Ohio State University botanists are holding their breath as they wait for a rare flower to bloom at the Biological Sciences Greenhouse sometime next week.

And there’s a good reason: Amorphophallus titanum, or titan arum, smells like rotting flesh when it blooms — hence its other name: corpse flower.

<……………. continues on Columbus Dispatch

Mary Zoltowski is at the height of her busy season.

“The week leading up to Mother’s Day makes up about 35 percent of the store’s business,” says Zoltowski, 47, owner of Moorestown Flower Shoppe, a prominent fixture on Main Street for decades (and recently chosen by Moorestown Patch readers as their favorite florist).

With Mother’s Day celebrated yesterday, and a bundle of communions, graduations, proms and weddings on the horizon, Zoltowski says lately she’s on her feet multitasking into the night.  

With an abundance of floral requests, she relies on a handful of family members—including her husband, Steve, 42—to pitch in at the last minute.   

But she isn’t complaining. Because just like most other small businesses, Zoltowski saw income wither as a result of a sagging economy—with 2010 being one of her slowest wedding years, even though the shop’s renowned for its stylish bridal designs.

“I think brides cut back on spending and had smaller weddings,” says Zoltowski, who takes part in local wedding show……………. continues on Patch.com

A LIBRARY will hope for a blossoming future after confirming a community partnership with a local florist to help preserve its long-term future.

Bucks County Council ran a public consultation in March to see if the public would support plans to move another business into Great Missenden Library’s premises to generate revenue to keep professional staff on.

It was one of 14 across the county pinpointed by BCC as community-run facilities last year as they bidded to save nearly £700,000.

Over 100 people responded with 97 per cent backing ther plans – the council has now opted for The Flower Room, currently on the High Street, over Cafe Toria and the Post Office.

Tricia Weber, who has run the florist for 19 years, said: “My lease was coming to an end and this looked like a good opportunity – I hope I can move in September when the lease finishes.

“I think it will make a good combination at the library and I’m looking forward to it.”

Cabinet member for community engagement, Martin Phillips, said: “We have carefully considered the independent evaluation before making this difficult decision.

“Both the……………. continues on Prestwood Advertiser

The woman in the middle of the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in Montclair, staring intently at a flower, watercolor paints at her side, is probably Verona resident Patricia Buchanan.

BANGALORE: What strikes you first when you feel like gifting a friend or a dear one? The first thing that comes to one’s mind is fresh flowers or a

beautiful bouquet.

Yes, it is much easier to buy a floral bouquet now, as many florists are seen selling colourful and exquisitely arranged flowers on every nook and corner of Bangalore.� Even the pricing is reasonable depending on the variety and season. City Express brings a colourful account on the flourishing business of street

florists in the city.

Today it has proliferated to such proportions that one can find them near signal junctions, petrol bunks, close to schools, colleges and also near wedding halls. Their business is basically small time with people buying flowers in small quantities. Speaking about his business, Madhu K, a street florist near Madhavan Park in Jayanagar 3rd Block, said, “Daily sales does not exceed ` 300. We earn our income from decorating party halls for occasions like birthday parties, naming ceremonies and marriages.”

Richard Reynolds has just completed something of a marathon guerrilla-gardening spruce based around Elephant and Castle, of which both the Guerrilla Lavender Field (Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 junction with St George’s Road) and St George’s Circus (SE1) are the largest and most spectacular, while the “pimped” pavements of London Road (10 tree pits on the west side) are more quirky and incongruous. “All these plots remain gardened without official permission,” says Richard, “though they have been accepted and more recently welcomed by ‘the establishment’.” They will be part of Richard’s Guerrilla Gardening tour on May 20.

Then there is the bicycling beer garden, which will consist of plants growing in beer cans on a platform that is pulled around by two cyclists highlighting the festival and visiting various venues, giving cans of plants away as it goes. Garden-themed poetry readings, art installations and tours “of the dark underbelly of Kew, including the compost heaps”, are just a few of the projects that are running.

The choice and range gives the Fringe a universal appeal. While planning your visit have a look at the website (

JOHNSTOWN — Jim Burns didn’t fit the prototype of a race car driver during the rough and tumble stock car racing era of the 1950s through the late-’70s.

The Geistown native had the reputation of being quiet and laid back in the pit area and was never involved in on-track altercations.

A florist by profession, Burns was known for his trademark pink race cars. But once the green flag dropped, Burns was one of the fiercest competitors to ever strap on a helmet at the area dirt ovals.

“I wasn’t much of a talker,” Burns said. “I enjoyed the competition and working on the cars as a hobby.

“I grew up across the street from the former Leitenberger auto dealership, which raced Indianapolis cars, along with sprint cars and midgets,” said Burns, who is now 76 years old.

“A neighbor took me to

the midget races at the Ebensburg Fairgrounds following World War II and I became a big fan of Mike (Little) Serokman, because he was from Johnstown. Later, I started helping Fuzzy Rubritz and Joe Horner at the races and I became hooked.”

That eventually led to him and two friends starting a race team of their own in 1955.

“We built the car in the……………. continues on The Tribune-Democrat

This year, Mother’s Day gift sales are expected to increase 14 percent from last year. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will spend a whopping $ 18.6 billion.

For flower shops and garden nurseries, that equals big sales. Floral arrangements are the number one purchase this weekend; more than $ 2 billion will be spent on bouquets and potted plants.

The owner of Evolutions in Design in Wausau knows the numbers firsthand.

“Friday and Saturday I think we did over 350 deliveries and today we’re trying to get all of the ones we couldn’t get yesterday,” Randy Verhasselt said.

Verhasselt says aside from Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day is the store’s busiest time of year. “We quadruple our amount of deliveries a day,” he said. “Everyone likes to do something nice for their mom. So it’s a great day. And trying to help people pi……………. continues on WSAW

Saturday is sure to fly by in a fragrant haze for David Marti and the drivers he dispatches throughout the Salt Lake Valley and south Davis County.

After all, Mother’s Day is Sunday and sons and daughters everywhere have placed orders for floral arrangements they hope will convey heartfelt gratitude to the women who raised them.

The only other day that compares, volume-wise, is Valentine’s Day, when sweethearts typically declare their love with flowers.

“It’s a fun business,” Marti said. “These are high-anxiety days for us, but we see a lot of big smiles.”

For a quarter-century, Marti has operated the Salt Lake Florist Delivery Pool. On a typical workday, about 20 florists participate in his FedEx-style process by hauling their deliveries to a central Murray warehouse……………. continues on Salt Lake Tribune

About a week before Mother’s Day, one of the busiest holidays for florists, a Google advertisement for George’s Flowers in Roanoke read: “Real Local Roanoke Florist.”

The ad, placed by floral shop owner George Clements, is one way he’s pushing back against Internet and telephone-order flower service companies such as FTD, Teleflora and 1-800-FLOWERS.com.

“We can’t keep supplying somebody that is our competition,” Clements said. “It’s not just hurting us, it’s hurting the whole industry.”

Those services, which accept orders that are fulfilled by local florists – sometimes at a financial loss, florists say – are among several hurdles challenging retail florists, whose numbers are shrinking.

The number of retail floral shops decreased 31 percent over a decade, from 24,798 in 1999 to 17,124 in 2009, according to the most recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns.

Industry-wide, sales have declined, too. Retail florists did about $ 6.3 billion in sales in 2007, according to the latest data available from the bureau’s economic census, done every five years. That’s d……………. continues on Roanoke Times