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Category: Valentine’s Day

Here’s how to get a week or more out of your Valentine’s Day roses

Posted on by Neal

Valentine’s Day often is described as the flower industry’s version of the Super Bowl.

It’s the No. 1 holiday for florists, similar in size to the Christmas season but playing out in a much shorter schedule.

In 2022, 22 percent of Americans bought fresh flowers or plants as gifts for Valentine’s Day, according to the Society of American Florists. Roses comprised 83 percent of those purchases, with red roses the top seller by far.

Just as the victorious football team’s most devoted fans will celebrate for days after the big game, the recipient of Valentine’s Day roses reasonably can expect to get a week or longer out of them by taking some simple steps.

KEEP ROSES COOL

Keep them away from a heat source, such as a vent or direct sunlight. While you are sleeping, you can place them in an unheated room or garage before putting them back on display in the morning.

KEEP ROSES WATERED

If roses arrive in a vase:

  • They will use more water than you think, so add water pretty much daily.
  • If after five days or so the water is getting dirty, pull the roses out, re-cut the stems and put them back in the vase with fresh water. Add a packet of floral preservative, available from your florist.
  • If the water is relatively clean, leave it alone as it will have some preservative left in it.

If roses arrive loose or in a box:

  • If the roses came with tubes on the stems, remove the tubes and re-cut the stems about 1 inch from the bottom. It is best to cut at an angle, which creates more surface area for water intake.
  • Place the roses in a vase with water that is room temperature to a little warm.
  • Add floral preservative to the water; you should have received a packet with the delivery.
  • Only change the water if it becomes noticeably dirty.

IF ROSES DON’T OPEN

  • Within a day or two, your roses should begin to open. If not, remove them from the vase, re-cut the stems at an angle, and return them to the vase.
  • If they still do not begin to open, re-cut the stems but this time also float the flowers in a bath of water for an hour or two to rehydrate them. Then return them to the vase. Most times, this will bring the roses around.

In one significant way, the Valentine’s Day/Super Bowl analogy falls short of the goal line.

Because unlike the football game, the best outcome for Valentine’s Day is when everyone – florist, giver and recipient alike – emerges a winner because those beautiful flowers lasted so long.

Royer’s Flowers opens heart of Valentine’s Day operation to news media

Posted on by Neal


On Feb. 7, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts welcomed WGAL, abc27 and PennLive/The Patriot-News to the heart of its Valentine’s Day operation, at its corporate complex in Lebanon.
Geoff Royer, vice president of central operations, noted the importance of ordering flowers early to guarantee availability. The pandemic has seen unprecedented demand for flowers that have become harder to source.

“We’re trying to get the word out sooner so that people can get their flowers delivered earlier,” Geoff told Pennlive/Patriot-News. “And then they get to be the hero because their flowers get delivered before anyone else’s … your wife or girlfriend will get their flowers Thursday, Friday or Saturday, instead of Monday.”

This year’s Super Bowl is the latest ever: the day before Valentine’s Day. Royer’s is reminding customers not to overlook ordering flowers as they prepare for the football game.

“We are delivering on Sunday, too,” Geoff said. “So, you could get your flowers delivered on Super Bowl Sunday and then be the hero at your party because your wife gets flowers at the party.”

Love story: Kimberly and Christopher Lombardo

Posted on by Neal

The Lombardos on their wedding day in Las Vegas.

Kimberly Lombardo is always interested in learning how couples connected.
For instance, one couple she knows began as rivals in a local softball league. She accidentally hit him in the face with a softball and broke his nose. She took him to the emergency room and then to dinner.
Kimberly allowed that she entered Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ love story contest because, “I always thought it was interesting how we met.” But what really intrigued us was how she and her husband, Christopher, became engaged.
We’ll get to that in a bit, but not before we congratulate Kimberly for being our contest winner. She will receive three monthly flower deliveries (valued at $29.99 per month), courtesy of Royer’s new subscription program.

