Father's Day Gifts

If you haven’t found that perfect gift for dad this year go to your local florist. It is so easy find a gift for your father when you talk to a designer. You will be surprised by the options you find. Gift baskets, plants and flowers can be customized for any taste and to meet any budget.
Gift baskets are always good for Father’s Day. A basket with dads’ favorite food and snacks are the easiest route to take but there are other options. Take in your own container like a lunch box, ice chest or tailgate grill, and have the florist fill it with gifts that fit a theme like golf or grilling. You can even pick out a custom container like an older body style truck or root beer mug at the flower shop. Whatever you pick for a gift basket your dad will love it because it will have a personal touch to it.
Plants are also a great choice. Plants come in all sizes and price ranges. You can keep it simple by picking out a few small plants for a dish garden or send a large floor plant in a nice ceramic pot. You can also get creative with something like a baseball container with a plant in it (like an ivy for a cubs fan) to put in dads office or game room.
Of course you can always use your local flower shop to send dad flowers. This is quite possibly your easiest option. Just let your florist know what your dad is into, like baseball, bar-b-q, golfing and tell them how much you want to put into the flowers. The designer will take care of everything else for you from there. Most arrangements sent to dad will usually come in a keepsake container that he will have for years to come.
Please call or stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ .

Rose

Roses are the royalty of the flower world. No other flower is so widely accepted and loved. What other flower has not only clubs and societies but also has its own national month, a war named after it and was the symbol of an empire?
Throughout history roses have been loved the world-over. The Greeks have a story that has not just one god creating this flower but several gods and goddesses making it. The Romans imported roses from China and they became a status symbol for the wealthy. They used the petals as confetti, put them into bath water, filled rooms with them to be used like carpets and used them in many other ways including religious ceremonies. Everyone who saw Gladiator remembers all the red rose petals showering down over the arena floor.

England continued this love of roses, they even made it the national symbol. All over America there are Rosevilles, Rosewoods, Roseviews and any other way you can name a town after a rose. America even made June the National rose month.
Today you can buy roses any time of year and in almost any color. An arrangement of all roses in a vase is classic but a few roses also look great as the focal point in a mixed bouquet. Roses are not every girl’s favorite flower but I don’t know of any girl that will complain if they get a beautiful bouquet of roses as a gift.
In honor of June being the national rose month, we at Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona are offering a discount on all of our roses. Please stop by our shop, call or visit our website http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ to see different styles of rose bouquets.

Dress Up Your Room

Ever pick up one of those home décor magazines, start flipping through and just get discouraged when you see how awesome some houses look inside? I did the other weekend, but flipping page after page, I noticed one thing. The majority of these pictures had flowers in them, from simple centerpieces on tables to huge custom bouquets. No matter how the room featured in the picture was designed, the flowers seemed to add that final touch to the rooms.
Flowers always add an extra element to any room for any occasion. The different types of media know this, not just magazines. Take note of how many times you see flowers in a movie, off in the corner, at the reception desk of a hotel lobby, sitting on the kitchen counter, they are everywhere. Turn on the TV and pay attention to how many times you see flowers in the show you are watching and in the commercials. If the scene takes place indoors the odds are that you will see some floral decoration somewhere in the room.
So, why am I going on and on about how you see flowers in all of these settings? Well it sounds too simple but flowers are the best way to dress up your room. You don’t have to be an interior decorator or spend a fortune to give your home that feel of luxury. Just go down to your local flower shop and take a look at what they have, even talk to one of the designers about what look and color you want, and see what they can come up with.
Please come by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix Arizona or visit us at www.payneandmorrison.com .

Mothers Day Shop Drama

This year we tackled Mothers Day with a refined plan from many past years of going through this holiday. Everything was set up for a smooth Mothers Day week. Monday went great, good orders coming in and awesome team work. Then Tuesday came around. Got to work early and noticed water dripping in one of our coolers, one of the units was icing up. Dealing with this, it took a while to notice the phones were not ringing. Called our phone company with my cell and they let us know that we would see someone out by 2:00. Thank goodness for cell phones, we had the calls forwarded to mine. We still couldn’t receive wires or process credit cards. Right about now I started to see the perfect storm mounting on the horizon, just waiting for the power or water to go out. So after dealing with the phones it was back to the cooler. We moved all the flowers to our back room cooler and had to shut down the front. After a couple of hours it was deiced and we transferred all the flowers back, along with all the new flowers that had come in. All this time we were running out all of our cell phone batteries. Sometime around noon Deanna reminded us all about Mothers day 2003 when the phones went down. That year Dave Payne cut off the tip of his finger and had to leave Deanna in charge while he spent the rest of the day at the emergency room. By the way, Deanna was pregnant and all kinds of smell were setting her off. Back to Mothers day 2009 at Payne and Morrison, the phones were back up by about 1:30 and everyone still had their digits. So half way into the week I hope we got the speed bumps out of the way and it is full speed ahead now.
Stop into Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit us on the web www.payneandmorrison.com .

