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Category: Holidays

Christmas is a cold-weather holiday, but poinsettias like it warm

Posted on by Neal
Poinsettias are America’s No. 1 potted plant, with red being the most popular color.

Christmas is celebrated around the world, but it clearly leans into cold weather.Red poinsettias are the most popular color.

Santa lives at the North Pole, after all. Among the most common holiday imagery are snow-covered evergreens, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose.

But it doesn’t take a lot of sleuthing on the Internet to find a stock image of Santa unwinding after a globe-trotting Christmas Eve. He’s lounging in a beach chair, his red pant legs rolled up, his bare feet in sand. Often, there’s a colorful drink in his hand, a turquoise-blue body of water nearby.

It is the season of believing, after all. But if a sun-soaking Santa seems far-fetched to you, here’s a warm weather connection to Christmas that you don’t have to take on faith.

It’s a fact that the poinsettia – the official plant of Christmas – is native to Mexico. It’s a tropical plant that finds its comfort zone between 65 to 70 degrees during the day.

Despite having only a six-week selling season, poinsettias are America’s No. 1 potted plant, racking up sales of $250 million each year, according to the Future Farmers of America organization.

The plant takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a native of South Carolina who is credited with bringing the poinsettia to the United States while he was serving as the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Red poinsettias remain the most popular, but they come in more than 100 varieties, “including shades of white, cream, pink, purple, orange and yellow,” FFA noted. We source our poinsettias from Pennsylvania, but they are grown in all 50 states.

The colorful part of the plant is a modified leaf called a bract, which often is mistaken as the flower. You must look in the center of the bracts for the small yellow flowers, known as cyathium.

No matter the size or the color of your poinsettia, you’ll want to take these steps to make it last long.

  • Average room temperature is fine. Poinsettias can’t tolerate cold (including icy water) and can suffer from droopy leaves (a condition known as epinasty) if exposed to cold temperatures.
  • Epinasty also can result from a build-up of ethylene gas. Big-box retailers are notorious for leaving poinsettias in plastic sleeves, which trap ethylene and essentially ruin the plant.
  • Bright, ample light is best for the plant, mimicking conditions in Mexico.
  • Keep the plant moist but not sitting in water. Like people, poinsettias don’t like wet feet. The frequency and amount of water will vary depending upon the amount of sunlight, humidity and pot size to which the plant is exposed.
  • Poinsettias are sensitive plants, so you want to avoid banging them into things as they can bruise easily.

Not only are poinsettias a prominent part of Christmas, but they are the subject of their own holiday.

National Poinsettia Day, celebrated on Dec. 12, marks the anniversary of the day that Joel Roberts Poinsett died in 1851.

Best Flowers for the Thanksgiving table

Posted on by Amber

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year you have a lot on your plate from meal planning and cooking, to coordinating schedules and setting up the pullout couch. We know you’re working hard to make it a memorable holiday.

To help ease some of the stress and make one decision easier, we’ve created a list of floral table centerpiece options. Many of these will be the star of the show, and likely the only decoration you need on the table.

There’s something for every style including smaller arrangements for intimate family gatherings and those who like simplicity and grand tablescapes that are great for larger tables and those looking to make a statement.

Floral Table centerpieces for intimate gatherings

Harvest Beauty – This small arrangement is bursting with color. It’s housed in a festive glass pumpkin container and features red roses, football mums and orange carnations. The pops of purple caspia add to the colorful, joyous effect. It’s just the right size for any small gathering.

Grateful – If you’re looking for a rustic, but bright fall look this arrangement will perfectly match the aesthetic. Orange carnations, an array of yellow flowers and dried oak leaves fill the yellow ceramic pot, creating a beautiful autumn centerpiece.

Autumn Light – This arrangement features a candle to help bring warmth and light to the table. It is contained in a dish and features red carnations, an array of poms, orange mini carnations and purple statice. It’s the perfect arrangement for those looking for a traditional centerpiece with a pop of color.

Fall Blooms – This arrangement is housed in a unique, square orange frosted vase and features bronze daisy poms, orange mini carnations, dried oak leaves and more. It’s perfect for those wanting a modern Thanksgiving look.

Thanksgiving Harvest – This is a great option for those who embrace pumpkin season. The arrangement is held by an orange ceramic pumpkin and contains peach carnations, orange mini carnations, bronze daisy poms and more.

Floral Table centerpieces for grand gatherings

Autumn Meadow Deluxe – This classic bouquet featuring red roses, sunflowers and orange carnations sits in a clear vase, providing an earthy and open touch. The colors are vibrant and will catch the eye of everyone in attendance.

