Sunflower Season!

Sunflowers are beautiful right now... and we like to pick them before the squirrels do! They make a long-lasting, sunshiny statement in any flower arrangement, and come in more colors and varieties than just yellow. Many of our sunflowers come from local sources. Next time you order a bouquet, make it sunflowers!

Always Reliable Alstroemeria

Florists often refer to this pretty little lily-like flower as "Alstro". It's another staple of flowers, coming to us from South America. Alstroemeria blooms in a wide range of colors and is generally long-lasting. After its long trip from South America, it can often look very wilted and tender, but as soon as the stems are hydrated, the blooms start to come back to life. It is often used in corsages and as filler flowers in bouquets and arrangements, although it is certainly pretty on its own. It is the "friendship flower", symbolic of wealth, prosperity and fortune. If you receive a bouquet of Alstroemeria, consider yourself very fortunate!

Where Have All the Flower Shops Gone?

According to a recent report by the Society of American Florists, retail floral establishments fell to record lows in 2009, per data just released from the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of florists has fallen 34 percent since 1997 when the drop began, with a total of 9,381 retail florist businesses having vanished since 1997. The number of shops increased in only four states from 2008 to 2009: Wyoming, Hawaii, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Staffing also fell at retail florist shops, with 68% of all shops having 1-4 people, just under a quarter employed 5-9 people and only 9 percent of all shops had 10 or more staff members.

Waukesha Floral employs an average of 20 full and part time people per year, including those at Planteriors of Wisconsin, the plant rental and maintenance division.

Thank you for thinking globally, but shopping locally. Waukesha Floral hopes to continue its 107 year tradition of beautiful flowers and plants both now and well into the future.

A Snowdrift of Baby's Breath

Baby's breath is an unsung hero of the flower shop. With thousands of fluffy white blooms atop bright green stems, it is often a flower used in the background to compliment roses, lilies and other feature flowers. By itself, it can be very striking, especially in wedding flower work. Baby's breath is easy to care for, reliable and long-lasting. It requires fresh water and a new cut every few days, but is also easily dried. Names like "Million Bells" and "Snowdrift" describe the masses of white blooms that fill a vase with their light texture. It's a wonderful staple of Waukesha Floral!

Hundreds of Varieties!

Gerbera daisies are so popular these days, for both wedding flowers and everyday arrangements. The large heads of the flowers are heavy on slight stems, so you may see these with wires up the stems or straws that wrap around the stems and help keep the blooms straight.

As you can see, Gerbera Daisies come in a huge variety of colors, including these pink beauties with a double row of petals, and sunny bright orange daisies with a thin rim of vibrant yellow.

Waukesha Floral always has an assortment of Gerbera daisies, but for special order colors, it's advised to call at least a week ahead.

Go Brewers!

The Brewers are HOT this year! And here's a hot shot of Bernie with our Planteriors Account Manager, Stacey Balsley and our Creative Design Manager, Denise Gehrke. They were guests of one of our valued customers at a recent game and they had a lot of fun! Waukesha Floral is happy to provide flowers for the suites at Miller Park and for your Milwaukee Brewers.

State Fair Flowers

Come on down to the Wisconsin State Fair to see Denise and Jane show you some interesting and creative ways to dress up your next picnic... today at 12-2!

And while you're in the horticulture building, don't miss our decorated cart. Here are two of our favorite people by our cart... Casey Hamill-Barth and her friend, Hannah Loppnow. Their aspirations are to finish Carroll University and St. Norbert's College, obtain gainful employment, meet "Mr. Dreamy" and star in a Waukesha Floral commercial someday! Thanks for submitting the picture Casey! You're a star!

No Less Than Stunning!

Here is the bridal bouquet of yellow calla lilies shown in my previous blog post. The professional picture sent to us by the bride really shows just how gorgeous the flowers were! And I love the picture of our beautiful bride and her attendants holding the rose and freesia bouquets.... these are all fresh flowers, and with a beautiful summer palette of colors. Love love love these pictures! Thanks to our customer for sending them and for entrusting Waukesha Floral and Mary Jo with her wedding!