Florists know that no party is complete without flowers. The United States Constitution turned 225 years old. Ask any Ron Paul fan and you know that the Constitution is the umbrella of our society, protecting every citizen within its words. On September 17th, 2012 dozens of florists collaborated on a once in a lifetime floral design to honor and celebrate the birthday of the document.

Philadelphia florists Bill Schaffer, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, and Kristine Kratt, AIFD, PFCI, have a reverence for history, inspired by their hometown. They spearheaded the idea of celebrating the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution with an unforgettable floral display. Schaffer and Kratt rallied florists all over the world to help with the project. From 46 states, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom florists became 'the stars' of the monumental floral display. The florist volunteers created red, white and blue stars using botanicals and other fibers and shipped them to Schaffer and Kratt at Schaffer Designs in Philadelphia. These stars are designed to hang under a 12 foot by 16 foot umbrella shaped canopy on the lawn of the U.S. Constitution Center for one day only on September 17th, 2012. 

The striking bouquet included eighty starts, suspended spheres of flowers and a perimeter of flowers surrounded the structure. Flowers included were carnations, hydrangeas, larkspur and carnations. Bravo to Delaware Valley Wholesale flowers for donating the flowers. Kudos to Smithers-Oasis and Floracraft for their donations of hard goods. Schaffer gave a conservative estimate of $20,000 of creative and material costs, which were donated by the floral industry's elite forward thinkers. 

To get a more detailed look at one of the stars, check out the star of Alice Waterous, AIFD, CF, PFCI, from Michigan. She made this star with seeds “to represent the seeds the Founding Fathers planted for our country to bloom,” she said. 

Sponsored by Telelfora, National Make Someone Smile Week 2012 (July 22 thru 28), is all about making others happy with the gift of flowers. Throughout the country thousands of local florists will deliver more than 30,000 smiley face mug arrangements. Scientific studies guarantee that flowers make people happy.

Of these 30,000 bright colored fresh flower arrangements, some will go to hospital patients, foster care children, Meals on Wheels residents and nursing home residents. As a National Account in good standing with Teleflora, the staff at Exotic Flowers is honored to be associated with this humanitarian program.

The 2005 Rutgers University study: 

Research Findings

A team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants' behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods.

1. Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. All study participants expressed "true" or "excited" smiles upon receiving flowers, demonstrating extraordinary delight and gratitude. This reaction was universal, occurring in all age groups.
2. Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods. Specifically, study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers, and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.
3. Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.

"Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy," said Dr. Haviland-Jones. "Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being."

It's summer time and we are fortunate to live on the east coast where trips to the beach are regular. Some of our favorite beaches include Old Silver Beach, Long Beach and Minot. When our floral designers make beach trips, they cannot help but be inspired by the awesome beauty of the ocean. Why go to Pinterest when inspiration can be had on the beaches of Cape Cod ?

This beach like inspiration is catching fire with floral designers throughout the United States. As a long standing member of The Society of American Florists (SAF), Exotic Flowers in Boston is offering its full support to SAF's latest public relations program. The latest installment of The VaseOff! Challenge, Society of American Florist's (SAF) online floral design  competition series, went live to the public this week, flaunting florists’ talent for matching flowers to recipients’ personalities. The Challenge: Design an arrangement sure to delight a friend who loves the beach and can't get enough of the sun, surf and sand.

The VaseOff! Challenge is SAF’s latest public relations program designed to drive traffic to the blog and promote positive floral messages to consumers and the media.

“In this world that revolves so much around social media, consumers like interaction,” said Jennifer Sparks, SAF Vice President of Marketing. “This challenge provides a fun, interactive way to spread the good news about the benefits of flowers and the expertise of florists, with the capability of going viral very quickly.”

VaseOff! is part of SAF’s 2012 Consumer Marketing Program, which uses public relations and social media to promote positive messages about flowers, plants and florists. SAF marketing programs are possible thanks to the SAF PR Fund, made up of retail member dues and voluntary contributions by wholesalers, suppliers, importers and growers. Since its inception in 2001, PR Fund programs have generated more than 1 billion consumer impressions, according to Ogilvy’s measurements.