‘A common goal’

Kimberly, a graduate of Lock Haven University, moved to the York area after teaching English as a second language at a high school in Japan. She met Christopher in 2002 when they both worked at the West Manchester Mall, she in customer service, he in security.
Both 24 at the time, Kimberly and Christopher knew each other casually. He would pop into the mall office, or they would “talk randomly” if they ran into one another at a mall event.
Christopher, who had never been on an airplane, was planning an 18-hour flight to Tokyo to attend a Japanese anime convention. Kimberly, who was dating someone at the time, offered to share her Japanese-English dictionary, train schedules and maps from her time in Japan.
“We just started talking,” Kimberly said, and realized that they had a lot in common. From their first date over breakfast on Christmas Eve, “We just started doing and hanging out more.”
Kimberly said she knew she was in love with Christopher when she realized that he was someone with lots of potential and she wanted to help him achieve it. His trip to Japan, she suggested to Christopher, wasn’t just about the convention but also an opportunity to travel and learn about another culture. She suggested he consider a career in the military.
They were, she said, “Kind of working together toward a common goal.”
In 2004, Kimberly began volunteering as an usher at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York, and Christopher joined the Air Force Reserves. They had been dating for three years by late 2006, when it appeared that Christopher could be deployed to Iraq.
They didn’t want to date forever, and they didn’t want to move in together without being married. They wanted to buy a house and knew it would be an easier process if they were married.

Proposal with three red roses

Against that backdrop, Christopher hatched a plan to propose to Kimberly on a grand stage, namely that of the Strand-Capitol during an early December performance of “The Nutcracker.”
“A lot of misdirection, lies and secrets” is how Christopher described the process of coordinating with the Strand-Capitol and producers of the “Nutcracker” while keeping details from Kimberly.
The couple had tickets to see “Nutcracker,” but Christopher concocted a story about winning backstage passes to meet the cast and crew. Between the end of the first act and intermission, a security guard led them backstage.
Christopher grabbed Kimberly’s hand. Instead of making their way to the cast and crew, however, he led her through the curtains and onto the stage.
Nervous and “sweating bullets,” beneath his military “dress blues,” Christopher noted to the audience of some 900 people that he and Kimberly had been together for three years. He presented her with three red roses, got down on one knee and asked Kimberly to marry him.
She nodded in the affirmative.
“She was speechless,” Christopher said. “Her brain just locked up, just froze.”
The audience gasped, clapped, stood and cheered. A reporter from the York Daily Record newspaper, clued in by the Strand-Capitol, was on hand to chronicle the moment.
The Lombardos married on Oct. 18, 2007 in Las Vegas in advance of Christopher’s 2008 deployment to Iraq. (He also would deploy to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2017.)
They have three children: Steven, 7; Paige, 5; and Kelly, 3. Kimberly stays home with the kids while Christopher, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State Harrisburg in 2014, is an IT specialist at the Defense Logistics Agency in New Cumberland.
And all these years later, Kimberly and Christopher still try to honor how their relationship began by having breakfast together on Christmas Eve.
 
 
 
 

Flower and gift ideas for all of your valentines

Posted on by Neal

#2167

Ravishing red roses rightfully rule Valentine’s Day, but they’re among many great options for conveying love and respect to the important people in your life, from family members to friends to valued community members.
Better still, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts offers arrangements and gifts at a wide range of price points to accommodate any budget. Here are some of our favorites:

For Partner

#2167 Masterpiece
This upgrade on a traditional dozen red roses features a handblown vase, stargazer lilies and curly willow to give a lavish loving look.

For Child

#2106

#2106 Sweet Hugs Bud Vase
Perfect for children of any age, it includes two roses in a red vase with a heart ribbon accompanied by a soft, huggable teddy bear and Hershey’s Kisses.

For Parent

#2114

#2114 Heart of Hearts
A lovely blend of pink and red flowers to show your love – straight from the heart.
#1959

#1959 Always figurine
Add a special gift for mom with this heart-tugging figurine, which comes boxed with a note saying, “I feel the strength of your love.”

