A Family Affair

I kind of went back in time, to my childhood and then to my young adulthood.  After attending my Garden Study Group luncheon we were transported over to the ultimate in the neighborhood flower shop, the Phillip Flower Shop Warehouse.

Cooling lockers for all of the arrangements that are ready to be delivered.

Buckets of fresh flowers just waiting for the designer.

Flowers come into the warehouse from all over the world.

When I was a little girl I used to watch the Lee Phillip show on Chicago television, but what I didn't know is that her family owned a flower shop.  She began this show because of flowers in 1952, won sixteen Emmy Awards and moved to California in the late 1980's and into a home that was once owned by Cary Grant.  She and her husband William Bell began writing Emmy Award winning soap operas like the Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Another World, The Young And The Restless and The Bold And The Beautiful.

Glitter and crystals are really in this year in the florist business!

This little arrangement is going to one of the retail stores, price $75.00.

Boxes of Christmas decor to add to arrangements.

Orchids are another popular plant for inclusion in arrangements

The little flower shop remained run by her brother and now run by her very extended family of children and grandchildren.  It is no longer the little shop around the corner but a huge  conglomerate of suburban shops and designer warehouses located in Chicago and the suburbs.

Weddings are a big part of the business with samples made for the wedding parties to preview before ordering.

I think it is wonderful that the bride and groom can actually see what the bouquets are going to look like.  I picked my flowers out of a book of photos!

Most of the wedding bouquets are held like posies but there are still some old-fashioned cascading bouquets.

The fun part of the day was getting to choose flowers and greenery to make our own arrangements.

We all got to make our own arrangements.

This is my arrangement, looking at all kinds of things I could have done differently, but it is lovely sitting on my coffee table!