Exotic Flowers in Boston

"
"Pay close attention to where you are walking." I uttered these words shortly before I dropped a full case of glass hurricanes and pillar candles while setting up flowers for Exotic Flowers at the Decordova Museum in Lincoln, MA.

Sunday October 10th, 2010 - was one of the busier wedding days of the year. First, Columbus Day Weekend is always a busy wedding weekend. Second, many brides and grooms sought the 10-10-10 wedding date for its cosmic connection.

Exotic Flowers of Roslindale was on the grounds of the legendary Decordova Museum and Sculpture Garden. When setting a wedding at any type of museum, there are lots more rules than a function hall. For example, no rose petals. Bring a vacuum, stay so many feet or inches away from the displays and above all do not spill any water and do not break anything.

The Exotic Flowers staff and I, had the honor of working with Jessica Kriley of the Decordova. Jessica is friendly, professional, efficient and truly welcomed us into her arena. La Fete Catering of Natick was the chosen caterer. What a truly inspirational showcase that Amy Colombi and the crew delivered.

The fun part happened when I dropped the case of glass and smashed three hurricane lanterns right on the dining room floor and I sliced my ring finger wide open. Thankfully we always bring extra vases and band aids along with us for any event. The Exotic Flowers events kit not only includes, bandaids, but tape, matches, ribbon, scissors, pins, business cards and even a sewing kit. Sewing kit ? Sure, we have had to help with last minute tailoring for guests and wedding party members.

My advice to anyone planning flowers for an event.

• arrive early
• bring extra flowers
• bring extra vases
• pack a Flower Event tool kit
• bring a camera (see above)
• if someone has to bleed, make sure it is you.

About ten years ago, Chef Tony Ambrose owned and operated the Ambrosia Restaurant on Huntington Avenue in Boston. Ambrosia was famous for its highend dining, its trend setting crowds and its surly chef.

Ambrose ran his kitchen at an intense level with high stress in his quest for perfection. Ambrose, an expert in his field, has a storied history of berating staff and clients alike.

One time, a dinner party had questioned the waiter on the freshness of the fish which they had been served. Ambrose, the perfectionist, considered this complaint an assault on his restaurant, character and his craft. He promptly came from the kitchen to quickly berate the client and their taste buds. Professional ? No, of course not. But Ambrose was an artist, an expert in his field who was blinded by his ambitions to perfect.

In Boston, Exotic Flowers is owned and operated by the Canale family. Sonny Canale is the Tony Ambrose of the floral industry. Sonny has honed his craft for over 50 years as Boston's Premier Florist. His quest for perfection in floral design and growing plants has kept  Exotic Flowers at the forefront of the floral industry.

Although Sonny has never publicly humiliated a customer, customers may have witnessed the intensity of a high energy design room at Exotic Flowers in Roslindale. There is a lot of yelling and a bit of cursing, especially in the mornings. Professional ? No, but Sonny is an expert and artist. His quest for perfection has kept Exotic Flowers in business for over fifty years.

If any client, visitor, employee or friend has ever been offended or intimidated by the surly florists in Boston, we are sorry. Our goal is never to offend, but to give you the best.

The goals of our marketing at Exotic Flowers are quite simple; we maintain a visual presence in the Boston area by presenting a beautiful flower shop and greenhouse which sells the freshest flowers and exotic plants. Our flowers and gifts are sold and delivered by uniformed personnel who drive lettered vehicles.

The color maroon resonates throughout our company. Maroon is visible in our clothing, our stationary, our vehicles, ink colors, stickers, packaging, direct mail and our website. Why maroon ? Maroon was chosen for personal reasons. I, Rick Canale, am a graduate of The Roxbury Latin School (1989) and Boston College (A&S 1993,). Both schools use this color as their signature. Of course, many other Massachusetts Universities and Colleges, like Harvard, M.I.T.. and UMASS Amherst also use this color. So Exotic Flowers reaches out to many Massachusetts residents through this subliminal advertising.

We send direct mail postcards five times per year to our client base. These mailers reinforce to our customers, who they buy their flowers from. The goal of our program is remain at 'top of mind awareness' for our customers.

We spend over ten hours per week in social media. I personally post to two blogs, am on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Our social media program keeps Exotic Flowers in a continual conversation with our customers and prospective customers.

Exotic Flowers of Boston and Roslindale will occasionally publish a print ad in a local publication like the Improper Bostonian. Our goal with these ads is to reinforce our image and presence in the marketplace. Exotic Flowers also has a small ad in the Super Pages Book for the client who still references the big book.

