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Outdoor weddings, weather and having a Plan B

Posted on by Neal

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On this particular September wedding day, the misty weather presented some logistical challenges for the bride and groom.
The ceremony that had been planned for a beautiful garden had to be moved indoors on short notice. A ballroom had to be transformed into a beautiful garden setting, complete with an arch and flower-festooned aisle.
As they say, into every life some rain must fall. And it was a good reminder that weather is one variable that no one controls, no matter how good of a wedding planner he or she is.
If you want an outdoor wedding, it’s best to have a Plan B just in case. We all know how variable the weather can be in Pennsylvania, after all.
A number of years ago, the Farmers’ Almanac solicited submissions for its “Worst Wedding Weather Contest.” After Texas and Florida, Pennsylvania tied Ohio and Indiana for the most submissions.
Couples from those states “have experienced the soggiest, snowiest, windiest, most hurricane-hampered and hail-ridden wedding weather,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
In fact, a Philadelphia-area couple won the contest’s grand prize (a warm-weather cruise) with a tale of how a record snowfall interrupted their wedding plans.

Many factors to consider

So what should you consider when it comes to creating that Plan B for your outdoor wedding? There are many factors, none more important than the safety and well-being of the wedding couple and their guests.
An article from about.com wedding expert Nina Callaway offers “10 tips for the perfect outdoor wedding.”
Of course, we’re pretty protective of the flowers, too.
We were on hand for that misty September wedding mentioned above. Being a perishable product, flowers require a tender touch. While do-it-yourself can be tempting when it comes to flowers (and other aspects of a wedding), it’s also comforting when a professional is on hand, in good weather and bad.
A florist will ensure that your flowers look their beautiful best. Unlike the weather, this is an aspect of your wedding that you can control.

Fox 43: spring and Easter flowers

Posted on by Neal

Fox 43 Morning News' Amy Lutz and Royer's Barry Spengler.
Fox 43 Morning News’ Amy Lutz and Royer’s Barry Spengler.

It was another egg-cellent visit to Fox 43 Morning News for Barry Spengler, our vice president of operations. He joined host Amy Lutz to discuss spring and Easter flowers and plants.
“Winter’s kind of getting out of the way,” Barry said, “and let’s get some spring.”
Among the highlights:

  • With hyacinth and tulips, the plants sometimes are immature when you get them. Just give them three to five days to develop. “Don’t be afraid of them,” Barry said, “… you’ll see them open up in the home. So just be patient.”
  • Unlike in the fall, a mum this time of year is not a hardy mum. “So enjoy it inside, you can put it on your porch for the summer,” Barry said. “But don’t put it in the ground, it will die for next year.”
  • Easter lilies and calla lilies offer a nice fragrance and can be planted outside but should be kept in a protected area, such as near your home.
  • With bulb plants, once their blooms are “shot,” let the foliage die back into the bulb. This will provide nutrients that will strengthen the bulb. “Over the summer, you can just let that dry in the pot, plant it in the fall, and you’ll see them next year,” Barry said.

Here’s the entire segment:

The making of our fall catalog

Posted on by Neal

Our 40-page fall catalog arrived in tens of thousands of mailboxes in October. (If you didn’t receive one, you can pick up a copy at any of our stores.)
With each of our catalogs, we change approximately 20 percent of the product lineup. Ultimately, it’s our customers who determine which arrangements stay in the lineup over the long haul.
Royer's Fall 2014 catalog
How an arrangement makes it into the menu is an exhaustive process. It’s a long way from auditioning for a role to walking the red carpet, in other words.
Weak-selling arrangements are removed, or they are redesigned to give them a more current look. Sometimes an arrangement is discontinued because its container is no longer available.
Once we know how many items are being removed, we begin developing the new items. Inspiration comes from visiting other florists; from walking through gift trade shows in Atlanta and Dallas; from visiting container suppliers to spot trends in colors and styles.
Some of the ideas come from previous holiday selections. If a Mother’s Day item sells out early, for instance, we know there is strong customer demand for it, and it could get into the lineup.
Flower growers are part of the process, too, as we constantly seek out new suppliers. They must be able to provide premium product on a consistent basis. Currently, we are testing flowers from Ethiopia.
In late May, a small team pulls together new containers, flowers and ideas in order to develop new arrangement concepts.
Value engineered
Once we have the concepts, a team of designers turns them into actual arrangements, collaborating on some items or coming up with their own interpretations on others.
We buy flowers in all varieties and colors to keep our lineup fresh and interesting for our customers and designers alike. We also want flowers that we know will be available for at least a year.
With the arrangements made, the original group reconvenes in June/July to make final selections.
The arrangements are “value engineered” to give the best value to our customers. Perhaps better-priced flowers or containers can be used without upsetting the integrity of the designs.
Finally, the approved arrangements are professionally photographed for inclusion in the catalog.
And now it’s in the hands of our customers, who will vote with their pocketbooks and ultimately determine which arrangements stay in our lineup.

