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Christmas is a cold-weather holiday, but poinsettias like it warm

Poinsettias
Poinsettias are America’s No. 1 potted plant, with red being the most popular color.

Christmas is celebrated around the world, but it clearly leans into cold weather.

Santa lives at the North Pole, after all. Among the most common holiday imagery are snow-covered evergreens, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose.

But it doesn’t take a lot of sleuthing on the Internet to find a stock image of Santa unwinding after a globe-trotting Christmas Eve. He’s lounging in a beach chair, his red pant legs rolled up, his bare feet in sand. Often, there’s a colorful drink in his hand, a turquoise-blue body of water nearby.

It is the season of believing, after all. But if a sun-soaking Santa seems far-fetched to you, here’s a warm weather connection to Christmas that you don’t have to take on faith.

It’s a fact that the poinsettia – the official plant of Christmas – is native to Mexico. It’s a tropical plant that finds its comfort zone between 65 to 70 degrees during the day.

Despite having only a six-week selling season, poinsettias are America’s No. 1 potted plant, racking up sales of $250 million each year, according to the Future Farmers of America organization.

The plant takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a native of South Carolina who is credited with bringing the poinsettia to the United States while he was serving as the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Red poinsettias remain the most popular, but they come in more than 100 varieties, “including shades of white, cream, pink, purple, orange and yellow,” FFA noted. Poinsettias are grown in all 50 states.

The colorful part of the plant is a modified leaf called a bract, which often is mistaken as the flower. You must look in the center of the bracts for the small yellow flowers, known as cyathium.

No matter the size or the color of your poinsettia, you’ll want to take these steps to make it last long.

  • Average room temperature is fine. Poinsettias can’t tolerate cold (including icy water) and can suffer from droopy leaves (a condition known as epinasty) if exposed to cold temperatures.
  • Epinasty also can result from a build-up of ethylene gas. Big-box retailers are notorious for leaving poinsettias in plastic sleeves, which trap ethylene and essentially ruin the plant.
  • Bright, ample light is best for the plant, mimicking conditions in Mexico.
  • Keep the plant moist but not sitting in water. Like people, poinsettias don’t like wet feet. The frequency and amount of water will vary depending upon the amount of sunlight, humidity and pot size to which the plant is exposed.
  • Poinsettias are sensitive plants, so you want to avoid banging them into things as they can bruise easily.

Not only are poinsettias a prominent part of Christmas, but they are the subject of their own holiday.

National Poinsettia Day, celebrated on Dec. 12, marks the anniversary of the day that Joel Roberts Poinsett died in 1851.

Best Flowers for the Thanksgiving table

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year you have a lot on your plate from meal planning and cooking, to coordinating schedules and setting up the pullout couch. We know you’re working hard to make it a memorable holiday.

To help ease some of the stress and make one decision easier, we’ve created a list of floral table centerpiece options. Many of these will be the star of the show, and likely the only decoration you need on the table.

There’s something for every style including smaller arrangements for intimate family gatherings and those who like simplicity and grand tablescapes that are great for larger tables and those looking to make a statement.

Floral Table centerpieces for intimate gatherings

Harvest Beauty – This small arrangement is bursting with color. It’s housed in a festive glass pumpkin container and features red roses, football mums and orange carnations. The pops of purple caspia add to the colorful, joyous effect. It’s just the right size for any small gathering.

Grateful – If you’re looking for a rustic, but bright fall look this arrangement will perfectly match the aesthetic. Orange carnations, an array of yellow flowers and dried oak leaves fill the yellow ceramic pot, creating a beautiful autumn centerpiece.

Autumn Light – This arrangement features a candle to help bring warmth and light to the table. It is contained in a dish and features red carnations, an array of poms, orange mini carnations and purple statice. It’s the perfect arrangement for those looking for a traditional centerpiece with a pop of color.

Fall Blooms – This arrangement is housed in a unique, square orange frosted vase and features bronze daisy poms, orange mini carnations, dried oak leaves and more. It’s perfect for those wanting a modern Thanksgiving look.

Thanksgiving Harvest – Another great option for those who embrace pumpkin season. The arrangement is held by an orange ceramic pumpkin and contains peach carnations, orange mini carnations, bronze daisy poms and more.

