Hyacinth

Hyacynth ~ Sport, Play, Loveliness, Sorrow, Please Forgive Me.

 Botanical Name: Hyacynthus

Family: Liliaceae

According to Greek mythology, there was a handsome young man from Sparta called Hyacinthus. Apollo, the Sun God, was his great friend. Apollo would descend to earth from his golden chariot in the sky just so the two friends could play together. One day when Zephyrus, the God of Wind; jealously watched, he blew a strong wind toward a disc that Apollo threw to Hyacinthus, striking him a fatal blow to the head. Apollo, filled with grief, created hyacynthus from the young lad’s blood, ensuring Hyacinthus’ memory would live on.

The Hyacinth was brought early to Europe from Turkey and grown in Europe’s first botanical garden in Padua, Italy. Originally there were only four colors, but by 1775, more than two thousand named cultivars inhabited the earth.

Be sure and order your flowers early for Mother’s Day at Eden Florist. Call 954-981-5515 or visit our website at www.EdenFlorist.com

Flowers lift the “spirit” in so many ways – whether to say Thank You, I Love You, You are Appreciated, Let’s Celebrate or in sympathy, flowers are a source of emotional support for recipients the world over.

According to Candice Shoemaker, PhD (National Funeral Directors Association), “people who receive sympathy flowers prefer them to receiving sympathy cards, food or even memorial donations.” The Society of American Florists and Rutgers University conducted two studies on the emotional impact of flowers. One survey provides scientific proof that flowers increase happiness and life satisfaction and lead to increased contact with friends and family. The other survey showed that “81% of seniors who received weekly bouquets proved less depressed over time.”

Read our article “Express Your Sympathy with Flowers” for more information on the healing power of sympathy flowers.

Order flowers for someone who has experienced the loss of a loved one from Eden Florist & Gift Baskets or call 954-981-5515

This annual event was originally organized in 1952 as “National Secretaries Week” by the National Secretaries Association (now known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals) in conjunction with public relations executive Harry Klemfuss and a consortium of office product manufacturers. It was established as an effort to recognize secretaries for their contributions in the workplace, and to attract people to secretarial/administrative careers. 

In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change for Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. The names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today’s administrative workforce.

Over the years, Administrative Professionals Week has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation.

Today, there are more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles. More than 475,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada. Millions more administrative professionals work in offices all over the world.

Remember: there’s still time to order flowers for your assistant. Just give Eden Florist a call at 954-981-5515 or visit our website at www.EdenFlorist.com.

…Book by my good friend Pam Archer.

It’s called 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before You Planned Your Wedding. And it’s the best! It is small, simple to read and filled with bite-sized tips to help you including Doing Your Homework, Budgetting, Who to Invite, Using a Wedding Planner, Using Professionals (instead of your friends and relatives – unless of course they take pictures, do video, do flowers, etc. for a living), Personalizing your wedding, Your Husband, and even some tips for “The Morning After” when you are actually married!

I may be a little partial to the book, because I contributed a small essay to one of the chapters about the question most often asked of a florist “will my bouquet be beautiful?”  My flip answer was “we charge extra for beautiful.” But seriously the real answer is when it truly reflects the brides taste and choice and is done to her specifications then of course it will be beautiful.  Even though beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, our ultimate goal with any wedding or event is to be a small part of making it the most beautiful day of a bride and groom’s life and that means, yes it will be beautiful!

Let’s face it, when you hire professionals to create the perfect wedding including your florist, then it is our job to do our job.  Create beautiful, professionally designed floral pieces that add to the overall event.  Of course, budgetting and seasonality are certainly things to consider when planning your floral decor.  We may not be able to make a $1,000 budget look like $10,000 but we can certainly help any bride get the most for their investment.

99 Things You Wish You Knew Before You Planned Your Wedding also includes A Budget Guide, A Flower Checklist and a Resource Section to help any budget concious, creative bride plan the perfect wedding!

Go here to order: http://www.99-series.com/wedding.html.

And if you are planning a wedding in South Florida Give Eden Florist a Call at 800-966-3336 or 954-981-5515. We will be happy to work with you!

There’s a new book in town and it is amazing! It is calledThe Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self by my good friend Lynn Serafinn ~ Personal Transformation Coach

Here’s an excerpt from her book: Daffodils – The Principle of Becoming

We all associate springtime with new beginnings. After a long, barren winter of hiding under the earth, the flowers begin to emerge one at a time. Here in the UK, the first flower of spring is the daffodil. This week, I took two lovely long walks in different parts of town here in Bedford—one along the River Great Ouse, and the other through Bedford Park, a beautiful Victorian park that is much loved by us Bedfordians. Daffodils were bursting with bright yellow everywhere I walked, especially in one wooded section of the Park, which was actually the inspiration for the setting of one of the stories in my upcoming book, The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. And when these brilliant flowers make an appearance, they really make an appearance. Never satisfied with being just a flower or two here and there, daffodils usually come in the hundreds when you find them. And what a glorious site they are. Their yellow colour and their unique shape makes you feel just as if the sun itself had decided to incarnate right there in the woods and burst into a thousand tiny suns. It is the true announcement that spring has come, and that new life is brewing all around us.

In my book, I use the daffodil as the symbol for “The Principle of Becoming”. “Becoming” means all that is continually evolving, growing and changing within us. Many of us fear change, but we all inwardly know that without change in our lives, we stagnate and die. Change is where innovation, imagination and creativity are born. It is the source of spontaneity, laughter and, ultimately, joy. “Becoming” therefore is the principle of regeneration and rebirth. No rebirth is able to take place without letting go of something else. In the case of the daffodils, they release themselves from the hidden safety of the earth, to take their chances in the open air of the late winter in the barren world above, before any of the other flowers dare attempt to poke their heads out. They do not wait to see if other flowers survive the ordeal first. They may look like light and cheerful flowers, and indeed they are; but in my view, they are also the most courageous.

