Horn Lake, MS -

(WMC-TV) – Rising gas prices are hurting everyone at the pumps, but if they continue to soar you may be paying more for your favorite foods or flowers.

If customers don’t want to use their gas to go pick up dinner or other items, it could cost more to have it delivered.

Whether its life-saving medication, delivery food, or a bouquet of flowers, somebody has to foot the bill for customers to get their order.

“They don’t want to spend the money on the gas, so we take care of that for them,” said Mike McCune of Avellino’s Pizza in Southaven.

McCune says his drivers are responsible for fuel in their cars and are reimbursed with a delivery fee charged to customers.

Wholesalers are charging McCune more money for supplies, and he says gas is one of the reasons why.

“We’ll have to pass along the increased cost to the customer,” he said.

90 percent of the flowers Angie Tacker-Howarth cuts and trims end up in Hernando Flower Shop’s delivery car.

“We deliver all the way to Robinsonville, down to Senatobia, over to Olive Branch and……………. continues on WMC-TV

PROVIDENCE – Simple Pleasures.

It’s the theme of this year’s Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show, where you’ll find nearly 30 lovely gardens to wander through, a marketplace with dozens of garden goods vendors, seminars, gardening demonstrations, children’s activities, and a new feature this year, a Food and Wine Festival.

Also featured this year is a Garden of Hope, created by Craig Marciniak of Tranquil Water Gardens and Joe Mack of Earth and Water Landscapes. To honor the lives of those affected by breast cancer, they’re planting pink ribbon flowers throughout this garden that will feature waterfalls, ponds, and hundreds of tulips and azaleas. The public can include a name and message to honor a loved one by visiting www.gloriagemma.org , and a pink ribbon flower will be planted in their honor.

Speaking at the show this year will be former “Victory Garden” host Roger Swain, columnist Henry Homeyer, and other top garden experts.

In all, more than 100,000 blossoms, more than 100 tons of wall and patio stone, and enough mulch and sod to cover three football fields, wil……………. continues on Valley Breeze

Soccer shoes, good soccer shoes, don’t come cheap.

Consequently, families with limited means are sometimes priced out of the market.

Their children play with shoes not designed for soccer. Competing against players with better equipment, they are at a disadvantage from the start.

To even things out and give these players a better chance, the owners of the Soccer Shack, a store on Monroe Avenue in Brighton, are donating $ 22,000 worth of shoes, clothing and other items to the Flower City Soccer League, an organization that serves young people year-round in the city.

“It’s a nice program,” says Eric Hanushek, co-owner of the store with his sister Megan, “but some of those kids are showing up with broken shoes that don’t even work.”

Flower City charges players just $ 15 to be in the league, as many of the participants, some of them refugees, come from families in difficult economic circumstances.

Between 500 and 700 players are now enrolled, some as young as 3 years old.

“The Soccer Shack donation is going to give children a chance to play the game they love with the proper equipment,” says Jeffrey Reese, Flower City’s president…………….. continues on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Valentine’s Day was marred for many by failed or faulty delivery of bouquets to loved ones, as we covered here, last week – and many consumers and retailers had things to say.

A popular florist blogger commented in a Feb. 17th post titled “Valentine’s Day Flowers Adwords: Feasting on the Bones of Local Florists”:

“Vultures. It’s the only way I can think to describe Google’s Adwords ads this past Valentine’s Day holiday. ‘Don’t be evil’ flew out the window and Google opened it even wider for the birds of prey to strip consumers and local flower shops of their hard-earned dollars.

First, we had ProFlowers telling shoppers seeking local florists BY NAME in Google searches that the stores were sold out of flowers. It’s a completely……………. continues on brandchannel.com

This week, it’s all about that floral arrangement.

The fragrant smell of flowers is probably still filling your room thanks to Valentine’s Day.

Perhaps you got a beautiful bouquet for Valentine’s Day or you sent some long-stemmed roses, but thought the price was too high for what your sweetie got. Or maybe you’ve been using the same florist for years — sending flowers to your mom on Mother’s Day and too Yardley & Pino when you want to pay your respects. Either way, let the rest of know, which florist you’d use again and which you won’t.

Visit Patch Places to learn about East Hampton area florists or write reviews. Who’s the best? Who would you recommend?