Floral Table centerpieces for grand gatherings

Autumn Meadow Deluxe – This classic bouquet featuring red roses, sunflowers and orange carnations sits in a clear vase, providing an earthy and open touch. The colors are vibrant and will catch the eye of everyone in attendance.

Autumn Warmth – This centerpiece has two orange candles and is adorned in peach roses, football mums, poms and more. It’s a great option for those looking for something traditional to fill the table.

Horn of Plenty – This showstopper is a cornucopia basket holding an arrangement with burgundy roses, sunflowers, burgundy carnations, lots of poms, dried oak leaves and more. This centerpiece will be the talk of dinner and tied in beautifully with the spread of food.

Plentiful – A white wooden turkey is the star of this centerpiece. The decorative statue is surrounded by peach roses, football mums, mini green hydrangeas, yellow carnations and more. It is a wonderful addition to your turkey day feast.

Family Gathering Centerpiece – This four-candle centerpiece has peach roses, sunflowers, burgundy carnations and more. The fall plaid ribbon embedded ties together the seasonal look.

Whatever type of gathering you are planning for Thanksgiving flowers are the perfect decoration to celebrate the special holiday.

Connells Maple Lee celebrating veterans with free red, white and blue bouquets on Nov. 11

Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts will salute military veterans on Nov. 11 with free red, white and blue bouquets.

The Veterans Day bouquets – featuring a red carnation, a white carnation and a blue bow – will be available in-store only at 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell. Click here for store hours.

“Honoring the men and women who protect our freedom has become a favorite tradition in our stores,” said Tom Royer, president and CEO of family-owned Connells Maple Lee. “We are forever thankful for the dedication and sacrifice that our veterans and their families have made for all of us in our great country.”

Non-veterans may purchase the bouquets for $2.20 each.

Why are Marigolds Important to Day of the Dead Celebrations?

Marigolds, or Cempasuchil, are a central part of Day of the Dead celebrations. 

The Mexican holiday is observed Nov. 1 – Nov. 2 and it is believed by its celebrants that during the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, souls are released from Heaven to rejoin their loved ones. To celebrate this special time, people leave offerings to their deceased family members at gravesites and on ofrendas, such as the dead’s favorite food.

History.com states that ofrendas typically feature images of loved ones who have passed and are decorated with candles, marigolds and red cock’s comb.

According to npr, marigolds are used in the celebration to help guide ancestors back home. The spirits use the scent of the marigolds to find their way from their burial place to their families ofrendas.

Although Day of the Dead is primarily celebrated in Mexico, it is also observed throughout South America and in the United States by those with Mexican heritage. 

Select Royers locations including Reading, Lebanon, Chambersburg, Camp Hill and Carlisle are offering a limited selection of marigolds this year to assist in Day of the Dead celebrations.

Spooky plants to celebrate Halloween

Plants are the perfect decor all year round. They brighten rooms and provide multiple mental and physical health benefits.

Although often overlooked for the fall season, there are many plants that give off “spooky” vibes that will compliment Halloween decorations. Consider including these plants in your Halloween decor this year:

Ficus Elastica Ghost Rider

This rare plant gets its name from the spectral-like coloring of its leaves. Green and “ghostly” white patches are dotted along the leaves of this plant. The red and orange petioles also compliment the season’s colors.

Ficus Belize

This plant screams dark academia. The pink splotches amongst the dark green create an eerie and dramatic effect. It’s a show stopper and would pair nicely with Halloween decor.

Philodendron White Wizard

The White Wizard looks like someone cast a spell on the plant causing parts of its leaves to turn white. Each plant is unique in its coloring and can range from white dots on the green leaves, half of the leaf being white or a full white leaf. Some of the leaves seem like they were dipped in white paint.

This would be a nice plant to pair with ghost decorations and white pumpkins.

Monstera Spotsylvania

This plant has unique holes in the leaves that give it a creepy and ghostly look. The white spots also add to the effect. It looks like something that could come from the Little Shop of Horrors.

This next list includes plants that aren’t spooky themselves, but with creative containers and effects, have been curated to seamlessly integrate into any Halloween scene.

Spooky potted plants

Arachnid Spell

Imagine if a witch cast a spell on a cactus to grow legs like a spider, but the cactus got stuck in the cauldron. That’s what this plant setup looks like. The cactus and cauldron act as the “body” of the spider and are held up by eight thin and long legs, giving the spider effect. 