We get your homecoming going on Fox 43

Posted on by Neal

Royer's Barry Spengler joins Heather Warner on Fox 43 Morning News.
Royer’s Barry Spengler joins Heather Warner on Fox 43 Morning News.

It was a sort of homecoming for our Barry Spengler, making his first appearance on Fox 43 Morning News in a number of months.
But Barry was there to talk about a different kind of homecoming: the high school dance kind.
Joining Fox 43’s Heather Warner, Barry showed some of the bling and accents that are popular these days.
Homecoming, he said, tends to be less formal.
“It’s not like prom,” he said “You can go a little bit over the top. It’s cool.”
Other highlights:

  • Not all girls go to homecoming with a date but rather attend with a group of girlfriends. Parents can make it special by getting “a little something” for them, Barry said, holding a small wrist corsage.
  • For guys who want to make a really good impression: While you’re getting a corsage for your date, try also bringing a single rose for her mother.

“You’ll score some huge points,” Barry said, “that or just a little bouquet for the hand. Big points.”

7 ways to say you’re sorry – and many other free quotations and expressions available on our website

Posted on by Neal

In the doghouse? Our website will help you find the words to say you're sorry.
In the doghouse? Our website will help you find the words to say you’re sorry.

The Greek mathematician Archimedes said that with a long-enough lever and a fulcrum, he could move the world.
That’s a pretty lofty goal. What if you are just searching for the right words to accompany the flowers that you’re sending to a loved one?
Royer’s website offers more than 200 quotations and expressions to help you say what needs to be said. They cover everything from anniversaries and birthdays to love and marriage, business and education to sympathy and thank you.
For instance, here are seven ways to say you’re sorry:

1. “Accept these flowers in place of the words I said.”
2. “I wouldn’t have made a mistake with my mouth shut.”
3. “I’m wrong – you’re right.”
4. “I muffed it! I’m so sorry!”
5. “I’ll never forgive myself … but I’m hoping you will. I’m sorry.”
6. “I may not be perfect, but my apology is close.”
7. “Will these keys let me out of the doghouse? I’m sorry.”

Feel free to pick one or cobble together your own version from these suggestions.
We can’t promise that your words will move the world, but they will be a really nice complement to the flowers you send.

With addition of PinnacleHealth, Royer’s serving 11 area hospital gift shops

Posted on by Neal

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In advance of opening West Shore Hospital in May, PinnacleHealth System sought a new floral vendor that could keep up with the growing volume of orders from its three hospital boutique gift shops.
Royer’s Camp Hill store won a multi-year contract to service the new hospital as well as the established Harrisburg Hospital and Community General Osteopathic Hospital. The partnership began April 1.

“It’s just been extremely good the whole time,” said Joan Line, manager for PinnacleHealth Auxiliary.

