Night out

Our annual night out
The smiles got bigger as the drinks went down.

We are now on Facebook why not join us as a friend?? The full team will eventualy be featured on it when "He who knows everything" can lure them into this modern technological world

New designs

Its all change for our flower designs with new collections including those with chocolates, wine, champagne, balloons and teddy bears.
To cope with the extra number of designs we have also re-designed our web page. Check it out there's now a lot more choice
Our new All Year flower collection will be launched on 1 October and our New Bbaby collection on 1 November. The the Autumn Collection will end on 10 Nov when the Christmas Collection should be available

More awards

Myself (on the left) and Diane, who has been part of our team for some 10 years, were delighted to have been asked to represent the Links Designer Club at the recent National Association of Flower Arrangment Society show for the Devon & Cornwall area held at Newquay. Our club class exibit entitled Absolutely Fabulous was awarded First place to win the Mary Pope Trophy. We were also pleased to have been awarded the Lloyds Bank Trophy for the best use of colour.
Diane also entered an individual design for the clas entitled Echoes and won a first for this entry

You Don't Bring Me Flowers

Valentines Day - love it or hate it

Another Valentines Day gone and we survived it - just

Its supposed to be a day of romance so why is it that all(99.9%)of our flower orders are sent by men to girls. - Why dont girls send flowers to their men ?? After all the ladies have fought for,and mostly got, equality. I think men get a raw deal here, but then I would Im a man.

One thing about it all that bugs me - The media. What a load of rubbish they all talk, its the same every Valentines Day like a cracked record. For example I heard some guy on Radio Cornwall rabbiting on about how many miles the flowers have done before they reach you ( similar to the great debate on food miles). I wish they would get their facts right. Yes there are some flower growers in Cornwall and yes we do buy from them but they dont grow everything and their range and is limited. So we have to buy from Wholesalers who in turn buy from all over the world. It would be a sad day if all the girls got was a bunch of Daffodils for Valentines Day.

The other Media perennial is the cost of Roses and how Supermarkets charge £3 or £4 for a dozen whilst those nasty florist shops charge £40 +. Are they thick ( The Media not the Roses) or what ? I bought a cheapy bunch last year for comparison - cost me £3.95 - in a word CRAP. Short weak stems with small heads and very low petal count and assembled by a machine, is that all the girl of your choice is worth ? unfortunately in some cases the answer appears to be YES.
Media members please note - They are what they are, a cheap and cheerfull bunch of low quality flowers assembled by a machine as opposed to a bouquet of quality long stem roses hand made to the customers requirements. It seems to me that the day of romance goes to the Media members heads, perhaps they get all exited at what the day may bring - PLEASE get a life, or at least get the facts.

Allan - Jackies husband

Do You Deserve It

We hear so many stories, good and bad, in our shop that we have come to the conclusion that amongst all the usual gloom and dispair there are a lot of people out there doing some amazing things for their fellow humans. Most of them without help or praise. So we have teamed up with our local newspaper the "Falmouth Packet" to find these people. We are asking anyone who knows of such a deserving person living in the Falmouth/Penryn area to nominate them by sending us or the "Falmouth Packet" a letter or e-mail saying why they deserve the flowers. Once chosen we will present them with a bouguet of flowers and the newspaper will tell their story.

We have now chosen the first recipient of the bouquet, a Mrs Shiela Green who is shown (centre) in the photo with her sponser Mr Elliot being presented by Jackie with her bouquet.
Her full story will be published next week

DO YOU know of any deserving person living in the Falmouth/Penryn area, if so let us know.

Our contact details are on our web site www.jackiephillipsflowers.com

Happy Christmas

We wish everyone a peacefull and Happy Christmas

Flower Demonstration & Painting Competition- The results

The evening was a great success. 120 people attended and £1000 was raised for Cancer Research. Our thanks to David Ragg for a supurb demonstration

Thanks also to all those who attended and who helped by sponsorship and donations.

More photos can be seen including a selection of the paintings and prize giving on the web site of The Rotary Club of Penryn on their news page - http://www.penrynrotary.co.uk/

Flower Demonstration

If you are a flower lover this one is not to be missed

On Thursday 26 October Jackie Phillips Flowers will be arranging and sponsoring a flower demonstration and Childrens Painting Competition and Exhibition on behalf of the Rotary Club of Penryn to raise funds for Cancer Research.

