Exotic Flowers in Boston

"Nature continues to take no notice of the imbecilities of mankind and despite even the bad weather the garden and the roses have never been so fine." - Louis Bromfield

Edith Wharton agreed. "Yes; the garden is the last moral life-preserver left, I pity those who haven't it." 

My wife Suzie's incredible backyard paradise.

Gardening like baking has experience a renaissance during the pandemic. In a disorderly world, your garden not only provides order but solace.

Grow your food, plant some herbs. Color in your world with vibrant blooms. Get dirty. Not all medicine comes in a pill.

Our Roslindale location at 609 American Legion Highway is open and welcoming clients and guests. Things are a little different from years past but everything we do is for our safety and yours.

We are still here every day but our hours have changed a bit. We are here Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. Saturday 830 am to 2 pm and a skeleton crew on Sunday from 9 am to 11 am. As always, sometimes we come earlier and leave later. If we're here, we can assist you. We still deliver six days per week.

A few things we are doing to ease your burdens. 

• Curbside pick up is available. Call ahead and we can bring it out or leave it outside the door.
• In-store service is available. Masks are required. We offer a free mask to anyone who needs one. Please make sure your nose and mouth are covered. A mask is not a chin strap.
• Two stand-alone hand sanitizer stations in the store and a workshop sink with hand soap. All are welcome and encouraged to use.
• All staff is also equipped with branded pocket hand sanitizers. Check out our new logo as a symbol of precious life from a new beginning.
• There are a few familiar items we will not have until Phase 4. Lollipops, pens, and portfolio books will return later.

We're in this together. Your kindness, patience, and support matter. Thank you.

At Exotic Flowers in Roslindale, the safety of our staff, vendors and clients is more important than any transaction.

We'd like to share our safety standards with you to know how we're working to keep everyone safe.

Processing / Design:
CLEANING / SANITIZING PROTOCOLS
Appropriate PPE will be worn by all employees based on their role and responsibilities and in adherence to state or local regulations and guidance.
Practice frequent handwashing.
Save your resources! Latex gloves are only effective if you are avoiding cross-contamination.
Routinely wipe down all workstation surfaces, multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray.
Routinely wipe down tools and equipment multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray. Don’t forget the cooler door!
No sharing of tools or equipment. This includes knives, shears, buckets, etc. If tools or equipment MUST be shared, they must be sanitized anytime transfer occurs between employees.
PHYSICAL DISTANCING PROTOCOL
Employees must keep a minimum of 6’ distance from other employees and customers.
Mark the floor with tape to promote safe distance.
SALES
CLEANING / SANITIZING PROTOCOLS
Appropriate PPE will be worn by all employees based on their role and responsibilities and in adherence to state or local regulations and guidance.
Practice frequent handwashing.
Save your resources! Latex gloves are only effective if you are avoiding cross-contamination.
Routinely wipe down all workstation surfaces, multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray.
Routinely wipe down tools and equipment multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray. This includes phones, tablets, and keyboards. Don’t forget the cooler door!
No sharing of tools or equipment. If tools or equipment MUST be shared, they must be sanitized anytime transfer occurs between employees.
PHYSICAL DISTANCING PROTOCOL
Employees must keep a minimum of 6’ distance from other employees and customers.
Mark the floor with tape to promote safe distance.
Precautions must be taken to ensure customers keep a minimum of 6’ distance from each other. This can include a designated pick-up area with a clear indication of flow-of-traffic.
DELIVERY
CLEANING / SANITIZING PROTOCOLS
Appropriate PPE will be worn by all employees based on their role and responsibilities and in adherence to state or local regulations and guidance.
Masks should be worn from the van to the recipient’s property / drop-off location.
Practice frequent handwashing.
Save your resources! Latex gloves are only effective if you are avoiding cross-contamination.
Routinely wipe down all workstation surfaces, multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray. In addition to the store, your vehicle is also your workstation! Disinfect those steering wheels and door handles.
Routinely wipe down tools and equipment multiple times each day with disinfectant wipes or spray. This includes phones, tablets and keyboards.
Use hand sanitizer after each delivery to help prevent the spread of germs.
If a delivery vehicle needs to be transferred from one driver to another, it must be properly sanitized.
PHYSICAL DISTANCING PROTOCOL
Employees must keep a minimum of 6’ distance from other employees and customers.
All deliveries are no-contact deliveries. You may not enter a recipient’s home. If you are delivering to a place of business, follow their safety procedures.
Contact the recipient prior to delivery and let them know a delivery will be left at their door. The driver can wait in vehicle to ensure delivery was received.

(MAY 1, 2020, BOSTON, MA) – This year, Mother’s Day looks different for many of us. It may not be possible in light of COVID-19 to visit with mom or other women who have influenced your life. Such separation induces stress and loneliness but, according to several research studies, flowers may be just the antidote moms and women in general need this season.

According to a survey by Wakefield Research, 68 percent of people feel stress on a weekly basis, and 32 percent are stressed every day—numbers that are now almost certainly higher in today’s COVID-19 environment. Women, in particular, are affected, as one in four report experiencing stress multiple times a day.

Research from the University of North Florida shows that something as simple as flowers can help. The findings show that people who lived with flowers in their homes for just a few days reported a significant decrease in their levels of stress and improvements in their moods. Additional research from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, shows that the presence of flowers around senior citizens decreased depression among 81%, refreshed recent memory among 72% and encouraged outreach to loved ones among 40 percent. And research from Harvard University found that people who live with flowers report fewer episodes of anxiety and depressed feelings.