Mothers Day Gift

Buy your mom Flowers. No really, no matter what else you do for Mother’s Day, buy her flowers. Every list you can find for best Mother’s day gifts have flowers at the top. You can go big and get her an upgraded vase with beautiful flowers or even fill a custom container with flowers, like a picnic basket that she could use for a long time to come. If you had something else in mind for mom this year get some flowers to go with it. If you know your mom’s favorite flower, that is a safe bet to include with any gift, but there are several other options. If you are buying jewelry some roses would go great. Get purple, orange or yellow roses they always look beautiful. If your mom’s favorite color is red go with tulips instead of roses. Sending your mom to the spa? Put the gift card into a loose bouquet of mixed flowers. This relaxed, beautiful gift will set the tone for the main spa gift. The flowers also will be around for several days after to remind her of her great day at the spa. If your mom doesn’t like to go to the spa, get her a home spa pack with a vase of stock. This flower has several blooms per stem, it is very fragrant, and comes in many colors. Whatever your gift happens to be just stop by your local florist and ask them what they have to go with it.
Alright you get the point. Flowers make a great Mothers Day gift or they make any Mothers Day gift better. So give mom flowers this year.
Please stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix Arizona or visit our website at www.payneandmorrison.com .

How Much To Spend On Flowers

I have been noticing a disturbing trend lately. People have been coming into our store and talking about how they were at another florist that was too expensive for them. Flowers come in all price ranges so I don’t understand how a florist can’t find the right product for their customer. For 45 years Payne & Morrison Florists of Phoenix Arizona has been able to make customers happy with quality flowers at with budget.
A couple of weeks ago a guy came in form a local high school, obviously stressed out. When we asked him what we could help him with he said he needed a corsage and boutonniere for prom. We tried to find out what color, style and kind of flowers he was interested in but all he could talk about was cost. I asked him how much he was looking to spend and he replied “could you make me a deal since I am buying both from you?” I told him that we would be able to find something for him if would just tell me about how much he wanted to spend. He asked “can 25 or 30 bucks get me anything?” I told him absolutely. It was like a weight lifted off his shoulders. I asked him why he was so surprised and he told me that he had just came from a florist that flat out told him they could not do anything for him unless he spent at least 30 dollars for each item. I was shocked. I remember being a high school kid that had to go buy flowers. It is intimidating for a young man to go into a flower shop where he doesn’t really know what he is supposed to do. Then end up with something that a girl he likes is going to be happy with. I realized why this guy seemed so stressed. He thought he didn’t have enough money to buy prom flowers or that he was going to end up with something that his date would think was cheap. I am glad the guy came to us and we were able to make him happy instead of him going away thinking florists are too expensive.
Last week I had a young bride-to-be tell me that she met a local florist at a show and went in a couple of weeks later to talk wedding flowers with her. After going over what the customer wanted the florist came to her with a bid of ten thousand dollars. The customer told her that was close to the budget for the entire wedding, and the florist actually got upset with her. This Bride is very laid back and easy to work with so once again I was shocked. She is very flexible in the flowers and greens used and was open to all kinds of styles. In other words, there is plenty of room to work with to come up with a great product at a price that works for the customer.
These two situations really bothered me. Florists are having a hard enough time these days. Yes the economy is slow but flower shops also have to compete with huge grocery store chains. People pick up inferior quality flowers at their closest grocery store. When they are disappointed with the quality they get these people will never think about going to a florist. Not to mention those same grocery stores are setting in on the holidays that keep florists going during the slower months. One chain set up tents to sale cheap, low quality flowers at Valentines Day. So how could florists be so naive as to send customers away with the impression that if you don’t break the bank you can’t afford top quality flowers. Of course when you can afford to go all out on flowers it is amazing what a florist can accomplish but it is just as important to make flowers look great at any price range.

Please stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix Arizona or visit us on the web at www.payneandmorrison.com .

Farmers Market

If you are from a city or town that has always done a market count yourself lucky. For most kids growing up in a city or suberb they never get the benefits of having a market. The northeast coast and west coast have had several succsesful markets for a very long time and it is finaly catching on in the cities as well. Farmer’s markets are a great way to get to know your community and help small local busineses as well.
Growing up in Phoenix, we never had a farmer’s market to go to, but we saw what we were missing on our California vacations. All over California there are farmer’s markets, to the point that you could find one somewhere every day of the week. The first couple we found on accident just out for a walk. Then we made a point to try to hit one when we first got to town to do our shopping. It was great to start vacation with all this fresh local produce, and ofcourse some fresh flowers for our room.
Over the last few years there has been a farmer’s market craze in the greater Phoenix area. After the success of other street type festivals it is no surprise that farmer’s markets are finally becoming widely available. The farmer’s markets have been getting more organic and authentic, less commercial booths and more local people selling their products. One thing that has been missing however is flowers. Most phoenix area markets didn’t have fresh flowers. This is why Payne & Morrison Florists started to set up at Momma’s Organic Farmer’s Market and hopes to have the time to participate in more soon. It is great to see all the shoppers and other market workers that are attracted to the flowers in the middle of the market. Flowers somehow just seem to complete the farmers market. Once summer comes to the Phoenix area the markets will be in their off season but up north they will continue all summer. People looking for a quick get away from the Valley heat can go to markets up in the pines.
You can find local farmers markets on the internet, or your local paper will usually run a list of them. If you have never been to one you are missing out on a great way to find good local produce and support small businesses in your area.
Please stop by Payne & Morrison Florists in Phoenix Arizona or visit us online at www.payneandmorrison.com .