Attention OAK POINT residents

Oak Point residents,

Did you know you were eligible for a 15% discount on flowers, gifts, plants & gourmet fruit baskets at REYNOLDS FLOWERS, INC.? Simply present your Oak Point membership card to receive 15% off your in-store, 'cash & carry' purchases (credit card & wire-service sales prohibited).

We are right around the corner and look forward to seeing you soon.

Buyer Beware: Frozen Roses

Flowers from around the world (& their care)

I am often asked where this or that flower comes from, is it true this is an international business, and don't I think its amazing...

Well, in fact I do, it is, and as for the where, I usually point around the room from bucket to bucket and say these flowers are South American, those are Californian, that's eastern seaboard foliage, those tropicals are from Jamaica, Hawaii & Costa Rica, and those orchids came from Thailand (which is the world's largest commercial producer, as well as it is of silk flowers).

Yes, our flowers really do come from a number of top quality growers within our syndicate and are cut & shipped on a daily basis. The rose, for instance, we delivered to you was most likely grown in either Colombia or Ecuador, shipped out of Quito, Bogota, or Medellin, flown to Miami and then to New England - all expedited transportation in a temperature controlled environment, using a state of the art real-time inventory control system.

What really matters when it comes to the quality and freshness of flowers is the post-harvest system of that farm, of us the professional florist, and of you. These are the conditions under which the flowers are kept (grading, temperature, hydration, packing & handling) between the time of shipment from the farm and delivery to your table. All contribute marginally to what is often very significant differences in quality. In our syndicate speed, cooling & hydration are predominant factors, but also proper care, regarding biocides & water clarifiers are important. Often in competitors' channels of distributon, flowers are held too long in too many places between a mulitude of various growers, shippers, brokers, exporters, importer and regional wholesalers with substantial inventories that take (waste) days before flowers are sold. Alternatively, other channels of distribution (in efforts to speed the process) employ FedEx or other carriers to transit a product (fresh flowers) they are not set-up to specialize in, and thereby fail to properly hydrate & refrigerate, thus diminishing the quality of the product. Our syndicate quite simply moves a superior product, fast & efficiently, taking proper care all the way. Flowers that arrive at REYNOLDS FLOWERS are the best available. Once here we then properly treat them depending upon their nature (gerberas require very different care than do orchids (hepaphytes) than do tulips, roses or hydrangea). Once "stabilized" to room environment, our fresh flowers are ready to be arranged and sent to their final destination: YOU.

Every package we deliver will have attached to it proper care & handling instructions and an appropriate package of "preservative." Please follow the directions attached for the longest possible "vase life" for your flowers. In addition to the additive there are some constants you should be aware of:

1. Fresh cut flowers like to be cool (but not cold). If you have a choice between a warm room & a cooler one, pick the cooler one;

2. Flowers love water - never let them run out;

3. Due to having been cut, certain physiological changes may occur more noticeably in one species or another, particularly hydrangea, roses and other "woody-stemmed" blossoms. These particularly have a nature of 'wilting' - but all is not necessarily lost. Remove the stems from their foam or water, re-cut them at an acute angle, and place into fresh water. Spritzing their blossoms and pealing off older foliage will also be helpful.

Tulips

Although generally associated with Holland & France, tulips originated in Persia and the Middle-east. The first tulips were brought to Europe from Turkey in the mid-1500s & for many years were grown only in university botanical gardens. In the early seventeenth century, bulbs were stolen from the University of Leiden and thus began "TULIPMANIA." In the late 1800s, when the Dutch industry began to officially classify tulips, a peculiarly attractive but virus-infected variety was categorized as the "Rembrandt" strain. Later a genetically stable hybrid was developed, bearing the same moniker. Today in the US, tulips are usually referred to as either "Dutch tulips," (the standard) or more recently in florist circles as "French tulips," (the premium or 'jumbo.')

ST. VALENTINES DAY - A Little History

Legend places SAINT VALENTINE as a 3rd century Roman priest. Under the rule of Claudius II, marriage was outlawed (because a stronger military was comprised of single men rather than family men). Fr. Valentine secretly married couples until he was found out, and put to death. Who says love is painless...?

CUPID appears in Roman mythology as the son of Venus, goddess of love (in Greek, he is Eros, god of love). The mischievous boy wounds gods & mortals alike with his arrows, causing them to fall in love and marry outside their social circles.