Exotic Flowers also donates flowers and gift cards to special causes and events for our top clients. We reserve these donations for our top clients as we like to give back to those who give to us.

Exotic Flowers also sponsors sports teams like the Red Sox and the Boston Breakers. We also contribute to local child and teen sports leagues. Exotic Flowers feels organized sports are essential to the health and well being of our community.

Finally, the staff at Exotic Flowers goes out of the shops and talks to people. We believe in going to the bank, shopping in our community, dining out and being seen. We are a member of the community and want to be visible. We also attend industry shows and conventions and network with our colleagues. We feel that we need to give as much as we can to the floral industry. We know that the more floral professionals who share ideas, the more people will buy flowers and the more successful we will be.

September, 2010 - Orlando, FL - 126th Annual SAF Convention

by Rick Canale of Exotic Flowers in Boston

I just got back from the SAF Orlando floral convention in Florida. The convention celebrated its 126th anniversary this year. 289 people from 35 states and four countries attended the event. Fifteen percent of the registrants attended for the first time.

The numbers from the show exhibit a small sliver of the floral industry.

The highlight of my trip however was three-fold.

One - the people. Floral industry members are some of the hardest working and kindest people there are. I was able to have coffee with industry leader Mark Nance AAF of Bloomnet. I chatted with Floral Management 'capo' Amanda Long. And it was great getting pats on the back by industry icons Stan Pohmer and Teleflora Chairman Tom Butler AAF, PFCI.

Two - I served as a judge for the 2010 Floral Management Marketer of the Year Contest and also served as a judge for the Outstanding Varieties Competition.

 Left: This year's winner is magical.

Three - Educational Sessions

I was honored and thrilled to participate in an engaging panel with two marketing muses. Our job was to present "Finding the Right Social Networking Strategy for Your Business,". Along with Georgianne Vinicombe of Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Company and Mandy Majerick, AIFD, PFCI of HotHouseDesign Studio.  What an engaging response from the attendees ! It was great. Renato Sogueco, CIO at SAF put together a great panel and executed the session flawlessly.

It was a joy to see industry heavies, Brian Wheat of Lafayette Florist, Paul Bachman of Bachman's of Minnesota, Paul Brockaway of Conklyn's of Virginia, Don Coleman of Mayfield Florist and Kathy Dudley of The Bloomery in Butler PA all in the audience. 

Just seeing a full audience engaged in our session was worth the time trip alone. 

My only disappointment at the convention - why was I the only florist, grower or wholesaler there from Massachusetts? Massachusetts is one of the largest consumption states of fresh flowers in the United States. We even boast the most recent Florist of the Year. Yet me, Rick Canale of Exotic Flowers in Boston was the only Massachusetts representation. Too bad for Massachusetts and too bad for Boston florists.

Ben Affleck's new movie "The Town" is an adaptation of the 2004 novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan. The story is a tale of four men - thieves, rivals, friends - who are hunted through the streets of Boston by a driven FBI agent (Jon Hamm).

 Ben Affleck plays lead character Doug MacRay. MacRay was born and raised in Charlestown and a lifelong criminal who learned his trade from his father. MacRay is the leader of a gang of bank robbers who has eluded capture. The gang works for crime boss Fergie, played by Pete Postlethwaite.

In order to have a public profile, Fergie's front is as a Boston florist. Scenes in the movie show Fergie in his shop and arranging flowers. These scenes give viewers an interesting look into day to day operations at a Boston flower shop.

(Inset of O'Banion flower shop)

Fergie's character is loosely based upon Irish American mobster Dean O'Banion (1892-1924). O'Banion was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone in Chicago. At the height of his power, O'Banion was rumored to  be making one million dollars in bootlegging operations. Like Fergie, O'Banion need a legitimate front for his criminal operations. O'Banion was not only known as a successful Chicago florist, but also an excellent floral designer. Much of his floral work came as a result of the Mob wars in Chicago. These mob hits often resulted in $1000 floral tributes for the deceased. The rooms above O'Banion's flower shop (Schofield's) were used as headquarters for his Northside Gang.

Boston, MA - September 2010

Rick Canale, the Managing Director of Exotic Flowers, Boston's Premier Florist and www.exoticflowers.com has been chosen by the editorial staff at Floral Management Magazine to serve as a judge for the 16th Annual Marketer of the Year Contest.

Floral Management Magazine is published monthly by the Society of American Florists (SAF), the Association provides marketing, business and government services for the entire floriculture industry. Floral Management Magazine is a member benefit of SAF.