Consider sitting this on top of a mirror to enhance the “creepy, crawly” image.

Na’maste Dead collection

These three zombies have swapped their brains for air plants! The trio features three green zombies meditating – one with his arms by their side, one with their hands in a prayer pose at their chest and one who is holding their head over their body. Find your inner zen this Halloween with these unexpectedly calm creatures.

Meddling Kids trio

Frankenstein, a witch and a pumpkin are featured in this group. They each have an air plant protruding from their head and mischievous looks on their faces. They would add a unique touch to any Halloween decor and their air plants can be removed and placed in other containers after the season.

The Boo Brothers

This scary cute ghost comes in a variety of expressions and includes a succulent. The succulent is simple to take care of and will last well beyond Halloween.

The history of Sweetest Day

Sweetest Day is celebrated every year on the third Saturday of October, this year falling on Oct. 19. 

Not everyone celebrates Sweetest Day, but it is a prominent holiday in Ohio because it was born in Cleveland. 

According to Ohio Memory, the predecessor of Sweetest Day, “Candy Day”, was created by the National Confectioners Association in 1916. Candy Day, nicknamed “The Sweetest Day in the Year”, was only celebrated for one year because of the efforts to conserve sugar during World War I.

The holiday was revived and reimagined in 1921 when Herbert Birch Kingston, an advertising executive in Cleveland, decided to twist Candy Day into a sweet celebration encouraging people to be kind to others by giving out treats.

Eight candy makers from the Cleveland area created a committee to enact the celebration and the first Sweetest Day was held on Oct. 8, 1921.

According to Ohio Memory, 10,000 boxes of candy were passed out on the first Sweetest Day to orphanages, senior citizen homes and other in-need organizations. Silent film stars Theda Bara and Ann Pennington even came to Cleveland to pass out treats at theaters.

The holiday has now evolved into people gifting their friends and families something to show their appreciation for them, whether it’s candy or something else.

According to National Today, 80% of Sweetest Day cards given are geared towards romantic interest, showing how the holiday has evolved. The holiday is mainly observed in the midwest, with Ohio, the birthplace of the holiday, being the state with the highest participation.

Gifts for Sweetest Day

We have a variety of options to help you show your appreciation for your loved ones on Sweetest Day.

Here’s our Sweetest Day Gift Guide:

Candy:

Flowers:

Other Options:

However you are celebrating Sweetest Day, we at Connells Maple Lee hope you are surrounded by love.

How to make a boo basket

It’s spooky season, which also means it’s boo basket season.

If you’re not familiar with the popular trend, a boo basket is when people give loved ones a gift basket filled with goodies and treats that are typically halloween themed. It is most commonly gifted from a boyfriend/husband to a girlfriend/wife.

The name “boo basket” is a double entendre that refers to the “boo” spooky element of halloween and “boo” as in the term sometimes used to refer to a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Boo baskets have also traditionally been given as anonymous presents to neighbors and many close-knit neighborhoods have traditions of “booing” each other with a basket.

These baskets make great gifts for friends, family and coworkers too. It’s a fun and seasonal way to brighten someone’s day and show you care.

To give you some inspiration for your boo basket this year, we put together our own version. Watch the video below for boo basket ideas:

Shop the items in our boo basket:

Gift ideas for Boss’s Day

Boss’s Day, Oct. 16, is a time to show the leadership at your job your appreciation. 

One way to thank your boss for their dedication to helping you grow in your career is with a small gift. Shopping for your boss can be challenging, however, especially if you don’t know them too well outside of the workplace.

To help you find the right gift for your boss we’ve compiled a Boss’s Day Gift Guide for you. These are gifts perfect for anyone.

Boss’s Day Gift Guide:

Retro Succulents

Plants have been shown to contribute to the well-being of employees, making this a perfect gift for the boss who has to put in long hours at the office. It will give them a connection to nature. 

The Retro Succulent dish garden is a good desk plant option. Succulents are easy to care for and the stylish, minimalist container adds a zen feeling to whatever space it is placed in.

Kork Succulent

Our Kork Succulent is another modern option to brighten up an office space. The neutral colors will blend in with any style and are a nice option for those with smaller work spaces.

Happy Face Succulent Garden

Add a pop of color with this mini succulent garden. The happy container will quickly brighten up an office.

