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Extending the Life of Your Spring Bulbs

Even after the Easter Bunny has visited and the last eggs are hunted, Easter bulbs – such as daffodils (narcissus), hyacinths, and tulips will bring beauty and color into your home. In fact, you can make the flowers last a lot longer by following these few tips.

The key to making the blooms last longer is to keep the plants in a cool place, such as your garage or porch. For smaller plants, such as a single-bloom hyacinth, finding space in your refrigerator will work just as well. This will stall the normal aging process, extending the life of the blooms.

Keeping your bulbs in a cool place overnight or while at work will help extend the life of your bloom and allow for maximum enjoyment when you are at home. Not all bulbs are freeze tolerant so keep temperatures in mind, especially overnight.

Like any living plant, it’s also important to keep the plants watered. Most bulbs like to be watered at soil level rather than overhead. Do not overwater, the soil should not be saturated at all times.

After your bulb plants have finished blooming, let the plant die back into itself. Allowing the leaves to yellow and wither before removing will help nourish the bulb for the following year by. Keep in mind this is different from deadheading the bloom which can be beneficial to bulb growth.

Keep the bulb in its pot and store in a cool, dark place. In early fall, separate the bulbs and plant them in your garden in anticipation of their blooming again next spring. Be mindful that some bulbs will not come back depending on climates, among other reasons, following these tips does not guarantee that your bulbs will bloom again.

Plants and pets: know the facts to keep dogs and cats healthy


No plant says Christmas quite like the poinsettia. But nary a holiday season goes by without poinsettias being negatively associated with pet health.
Yet the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says poinsettias “may be the most misrepresented plant when it comes to toxicity. Since 1919 poinsettias have been called lethal if ingested by pets. However, many animal studies have shown that it is just not true.”
Relatively few plant and flower species are dangerous to pets, and the effects can range widely.
As the ASPCA notes, poinsettias and other holiday plants are not good for pets to ingest, potentially irritating the mouth and stomach and sometimes causing vomiting, but generally are “over-rated in toxicity.”
The same can’t be said about lilies and cats. Eating just a couple of leaves or licking a few pollen grains off their fur can quickly cause kidney failure, according to CBS News.

“A cat that’s eaten part of a lily will vomit soon afterwards, but this may gradually lessen after two to four hours. Within 12 to 24 hours, the cat may start to urinate frequently. Urination may then stop if kidney failure occurs. If untreated, a cat will die within four to seven days after eating a lily.”

This is the case for any true lily — belonging to the plant genus Lilium — including Easter lily, tiger lily, rubrum lily, Japanese show lily and certain species of daylily.
In contrast, the calla lily, peace lily, lily of the valley and Peruvian lily (alstroemeria) are not true lilies and won’t cause kidney failure in cats although they have other toxic principles, according to the Pet Poison Helpline.
If you love plants and pets, then it’s a good idea to consider which ones are the best fit for your home. Here are several resources:
The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center offers an exhaustive, sortable list of plants that are toxic or non-toxic to dogs and cats. The list focuses on plants “that have been reported as having systemic effects on animals and/or intense effects on the gastrointestinal tract,” according to the ASPCA, which cautions that the list is not meant to be all-inclusive.
If you think your animal is ill or may have ingested a poisonous substance, the ASPCA suggests contacting your veterinarian or its 24-hour emergency poison hotline at 1-888-426-4435.
The Humane Society offers an informative — and highly alliterative — list of “plants potentially poisonous to pets.”
The Pet Poison Helpline offers its Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets.
Of course, as the Pet Poison Helpline notes:
“While there are thousands of species of plants and flowers, only a small percentage of plants are truly dangerous and poisonous to your pet.”

Join us for an Easter-themed design class April 1 in Grove City

No fooling, we’re offering an Easter-themed design class on April 1.
P1030093Jill Elmore, our award-winning design manager, will teach the class, which will run from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in our central design department, 2035 Stringtown Road, Grove City. The building is behind our Grove City store.
The price of $50 plus tax includes all materials necessary to make a fresh spring arrangement featuring tulips, lilies, carnations and daisies with accents of silk forsythia.
The arrangement is in a separate dish sitting on a bubble bowl. (Please note that the color or style of the bunny shown in the accompanying photos may change based on availability.)
Jill will offer ideas for other items that can be placed inside the bubble bowl and other centerpiece ideas for Easter tables.
Registration is required by visiting any of our stores in Bexley, Powell or Grove City or by calling Jill at 614-539-4000, ext. 119. Payment is required at the time of registration.
 

We’re putting our best ‘Bunny Face’ forward with free kids club event March 25

Bunny Face 2
Bunny Face, I love you. Bunny Face, I need you.
If you’re between the ages of 5 and 12, you can make your own Bunny Face to bring home for Easter.
The Connells Maple Lee Kids Club will play host to a free kids club event March 25 in all stores. Besides making a carnation bunny, participants will receive a balloon.
Time slots are available at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Registration is required by calling your nearest store: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley, 614-237-8653; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City, 614-539-4000; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell, 740-548-4082.