“Flowers have evolved to activate positive emotional responses from people,” says Rutgers University researcher Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., director of the university’s Human Emotions Lab. “Each bloom has the potential to put a smile on our face and sway our opinion of a friend, colleague or loved one. That’s powerful.”

“When you receive flowers as a gift, you know that someone is thinking of you right now, this very minute,” said Rick Canale, owner of Exotic Flowers in Boston, MA. “Flowers spark joy, something that everyone needs right now—especially mothers.”

For Mother’s Day gift ideas, visit www.exoticflowers.com  or call (617)942-4803.

# # #

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. We're launching #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of unity to take place on May 5, 2020, as a response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. - www.givingtuesday.org

We have joined the path set out by non-profit American Floral Endowment. They have announced the launch of a new online campaign promoting Giving Flowers on #GivingTuesdayNow. This new campaign aims to promote a day of flower giving. We’re here to help spread messages of the emotional benefits that flowers provide, such as reducing stress and improving emotional health while promoting flower buying.

• Thank you for support at this time. You are helping to keep this small business open.

We wish you much success during this most challenging time. We remain, #InThisTogether.

Working from home? Want flowers in your house? Now you can use the same ingredients our floral designers use. We have flowers from five countries or more every day of the year.

Bang for the Buck: includes flowers like carnations and daisy poms. Hardy flowers where less money goes further for more stems. $50

Seasonal Mix: e.g., tulips in the spring or sunflowers in the summer. $75

Back Bay Blend: roses, from Ecuador, Oriental Lilies from Canada, alstromeria from Columbia or lisianthus from the Netherlands are just jew examples of what you might find in this assortment of fresh flowers; a higher-end enough to fill a vase that measures 5"X5"X10". If you're looking to replicate our work, start here. $100

Flowers in bulk sent wrapped or boxed. They will arrive with fresh flower preservative, 

*** Remember always cut each and stem and use the flower food. The cooler the area, the longer they last.

** Photo does not represent flowers that will be sent, selection varies daily**

Yes, you can send flowers to private funeral services. During the COVID-19 quarantine, services are now limited to ten people. Often you will notice an obituary or listing that mentions services are private. In efforts to maintain social distancing, these notices are posted.

Flowers connect us. They share emotions. 

At the height of quarantine, we reached out to our local funeral homes. Davis Funeral Home in Roxbury and Mattapan, Doherty  and Lawler Funeral Homes in West Roxbury, Mann and Roger Funeral Home in Jamaica Plain and Russo Funeral Home in Roslindale have been serving our community for decades. They know the importance of flowers at a funeral and how much flowers help ease grieving. We are indebted their full commitment as neighborhood institutions. 

Your assistant has been busting their ass from home since being quarantined. Show them you care and appreciate all their hard work. Administrative Professionals Week also known Secretaries Week is April 20th through April 24th. So many assistants are now working from home. Flowers and plants are a much better gift than Charmin. 

Your assistant is now trying to keep your professional life together with Zoom, conference calls and webinars. They are also trying to keep their personal lives together too. They're home schooling, learning Google Classroom, cooking meals and trying to keep your schedule relevant. Do you know how hard it is coordinate your schedule from a home office?

Did you know that flowers in the home relieve stress? Rutgers University and Harvard University both offer studies to prove that flowers relieve stress and improve mood.

We have two great gift items to show your respect and gratitude on this Secretary's Day. 

The State of Massachusetts considers gardening an essential business to live during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Serene Retreat

This beautiful gift is a garden of delights. Perfectly at home inside a home or office, it's a great gift for all reasons and seasons. The planter is not only easy to care for but helps purify the air quality of your home. We know it is getting stuffy in everyone's home right now. 

Another favorite for us this Admin's week is our new Day After Bouquet. 

A beacon of hope for brighter days ahead, this bouquet will brighten the mood in their homes and let them know how much your appreciate their hard work and all they do for you.

The days of quarantine have taken their toll on us all. Thankfully, we remain healthy and safe and are practicing every safety precaution. There is a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. We have been in the same location in Roslindale for 90 years and plan to be in the same spot when this is all over. 

Flowers remain the biggest part of what we do and our biggest responsibility to you. Sending flowers to a loved one shows how much you are thinking of them when you cannot be there. Today we are introducing two bouquets that can be preordered today and available in many areas for delivery now.

Introducing The Day After Bouquet

Much like our designer's choice arrangement, this arrangement arrives in a vase with the freshest seasonal flowers available. Expect a lush and inspiring bouquet of flowers. Available in all sizes; modest at $60; medium at $75 and large at $100. There is a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Send this arrangement to ones you cannot visit but want to show you care.

 The Can't Get Next To You Bouquet 

Inspired by my favorite Temptations Song:

 I

Can turn the gray sky blue
I can make it rain, whenever I want it to, oh I
I can build a castle from a single grain of sand
I can make a ship sail, on dry land tell 'em yeah
But my life is incomplete and I'm so blue
'Cause I can't get next to you

What better At Home Favorite to support your Social Distance relationships.

We're trying to make as much lemonade as we can during this trying time. Your cards, letters, emails and social messages of support mean the world to us. Thank you.

Looking so forward to The Day After.

-Rick

For the first time in more than forty years, Exotic Flowers in Roslindale will be closed for more than forty eight hours. I am working from home to keep you updated on our plans and any future orders we may have. We cannot offer local delivery at this time. If you have an order to any area that is still delivering flowers, we will take great care of you. Please email me at rick@exoticflowers.com with any questions.

Stay safe. Stay Home. Stay Healthy. Flatten the curve.