement is seated in a classic cobalt blue vase and accented by a bit of ming fern. The painting’s artist recorded the entire design process and the arrangement was awarded to the night’s lucky raffle winner, who was thrilled to take the floral creation home with her!

"Avelthorpe" by Dera Kapnek interpreted by
George Emberger of Stein Your Florist Co.

Stein Your Florist Co. designer George Emberger chose to interpret “Avelthorpe” by Debra Kapnek. He said was drawn to the trees in the painting and created a dark forest of his own with white branches and deep blue delphinium with pops of golden yellow solidego asters and wispy accents of bear grass. He completed his forest floor with sheet moss and dark gray river rocks. George was awarded Best in Show for Fun and Fantastic Design for his interpretation.

"Love Lies Bleeding" by Gail Fox interpreted by
Jessica Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location and designer Jessica Kelly chose to interpret “Love Lies Bleeding” by Gail Fox. Unintimidated by taking on such a large painting (it was more than five feet wide), Jessica chose a large clear glass cylinder for her design, which she filled with stones and soil, wanting to display the unseen “underground” layers. In the center of her arrangement she used red ginger, purple liatris, and birds of paradise to capture the colors and the height of the painting. At the base of her design she planted succulents and tropical plants and accented them with cut tree fern, ming fern and hypericum berries. Jessica’s interpretation was purchased by one of the attendees.

"Baggage" by Nicholas Burns interpreted by
Jennifer Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Jennfer Kelly, Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location, head of social media and designer, chose to interpret ”Baggage” by Nicholas Burns. Jennifer wanted to capture painting’s theme baggage, so she used several vintage suitcases to stack around the design as well as to create her arrangements in. To capture the flow of the painting she used a bundle of curly willow, draping foliages like hanging eucalyptus, springeri and Thai leaves and clusters of raffia. The flowers used are delphinium, solidego, hydrangea, spray roses, hanging amaranthus, white agapanthus, calla lilies, a pink antherium, and bird’s nest fern. She accented her bouquet with newspaper, which was also present in the original painting. Jennifer was awarded Best in Show for Mixed Media Design.

"Your Majesty" by Edwina Brennan interpreted by
William Kirk of Stein Your Florist Co.

Floral designer William Kirk interpreted “Your Majesty” by Edwina Brennan. William said that the painting reminded him of his own, sometimes chaotic, way of thinking and he thought the painting suited his design style perfectly. He choose bright blooms of bells of Ireland, dendrobium orchids, blue roses, lisianthus, and miniature carnations to pick up on the painting’s colors and captured the black swirling strokes of the painting with rings of dried grapevine. The painting’s artist was there to see William’s interpretation in person and she was touched by his vision.

"Rhythm" by Gerry Tuten interpreted by
Carl Mishinski of Stein Your Florist Co.

Our final representation from Stein YourFlorist Co. was created by apprentice designer Carl Mishinski who interpreted Rhythm by Gerry Tuten. Carl built a freestanding armature on which to create his design from Guatemalan river cane. He envisioned the painting as a tropical rainforest and covered his structure with Thai leaves, hanging eucalyptus, hanging amaranthus, leather leaf fern, ming fern, blue and black roses, and king protea. Carl is also a graffiti artist so he called upon those skills to tint some of his flora to mimic the colors of the painting. His work was one of the largest pieces at the show and its’ impressive stature created quite the buzz!

Our designers have been invited back to participate in the CCA’s event once again next spring. Two weeks prior we will draw for spots to select from the art on display and plan our designs. We are looking forward to another inspirational affair and we hope you will join us.

Follow updates for next year's event by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. 

"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
live by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.