Visit your favorite (or least favorite) florist’s business page. Just click on the name below and you can leave a review:

• East Hampton Florist
• Buckley’s Flower Shop
• Whitmore’s
• continues on Patch.com

This week’s column was submitted by Christine Posinger, adult services librarian at the Des Plaines Public Library.

The Des Plaines Public Library is sponsoring a trip to the Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier on Saturday, March 10. The cost is $ 37 per person and includes deluxe motor coach transportation and show admission. The coach will leave Library Plaza promptly at 9:30 a.m. and will return at approximately 3:30 p.m. Lunch is on your own. The mix of restaurants at Navy Pier offers something for everyone.

The arrival of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show every March signals that spring is just around the corner. Tens of thousands of garden enthusiasts attend the show to get inspiration for their own home gardens.  

Earlier: Free music at the library.

Presented by Flower Show Productions, the theme of the 2012 show is Hort Couture.

More than 25 display gardens will showcase the use of vibrant color and rich textures; and will reflect t……………. continues on Patch.com

Ok. So you’ve waited to the last minute and you don’t have a Valentine’s Day gift for that special someone in your life. And, in these trying economic times, you might not be able to afford anything extravagant. But you still want to do something special. 

Don’t fret, we have some solutions!

What really counts is the thought, sincerity and emotion you put into a gift. Chocolate gets eaten, flowers wither and cards are tossed into the bin, but a loving memory lasts a lifetime. So if you are on a budget, or feel that Valentine’s Day is just too commercialized, here are some thoughtful gift ideas that cost very little but will be priceless to your loved one. 

Best Pix of the Week

• Write a letter telling your love how much he or she means to you. Put it on nice paper and frame it in an inexpensive frame from a second hand store with a photo of you both.
• Make a CD of love songs that remind you of your partner and personalize the cover with a special picture such as a favorite flower, a sunset or a picture of you both. 

continues on Fox News

LAKE WORTH, FLA – Early Wednesday morning, a four a.m. fire, quickly blossomed into a four alarm fire.  “A Flower Patch” owner Betsy Hillman, got a call from a friend.  “She was crying and screaming.  She said, ‘The shop’s on fire, the shop’s on fire,’” said Hillman.  

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue rushed to the scene.  “They were very determined not to let the shop come down,” said Hillman.  

The back room, burned beyond recognition, the storefront and offices above, stained with ash from the blistering heat.  “They were crawling, they couldn’t stand.  They had to crawl in.  They did a hell of a job containing it as they did., and really, they saved the building,” said Hillman’s husband, Todd Hillman.  

Now, volunteers are pouring in, to help breathe new life into the building, among them, All County Disaster Kleenup’s own, Daniel Herbert.  “This was a major structure fire.  The interior damage is right at about 100 percent,” said Herbert.  “It’s basically gutting the frame to building, and beginning over.  Remaking the shop,” said Hillman.  

As workers remove the charred and blackened remnants of what was, in preparation for the rebuilding, so……………. continues on WPTV

Ruth rescues a flower delivery disaster

DETROIT -

Christine Komisarz says no good deed goes unpunished. She told us, “My dad decided it would be nice to cheer up my sister-in-law who has breast cancer on Valentine’s Day.”

So, Christine ordered an arrangement called “Pink Daisy Delight Deluxe”. The pink being important to show support for her sister-in-law’s battle against breast cancer.  However, what sho……………. continues on WDIV Detroit

As I watched the steady flow of red roses arriving on the desks of my co-workers this week, I was reminded that the power of love is easily outdistanced by the power of blooms.

Love and flowers are eternally linked, especially on Valentine’s Day, but while we send bouquets to express our amour, flowers also are delivered when we are ill, when we are sad, when we are celebrating and when we are mourning.

Forget learning Chinese or French; the clearest language is communicated in flower petals. Or at least that’s what the Victorians believed, and I’m starting to become a convert.

The Victorians were an incredibly complicated group. They insisted upon adding frills and fringe to every aspect of their lives, which in turn made it much more difficult to enjoy the comforts of home. Just completing their laundry was a multiday task, so I have no idea how they also found time to explore the language of flowers.

Mandy Kirkby, an editor and flower enthusiast in Cambridge, England, has recently published a book that unlocks those secrets. In fact, “A Victorian Flower Dictionary” (Ballantine Books, $ 22) may make yo……………. continues on San Jose Mercury News