Bringing Beauty and Hospitality In Your Home

During this holiday, you get to be invited to friends' and relatives' homes. And when you enter a house and are greeted by the sight of fresh flowers, you know at once you are in a home where beauty and hospitality are important.

The familiar phrase - "Say it with flowers" - becomes meaningful because flowers do say special things - often very hard to find the right words.

Flowers are very pleasing to the eye and when set on the dining table, help whet the appetite, and express that the meal signifies a very special event, a celebration of frienship, the bond and love of family, and on this holiday, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So many of the things in the world today are mass produced, but the flowers that adorn the table are usually hand arranged individually by a florist near you.

Golden Angel Centerpiece

I am very Thankful For Special People and Places

1) My late parents - they who even in poverty and limited education were rich with love, were wise in raising their 7 children, all girls, in a God loving and fearing home. They worked hard, emphasized work ethic into their children, and encouraged us to get educated. They sent us to Catholic school even if they had to scrimp just so they can pay our tuition.
2) Humble beginnings - that molded us into the person that we are to be able to survive whatever challenges we are faced with, such as the current economy.
3) My Siblings - strong women, very loving, helpful, supportive, very generous and very motherly to us the younger sisters.
4) My Cousins - they are like our siblings, having grown up together, our fathers being the only 2 males in their family.
5) My Spouse - my rock, my best friend, my strength, my partner and lover.
6) My Children - my favorite beautiful people, my hope for the future, the most precious priceless gift of all
7) My country - the land I chose for the opportunites it provided for me and my family
8) The Land of my birth - a beautiful country, a beautiful city - Baguio City was called the summer capital, the city of pines where I learned to love life, have fun, work hard and get educated. It is where a lifetime of friendships have been formed. This is where I learned the value of hard work from watching my parents and my relatives, good education from Catholic nuns and priests who also taught us morals and values and nurtured our spiritual growth.
9) Good friends from near and far - who remind one of the joy of their companionship, their support and their love.
10) Good Health - so far, so good and one that definitely makes one so greatful.
11) The Good Lord - Psalm 30:12 ESV That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

A special Centerpiece

To A Dear Classmate

When one hears of a death of a friend, the initial reaction is of disbelief, it can't be, "she's too young." And then you learn that she's been ill for quite a while. For loved ones, when death occurs, even if there's ample time to accept to the eventual end, it still comes as a shock. Loved ones can be overwhelmed with anguish and deep grief. For most of us who have religious beliefs and faith, when death finally comes after a prolonged period of illness,we say "It's a blessing, she hasn't had a meaningful life for a long time." And we believe God has called her to rest. But for the rest of us that are left behind, we get the sobering fact that we are mere mortals, that we will eventually die. And for me, I feel so sorry I have not known my classmate was living and working in a city next to mine, that I have discovered where she has been upon her death. I am sad for what could have been.
Good bye Myrna Ray Orduna Amis and may the Lord bless and keep your family and friends you left behind.

A Practical Guide to Choosing a Local Florist

Searching for a Local Florist
When searching for a florist online find and contact a local flower shop or florist in the city where you need the flowers delivered. This way, you'll get the most value for your money.

Local florists will gladly serve your flower and rose deliveries with ease. They know the area very well and can help you with your order. If you have your favorite florist in your town, they will gladly find and send your order to a reputable florist where you need your order delivered.

Avoid online florists that appear to be local florists. Most online florists only provide toll free number and no physical address. These are middlemen or order takers - they take your order then turn around and call it in to a local florist. By using the florists that appear to be local florists, you can end up spending more for less flowers .

Ordering Advice:
Be ready with the name, complete address and phone number of the recipient. If it's going to the workplace, give the company name and department the recipient works for.

Keep the order as general and open as possible. Because flowers are usually better in some seasons and not others, and some flowers are more readily available in some places than in others, it is wise to allow the florist to pick the types of flowers used so they can give you the best quality.

In addition, not all colors are available for all types of flowers. While you can specify the overall color or colors of the arrangement (i.e., spring colors, fall colors, pastels, etc.), it is wise to allow the florist to pick the individual colors and flowers so they can give you the best quality.

The same is true with plants specially if you require plants that are in bloom. Let the florist know what houseplant you prefer or ask what plants they have in stock.

Autum Delight

Making your Bouquet of Flowers Last - Flower Care

How to care for your bouquet of flowers

You just received a beautiful bouquet of flowers, maybe for your birthday, a special event or occasion, or perhaps it is a single flower. You want these to last as long as possible, make the memory last.


Here are tips and instructions to help in keeping your flowers last as long as possible.


Remove any leaves that will be under water in the vase.

WIth the end of the flower stem under water, cut about an inch off the stem with a sharp knife. Cut at an angle. This will open the veins in the stem to allow more water to pass through.

Mix floral preservative to fresh water at room temperature or slightly warm water as indicated on the package. It comes with most floral arrangements intended for vases.

Fill a clean vase about 3/4 to the top with water and preservative mixture.

