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Sharing a Smile on the Road to Recovery
On the Road to Recovery |
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Written by Rebecca Dumais
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At a time of illness or injury, what better way to make ones
recuperative surroundings more aesthetically pleasing than with the
greenery and colour of a get well arrangement? Although the choice and
contents of the arrangement itself can vary widely at times depending
on ones customers or a certain trend, the end result should be a
pleasing one for the recipient and be long-lasting.
The Latest in Convalescent Trends
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| If the recipient of an arrangement is a child, a special item such as a toy or stuffed animal provides something beyond the flowers. |
At a time of illness or injury, what better way to make ones recuperative surroundings more aesthetically pleasing than with the greenery and colour of a get well arrangement? Although the choice and contents of the arrangement itself can vary widely at times depending on ones customers or a certain trend, the end result should be a pleasing one for the recipient and be long-lasting. Hospitals don’t follow the trends and their restrictions can also play a role in the end result.
When Centennial Florist’s customers in St. Catharines get a delivery from owner Ken Boyce’s father, people are always happy to have something delivered when they’re not feeling well.
His shop creates fewer floral arrangements than in the past.
“Trend-wise, we do a lot more fruit baskets now,” states Boyce. Since much of their clientele are union-based workers, Boyce feels that the fruit baskets are perceived as a more practical gift. For the rest of their customer base, other types of arrangements are still created. Boyce chooses staples such as mums, carnations, as well as alstroemeria or gerbers in varying colours of yellow and pink, with accents such as baby’s breath. “We do planter baskets and we still do fresh flowers,” he says.
Dave Keith, owner of Blue Springs Flower & Gift Shop in Acton, Ontario is also designing with fresh tulips and irises in yellow, white, mauves, pinks and purple tones in coloured baskets. If the recipient is a child, a special item such as a toy or stuffed animal is added. “So there’s something for the child beyond the flowers,” explains Keith. Men may prove a little trickier when it comes to adding unique pieces to get well arrangements. “We’ve had requests for chocolate bars, candies, decks of cards,” he adds.
Hollie Davey, owner of Valley House of Flowers in Drayton, Alberta favours clear water vases with gerberas, callas or orchids.
“They’re bright and cheery,” she says. Lots of rocks and curly willow are incorporated into the design, with bright tones of pinks, purple, orange and yellow are delivered from her shop. For young boys, Davey includes extra touches such as magazines or candies. “We might throw in a water bottle or something that they can use later,” she says.
The actual choice of flowers may depend largely on the shop itself, however arrangements sent to hospitals do have certain restrictions. What’s more, if a piece will be at bedside during recuperation (at home or at the hospital); it only makes sense that the arrangement last as long as possible.
The majority of Keith’s customers leave the decision to him, with the odd customer who is quite specific.
“What we try to avoid is sending bouquets of cut flowers,” he explains. “If someone’s not well the last thing they feel like doing is arranging flowers.” Plus, if the delivery is made to the hospital, staff are unlikely to have the time or desire to do this.
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| Centennial Florist in St. Catharines, Ont. creates more fruit baskets than floral arrangements for convalescent orders these days. |
Most hospitals have requirements and/or restrictions for delivered arrangements and available shelf or bedside space may be an issue. Respecting the allergic or health concerns of other patients by observing a no-lily policy should also be taken into consideration.
As an alternative, Keith suggests flowering plants or mixed flower baskets “because they look good and don’t require any arranging.” He’ll use green and flowering plants such as African violets and kalanchoes mixed in with ivies and palms. “We send them quite a lot for get wells, and they’re longer-lasting,” he explains.
Boyce says no matter what the arrangement is made up of, customers have one wish in common: “a lot of customers comment they simply want something bright and cheery,” as well as being able to stand up to a long recovery period, carnations, mums and alstroemeria are great candidates “If everything in the industry lasted like a carnation, we’d be laughing because you could use whatever flowers you wanted,” says Boyce. “Whether you like (carnations) as a designer or not, customers like them. They’re a reasonably priced flower and they’re long-lasting.” Boyce advises other designers to keep this in mind while knowing ones own customers at the same time. “Every shop is different,” he says.
In the end, happy customers are what repeat business is all about.
“Our big thing is concentrating on making sure that our flowers are as fresh as possible and that they are going to last for a while,” stresses Boyce. His shop has often received comments from customers who indicate that having received several get well arrangements from different shops, theirs lasted the longest.
“We do a more traditional design, but we’ve always concentrated on making the product last. We find that’s what makes people come back. If you have a really unique design, but the flowers only lasted two days, people won’t be too happy about that.”
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