A $5,000 cash prize, sponsored by Design Master color tool, Inc., as well the the opportunity to be on the cover of the October 2010 issue of Floral Management.

What Makes a Winner?
Judges look for unique, innovative and successful marketing efforts. It can be a single campaign, or a series of promotional and advertising efforts over the course of a year or more.

Rick Canale won the contest in 2008 and has been asked to return as a judge for this years contest. Rick is one of seven judges from the floral and media industry.

"I am proud to serve the industry and my peers. This year's contestants inspired me in my own flower shop. The contest is a great opportunity for the floral industry to implement some marketing savvy in their own operations. I cannot wait to see the results at the SAF Convention in Orlando. " - Rick Canale

The buyers at Exotic Flowers have just started bringing new tropical flowers into Boston from a new vendor. The Amazon Secrets of Ecuador specializes in unique flora and foliage of the Amazon jungle. Amazon Secrets is a division of Magic Flowers of Ecuador who is a certified member of the Rainforest Alliance as well as a member of EUREP GAP (the Global Partnership for Safe and Sustainable Agriculture,).

Every day, more than 700 acres of the Amazon Jungle are devastated. The destruction has extinguished large amounts of native species. In 1990, Magic Flowers started its rescue of the Amazonian Flora. An adequate cultivation of native species allows Amazon Secrets to offer the world, the jungle enchantment and helps conserve them for future generations. Magic Flowers stated goal is to "Help Protect the Jungle,".

Magic Flowers products include Heliconia, Ginger, Musas, Decorative fruits (like miniature bananas) and tropical which are all featured on the pictured arrangement.

The arrangement featured in this photo was created for long time customer Darryl M. of Boston who wanted to put his wife in the tropics, eventhough they could not fly there for their anniversary this year.

A few tips to preserve the life of tropical flowers include;

• Display away from heating and cooling sources.
• Daily misting is recommended.
• Use a stable flower vase filled up with room temperature water. Add a floral preservative (Exotic Flowers water is already treated,).
• Cut an inch off flowers if they do not arrive in a vase.

These simple tips will help your tropical bouquet from Exotic Flowers in Boston lovely longer.

September, 2010 - Boston, MA

Exotic Flowers, the greenhouse at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, has been invaded by carnivorous plants. Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher Plants have arrived from the swamps of Florida. They are hungry and are looking for their own Seymour to adopt them and more importantly, feed them.

This movie clip comes from the motion picture "Little Shop of Horrors," starring Rick Moranis. Audrey II is played by the deceased Four Tops singer Levi Stubbs.

This movie also paints a small picture of what flower shops were like many years ago. Lombardi Florist in Roslindale had many fixtures and decor quite similar to the ones in this film.

If you're in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, check out our carnivorous plants. Or if you're in Roslindale, stop by Exotic Flowers and ask about our 75 year history at the same location. We have some great stories to share.

Since 2003, Exotic Flowers of Boston and Roslindale has been delivering hundreds of fresh flower arrangements to the PGA Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts. The Deutsche Bank Championship features the top 100 PGA golfers as they compete for the FedEx Cup and its ten million dollar first prize. Defending champion Steve Stricker looks to repeat as this year's champion. Stricker will be competing against pros Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and many more.

The tournament is a week long affair of competition and fun. The event begins on Tuesday August 31st and ends Monday, Labor Day September 6, 2010. The tournament features premier sponsors like FedEx, Stop & Shop, MasterCard, Deutsche Bank and many others.

With so many high profile sponsors, clients and celebrities. Exotic Flowers, Boston's Premier Florist is honored to provide the floral arrangements for the week's events. Beginning on Monday, Exotic Flowers personnel heads to TPC in Norton, MA with plants and flowers for the week's events.

Flower design work began Saturday, August 28th and will continue throughout the week. Over three hundred floral arrangements and fifty plants are delivered for the tournament. Veteran Exotic Flowers employee Mike Schaaf has overseen the event's logistics since the tournament's inception in 2003.

Mike remains on site daily through the week's tournament to ensure that all flowers and plants remain at their freshest and most beautiful form. From replacing broken and wilted blooms to ensuring that each vase remains fresh, Mike will work into the evening ensuring that TPC and Deutsche Bank knwo why Exotic Flowers has earned our moniker as Boston's Premier Florist.

Jeanne Benedict, host of DIY Network's Weekend Entertaining, suggests placing the main floral designs in prominent places. With the extras, snip off the blossoms and float them in martini glasses or decorative bowls, and place a small vase with a couple of buds in your powder room.