Bollywood Fun

Bridesmaids of a traditional Indian wedding
with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.

We love that in the floral industry everyone is our customer. People from all cultures, backgrounds and walks of life enjoy the beauty of flowers and incorporate them into their lives.

We’ve had the recent pleasure of working with more of our kin from the Indian community. Their culture is rich and beautiful and flowers charmingly represent the country’s unity in the form of diversity, liveliness and generosity.

Bride & Groom of a traditional Indian wedding 
with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.

A single flower or a bunch of flowers can gladden the mind and confer prosperity. In various Indian traditions flowers have been associated with the Creator, religion, worship and with innumerable myths and legends across history. Similarly, flowers have forever remained an integral part of everyday life and culture.

We embraced the beauty of India and the fun of the Bollywood movie scene in some of our recent floral designs. We strive to represent all cultural communities in our work and love the wonderful opportunities we are granted to share our designs with the world!

We adorned our lovely model with flowers for her hair and wrist. We choose colorful assorted blooms to represent the fun and levity associated with Bollywood films.

The brightly colored sari she’s wearing, as well as, the blue sari with strands of 14 karat gold spun through it that is draped over the small table, were both given to us by a customer who had traveled to India. 

Her jewelry is authentic Indian jewelry, for sale in our stores, that was brought to us from India by the owner of one of our neighboring businesses when he traveled home to visit family.

We filled our pretty peacock pottery with stock flowers, liatris, spray roses, stargazer lilies, iris, tuberose and delphinium with a tail of peacock feathers. In Hindu mythology the peacock is a sacred bird, known as Mayura, and is associated with a number of gods and deities. 

We look forward to continuing to work with our diverse community and learning more about the world’s cultures and their beauty.

Flowers make the moment... 

Let us make a moment for you, at Stein Your Florist Co.

365 Days of Floral Education - Days 66-70

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.

Day 66 – With a history that dates back to 15th century B.C., chrysanthemum mythology is filled with a multitude of stories and symbolism. Named from the Greek prefix “chrys-” meaning golden (its original color) and “-anthemion,” meaning flower, years of artful cultivation have produced a full range of colors, from white to purple to red. Daisy-like with a typically yellow center and a decorative pompon, chrysanthemums symbolize optimism and joy.

Day 67 – Resembling a miniature lily, alstroemeria, often called the Peruvian Lily or Lily of the Incas, was named after its discoverer, Baron Claus von Alstromer, a Swedish baron who collected the seeds on a trip to Spain in 1753. Today, this popular flower can be found in a range of colors – from white to golden yellow, orange to apricot, pink to red, lavender and purple. Symbolizing friendship and devotion, the alstroemeria’s leaves grow upside down, with the leaf twisting as it grows out from the stem, so that the bottom is facing upwards. It symbolizes friendship and devotion.

Day 68 – This is silver Kochia, a cultivar of the Kochia scrophularia of the Negev desert in Israel, which is itself a tumbleweed, that many claim to be the mythical burning bush of Hebrew folk-lore. When in cultivation this invasive weed is quite attractive, turning bright red in the fall, which when viewed with a setting sun illuminating it could easily be a “burning bush”. However, the cultivar we use in the floral industry is a silvery-gray color, with erect stiff stems and felt-like foliage. Kochia is a useful and hardy foliage with good architectural qualities. Leaves and stems should be turgid and gray-white, neither blackening nor yellowing. Stems should be cut cleanly and crisply and placed immediately into water. Any leaves that will be submerged should be removed. Its vase life is 7-10 days.

Day 69 - The most commonly used delphinium variety is the delphinium staphisagria, which is thought to be helpful in curing diseases or irritations of the reproductive system, as well as aiding in mental and acute respiratory ailments. These flowers may also be used to repel pests such as lice, and are thought to have a curative effect on scorpion stings. The delphinium flower is said to represent big-heartedness and the essence of divine qualities. They are also meant to symbolize levity, fun and a general sense of joy.

Day 70 - Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. They are found in diverse habitats throughout much of Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand. Many of the orchids that we import are from Thailand, where there are several major growers of a variety of orchids including dendrobiums, cymbidiums, phalaenopsis, vanda, mokara, oncidium and cattleya.

365 Days of Floral Education - Days 56-60

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.

Day 56 - Lilies can be used as food or for their medicinal qualities. The Chinese use lily buds in cookery to flavor stir fries. They also use it as a medicine for respiratory problems. Native Americans have used lily roots boiled as a tea for stomach problems and as a wash for bruises. They also used it to relieve the pain from insect bites.



Day 57 – Liatris, also known as Blazing star, Gay-feather, and Button snakeroot, are a classic favorite around flower shops. They have a vase life of 6-14 days and work well in many bouquets with their slender, 6-10” tall spikes with needlelike petals. Their stems can grow as long as 32” and though we typically see them in beautiful purple hues, they are also grown in whites, lavenders and pinks.

Day 58 – Unlike pink, red and white roses that originate from Britian, yellow roses derive from the Middle East and were only first noted in the 1700’s. They have since been cross bred to create stunning hybrids, creating stronger and varied shades of yellow, as well as, the beautiful scent that yellow roses are now synonymous with. The variety pictured here is called Gold Strike.

Day 59 - From the Latin "delphis" meaning dolphin, from the shape of the buds, Delphiniums are a genus of around 300 species in the ranunculaceae family. These blossoms traditionally come in bright, creamy white, dainty pink, blue and a marvelous purple blue combination; however, some of the highbred flowers can be seen in shocking reds, oranges and yellows.

Day 60 - Anemone is a genus of approximately 120 species of flowering plants of the ranunculaceae family. The name anemone comes from the Greek word for "windflower." According to Greek mythology, the anemone sprang from Aphrodite's tears as she mourned the death of Adonis. Thought to bring luck and protect against evil, legend has it that when the anemone closes its petals, it's a signal that rain is approaching. Still other mythology connects the anemone to magical fairies, who were believed to sleep under the petals after they closed at sunset. Perhaps it's because of this magical and prophetic tales that today in the language of flowers, anemones represent anticipation.