For Grandparent

#2136

#2136 Love’s Garden
For the grandparent with a green thumb, this will continue to sprout love well after Valentine’s Day.
#2101

#2101 One True Love
For the grandparent with a small space, a beautiful vase arrangement featuring white hydrangea, red rose and pink alstroemeria. It’s simple, delicate, beautiful and perfect for a bedside or small coffee table.

For Sibling

#2112

#2112 Sent with Love
A vibrant mix of Dutch tulips perfect for a sister or brother.
#2185

#2185 Pound of Chocolates
Make your gesture extra sweet with a gourmet mix that includes caramel, chocolate-covered pretzels and buckeyes from Ohio’s Waggoner chocolates.

For Friend

#2162

#2162 Dozen Yellow Roses
Yellow roses are a traditional sign of friendship, joy and caring. The pandemic has made it more difficult to enjoy time with friends; here’s a way to let them know how much you value them.
#9235

#9235 Your Journey Heart Bracelet
From Demdaco, this beaded bracelet features a heart pendant and comes with a message gift box that reminds us to “nurture loving moments with our favorite people.”

For Neighbor

#544

#544 Chocolate Lover
Good neighbors deserve a basket teeming with a delicious gift selection of chocolate treats.

For Teacher

#2137

#2137 Love Grows
What better way to recognize the hard work of teachers, whether in the in-person or virtual classroom, with this easy-care succulent plant?

For Healthcare Worker

#2111

#2111 Love’s Garden
A bright and cheerful mix of garden flowers are the perfect prescription for thanking health care workers for their selfless devotion to public wellness.

For Employee

#2182

#2182 Milk Chocolate Pretzel Bag
Reward an employee’s hard work and dedication with this 6.5-ounce bag from Asher’s Chocolates.
Of course, you will find dozens of items from which to choose at royers.com and in our stores.
It’s easy to let your love flow to all of your valentines!
 

A dozen facts about roses to share with your Valentine’s Day recipient

Posted on by Neal


 
If you’re giving flowers this Valentine’s Day, odds are they will be roses.
That generous gesture alone is likely to impress the recipient. But maybe you really want to wow that special someone with your knowledge of the national flower (see below).
For you, we offer a dozen facts about roses that will help you demonstrate an even deeper commitment to your gift-giving.
1. Red rules
Because they symbolize love and romance, red roses are the runaway most popular color at Valentine’s Day, accounting for 69 percent of sales. In 1800, roses from China were bred with European roses to create the first true red rose. Rounding out the top 5 colors are white (38 percent), pink (37 percent), mixed (31 percent), and yellow (29 percent).
2. Color meaning
Other rose colors convey different meanings, giving you other options depending on your relationship with the recipient. For instance, you can send a message of friendship and cheer with yellow roses. Pink is a sign of appreciation, white of reverence.
3. Sweet smell
Rose oil is a popular floral scent and used in many women’s perfumes. It takes 2,000 roses to produce just one gram of oil.
4. 13,000 varieties
The cultivation of roses began around 500 B.C. Today, there are some 100 rose species and 13,000 rose varieties. And you thought there were a lot of mustard options at the grocery store!
5. Enduring
Roses are among the oldest flowers: rose fossils found in Colorado in the late 19th
century were 35 million years old. The oldest living rose is 1,000 years old and grows on a wall at Hildeshein Cathedral in Germany.
6. George Washington, no lie
The Father of His Country chopped down a cherry tree, according to folklore, but Washington planted roses at his Virginia home, Mount Vernon, and hybridized a variety that he named the “Mary Washington” after his mother.
7. 200 million roses
Each Valentine’s Day, Americans give approximately 200 million roses. The bulk of those roses come from South America. In the three weeks leading up to Feb. 14, the Washington Post reported in 2019, 30 cargo jets travel from Colombia to Miami each day.
8. From South America with love
Royer’s works directly with rose farms in South America to ensure that our flowers are of the highest quality. We visit those farms each year in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day to check on the crop and then follow the shipment through U.S. customs in Miami and onto a refrigerated truck destined for central Pennsylvania.
9. White House Rose Garden
Established in 1913 by the wife of Woodrow Wilson, the Rose Garden borders the Oval Office and the West Wing. It has been redesigned several times, as recently as 2020.
10. National flower
In 1986, standing in the Rose Garden, President Ronald Reagan declared the rose the national flower of the United States.
11. Stories and songs
Authors and songwriters have long been inspired by roses. To wit, in “Romeo and Juliet,” William Shakespeare wrote: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.” By one count, more than 4,000 songs are dedicated to roses.
12. Make them last
With the right care, your recipient’s roses can last for a week or longer. It is important to water the flowers and to keep them away from heat sources. If the water gets dirty, remove the flowers, re-cut the stems and put them back in the vase with fresh water.
Between gifting roses and learning more about them here, clearly you have put all of your heart into Valentine’s Day.
But if we can help with anything else, please let us know.
Sources: bhg.com, hgtv.com;