We can learn from the daffodils by seeing that their glory lies in the fact that they took that bold chance, and are protected from harm, even when an unseasonable snowfall comes along. Like them, we can learn how to make courageous decisions in our lives by sensing when the time is right, and trusting the universe to carry us safely to our destination. It is when we procrastinate due to fear—of the unknown, of failure, of the judgement of others, or so many other things—that we often miss the opportunity the world is offering us. If the daffodil does not bloom in the spring, it has to wait until another year rolls around. Fear is inevitable in life. But fear itself is not our obstacle; it is merely an emotion. The real obstacle comes when we allow that fear to paralyse our own ability to grow. To master “The Principle of Becoming”, which is the lesson of the daffodil, we have to learn how to be comfortable with our own fears, and simply fall backwards into trust, for the greater purpose of feeling fully alive and bringing joy to the world.

This spring, when you see the daffodils, learn this vital lesson from them. Your glory in life begins the moment you hear the call of your own awakening and decide to take the chance to blossom, even in the face of your own fears. It is then when you too will take on the beauty of a thousand suns.

You can learn more about the lessons from the four flowers when you purchase my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. It’s coming to Amazon on Tuesday 7 April 2009. AND if you join the “launch countdown”, you can find out how to receive 25 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts donated by over 20 of my friends and colleagues, just for buying the book the day of the launch. Visit http://tinyurl.com/lynn-bonus for complete information. And be sure to keep an eye out for daffodils this week.

April is a rainbow month,
Of sudden springtime showers.
Bright with golden daffodils
and lots of pretty flowers.

Just when you thought you’d get away with not having to learn about Easter, along comes Tulips Talk with some fun facts, trivia and Easter History.

For instance, did you know…?

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America . It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

The Easter Egg

As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.

From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

Easter Monday egg rolling, originally a European custom, has become a tradition on the lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.  Many of these eggs have been signed by famous people, including the athletes, astronauts, musicians, and celebrities from film, television, and theatre who visit the White House during the year.(Source: The Holiday Spot.com)

During the Octave of Easter in early Christian times, the newly baptized wore white garments, white being the liturgical color of Easter and signifying light, purity, and joy.

Easter baskets evolved from the Catholic custom of bringing Easter dinner, such as ham, cheese and bread, to mass, to the priest so he could bless the ingredients. Easter Baskets later became a popular tradition with children as the Easter Bunny left them baskets filled with jellybean, chocolate eggs, stuffed chicks and other Easter goodies.

(source Suite101.com)

Read the History of Easter http://www.edenflorist.com/article_info.php?tPath=2&articles_id=29

To order your Easter holiday centerpiece and baskets, visit Eden Florist today or call 800-966-3336!

In this Eden Florist video, Gina shows you how to make a one-sided Holiday arrangement perfect to give or receive. Filled with Seasonal evergreens, white fugi mums, red rose, carnations and pompoms and trimmed with pretty holiday ribbon, a holiday Christmas ornament and pretty filler such as babies breath. This arrangement is perfect for a home foyer or to send to an office to display in a waiting area or on a reception desk. It is sure to please even the person who “has everything.”

You can order this from Eden Florist at   800-966-3336   or visit www.edenflorist.com to place your order online. Or you can purchase the flowers and candelabra and make your own flowers for this holiday!

Bells of Ireland

Saint Patrick’s feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times he become more and more widely known as the patron of Ireland.

Saint Patrick’s feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick’s Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.

In 1903, Saint Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland. This was thanks to the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, an act of the United Kingdom Parliament introduced by Irish MP James O’Mara. O’Mara later introduced the law that required that pubs and bars be closed on 17 March after drinking got out of hand, a provision that was repealed in the 1970s. The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade held in the Irish Free State was held in Dublin in 1931 and was reviewed by the then Minister of Defense Desmond Fitzgerald. Although secular celebrations now exist, the holiday remains a religious observance in Ireland, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland.

In the mid-1990s the Irish government began a campaign to use Saint Patrick’s Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. The government set up a group called St. Patrick’s Festival, with the aim to:

— Offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebrations in the world and promote excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity.
— Provide the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent, (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations.
— Project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal, as we approach the new millennium.[14]

The first Saint Patrick’s Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009′s five day festival saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks.

In every year since 1991, March has been proclaimed Irish-American Heritage Month by the US Congress or President due to the date of St. Patrick’s Day. Today, Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike. It is one of the leading days for consumption of alcohol in the United States, and is typically one of the busiest days of the year for bars and restaurants. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched affectionately.

Source: Wikipedia

Did you know that Sweetest Day is observed on the 3rd Saturday in the month of October? And that’s a PERFECT REASON to send a gift of flowers or plants or something sweet. Of course, some people don’t need any reason to send flowers. On the other hand, some people need to be gently nudged or a holiday has to be created before he or she will even consider sending flowers or plants or even chocolates.

Speaking of chocolates, Sweetest Day got its origins in Cleveland Ohio back in 1922 during the Great Depression. Herbert Birch Kingston, a philanthropist and candy company employee wanted to spread some joy to the lives of orphans, shut-ins and others who were often forgotten. With the help of friends, Kingston began to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged.

Even the stars got involved! Ann Pennington, a movie star of that era pesented 2,200 Cleveland newspaper boys with boxes of candy to express gratitude for their service to the public.

Theda Bara, another popular movie star of the time, distributed 10,000 boxes of candy to people in Cleveland hospitals. She also handed out candy to anyone who came to watch her film in a local theater.

To read the rest of the article, visit EdenFlorist.com.