Just 6 short weeks to Christmas
The Flowers are turning red
The weathers getting frosty
And we want to stay in bed
But the order box is filling up
And the wreaths wont make themselves
So we'll turn the heaters up full blast
And work like Santas elves!
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Thursday, 28 October 2010
COMPETITION!!!
To celebrate our current and unintended lack of Blogging we'd like to offer our loyal followers the chance to win a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. You can keep it for yourself or you can send it to family or friends. The only stipulation is that it needs to be dispatched to a UK address.
At the end of November we will put all our bloggers names into a hat and draw a winner. That person will then win a £30 bouquet of their choosing.
If you recommend a friend to our blog then don't worry about diluting your chance to win. Let us know about them and we'll give you an extra entry for every extra follower.
Good Luck!
At the end of November we will put all our bloggers names into a hat and draw a winner. That person will then win a £30 bouquet of their choosing.
If you recommend a friend to our blog then don't worry about diluting your chance to win. Let us know about them and we'll give you an extra entry for every extra follower.
Good Luck!
Monday, 27 September 2010
Weddings Weddings Weddings!
Usually at this time of year our wedding season is winding down. We always have a few autumnal and winter weddings to do but they tend to be every two to three weeks rather than week in week out.
This year though it feels like we are just getting started, with 6 to do just in October! Not that we are complaining, weddings are good for business, not because we add extra £zeros to all our costs, but because 80-120 people get to see our lovely flowers all at the same time. The word of mouth business we pick up from events brings us far more business than the weddings themselves.
The shop has kept busy through the summer too, which was always a doubt in these troubled financial times. Thankfully our customers still felt the need to send flowers along with paying the mortgage :)
Thats all for now, the next blog will hopefully not be so long in the making!
This year though it feels like we are just getting started, with 6 to do just in October! Not that we are complaining, weddings are good for business, not because we add extra £zeros to all our costs, but because 80-120 people get to see our lovely flowers all at the same time. The word of mouth business we pick up from events brings us far more business than the weddings themselves.
The shop has kept busy through the summer too, which was always a doubt in these troubled financial times. Thankfully our customers still felt the need to send flowers along with paying the mortgage :)
Thats all for now, the next blog will hopefully not be so long in the making!
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| A rare and seldom seen outdoor wedding in Scotland |
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| Looks good enough to eat! |
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| The lovely marquee at Glencorse House, made even lovelier with our flowers! |
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Fair Trade Flowers
Normally when we do a wedding we buy the flowers, arrange them and deliver them to the appropriate places.
This Saturday however the bride is bringing the flowers with her, all the way from Ecuador!
She is a firm believer in fair trade practices, and being from Ecuador, she felt one way to be sure of the source was to see it and buy them for herself.
The flowers started their journey about 3 days ago and will arrive with us on Friday morning, all 600 stems of them!! That will give us just enough time to prep and strip them and arrange them in time for the big day...we hope!
July should typically be a quieter month, what with everyone either being off on holiday or spending their hard earned on entertaining kids...but so far we've been pretty busy. Add to that a full wedding schedule and it's smiles all round.
Our home grown organic flower bunches are still going down a storm. The picking is a little erratic this season though as the farmers have to crop them before any big rains come down. As they are a little bit delicate, down pours can be bad for their health.
That's all for now, hopefully the next instalment will be a little quicker.
This Saturday however the bride is bringing the flowers with her, all the way from Ecuador!
She is a firm believer in fair trade practices, and being from Ecuador, she felt one way to be sure of the source was to see it and buy them for herself.
The flowers started their journey about 3 days ago and will arrive with us on Friday morning, all 600 stems of them!! That will give us just enough time to prep and strip them and arrange them in time for the big day...we hope!
July should typically be a quieter month, what with everyone either being off on holiday or spending their hard earned on entertaining kids...but so far we've been pretty busy. Add to that a full wedding schedule and it's smiles all round.
Our home grown organic flower bunches are still going down a storm. The picking is a little erratic this season though as the farmers have to crop them before any big rains come down. As they are a little bit delicate, down pours can be bad for their health.
That's all for now, hopefully the next instalment will be a little quicker.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Well summer is here, which means we can stock locally grown bunches of flowers again. These gorgeous selections of the prettiest summer stems, from alchmelia to snapdragon, campanula and dill are grown at
Oxenfoord Organics out near Pathhead. Not only are they grown locally, they are organic too. Summer in a vase.
We are also glad that summer's arrived because the weddings are in full swing at the moment. Yesterday we created bouquets and arrangements for a wedding at Holy Cross Church followed by a reception at Craighouse Campus, which is a gorgeous venue. The happy couple chose a stunning selection of white and green summer flowers, including peony roses, sweet peas, hydrangeas and delphinium.