Autumn Warmth – This centerpiece has two orange candles and is adorned in peach roses, football mums, poms and more. It’s a great option for those looking for something traditional to fill the table.

Horn of Plenty – This showstopper is a cornucopia basket holding an arrangement with burgundy roses, sunflowers, burgundy carnations, lots of poms, dried oak leaves and more. This centerpiece will be the talk of dinner and tied in beautifully with the spread of food.

Plentiful – A white wooden turkey is the star of this centerpiece. The decorative statue is surrounded by peach roses, football mums, mini green hydrangeas, yellow carnations and more. It is a wonderful addition to your turkey day feast.

Family Gathering Centerpiece – This four-candle centerpiece has peach roses, sunflowers, burgundy carnations and more. The fall plaid ribbon embedded ties together the seasonal look.

Whatever type of gathering you are planning for Thanksgiving flowers are the perfect decoration to celebrate the special holiday.

Name-the-arrangement contest sparkles with ‘Merriment,’ chosen for new holiday design

Posted on by Neal
Participants in Royer's Flowers name-the-arrangement contest in 2024 are asked to give a name to this holiday design. It features carnations, poms and a rose with noble fir and boxwood, ribbon and berries, all in a silver and red tin.

By day, Jennifer Davis of Lebanon is an engineer, writing test plans for satellites.

At night she comes back to earth with what she called her “email wind-down routine,” which is how Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ name-the-arrangement contest came into her orbit.

She submitted a couple entries, winning with “Merriment,” which put a figurative bow on a new holiday design. The arrangement features carnations, poms and a rose with noble fir and boxwood, ribbon and berries, all in a silver and red tin.

The contest runner-up was Joanne Beasy with “Berries & Boughs.” Beasy, of Grove City, Ohio, entered the contest through Royer’s sister company Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts, which has three stores in the Columbus, Ohio, area.

Davis and Beasy each will receive a Merriment arrangement as their prize.

It’s a change of altitude, or why your noble fir Christmas wreath will last so long

Posted on by Neal

If you’ve ever seen the movie “A Christmas Story,” (if not, TBS plays it 12 times in a row starting on Christmas Eve) you might recall the scene when the Parkers venture to a tree lot.

“This isn’t one of those trees that all the needles falls off, is it?” asks Mrs. Parker.

The salesman responds: “No, that’s them balsams.”

Balsam fir is one of the most fragrant of Christmas tree species, but as the line from the movie suggests, it has a warranted reputation for shedding needles.

While Royer’s doesn’t sell Christmas trees, we offer a wide range of fresh Christmas wreaths. Traditionally, they were made from balsam fir and delivered a solid value for our customers.

In recent years, however, after noticing a decline in the quality of the balsam wreaths, we switched to noble fir wreaths. They vary in size and come undecorated or adorned with the likes of pine cones, red berries and juniper. Bows and balls can be added, too.

Royer’s also offers silk balsam wreaths that are priced comparable to the old fresh balsam wreaths.

Cheryl Brill, Royer’s chief operating officer, said that the balsam wreaths were not constructed as well as they had been, perhaps because of a shortage of labor that required earlier and earlier production schedules.

“And there’s been an awful lot of drought,” she said. “Evergreens don’t respond well to that. When you cut them extra early to produce wreaths and then you’ve been having a drought situation, you end up with naked wreaths by the end of the season.”

‘Noble in stature’

If you aren’t familiar with noble fir, consider that it has been referred to as “the Cadillac of Christmas trees” and “the king of holiday greens.”

Here’s how The Real Christmas Tree Board, a national promotion and research organization funded by North American Christmas tree growers, describes the noble fir:

“Noble in name and stature, this stately tree features short, blue-green needles. The Noble fir has some of the best needle retention among Christmas tree species, with stiff branches and an attractive form to handle heavy ornaments. You’ll also find it used as greenery for wreaths and garland.”

To understand why noble fir is superior to balsam fir in needle retention, it helps to understand where the trees grow.

Balsam fir is grown in Canada, the northeastern states, the upper Great Lakes and Pennsylvania, according to The Real Christmas Tree Board; most noble fir is grown in the Pacific Northwest, at a significantly higher altitude than balsam. Continental Floral Greens, the maker of our noble wreaths, harvests the trees on the slopes of Mount St. Helens.

Nobles must be sturdy enough to withstand high winds. They also face 60 inches of rain annually and plenty of frost, which are key factors in their superior moisture and needle retention.

