Kara Ferguson’s favorite time of year is the fall: crispness in the air, leaves changing color, drinking cider when it’s cold outside.
Ferguson’s fondness for fall made her a prime candidate to enter Connells Maple Lee Flower & Gifts’ contest to name a mounded pumpkin arrangement.
Her entry, Harmony Harvest, was selected as the winner among nearly 100 online submissions received Sept. 14-18. Her prize is one of the arrangements.
The all-around arrangement measures 12.5 inches high and 16 inches wide. It features a six-inch white ceramic pumpkin, country buffalo gingham bow, dusty miller, mini-green hydrangea, carnations, spray roses, charmelia, poms and limonium.
Click here if you’d like to order a Harmony Harvest arrangement.
Connells Maple Lee Flowers name-the-arrangement online contest runs through Sept. 18
In fairy tales, pumpkins turn into horse-drawn carriages.
At Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts, one lucky person will turn a pumpkin into a prize simply by entering this year’s name-the-arrangement contest.
The person who submits the winning name will receive a complimentary mounded pumpkin arrangement, retail value $44.99.
The all-around arrangement measures 12.5 inches high and 16 inches wide. It features a six-inch white ceramic pumpkin, country buffalo gingham bow, dusty miller, mini-green hydrangea, carnations, spray roses, charmelia, poms and limonium.
To enter the contest, visit cmlflowers.com/contest. Limit one entry daily per email address, Sept. 14-18.
Dublin fifth-grader is this year’s kids club birthday card contest winner
Maya Ibrahim returned home one night this month bearing an abstract painting on canvas that she had created at a friend’s house.
“We’re waiting for that to dry, and we’ll hang it up,” said her mother, Deanna.
It’s not Maya’s only work of distinction this summer, however.
Maya, a fifth-grader at Riverside Elementary School in Dublin, is the winner of this year’s Connells Maple Lee birthday card contest.
Her design, featuring presents, stars, party hats and a hand-lettered “Happy Birthday!,” will adorn the electronic card that kids club members receive on their birthdays in the coming year. Her prize is a free flower delivery on her next birthday.
The kids club is free to ages 5 to 12. With parental permission, children may register for the kids club at any Connells Maple Lee store or online at cmlflowers.com/kidsclub. Membership benefits include a membership card, website activities, an e-mail newsletter, contests and in-store events.
Thank you for helping us collect 175 pounds of food for Neighborhood Services
Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts’ annual food drive collected 175 pounds of non-perishable items to benefit Neighborhood Services Food Pantry in Columbus.
Connells Maple Lee Stems Hunger, as the food drive is known, ran June 27-July 4 at the florist’s stores in Bexley, Powell and Grove City.
Food drive donors received a free carnation for each non-perishable food item they contributed, up to six per visit.
This year’s total tied for third highest in the food drive’s nine-year history. Overall, Connells Maple Lee Stems Hunger has collected nearly 1,500 pounds of non-perishable food.
Connells Maple Lee Kids Club seeking birthday card entries through July 15
They say that it’s better to give than to receive.
But you could do both if you win this year’s Connells Maple Lee Kids Club birthday card design contest.
The winning design will adorn the email birthday card that every kids club member receives on his or her special day. The winning artist will receive a free flower delivery on his or her birthday.
The contest is open to kids club members, ages 5 to 12. If you aren’t a kids club member yet, you can register for free at cmlflowers.com/kidsclub.
To enter the contest, simply download the entry form here, create your design and drop it off at your nearest Connells Maple Lee store: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
The winner will be chosen in late July.
Good luck to everyone!
Connells Maple Lee Flowers’ annual food drive returns June 27-July 4
Summer already was a time of acute food shortages, especially for children who lose access to free and reduced-price meals through schools.
This year, the pandemic is compounding the problem, with millions of Americans seeking help from food banks for the first time.
Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts is continuing to do its part to combat hunger with the return of its Connells Maple Lee Stems Hunger food drive, June 27-July 4.
It will benefit the nonprofit Neighborhood Services Food Pantry at 1950 N. 4th St., Suite J, Columbus. Here is the food pantry’s wish list.
Food drive donors will receive a free carnation for each nonperishable food item they contribute (limit six per visit).
Donations may be dropped off during regular business hours at any one of Connells Maple Lee’s stores: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
Introducing a hopeful new coloring page for these uncertain times
The Connells Maple Lee Kids Club has offered coloring pages since its earliest days.
But we’ve never had one quite as poignant as the new one you see above. We created it in response to the fear and anxiety that children and even a lot of adults are experiencing in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
This new design shows a strong, vibrant iris rising out of a crack in a sidewalk and the powerful words of Corita Kent (1918-1986), an artist, educator and advocate for social justice.
Those words come from a longer quote: “Love the moment,” Kent said. “Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each is to succeed.”