Chocolate & Mug Gift Set

Help fuel your boss’s day with a new mug for their coffee and sweet treats from Hershey’s Chocolate.

Presentation Box of Tea – Wellbeing

Gift your boss a moment of relaxation with a collection of teas focused on wellness. There are three specifically curated herbal teas in this collection and two green teas.

Asher Milk Chocolate Pretzels

Keep it simple, but thoughtful with a bag of milk chocolate covered pretzels from Asher’s Chocolates, a family-owned business based in Souderton, Pennsylvania. Perfect for a boss who keeps a stocked snack drawer.

Flowers

You can’t go wrong with flowers. For Boss’s Day, we recommend our Tuscan, Small arrangement. It features a bold vase with cheery carnations and daisy poms. 

However you choose to honor your, they will appreciate the recognition for their hard work and dedication.

Catalogs usher in new season for our brand

When you’re a fourth-generation family-owned business nearing its 90th year in operation, you cherish your company history.

But a hallmark of Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts’ enduring legacy is honoring its past while still being willing and able to change course when circumstances dictate.

That agility has made Connells Maple Lee one of the most successful florists in the United States.

Sometimes change is thrust upon you suddenly, as it was during the coronavirus pandemic, an existential threat that forced Connells Maple Lee to rethink many of the ways it functioned. At other times, Connells Maple Lee has had to respond to structural developments in society, which brings us to our latest rebranding effort.

The first glimpse of that new look and feel began arriving in customers’ mailboxes this fall in the form of our year-round and fall catalogs.

Increasingly digital world

Go Welsh, our long-time design agency, is leading the rebranding.

“Whatever we do and propose,” said agency owner Craig Welsh, “it has to live in digital, but it can’t feel digital.”

At its heart, the rebranding addresses the challenge of promoting the organic feeling of flowers in an increasingly digital world.

More than half of our sales now occur online. All those swipes, clicks and taps come at a faster pace than the turning of a printed page, making it harder to capture the public’s attention.

The new catalogs feature a reworking of our logo, distilled from the long-stemmed flower it has been for decades into a clean, contained round icon that’s more recognizable across media.

On social media, Craig noted, an “icon becomes much more prominent in the expectation” among users. And with increased awareness, that icon can become the brand’s primary mark, lending itself to many more uses.

Mid-century modern

The icon makes for a “much cleaner brand presence visually,” Craig said, but the flip side is that the mathematical representation of shapes, lines and curves in the digital realm can overpower the organic world.

That’s why Go Welsh seized on the idea of bringing organic into the mix through inks made from flower petals and stems. Jenna Flickinger, a Go Welsh designer, keeps vials of ink at her desk, with labels such as lily, lavender and pansy, and clematis.

She boils the petals herself, adding salt (to release color) and gum arabic (a stabilizer) to create ink. She brushes the ink onto watercolor paper and then scans the washes into her computer.

Some of the colors and textures have been incorporated into the new catalogs, but the learning process continues. From vial to dried paper, the ink colors aren’t always predictable.

“Even though this was a pink carnation,” Jenna said of one example, “it still [dried as] this yellow color.”

Craig described the rebranding as a “mid-century modern aesthetic,” invoking a design style known for sleek lines connected to nature and a timeless essence.

“We’re trying to find a place where we can combine this organic sensibility with the vector, screen-based digital stuff, so we started looking at mid-century modern sensibilities,” Craig said.

It starts with the new catalogs, but you can expect to see many more representations in the year ahead.

Decorating your front porch for fall

The leaves are changing colors and falling from the trees, the air is slowly starting to cool and every coffee shop is advertising their pumpkin spice drinks – Autumn has arrived.

One of the most exciting parts about the changing of seasons is getting to change your home decor. Welcome fall, and your guest this season, by giving your front porch an autumnal makeover.

Connells Maple Lee has everything you need to achieve your dream fall curb appeal.

Watch our video below to see what we put on our porch:

If you want to recreate this look, we’ve compiled a list of products we used:

We also used hay bales and locally grown pumpkins alongside our products to complete our porch.

We’d love to see how you incorporate Connells into your autumn decor! Share you fall setup by tagging us on Instagram @cmlflowers or Connells Maple Lee Flowers and Gifts on Facebook and using #ConnellsMapleLee