Arrange your flowers as you prefer. Then leave them in a cool, dark room for a couple of hours to allow them to settle into their new home.

Always display your floral arrangement in a cool area.

Keep them out of direct sunlight.

Keep the water fresh. Add the water daily and change the water in about 3 days.

In the evening before you go to bed, place your floral bouquet in the coolest place in your home, perhaps the garage. But, do not leave them in any area which could reach the low thirties or freezing temperatures.
Enjoy your bouquet, and for a longer period of time!

Did you know?

Flowers do not like Ethylene gas. Sources of Ethylene gas include ripening fruits and vegetables, cigarette smoke, and car exhaust.

Basics of Floral Arranging

The best reward for our work as florists is when we get a compliment from our customer or the recipient of our floral bouquet. The best compliment is getting a repeat order for our work.

The basic guideline we have followed for years is the following
- Always place larger flowers first, the smaller flowers can be used to fill the form of the design.
- Flower color influences the visual balance of the design. Darker flowers are usually placed at the base since they appear heavier, soft colored flowers are placed along the perimeter since they appear lighter.
- Maintain a proportional balance.
- Add filler flowers and foliage after the main flowers are in place.
Delightfully Spring

In Loving Memory of a Loved One, Delivering Flowers to a Gravesite or Niche

When a loved one passes, the grief and the feeling of loss stays for a long time after the funeral service. Relatives leave to go on with their lives and friends' calls and visits fade slowly. For close relatives who live far away from the burial place, it makes it difficult for them to make the trip to visit the gravesite.

Florists like us offer the service of delivering flowers for those who can't make the trip. We have a few customers who rely on us to deliver flowers on holidays, the loved one's birthday, or some choose to have flowers once a month. We then send the picture of the flowers we delivered at the gravesite for them.

Florists like us are grateful that we are able to help express the loving memories of those who our customers miss dearly.

The cemeteries we deliver to are:
Sylvan Cemetery District which is located in Citrus Heights and the oldest District cemetery established in 1862 serving Citrus Heights, Rio Linda, North Highlands, Natomas, Orangevale, Carmichael and Fair Oaks.
Calvary Catholic Cemetery at 7101 Verner Ave., Sacramento, CA 95841
Eastlawn Mortuary and Sierra Hills Memorial Park at 5757 Greenback Lane, Sacramento, CA 95841
Eastlawn Memorial Park on 43rd and Folsom
Sacramento Memorial Lawn at 6100 Stockton Blvd.
Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery
Sunset Lawn Memorial Park at 4701 Marysvilee Blvd.

July weddings and other Stuff in Sacramento, CA

As a small business in the floral retail industry, the months of May and June are usually the busiest months. Schools have the high school prom, senior dances and graduation. We also celebrate Mother's Day in May. June is full of weddings - big and small, planned and last minute. This year, July has been unusually busy with weddings and we are booked until the end of July.

My Favorite Flower - Bird of Paradise

My favorite flower is the Bird of Paradise, whose botanical name is Strelitza reginae, commonly called the crane flower.

The flower head is a boat-shaped bract from which pointed featherlike flowers emerge. Each flower has a blue or purplish structure called a tongue. The bract extends from the top of a smooth leafless stem at an angle about 90 degrees or less.

The flowers are bright yellow to yellow-orange to orange with blue/blue violet tongues. Bracts are grayish green to purplish green and edged in red.
If flowers fail to emerge from the bract, the can be gently pulled out, one at a time, by hand.

The Bird of Paradise is a subtropical plant so it is sensitive to chill.
Birds-of-paradise are one of the few flowers polinated by birds; however, the common name was given because the open blossoms resemblea crested bird's head or the wings of a bird in flight.

Caring for Your Valentine Plant

So you received a potted flowering plant for valentines, or for your birthday or any occasion and you want to make sure your gift last as long as possible.

You should locate your plant in a well-lit area and avoid direct sunlight.
Always keep plants away from ripening fruits, cigarette smoke, or a heater. Ripening fruits produce ethylene gas which can cause flower bud to wilt, and leaf yellowing and/ or dropping and makes flowers die quicker.
Check your plant for watering needs. Water only when needed and make sure water drains from the pot. Never let plants dry out and avoid water on leaves or flowers.
Follow the care tag instructions so that you can enjoy your plant a lot longer indoors.
After the flowers are spent, you can usually take your plant outdoors, other tropical plants prefer to stay indoors.

A beautiful Pink Azalea from your local Florist - A Vanity Fair Florist

Roses on my mind

It's February....already, in just a few days, Valentine's day will be here; I've been thinking roses since the beginning of the year. Rose is the most popular flower people order as gifts on Valentine's Day. Aside from the wide variety of roses, from the ever popular red, it comes in a variety of attractive colors and very sweet scent.

One Dozen Red Roses

A dozen red roses is always the perfect choice. One dozen red roses in a clear glass vase professionally arranged. Order this from your local florist, hand delivered to your loved one. And yet, there are also a variety of ways of rose arrangements to choose from to best express your love, one of which is a mix of roses with other attractive flowers.

Love is Divine