The noble wreaths are more expensive than the balsam wreaths, which reflects the longer growing time for noble and the shipping distance from Washington State.

While switching from traditional balsam wasn’t an easy decision, Brill noted that it was motivated by a desire to offer a better-constructed, longer-lasting option to customers.

“The main thing is their longevity,” she said of the noble. “And they are a very pretty wreath. The fir is fluffier because the needles are kind of rounded. It’s not a flat branch like a balsam is. So it has more dimension to it. They’ve always been my favorite.”

To make your Christmas wreath last longer, hairspray is a perfect holiday hack

Posted on by Neal
You can seal in the wreath’s moisture with hairspray.

For the holidays, the song says, you can’t beat home sweet home.

But while the sunshine of a friendly gaze can warm your heart, home also is where you can find practical solutions to Christmas complications.

Take hairspray, for instance.

You can spray it on nail polish to make it dry faster as you get ready for the office party, or on wrapped presents to make them glossy and stand out.

Our favorite holiday hack, however, is the power and punch hairspray can give to your Christmas wreath.

A wreath’s round shape and evergreen composition are why it is a symbol of eternal life. Evergreen trees have long been revered for their ability to survive winter.

Of course, even a fresh wreath will become dry over time. A cut Christmas tree will lose needles, but you can slow the process by giving it daily drinks of water.

That’s not possible with a wreath. Instead, you can seal in the wreath’s moisture with hairspray. It acts like glue and holds the needles on.

For best results and to avoid messes, spray the wreath outdoors before you hang it on a door, window or wall. Hang it on the outside of a door (it can get cooked if placed behind glass) and out of direct sunlight.

If you want to be happy in a million ways, the song says, for the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home.

Or hairspray.

Poinsettia Facts & Tips for this Christmas and Next

Posted on by Josh

We typically think of the North Pole when it comes to Christmas, but the most popular holiday plant originates with our neighbor to the south.

Poinsettias are native to Mexico and were introduced to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett, who was the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

In fact, Poinsett’s death in 1851 is commemorated every Dec. 12 as National Poinsettia Day.

Did You Know?

  • The colored parts of poinsettias aren’t flowers but bracts (leaves).
  • Poinsettias are not poisonous, to humans or pets: An Ohio State study found that a 50-pound child who ate 500 bracts (leaves) might have a slight tummy ache.
  • Poinsettias are commercially grown in all 50 states. For instance, the 20,000 poinsettias that Royer’s receives each year are from Lancaster County.
  • Ninety percent of all poinsettias are exported from the United States.

Poinsettia Care

Keeping your poinsettia looking great this Christmas takes two easy steps, but did you know with a few more steps you can have a wonderful poinsettia next Christmas as well?

This Christmas

  • When the surface of the soil is dry to the touch, water the plant.
  • Keep the poinsettia in a room with temperatures between 60 and 72 degrees. Keep the plant out of hot and cold drafts, such as those from a heating vent or open door.

Next Christmas

  • When leaves begin to drop, let dry slightly between watering.
  • In late spring (early May) cut back plant to 6 inches, shake free of soil and repot in new potting soil, then resume regular watering. Fertilize with a 30-10-10 fertilizer twice monthly. Stop fertilizing November 1st until December 30th.
  • Place outdoors in a warm sunny location when the temperatures are consistently over 60 degrees.
  • Pinch the tips of new shoots when they reach 6 to 8 inches long until late July. Continue to fertilize every two weeks.
  • Bring indoors before cold nights (early September) and place indoors in full sun. Three to six hours of sunlight is needed.
  • In order for poinsettias to bloom, they must have 14 hours of uninterrupted darkness each day for 40 days (late September through October). Place in a dark place such as a closet or cover with a bag from early evening and remove the next morning so that the plant is in total darkness.
  • When #6 is followed, your poinsettia will bloom at Christmas, but remember, it only takes 10 minutes of light per day during the time it was dark and your plant won’t bloom until January or February.

Royer’s Flowers presents American Red Cross with thousands of holiday cards for area veterans

Posted on by Neal

Continuing an annual tradition, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts on Dec. 7, 2021, presented several thousand holiday cards and coloring pages to the American Red Cross for distribution to area veterans.
Royer’s, which has participated in the Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program for nearly a decade, collected the cards from the public in each of its stores throughout November.
WGAL News 8 and abc27 were on hand at Royer’s Harrisburg East store as Barry Spengler, Royer’s chief administrative officer, transferred boxes of cards and coloring pages to Jonathan Glenn, regional program director, American Red Cross.

