Royer’s Flowers & Gifts will give away red, white and blue bouquets to military veterans on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
The bouquets – featuring a red carnation, a white carnation and a blue bow – will be available in-store only at each of Royer’s 16 locations in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
“This is one of our favorite events each year,” said Tom Royer, president and CEO of family-owned Royer’s. “It is our honor and privilege to recognize the men and women who give so much to protect our freedom.”
Non-veterans may purchase the bouquets for $2.20 each.
You can serve your country with just a few crayons.
The Royer’s Kids Club is participating in the American Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program, which collects coloring pages and holiday cards for service members and veterans.
Children of an earlier time did the monster mash. The Royer’s Flowers & Gifts Kids Club has an updated take on Halloween: spooky succulents.
The kids club is celebrating the season with its first virtual event, offering free take-home kits that will allow children ages 5 to 12 to decorate a Halloween tin with a succulent plant.
Kits include a tin decorated with a jack-o-lantern, mummy or Dracula; two-inch succulent; cellophane for lining the tin; instruction sheet with QR code linking to a video with assembly and plant-care tips; and a Halloween coloring sheet.
Kits must be reserved at royers.com/kidsclub while supplies last, limit three per family. In-store pickup of the kits will be available Oct. 19-24.
Royer’s is encouraging moms and dads to send photos of their child’s completed project to kidsclub@royers.com for sharing on social media.
Royer’s Flowers & Gifts will continue an annual tradition by collecting holiday cards and coloring pages for service members and veterans from Oct. 16 through Nov. 14.
Royer’s has partnered with the American Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program for more than a decade.
The Red Cross offers these guidelines for preparing cards:
Use generic salutations: “Dear Service Member” or “Dear Veteran”
Be thoughtful with messages, expressing reasons why you are thankful for the service members/veterans; if you have a personal connection, such as a family member who served, consider adding that
Try not to be overtly religious, but messages such as “Merry Christmas” or “God Bless You” are acceptable
Do not include inserts such as glitter, photos, business cards
Do not include personal information such as telephone number, address or email
Sign your name
The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
A Royer’s truck set out from Lebanon in early August on a 250-mile journey into the future of foliage plants.
The truck headed southwest on Interstate 81, its destination a 200-acre farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia, in the town of Stuarts Draft. On that farm lies a five-acre building that from above looks like nothing so much as a gigantic Lego piece (photo, below).
It’s a state-of-the art greenhouse where The Plant Co., which was birthed during the pandemic, is drawing on one family’s decades of floriculture experience and the latest technology in a quest to “reinvent the houseplant industry.”
Royer’s is the first florist to carry The Plant Co.’s products.
“It was amazing to see how many of our own people purchased the Proven Winners plants as soon as they came in,” said Cheryl Brill, chief operating officer.
CEO Tom Royer and Zach Barkman, wholesale manager, got to know The Plant Co. this spring when they attended the International Floriculture Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It was there that they met Jennifer Kuziw, The Plant Co.’s northeast sales manager.
Kuziw grew up and still lives in central Pennsylvania. She already was familiar with Royer’s and thought the two companies would be a good fit given their commitment to delivering high-quality products to customers.
Within weeks, she was showing product samples to Royer’s officials in Lebanon. Tom and Zach then visited the massive greenhouse in Virginia, which opened in 2020.
Tissue culture
“This is all great stuff,” Tom recalled upon seeing the plants.
Tom noted that in the past 30 years, mass marketers began offering foliage plants. Florida growers either catered to those customers, turning plants into mere commodities, or went out of business altogether.
The result was plants that weren’t as special as they once were. That left fertile ground for The Plant Co., the brainchild of founders and brothers-in-law Jason Van Wingerden and Frank Paul.
Just as four generations of Royers have made the family name synonymous with flower shops, the Van Wingerden family is deeply rooted in the greenhouse trade. It began with Aart and Cora Van Wingerden, who arrived from Holland in 1948 and started a greenhouse business in New Jersey, spawning many other similar enterprises.
Jason Van Wingerden, a grandson of Aart and Cora, worked at Green Circle Growers in Oberlin, Ohio, which Jason’s father started in 1968. Green Circle comprises 150 acres of indoor growing space, making it one of the largest greenhouses in the United States. Frank Paul was Green Circle’s former head grower of orchids.
The brothers-in-law settled on western Virginia for its climate, proximity to interstates 81 and 64, and high-quality well water, said Ben Wright, The Plant Co.’s national account manager.
The elevation in the Blue Ridge Mountains means warm days, cool nights and “good, consistent quality growth year-round,” Wright said.
The greenhouse (photo, above) is just a couple miles away from a Hershey Co. factory that makes Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
The Plant Co.’s products begin as tissue culture in test tubes, arriving from labs around the world, before they are rooted in soil in the greenhouse. Tissue culture makes the plants cleaner and less prone to disease.
Ease of care and use
The greenhouse’s 21-foot ceilings keep plants cooler, as do metal poles that are powder coated white to absorb less heat.
Thirteen layers of sand and gravel sit below capillary mats. Plants are watered from below through the mats, then the water drains back into holding tanks so it isn’t wasted.
Carbon dioxide from the greenhouse’s high-efficiency natural gas boilers is captured and pumped into the greenhouse to encourage plant growth.
The plants are promoted for their quality but also for their ease of care and use. The plants are sold with tags that include the variety name, genus and species and information about where to use them within a room and how to care for them.
The goal is to embolden consumers who haven’t had success with plants in the past.
“And so they kind of discover that green thumb,” Wright said.
Mike Rohrer, who joined the Ephrata store in January as a driver, was delivering flowers to a woman at the Brethren Village retirement community in Lititz.