Our demonstrator will be the talented David Ragg who won Gold and Best in Show in this years Chelsea Flower Show. This was Davids 3rd gold medal at Chelsea and he has won numerous awards at other prestigeous shows.
The show will be at The Falmouth Beach Hotel at 7.30pm

Tickets are £10.00 to include a Pasty Supper when Davids creations will be auctioned.
Tickets are available from Jackie Phillips Flowers, 6 The Moor, Falmouth Tel. 01326 318476 in person or by post ( If by post please enclose a stamped addressed envelope and make cheques payable to "Penryn Rotary Club")
If you require a vegitarian Pasty please advise at the time of booking.

Falmouth Carnival

This years carnival was the first all walking carnival and received tremendous local support following last years cancellation We await the actual numbers of entries. Our own shop staff were enthusiastic entries and we certainly had fun. Our thanks to the Marine Band for stepping in and organising the carnival and my thanks to our staff. We hope to obtain more photos for our web page but here are a few of our own entry



Right Pauline with her own creation of flower hat and shoes, Right Jackie
Left Allan (Jackies Husband) as Big Ben one of Jackies Flower Pot men. Middle Jackie . Right Leigh

Some of the team From left to right Katie, her friends Abbey & Tara, bending over Judith with grandaughter Masie Leigh. Allan (alias Big Ben), Jackie & Tracey. the multi coloured chap was from another entry.
Driver Jim as Jackie's Weed
Two husbands forced into action as Bill& Ben Jackie's flower pot men Left Sid, right Allan

Congratulations to Emma and Oliver

Congratulations to Emma and Oliver wre married at the Pendennis Castle, Falmouth on Saturday 17th June - a beautiful summers day. Shown here is Gemma arriving at the Castle, her Bridesmaids and Gemma with her Father at the Castle Entrance
















For more photos see :-
www.jackiephillipsflowers.com/html/our_weddings.html

Flower Shop of the Year - Silver Award

We are delighted to anounce that we have successfully completed Round 1 in the National Flower Shop of the Year 2006 achieving a Silver Award of Exellence.
We are one of only 203 shops nationwide to achieve this and the only one in Cornwall.

See our web page www.jackiephillipsflowers.com/html/our_shop.html for the press release and certificate

Flower Shop of the Year

This article and photo appeared today (Thursday 18th May) in one of our local newspapers.
At Jackie Phillips Flowers we spend a lot of time keeping up with new design trends and ideas and we see joining this competition as an extension of our ongoing training. Wish us luck !!

Flower shop bids to win national acclaim
Jackie Phillips Flowers of Falmouth have been entered for the Flower Shop of the Year Award and will discover at the end of this month (May) if they have been successful in the first round.
The biggest award in the world of floristry, the winning shop in this UK national competition will walk away with £5,000 to invest in their business.

More than 500 florists have registeredfor the competition and all those succsessful in the first round will earn the Silver Award for Excellence.
To win through to the next stage, and get their Gold Award of Excellence, Jackie Phillips Flowers will need to exceed the expectations of mystery shoppers and impress mystery phone callers. "We are definately up for it" said owner Jackie Phillips. "We have a great team and we always try to be the best. We really believe that we can win this national title."

As part of the national championships, there is also a separate £1,000 prize for each of the Flowergram, Interflora, Teleflorist and Independant Flower Shops of the Year.
"Winning would transformour business, but we are just as exited about the chance to promote and show off our skills, flower range and customer service to the local comunity," said Jackie.

Health in the work place

Did you know that a third of all modern office buildings in Europe has an inadequate indoor climate, and that as a result absence due to ilness is much higher in these buildings.
See www.healthygreenwork.org

Our Business contracts can help overcome these problems see www.jackiephillipsflowers.com

New web site

Our web site www.jackiephillipsflowers.com has been re-designed and improved. Hope you like it.

There is still one new page to add, we have just started work on it and it should be ready in a few weeks.

Happy Easter to you all

Whats Hot for Mothers Day

Well certainly not the weather, at least not this week - it was reported yesterday that the swallows have arrived in the Scilly Isles - its so cold they must wonder if they have flown in the right direction! Lets hope it warms up for next Sunday.

According to the advance orders received so far for Mothers day, top of the list is the Pink Lilly Hand-tied. A beautiful bouquet of luxury scented Lilies with Gerbera, Freesia, Veronica and a beautifull pink rose, all expertly hand -tied.





Running a close second is our Pure Chic Arrangement shown here with Chocolates.


Flowers with Champagne also seem to be a favorite, but all our designs are available with Champagne, Wine, Chocolates, Cuddly Bears and Balloons.