We want to tell a love story, perhaps yours

Posted on by Neal


 
Let’s get to the heart of the matter: With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we want to share a family-friendly love story on our blog, perhaps yours.
We’re holding a contest to find that story. The winner, who must live within Royer’s delivery area, will have his or her story professionally written and will receive three monthly flower deliveries (valued at $29.99 per month) courtesy of Royer’s new subscription program.
To submit your story, look for our pinned Facebook post on Jan. 20 and respond in the comment section of that post by midnight Jan. 22 (UPDATE: This has been extended to Jan. 26.)
In two or three sentences (approximately 50 words), tell us what is unique and compelling about your love story. Maybe it’s how or where you met, or when you realized you were in love, or a sweet tradition you share.
The winner, who will be chosen on Jan. 25 (now Jan. 29), must be willing to participate in a phone interview that week. We’ll share the story in early February.
We hope you’ll put your heart into this. Good luck!
 
 
 

10 Heart-Felt Uses for Flowers This Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Neal

Rainbow Rose Loose Bunch (2171)

In 2019, according to aboutflowers.com, 28 percent of American adults (37 percent men, 19 percent women) purchased flowers for Valentine’s Day. Roses led the way, accounting for 84 percent of those purchases.
If you favor tradition, we have you covered with lots of rose options available for delivery or in-store pickup. But if you’re looking for a new twist, we can help with that, too.
Here are 10 unique ways to incorporate flowers into Valentine’s Day:
1. Try different colors: Red roses are No. 1 in popularity, but other colors such as yellow and pink and mixed colors are terrific options, too.
2. Experiment with other flowers: Consider carnations, tulips, orchids, lilies, which will give you even more color and cost options.
3. Send to your kids: Everyone loves getting flowers, and certainly your children will be excited when the flower delivery is for them. Our Sweet Hugs Bud Vase features two roses, Hershey’s Kisses and a six-inch white plush bear.
4. Go on a flower-shopping date: Unsure which flowers to give your significant other? Turn it into a positive by making a date out of stopping at your local Royer’s before dinner or a movie. Our staff is eager to help.
5.  Thank a friend: How about a loving gesture of flowers for that loyal friend; you know, the one who stood by you through all of the ups and downs in your love life?
6. Reward great service: Every day, our lives are positively affected by others, from mail carriers to plumbers, waitstaff to dry cleaners. A single stem will let them know that you value the hard work they perform.
7. Make a candy heart rose bouquet: Place a clear glass vase containing roses inside a larger glass vase and fill the gap with candy conversation hearts.
8. Include a heart-felt note: Add oomph to your flowers when you craft a loving message to your significant other. You can bring it with you when you come to any of our stores. We’ll gladly include it with your delivery.
9. Give a gift to your hosts: Are you attending any parties around the holiday? If so, a bouquet of flowers is a thoughtful way to thank your hosts.
10. Commit a random act of flowers: Hand a dozen roses to someone with instructions for them to keep one flower and pass the rest of the bouquet to someone else, and on and on until you’ve touched 12 lives in a positive, loving way.
Maybe one or more of these suggestions will catch your fancy, or perhaps it will inspire you to come up with your own creative way to use flowers this Valentine’s Day.
The bottom line is that flowers are a time-honored way to show your love. And remember that options abound and our staff is always here to assist you.