“It’s my birthday,” the woman said expectantly, “and you’re going to sing to me, aren’t you?”
“I said, ‘You bet I am!” Rohrer recalled. “How could you pass that up?”
Singing birthday greetings has become Rohrer’s calling card.
Rohrer, 66, was born and raised in Manheim, Lancaster County. He spent 32 years as a Christian school administrator, first in Lititz and recently in southern Maryland.
The pandemic prompted him and his wife, Becky, to move to Ephrata and closer to family. They have three grown children; they are “Mimi” and “Poppy” to six grandchildren.
It was Becky who spotted the Royer’s job opening.
“She said, ‘I think you’d really like this job,’“ Rohrer said. “And you know what? She was right. I love the job.”
Rohrer has made it his mission to deliver kindness to customers along with rose bouquets. Of course, challenges exist, from slow traffic (including horse and buggy travelers) to hard-to-find house numbers to growling dogs.
But that doesn’t deter Rohrer.
“There’s a little verse in the Bible that says something like this: Be kind to one another,” Rohrer said. “And on any given day, I’m going to meet people who maybe have had a bad day. Maybe they’ve had a good day. Maybe they have health problems. Maybe they have financial problems. Maybe there’s problems with their families.
“I look at it as kind of a ministry to try to help meet their needs by making them have a good, fun day,” he said.
Rohrer works approximately 30 hours per week, typically making 20 to 25 deliveries each day.
‘It’s somebody’s birthday’
On a recent Tuesday morning, his first shift comprised five stops in Ephrata. First, he pulled up alongside parked cars on a narrow street, turned on his flashers, and slid the side door open. No one was home to accept the snack basket.
The second stop took him to Elite Coach, a charter bus company, where he delivered a Tranquility arrangement to a woman in the office. Next, he brought mixed flowers in a vase to a woman who said she was celebrating her 42nd wedding anniversary.
“Hey, I’ve got you beat,” Roher said in fun. “This year’s my 46th!”
The fourth stop brought him to a neighborhood where many of the streets are named after American presidents. This recipient lived on Garfield Drive.
The typed printout on Mike’s clipboard noted that it was a birthday delivery. Lest there be any doubt, “B-DAY” was handwritten and circled in pink highlighter.
“It looks like it’s somebody’s birthday,” Rohrer said to the woman answering his six knocks on the door. “Is it your birthday?”
“It’s my birthday, thank you!” she said, accepting the Jewel arrangement.
Lisa Birkholz of South Lebanon Township, Lebanon County, always is eager for autumn.
“Fall’s my favorite time of year,” she said.
And with even more reason this year. Her submission in Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ annual name-the-arrangement contest – “Fall Hues” – was selected as the winner among more than 500 online entries.
Kathy Kissling’s entry “Fall’s Delight” (one of six she contributed overall) was the runner up. Birkholz and Kissling, also of South Lebanon Township, each will receive the all-around arrangement (retail value $34.99) as their prize.
The arrangement features an autumnal color palette: lavender glass vase, orange rose and orange carnations, purple statice, red alstroemeria, sunflower. It measures 14 inches high and 11 inches wide.
The arrangement will debut this fall and will be available in all stores and as part of Royer’s direct-ship program serving the Lower 48 states.
The outcome of last year’s Royer’s Flowers & Gifts Kids Club birthday card design contest was bittersweet for Emily Rivera.
Emily is entering third grade in Lancaster County.
She was happy for her older sister, Allison, who submitted the winning drawing. But Emily had entered the contest, too. Her parents, Debbie and Angel, explained that there could be only one winner.
And this year, that winner is Emily, who dropped off her entry on her ninth birthday, at the Royer’s Lancaster West store. Emily, whose family lives in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, will be a third-grader at J.E. Fritz Elementary School.
“She loves to read,” her mother said. “She enjoys math.” With the help of a friend, Emily learned how to turn a cartwheel this year.
Emily’s winning entry (featuring flowers and the message, “Have a beautiful birthday”) will adorn the electronic card that kids club members will receive on their birthdays in the coming year. Her prize is a flower delivery.
Congratulations to Emily and thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s contest. We hope to see your entries again next year, so keep drawing!
Meanwhile, the Royer’s Kids Club is free for children ages 5 to 12. Parents may register their children at any Royer’s store or at royers.com/kidsclub. Kids club benefits include a membership card, online activities, a quarterly e-mail newsletter, contests and events.
If hot summer weather doesn’t make you yearn for fall, then Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ annual name-the-arrangement contest surely will.
The new all-around arrangement features an autumnal color palette: lavender glass vase, orange rose and orange carnations, purple statice, red alstroemeria, sunflower. It measures 14 inches high and 11 inches wide.
The arrangement has a product number, but Royer’s is asking for help with a name.
One winner and one runner-up will be selected from entries received by Royer’s and its sister company in Columbus, Ohio. Both the winner and runner-up will receive the arrangement (retail value $34.99) as their prize.
The arrangement will debut this fall and will be available in all stores and as part of Royer’s direct-ship program serving the Lower 48 states.
To view the arrangement and enter the contest, visit royers.com/contest. Limit one entry daily per email address, through Aug. 5.
The Royer’s Flowers & Gifts Kids Club is looking for its next birthday card design.
Children ages 5 to 12 are eligible to participate in the kids club’s annual design contest. The winner will receive a free bouquet delivery on his or her birthday.
The card is emailed to kids club members on their birthdays.
Entries must be dropped off by July 15 at any one of Royer’s 16 stores in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties, including one Stephenson’s Flowers & Gifts location in Harrisburg.
To download an entry form (and to join the kids club at no cost), visit royers.com/kidsclub.