Royer’s Flowers presents American Red Cross with thousands of holiday cards for area veterans

Posted on by Neal


Because of the generosity of our customers, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts has presented some 2,500 holiday cards and coloring pages to the American Red Cross for distribution to area veterans.
Royer’s, which has participated in the Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program for nearly a decade, collected the cards in each of its stores throughout November.
The items will be distributed to veterans at the Lebanon VA Medical Center and at area retirement facilities.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Holidays for Heroes.
Photo: From left, Jonathan Glenn, regional program director, American Red Cross, and Barry Spengler, chief administrative officer, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts.

Thank you for donating more than 1,000 holiday cards and coloring pages for veterans

Posted on by Neal

In this season of giving, you sure did.
Our annual “Holidays for Heroes” event, which ran throughout November, collected more than 1,000 holiday cards and coloring pages for veterans.
We presented these cards and coloring pages to the American Red Cross, which this year is distributing holiday cards to more than 700 veterans in 30 locations in its Greater Pennsylvania Region.
One of those locations is Frey Village, a continuing care retirement community in Middletown, where the Red Cross and Royer’s hosted a holiday party for 18 veterans on Dec. 16.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Holidays for Heroes and helped us celebrate our brave, selfless veterans.

Oh, Atlanta, we hear you calling

Posted on by Neal


We don’t procrastinate when it comes to holiday shopping. In fact, no sooner is one Christmas in the rearview mirror than we start planning for the next one.
It’s not that we’re eager for the passage of time. Rather, we’re beckoned by AmericasMart in Atlanta, which describes itself as the nation’s leading gift, home furnishings and area rug wholesale marketplace.
In Atlanta, we might purchase containers bearing a Christmas decoration, or snowflake or snowman stick-ins to complement an arrangement. We source Christmas décor at AmericasMart but also gifts that customers will give at the holidays, such as a picture frame.
A half-dozen Royer’s representatives visit AmericasMart’s three-building, 7 million-square-foot complex every January, buying gifts and arrangement accents for the next Christmas season, and again in July, when the focus will be on the next spring.

Focus on larger gifts

Jenni Eberly, Royer’s market manager, has made six trips to Atlanta, so she’s a veteran now. But as a first-time visitor, she found the experience daunting.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said, “looking at all that merchandise set out in the displays. Because then you have to take these huge displays and then pick out what you’re going to buy.”
As vast as AmericasMart is, Royer’s spends most of its time on five floral and holiday floors. In July, the group arrived in Atlanta on a Wednesday and worked through Friday. The pace is constant, and even lunch and dinner conversation turns to what each of them has seen from vendors.
Geoff Royer, whose great-grandparents started Royer’s, coordinates the Atlanta trips. He sets up meetings with specific vendors. He also arms each member of the Royer’s delegation with a folder that identifies, by holiday, items on their shopping list.
The needs range from broad to specific. In January, some of the focus was on larger gifts, such as clocks, afghans and pillows that are relatively new for Royer’s. In July, one of the goals was to find new versions of a heart stick-in and accent ribbon to give a new look to an existing arrangement.
Erica Bixby, Royer’s store manager in Lebanon, has been to Atlanta three times. With experience, she has learned to think beyond the initial appeal of new products to identify how they will work in Royer’s stores.
How will they complement other items, and will they work given the price at which they will have to sell, including once freight costs are factored in?
Something might look nice, Erica suggested, “but you can’t really sell it for $50.”

Moments of inspiration

Technology has made it easier to document the trips. Photos taken with a tablet or smart phone are invaluable for jogging memories. After all, Christmas giftware purchased in January won’t arrive until summer or fall.
Photos also capture moments of inspiration.
“I have a bunch of things that I liked for silks,” Erica said, with an eye toward Royer’s crafting similar arrangements in-house rather than buying them already made.
“Or I take pictures of displays that I’d like to duplicate in the stores,” Jenni added.
On her phone, Jenni pulled up a photo showing how one vendor used eye hooks and ropes to display pillows.
“It’s up, it’s still in the display, but it’s out of the way,” Jenni said, noting that pillows are vulnerable in a flower shop, where the need to water plants is constant.
One week after returning from the July trip, Erica and Jenni were in Royer’s central design department in Lebanon. Looking around them, at tables filled with arrangements being created or revamped for fall debuts, they estimated that 30 percent of the items were from Atlanta.
“That container, that container, that container,” Jenni said, pointing at specific arrangements. “That vase. Those deer [figures]. Those are all things that we picked up in January.”