Connells Maple Lee Kids Club gets head start on Easter with free event March 12

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Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts stores will be hoppin’ on March 12. An egg-cellent time is sure to be had by all.
The Connells Maple Lee Kids Club is getting a head start on the Easter Bunny with a free event in the company’s three Columbus-area stores.
Children ages 5 to 12 will have an opportunity to make a special Easter arrangement (above) and will receive a balloon.
Time slots are available at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Registration is required by calling your nearest Connells Maple Lee store: 2408 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-237-8653; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City, 614-539-4000; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell, 740-548-4082.

Photos from another egg-cellent kids club event


Things really got hopping at our March 14 Connells Maple Lee Kids Club event, as evidenced by these photos from our Powell store.
We had a great turnout as the kids made carnation Easter bunnies.
We certainly had a terrific time, and we look forward to more fun down the bunny trail as we have three more kids club events this year:

  • June 20: Help us kick off our annual food drive, “Connells Maple Lee Stems Hunger,” and enter our kids club birthday card design contest.
  • Aug. 22: Summer vacation is coming to an end, so we’re going to help ease you back to school.
  • Oct. 31: It’s Halloween, so be sure to wear your costume as we celebrate the holiday and kick off our annual “Bouquets for Books” children’s book drive to benefit area public libraries.

We’ll share more details closer to each event, of course.
In the meantime, we wish you and your family a Happy Easter!

  • Put our free March 14 kids club event in your Easter basket

    Easter fun is just a hop, a skip and a jump away for Connells Maple Lee Kids Club participants.
    Kids Club Spring 2015 #2
    On March 14, children ages 5 to 12 will have an opportunity to create a carnation bunny, complete with greens, an egg-and-ribbon stick-in, and pipe cleaners (for ears). Participants also will receive a balloon.
    Time slots are available at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
    Admission is free but registration is required by calling one of our Columbus-area stores:

    • 2408 E. Main St. (Route 40), Bexley, 614-237-8653;
    • 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City, 614-539-4000;
    • 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell, 740-548-4082.

    For more information about the kids club, click here.

    How the lily became a symbol of Easter and other floral facts about the holiday

    Photo: Matt H. Wade
    Photo: Matt H. Wade

    Numerous accounts identify her as Mrs. Thomas Sargent, a resident of Philadelphia who visited Bermuda in the 1880s. Smitten by the lilies she saw there, she brought lily bulbs home with her.
    She gave some of them to a local nurseryman named William Harris, “who began growing them, forcing them into spring bloom, and selling to other florists,” writes Leonard Perry, an extension professor at the University of Vermont. “Many began buying this flower for Easter, as they do today, with it symbolizing the Resurrection.”
    “Forcing” bulbs – as we described in this post about hyacinths – is the means by which light and temperature can be manipulated in order to control the rate at which a plant grows. In most parts of the United States, lilies naturally would bloom in the summer – weeks after Easter.
    Some other facts about Easter lilies:

    • Flowering and green houseplants (46 percent) account for the biggest chunk of Easter/Passover floral sales. Lilies (52 percent) account for most flowering houseplant sales. (aboutflowers.com)
    • Lilies are considered highly toxic to cats. The Society of American Florists recommends keeping lilies out of the reach of cats as ingesting even small amounts of the plant can cause kidney failure. Lilies do not pose a problem for other pets or humans. (aboutflowers.com)
    • In the home, Easter lilies prefer moderately cool temperatures (recommended 60 to 65 degrees during the day, slightly cooler at night). They thrive near a window in bright, indirect natural daylight. (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension)
    • Ohio is among the states that produce the most potted Easter lilies. (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension)

     
     
     
     
     
     

    Here’s how to extend the life of your Easter blooms

    Even after the Easter Bunny has visited and the last eggs are hunted, Easter plants will bring beauty and color into your home. In fact, you can make the flowers last a lot longer by following some easy steps.
    What’s more, after your bulb plants – such as daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, crocus and narcissus – have finished blooming, you can transplant the bulbs into the ground and watch the flowers come up next year.
    The key to making the flowers/blooms last longer – perhaps twice as long – is to keep the plants in a cool place, such as at night. This will stall the normal aging process, extending the life of the blooms.
    While you’re sleeping, place the plants in your garage or out on your porch (but don’t let them freeze), and then bring them back inside your house in the morning. For smaller plants, such as a single-bloom hyacinth, you might even have room in your refrigerator.
    Of course, it’s also important to keep the plants watered.
    Once the blooms peak, let the plant die back into itself, nourishing the bulb. Keep the bulb in its pot and store in a cool, dark place. In early fall, separate the bulbs and plant them in your garden in anticipation of their blooming again next spring.

    Thanks for joining us at Saturday’s CML Kids Club event; three more this year!

    There’s a spring in our steps after Saturday’s Connells Maple Lee Kids Club event, and not just because it involved hyacinth plants for Easter.
    We just had a great time seeing everyone who turned out. Thanks to the children and parents who joined us.
    This is our biggest year of kids club events ever, with three more to come:

    • June 22: Connells Maple Lee Stems Hunger
    • Aug. 17: Back to school
    • Oct. 26: Halloween/Bouquets for Books

    Remember that it’s free for children ages 5 to 12 to join the kids club: just stop by any store or fill out the registration form on our website.
    We look forward to seeing a big crowd in June.