News coverage of Royer’s Flowers gets to the heart of Valentine’s Day preparation

Posted on by Neal

Dan Gleiter, photographer with the Patriot-News/Pennlive, shoots video interview with Geoff Royer, vice president of central operations.

Geoff Royer had been on the go for days, including an annual pre-Valentine’s Day trip to South America to check up on Royer’s rose crop.
But on this day, Geoff’s near-constant movement was confined to Royer’s corporate complex in Lebanon, specifically the central design department where teams of associates gathered around long tables to hand-craft arrangements for the company’s 16 stores in seven counties.
Yet Geoff, vice president of central operations, stopped long enough for a brief interview with Patriot-News/Pennlive photographer Dan Gleiter.
“We’ll do about 27,000 arrangements for the holiday,” Geoff explained, the room bustling behind him. “Fifteen thousand or so of those will be roses. We’ll also do mixed bouquets, rose bunches and loose flowers, as well. We’ll do about 10,000 deliveries on Valentine’s Day itself.”
The interview and a photo gallery can be viewed on Pennlive. Meanwhile, several photos appeared in the Patriot-News print edition on Feb. 12.

Helping the heroes

Meanwhile, PBS39’s Berks County reporter Brittany Sweeney visited Royer’s Reading store for her look at Valentine’s Day. She spoke with Jenni Eberly, Royer’s market manager in Berks County.
“With the vases prepped and the flowers pruned,” Sweeney began her story, “less than a week out, Valentine’s Day hustle is under way.”
“This is our Super Bowl,” Jenni explained. “We get very excited.”
She explained how Geoff and his uncle, CEO Tom Royer, painstakingly review their specific flower crop at farms in South America and then follow the shipment as it makes its way through U.S. customs in Miami and onto tractor-trailers for the ride to Lebanon.
“Because even though we’re dealing with this huge volume, we don’t ever want to sacrifice quality,” Jenni said.
That volume totals a half-million roses and carnations at Valentine’s Day. Each one of those roses is “individually touched and cleaned and the thorns stripped, any of the bad petals peeled off so the roses look perfect for their arrival to the customer’s home.”
Asked what he was purchasing, customer Robert Latshaw said: “Definitely roses because I think that’s what everybody wants. Stick with tradition, right?”
Despite the volume, the flowers pass through Royer’s in short order.
“It comes in and goes out very quickly, and at the end we’re helping a lot of people be heroes to their loved ones,” Jenni said. “It’s great.”
You can view the PBS39 story here.

Just like Jack: Become a seasonal independent delivery driver for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Neal

Jack O’Hara started with Royer’s for Valentine’s Day in 2015.

It took more than 40 years of playing golf, but Jack O’Hara recorded his first hole-in-one on June 5, 2018.
He was part of a foursome participating in a senior men’s league at Spring Creek Golf Course in Hershey. They were on the eighth hole.
“Hit the green about four inches behind the hole, [the ball] curled around, dropped in,” he said. “That was really fun. We all just kind of jumped and started screaming.”
At 65, O’Hara still brings plenty of youthful enthusiasm to his job as a seasonal independent delivery driver for Royer’s. He has been with Royer’s since Valentine’s Day 2015, having responded to a newspaper help-wanted ad shortly after moving to the area from Richmond, Va., with his wife, Terrie.
“I love doing this,” he said one afternoon at the start of his shift. He was wearing boots, jeans, a fleece jacket and a ball cap.
O’Hara spent 40 years in the printing industry, during which he was a customer service manager overseeing 19 customer service representatives in five states. Covering that much territory meant plenty of time behind the wheel, time that he put to good use.
“A lot of windshield time, a lot of time to put your mind together, reflect, and think about how you can make someone’s day,” he said. “Customer service has always been one of my things that I’m really proud of.”