For many of us, these are dark moments because of the harm the pandemic has done to people’s health and to the economy. We are fearful for the safety and well-being of ourselves, of our family and friends, of our fellow human beings.
In another quote, Kent noted that there’s a “huge danger” in pretending that awful things don’t happen.
“But you need enough hope to keep going. Flowers grow out of darkness.”
The blue iris, for instance, is sometimes described as symbolizing “faith and hope.” And those are two qualities that will serve us well in the days, weeks and months to come as each of us plays a part in the fight against the pandemic.
For kids club members and their parents alike, we hope you’ll download our “Flowers Grow Out of Dark Moments” coloring page, make it completely your own by coloring it, and give it a place of prominence in your home: refrigerator, window, bedroom wall.
We’d love to see what you come up with and share pictures of your work on our social media pages. Photos can be emailed to marketing@royers.com.
As Corita Kent said, we need hope. Perhaps this simple coloring page, after you’ve brought it to life in your unique way, can be a beacon of hope to you and your family.
Dark moments don’t last. Hope endures.
Keep cooped-up children busy with free Connells Maple Lee Kids Club activity pages
The coronavirus pandemic already is altering our lives in ways that would have seemed unimaginable just weeks ago.
Instead of going to school, participating in sports or visiting friends, children will be home. And while nothing is better than having the whole family together, it can lead to stressful moments.
Keeping the kids busy is important. The Connells Maple Lee Kids Club can help.
We have a bunch of activity pages that can be downloaded for free from our website.
Children can:
- Give a Connells Maple Lee delivery truck a fresh look
- Decorate the exterior of a Connells Maple Lee store for spring
- Test their sense of direction in a flower maze
- Challenge their reading skills with a word find
What’s more, we’d love to share some of the completed work on our social media pages. Just take a photo of the page(s) and email them to marketing@royers.com.
We know these are challenging times, but we’ll get through them together. In the meantime, we hope everyone stays healthy and productive.
We look forward to seeing you in person at a future Connells Maple Lee Kids Club event.
Connells Maple Lee Kids Club celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with free event March 14
Mum’s the word at the March 14 Connells Maple Lee Kids Club event. Molly O’Mum, that is.
Children ages 5 to 12 will have an opportunity to make their own St. Patrick’s Day mum character, complete with smiling face, shamrock ribbon and green top hat.
Slots are available at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Registration is required by calling your nearest Connells Maple Lee 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.
The other remaining 2020 kids club events are June 27, Aug. 15 and Nov. 7.
10 Heart-Felt Uses for Flowers This Valentine’s Day
In 2019, according to aboutflowers.com, 28 percent of American adults (37 percent men, 19 percent women) purchased flowers for Valentine’s Day. Roses led the way, accounting for 84 percent of those purchases.
If you favor tradition, we have you covered with lots of rose options available for delivery or in-store pickup. But if you’re looking for a new twist, we can help with that, too.
Here are 10 unique ways to incorporate flowers into Valentine’s Day:
1. Try different colors: Red roses are No. 1 in popularity, but other colors such as yellow and pink and mixed colors are terrific options, too.
2. Experiment with other flowers: Consider carnations, tulips, orchids, lilies, which will give you even more color and cost options.
3. Send to your kids: Everyone loves getting flowers, and certainly your children will be excited when the flower delivery is for them. Our Sweet Hugs Bud Vase features two roses, Hershey’s Kisses and a six-inch white plush bear.
4. Go on a flower-shopping date: Unsure which flowers to give your significant other? Turn it into a positive by making a date out of stopping at your local Connells Maple Lee before dinner or a movie. Our staff is eager to help.
5. Thank a friend: How about a loving gesture of flowers for that loyal friend; you know, the one who stood by you through all of the ups and downs in your love life?
6. Reward great service: Every day, our lives are positively affected by others, from mail carriers to plumbers, waitstaff to dry cleaners. A single stem will let them know that you value the hard work they perform.
7. Make a candy heart rose bouquet: Place a clear glass vase containing roses inside a larger glass vase and fill the gap with candy conversation hearts.
8. Include a heart-felt note: Add oomph to your flowers when you craft a loving message to your significant other. You can bring it with you when you come to any of our stores. We’ll gladly include it with your delivery.
9. Give a gift to your hosts: Are you attending any parties around the holiday? If so, a bouquet of flowers is a thoughtful way to thank your hosts.
10. Commit a random act of flowers: Hand a dozen roses to someone with instructions for them to keep one flower and pass the rest of the bouquet to someone else, and on and on until you’ve touched 12 lives in a positive, loving way.
Maybe one or more of these suggestions will catch your fancy, or perhaps it will inspire you to come up with your own creative way to use flowers this Valentine’s Day.
The bottom line is that flowers are a time-honored way to show your love. And remember that options abound and our staff is always here to assist you.