Florist Tips
Every week we post a helpful tip on the @jaltheacreative Instagram account. This blog contains every tip from the previous three months (with a little more detail added, of course)! From processing to marketing, using these tips will help you run a successful home business and take some of the stress away.
FLORIST TIP: Use Tape Grid and Chicken Wire
Tape grid and chicken wire are great tools for keeping stems in place.
This will help give your floral arrangements structure.
Form the chicken wire into a ball to fit inside the vase. You can also add a tape grid on top for extra support. It’s great when designing in shallow vases.
Make sure you have your stems clean so if you need to adjust your placement it doesn’t get stuck in the wire or tape. Cleaning the stems also helps prevent bacteria growth in the water.
Be sure to wear gloves while working with chicken wire because it’s very sharp.
FLORIST TIP: Using Fruit in your designs
Fruit is a fun way to add seasonal color and bring volume to your arrangement. Here are some things to keep in mind when designing with fruit:
Fruits produce ethylene gas which can speed up the blooming process for flowers
Store fruits away from your flowers
If cutting or piercing the fruit, don’t add it to your arrangement until you’re on-site
Make sure the fruit is secure in the arrangement before delivery
Use heavy gauge wire and/or wood stakes to secure
Fruit with long stems are easier to add to your design
Stems can be reinforced with wire and tape helps secure the stems
Larger, heavier fruits sit better in the center of arrangements so that the arrangement stays balanced & is less likely to tip over
Cut fruit can attract bees and other insects. Make sure your client is aware of this & that there are no serious allergies!
Fruits that grow on vines create depth in arrangements and they’re easy to tie to bouquets
Grapes, blackberries
Citrus adds energetic color
Lemons, limes, oranges, kumquats
Fruits with deep colors and unusual fruits create a sense of luxury
Pomegranates, plums, blood oranges
FLORIST TIP: Dahlia Subs
Dahlia Substitutions: zinnias and cremone mums
Zinnias are slightly smaller than dahlias. They both come in a variety of colors.
Cremone mums have sharp petals similar to dahlias. care of your business.
FLORIST TIP: Use sharp tools
Always cut your flowers with sharp tools.
Using blunt tools can crush the stems and stop them from absorbing water.
To sharpen your tools you want to clean them first.
A quick wash with soapy, warm water will work then dry them off.
Buff off any rust and file along the contour of the blade.
Keep filing until a sharp edge forms on your shears.
FLORIST TIP: Great Customer Service
Having great customer service is crucial when running a business. You need to consistently meet your customers’ expectations.
To do this you need to know yourself and your business and you need to know your customers.
Some examples of great customer service include valuing your customers’ time, listening to your customers, fixing mistakes, and thinking long-term - a customer is for life.
By following these practices you will increase loyalty and satisfaction.
While delivering great customer service you need to have boundaries as well. For example, we don’t offer stuffed animals or balloons, so if a customer really wants that I will recommend a florist who does. Just because a customer requests a certain flower or material doesn’t mean you have to use it.
You can offer alternatives or recommend another florist. You don’t have to answer the phone or reply to emails 24/7, you can have business hours. You don’t have to say “yes” to everything.
Sometimes it means giving up a customer but it’s important to stay true to yourself and your business.
What does great customer service look like to you?
FLORIST TIP: What is Flower Food?
Flower food includes: a sugar to feed the flowers, a biocide to inhibit fungi & bacteria growth, & an acidifier to lower the pH of the water.
The MIX of these 3 is important, which is why I don’t recommend making your own. If you don’t have access to a commercial floral food, use plain tap water.
For florists, the mix (i.e. the correct concentration) is also why it’s important to follow the directions for adding the powdered food to water…too much or too little & you lose the benefits and are just wasting money.
Yes, some home remedies do work…but it’s difficult to get the mix correct. If you’re going to use a home mix, test it against plain tap water & commercial floral food of the correct concentration.
PS-if you do test this, please send me the results!