‘Instant love affair’

He credited his father, who was a funeral director in Pleasant Mount, Pa., for teaching him customer service and other skills. As a customer service representative himself, O’Hara worked on major accounts from across the country.
“You learn how to treat people,” he said. “You treat people well, that will come back on you 100 times. I always taught my CSRs to think positively. If your day starts off bad, it’s OK, start it over. It’s not the end of the world. There’s no issue or error that cannot be fixed. Forty years, I’ve been able to bring that with me.”
From his first Valentine’s Day with Royer’s, he said, “It was an instant love affair for myself. I wanted to do something. I’d been looking around. Being new the community, this opportunity helped me to learn a lot about the area, the community, and meet a lot of people.
“A lot of people that I deliver to, I deliver to maybe two or three times a year,” he said. “And it’s always great to go back and see someone, say hi.”
That first year, he also worked at Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. More recently, the store has needed him on additional occasions. He typically works three-hour shifts for Royer’s. (During the golfing season, he also works in the pro shop at Spring Creek Golf Course.)
He offered this endorsement to anyone interested in becoming a seasonal independent delivery driver for Royer’s:
“If you’re looking to do something, and if you’re the type of person that likes to meet people, talk to people, and help people out, I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “I think it’s something people should at least check out. I really find it very fulfilling. If you can bring some joy into someone’s life, I think that means a lot.”
If you or someone you know would like additional information about seasonal independent delivery driver opportunities, please call or stop by your nearest Royer’s store and ask for the delivery room manager.

Be like Liz: Join Royer’s as a holiday helper for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Neal

Liz Bazewicz has been a holiday helper in Hershey for some 15 years.

Liz Bazewicz still marvels at what she saw that first winter some 15 years ago when she first joined Royer’s Flowers as a holiday helper.
“The volume,” she said. “I had no idea what was involved in putting together Valentine’s Day.”
As Cupid comes calling once again, Royer’s is counting on seasonal mainstays such as Bazewicz to augment its regular staff during what amounts to the floral industry’s version of the Super Bowl.
Royer’s has a range of holiday helper openings with flexible hours available at royers.com/careers.
Bazewicz initially was drawn to Royer’s at a point when her three children were sufficiently grown and she wasn’t needed at home all day.
“I was bored, and the opportunity arose [with Royer’s],” she said. “I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for Valentine’s Day, and I knew I loved being around flowers, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

‘Real camaraderie’

Bazewicz has always worked at the Hershey store. She’s a fixture at major holidays and during homecoming season, primarily to wrap orders but also to help with any number of other behind-the-scenes tasks.
“I am still amazed at the planning and the organization that it takes to pull off these holidays,” she said, “and how successfully they do it. Speaking more than three weeks before Valentine’s Day, she noted that Royer’s already was in production for the holiday.
“It’s such an incredible well-oiled machine in terms of timing and personnel and getting everything done in a timely fashion so that there are no crises,” she said.
Asked what she likes most about her job, Bazewicz cited teamwork.
“Anybody that’s coming in new is going to be trained properly on what needs to be done,” she said. “They don’t have to feel like they’re going to be left alone to figure it out on their own. It’s well orchestrated.
“And we have fun. We really, honestly do. We joke around. And because people are so helpful toward me, I try to be so helpful toward them. So there’s a real camaraderie that I feel is really important. I literally wouldn’t come back if I didn’t feel cared about.”
Bazewicz, 61, noted that floral work is fast-paced and physically challenging.
“Number one, you are on your legs all day long, period, amen, end of story,” she said. “And there is lifting, there’s no question about that. And if you’re not comfortable or able to do that amount of lifting, then certainly you ask for help.”
It’s good, hard work for someone who wants to be physically active, Bazewicz said, that brings with it a deep sense of satisfaction.
“To be a part of this process where you can pull this off is almost an amazing accomplishment,” she said. “You need to be prepared to work hard. But I think it’s very rewarding. A job well done.”