We are also glad that summer's arrived because the weddings are in full swing at the moment. Yesterday we created bouquets and arrangements for a wedding at Holy Cross Church followed by a reception at Craighouse Campus, which is a gorgeous venue. The happy couple chose a stunning selection of white and green summer flowers, including peony roses, sweet peas, hydrangeas and delphinium.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Flowers for The Proms
'It's wasn't like that in our day!'......it certainly wasn't! This week we've been making lots of buttonholes and corsages for School Proms. All of which have been taking place in the fanciest hotels in town, the pupils arriving by limo, wearing expensive tuxedos, kilts and dresses, and according to one mum, she even had to pay for a hip flask for her son to take along! We also created flower arrangements to adorn the tables of one Schools prom at The George Hotel earlier in the week, and it wasn't a small budget! I remember having an end of school 'prom', but it was more of a dodgy disco with a few sarnies and a sneaked in bottle of something cheap and nasty ! Ach, we're just jealous!
It's Fathers Day tomorrow, and we have had a few people ordering flowers for their dads. I don't think it'll ever reach Mother Day proportions though, I think a bottle of whisky somehow tends to win the hearts of most dads! Happy Fathers Day to all you dads anyway...hic.....
It's Fathers Day tomorrow, and we have had a few people ordering flowers for their dads. I don't think it'll ever reach Mother Day proportions though, I think a bottle of whisky somehow tends to win the hearts of most dads! Happy Fathers Day to all you dads anyway...hic.....
Monday, 7 June 2010
Long Live The Independent Florist!
We are excited to start watching the new series of 'Mary Queen of Shops' which starts tonight on BBC1. This series Mary Portas is looking at our local shops such as greengrocers and bakers who are facing increasing competition from the ubiquitous supermarket. Not sure if the humble florist is featured or not, but our profession is definitely one which has been hit hard by supermarkets over the years.
While we can pretty much never compete on price with the Tescos and Marks and Spencer of this world, (we simply don't have the buying power), we here at Pollination like to think we offer something a bit more unique, interesting and original than the generic bunches that are often offered by the supermarkets. We have seen some really lovely bouquets though, and a good range of flowers from the simple rose to the more exotic orchids and proteas. Although the fact that the supermarkets have moved on from just plain old carnations and chrysanths always worries us slightly! On the plus side, it does educate people who may not go into their local florist on the huge range of stunning blooms that are available to us now.
Supermarkets don't generally give the same care to their flowers though, whilst your local florist will prep every individual flower and cut, feed and generally treat them with respect, many bunches from the supermarket will be pulled out and stuffed half in half out of water, stems crushed by customers. They are often positioned at the front of the store, which from a marketing point of view is clever, but at the same time they are then treated to every blast of cold wind each time a customer enters, and are left wilting in the sun when it's a hot day. Nor does the supermarket allow you to pick individual blooms to create a tailored made bouquet or arrangement, or offer specialised services such as wedding bouquets (although Asda are selling 'good vaue' wedding dresses, so give them time!). They produce mass bunches for the masses, rather than original bouquets tailored to the individual.
The supermarkets, along with the recession, are good reasons to keep on top of our game, to keep our shops looking fab, and to keep producing good quality gorgeous bouquets. We find it encouraging that we receive orders from throughout Britain and the rest of the world to send our bouquets through the UK, and that we have a regular local customer base as well as new customers all the time, who have been recommended to us, have seen our website or maybe have received a bouquet themselves. But we never get complacent. It is a constant challenge to survive in the highly competitive retail world.
The more local independent shops that close down as they struggle to compete with the supermarket giants, the more our local high streets turn into streets of To Let signs and smashed windows, the more our local communities suffer and the less specialised, original independent businesses will be available, and what a dull place that would be.
While we can pretty much never compete on price with the Tescos and Marks and Spencer of this world, (we simply don't have the buying power), we here at Pollination like to think we offer something a bit more unique, interesting and original than the generic bunches that are often offered by the supermarkets. We have seen some really lovely bouquets though, and a good range of flowers from the simple rose to the more exotic orchids and proteas. Although the fact that the supermarkets have moved on from just plain old carnations and chrysanths always worries us slightly! On the plus side, it does educate people who may not go into their local florist on the huge range of stunning blooms that are available to us now.
Supermarkets don't generally give the same care to their flowers though, whilst your local florist will prep every individual flower and cut, feed and generally treat them with respect, many bunches from the supermarket will be pulled out and stuffed half in half out of water, stems crushed by customers. They are often positioned at the front of the store, which from a marketing point of view is clever, but at the same time they are then treated to every blast of cold wind each time a customer enters, and are left wilting in the sun when it's a hot day. Nor does the supermarket allow you to pick individual blooms to create a tailored made bouquet or arrangement, or offer specialised services such as wedding bouquets (although Asda are selling 'good vaue' wedding dresses, so give them time!). They produce mass bunches for the masses, rather than original bouquets tailored to the individual.
The supermarkets, along with the recession, are good reasons to keep on top of our game, to keep our shops looking fab, and to keep producing good quality gorgeous bouquets. We find it encouraging that we receive orders from throughout Britain and the rest of the world to send our bouquets through the UK, and that we have a regular local customer base as well as new customers all the time, who have been recommended to us, have seen our website or maybe have received a bouquet themselves. But we never get complacent. It is a constant challenge to survive in the highly competitive retail world.
The more local independent shops that close down as they struggle to compete with the supermarket giants, the more our local high streets turn into streets of To Let signs and smashed windows, the more our local communities suffer and the less specialised, original independent businesses will be available, and what a dull place that would be.
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