For details of all these designs see our web page

Go on spoil your Mother - Is'nt she worth it ?

Chrysanthemums. Love them or hate them

Chryanthemums are one of the most versatile flowers available to florists and their customers.

But some florists including some top designers, ( and those that dutifully follow their every word), seem these days to class the flower as boring and discount them as not worthy of use in their designs. They seem to have been lured into thinking the emergence of exoctic blooms now readily available on the market have made the Chrysanthemum extinct. How wrong can they be ? No other flower has the number of shapes, forms and colours that the Chrysanth has, only the Dahlia comes close. Roses, gladioli and anthurium - all varieties of these have the same shape.

It is said that if you could choose a different variety or colour of Crysanthemum every week you would not repeat a flower for two years!!! Boring ? I think not.

The chrysanth is not extinct, some people just seem to have forgotten that they have a very long vase life and are very good value for money.

New varieties are becoming available all the time and the flower remains in demand no matter what claptrap the so called modern designer talks.

Perhaps those that discount this flower are unable to appreciate its natural beauty and do not have the skills or necessary flair to incorporate it into their designs ??

Just married

Congratulations to James and Gemma who got married on Saturday 14th January 2006 at the Penmere Manor Hotel, Falmouth.

Given away by her Father Peter, Gemma wore a Champagne gown of silk overlaid with organza with a train and boned strapless bodice She was attended by Shannon 9, Bethany 7 and Jasmine 3. Gemma carried a traditional shower bouquet of mango calla lilies and hypericum.

Spring

We have welcomed in the New Year with a re-designed Web Site which contains a new page with photos of our shop and our new Spring Flower Collection - we've got the spring flowers - now we need the spring weather !!!

Our Valentines collection will follow

Baby Boy

Congratulations to Sharon who recently left us to have her baby.

Harrison her son was born on Christmas Day, mother and son are doing well

Our best wishes to them both.

Christmas Greetings

All of us at Jackie Phillips Flowers
send you all Seasons Greetings
and a Happy, Prosperous and above all,
a Peacefull New Year

Wine

We can now deliver wine as shown to our local delivery area

Wine duo Gift
A well - rounded, easy drinking Chenin, full of zesty flavours with a hint of lime on the finish, is paired with velvety smooth Shiraz with masses of luscious black fruits. Presented in a gift boxCode A2003 Cost £20.00
















Wine basket
A well - rounded, easy drinking Chenin, full of zesty flavours with a hint of lime on the finish, is paired with velvety smooth Shiraz with masses of luscious black fruits. Beautifully presented in a gift basket, perfect to keep as a wine store or hamper basket for picnics.
Code 2010 Cost £40.00











To order go to www.jackiephillipsflowers.com

Some Flower Care Tips

Some do's and dont's of flower care. If you have any questions on flower care please ask us on enquiries@jackiephillipsflowers.com

DO
Buy flowers from a reputable outlet, and choose blooms with firm petals or with buds that show a degree of colour to ensure the flowers will develop fully. Ensure the flowers are well wrapped for protection and, if the flowers are to be kept out of water for some hours, ask the florist to cover the stem ends with damp paper, or even to "aquapack" them in their own water `pod'.

Ask for cut flower food if it is not already supplied. This contains the correct ingredients to a) feed the flowers properly, b) keep bacteria at bay (which blocks the stem and stops water uptake), c) encourage buds to open, d) lengthen the life of the flowers. Snipping the corner off a one-dose sachet and adding it to the vase water is simple and effective - and scientifically tested to make your flowers last longer.

Use lukewarm water - there's less oxygen in it, and helps prevent air bubbles in the stem that will block water uptake. It also encourages some flowers to open up. The only exception to this is spring bulb flowers like daffodils and tulips which prefer cold water.

Use thoroughly clean vases - bacteria kills flowers.

Cut stems at an angle preferably with a knife. This gives the stem a bigger area to take up more water, and stops it resting on the bottom of the vase and sealing itself.


DON'T
Smash or pierce the stems, or use blunt scissors, as this destroys the water vessels and inhibits water uptake, and causes bacteria to multiple more quickly and over a larger area. It also causes the flower undue stress which shortens its life.

Mix daffodils and narcissi with other flowers. They emit latex from their stems when cut, which is known as `daffodil slime', and shortens the life of other flowers. Keep daffodils alone in vases, or use the special bulb cut flower food which makes them safe to mix with other flowers. You can place the daffodils in a bucket of water for at least 12 hours on their own and then arrange them with other flowers, making sure you do not cut the stem again.