She works closely with the Camp Hill store’s Holly Newpower, manager, and Aimee Arrowood, assistant manager. Royer’s delivers flowers at various price points to the hospitals every week, but Line also has been impressed with how requests have been accommodated on weekends.
“If a family comes in and wants a special arrangement,” she said, “all we have to do is call Holly and Amy and they will bring it in.”
PinnacleHealth’s gift shops are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
What’s more, PinnacleHealth Auxiliary’s website includes an online gift shop, and orders placed there are filled by Royer’s. Or if customers buy flowers on Royer’s website that are destined for a PinnacleHealth hospital, Royer’s gives a small percentage of each sale back to PinnacleHealth Auxiliary.
The nonprofit PinnacleHealth Auxiliary manages the three gift shops. All of the proceeds from the gift shops come back to the hospitals to support various programs and services.
Holly, Royer’s manager in Camp Hill, called the PinnacleHealth Auxiliary partnership “a huge deal” for her store.
“More than just selling flowers,” she said, “it’s benefitting the community, too.”
Added PinnacleHealth’s Line: “It’s just a good match.”
Meanwhile, six other Royer’s stores service eight other area hospital gift shops:
East York: Apple Hill Surgical Center
Ephrata: WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center
Lancaster West: Lancaster General Hospital, Women & Babies Hospital
Lebanon: Good Samaritan Hospital
Reading: Reading Hospital
West York: WellSpan York Hospital
 

Royer’s tops ‘Best of Lebanon Valley’ for fourth year in a row

Posted on by Neal

Best of the Lebanon ValleyFor the fourth time in as many years as the Lebanon Daily News has recognized the “Best of the Lebanon Valley,” the newspaper’s readers have voted Royer’s their favorite florist.
Royer’s has always called Lebanon home: Our family-owned business started there in 1937 and operates its flagship store at 810 S. 12th St., Lebanon, and 901 E. Main St., Palmyra.
Overall, Royer’s has 17 stores in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
“Best of the Lebanon Valley” comprised 114 categories and two rounds of reader participation. Results were announced on June 18.

5 things you should know about caring for annual plants

Posted on by Neal

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So you bought annual plants in a container at your local florist, garden center or home-improvement store.
Annual plants – such as petunias, geraniums and begonias that complete their life cycles in one year – pose perennial challenges once you bring them home.
Here are five things you should know about caring for your annuals:
1. You have to add nutrients: Your plant didn’t come in nutrient-rich soil. Rather, it’s a potting mix that includes peat moss. This mixture is inert, meaning that it doesn’t contain the nutrients found in soil. So you have to add the nutrients by applying fertilizer on a regular basis.
2. Fertilizer is soluble, so you have to keep adding it: Regular watering of your annual plants will wash out the added nutrients if the container has drainage holes on the bottom.
3. Don’t add too much fertilizer: One of the ingredients in fertilizer is salt. Too much fertilizer – and with it, too much salt – can damage plant roots. The salt in the fertilizer will remove whatever moisture is left in the roots and burn them.
4. Cut the amount in half: Whatever dosage the fertilizer manufacturer recommends, consider cutting the amount in half and fertilizing every time you water. This way you have less of a chance of burning the roots, and your plant gets a continual supply of nutrients rather than peaks and valleys.
5. Give them a pinch: Remove the old blooms and pinch a plant’s tips, which will force out new growth. An occasional light trim will keep a plant bushy and blooming.
With proper care, your annual plants will bloom beautifully for you this summer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A thorny problem is solved by our annual May-June rose sale

Posted on by Neal

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, author
Indeed, June is National Rose Month, which coincides conveniently with the fact that roses are abundant this time of year.
That abundance explains why Royer’s has its rose sale every June.
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As everyone knows, roses, especially red ones, are in great demand at Valentine’s Day. Hence, prices go up for florists and customers alike. Even then, however, the law of supply and demand comes into play.
There’s considerably less demand for yellow and orange and white roses, which become more affordable for us and, in turn, for our customers. This Valentine’s Day, we offered a “rainbow” mixed-rose (colors other than red) arrangement with babies breath, valued at $59.99, for $39.99.
A rose farm typically harvests its crop every six to eight weeks. Conveniently after the Valentine’s Day harvest comes the one for Mother’s Day. But while there’s another big crop of roses in late spring, there is not a corresponding holiday to absorb all of those flowers.
So we created our annual rose sale, which this year started May 17 and runs through June 22. We discount rose arrangements by $10 for one dozen and by $20 for two dozen, among other offers.
Yes, in June the world smells of roses.
There’s also the whiff of our annual rose sale in the air.