Put flowers near ripening fruit – it releases tiny amounts of ethylene gas which prematurely ages flowers. Dying flowers do the same so always remove them from the vase.

Place flowers in a draught which chills the flowers, or in bright sunlight which encourages bacteria to breed. Keep them away from over-warm central heating.

Put copper coins, aspirin, lemonade, or bleach in the water. They're popular tricks but they don't work, and they can't feed your flowers adequately. Homemade formulas are messy, time-consuming and do more harm than good. They are also more expensive than the correct sachets of flower food.

Wine

We have now completely changed our range of wines. From Dec 1st you will be able to send wine with flowers or wine as a single gift. Details will be on our Champagne & Gift page on www.jackiephillipsflowers.com from Dec 1st

Do you want to retain your local florist ??

November is usually our quietist month of the year , but at least it gives us time to prepare for the Christmas rush.

When its quiet like this it doesn't help to find out that yet another multiple has decided to sell flowers. W H Smith has now moved in - they haven't done too well in their own market, probably because like most other specialists, they have suffered from the relentless march of the Supermarkets. So , like all the others, they are now trying to do everything instead of specialising, will they try banking, insurance, etc like the others??

We applaud the Cornish Woman's Institute, they at least have realized the damage to our town centers and the steady loss of our our small specialist shops caused by the antics of the big boys.

I used to travel a lot in the USA and saw what these Super stores did to their town centers, practically destroyed them. Small shops boarded up, no life in the town and plenty of crime. it will happen here.

Yes it can be difficult shopping in town, poor parking etc but unless people make the effort the town centers with their specialist shops will disappear. Will the Supermarkets be interested in doing your wedding flowers, hand made to suit your dress and colour scheme, of course not, your wedding flowers are labor intensive so there's not enough profit in it for them. They just want to cream off the best selling items.

So just think everytime you buy a bunch of flowers from the Supermarket the profit goes to them and not your local florist. Your florist cannot survive on wedding flowers alone.

How many butchers are there left in your town ?? Will your town center survive with shoe shops, estate agents, and charity shops ??

New Flower Designs

Our complete new collection is out tomorrow with a new standard collection plus winter and christmas designs and details of available balloon bouquets. See our web page for details.

Our second web site

Our existing web site www.jackiephillipsflowers.com has been in existance for over a year now. It contains not only our flower designs available for your local delivery but also our wedding page and business services page. This site was designed mainly for orders delivered throughout the Falmouth area and contains a secure order page but not a full shopping cart.

We are pleased to announce that today we have launched our second web page
www.jackiephillipsflowers.co.uk which contains all Interflora designs available for local and world wide delivery. This site contains a full on line shopping cart order service for your convenience.

We hope this additional site will be of service to you when choosing your flowers for local or world wide delivery

Jackie Phillips

Posy for a Princess

On Thursday 4th August The Princess Royal HRH Princess Anne visited Falmouth as part of the Trafalgar and Nelson celebrations. We at Jackie Phillips Flowers were delighted to be asked to produce the posy to be presented to Princess Anne.

Close up of the Roses and Stephanotis used

















Jackie handing over the completed posy to Jessica who will present it






















Jessica presenting the posy.

Falmouth Week 2

Further to our previous blog on this subject, we recently entered the shop window dressing competion to celebrate the re-enactment of the news of Nelson's death at the battle of Trafalgar reaching England at Falmouth in 1805.

We WON !!!

Press release and Photo below





















Watch this space for more !! We have now been asked to make the posy which will be presented to Princess Anne at the above ceremony when the dispatch lands ashore. More photos to follow.

Falmouth

Looking for entertainment in Falmouth a couple of weeks ago I realised that information on whats on in our town was scattered, some in the local paper, some on the internet, some on leaflets available in various places through the town. I short, nowhere could I find a full diary type listing of whats on.

I thought dont sit their complaining, do something about it, so I have created www.whats-on-in-falmouth.co.uk

Its now been published and submitted to search engines. I have also started to introduce it to various event organisers, hopefully they will all see the benift and support it by sending me information on their planned events.

People now intending to visit our town ( and residents of course) can plan their entertainment before they get here. They will also find just how much goes on in this lively expanding town.

Cornwall University

Congratulations to the new Combined University of Cornwall - Tremough Campus - on staging their first Graduation Celebrations on saturday 16th July. Over 50 students received their diplomas and we wish them well.

Just prior to the event we were approached with a request to decorate the entrance and presentation area and these photos were the result