Cottage Flowers

If you did not know, Jerry Schowe, owner of Cottage Flowers, is a gifted artist. His choice of colors, texture of flowers and placement is absolutely awe-worthy. I was trying to be sneaky and get his picture so it's blurry. The casket and standing spray you see here, include orange lily and roses, popping purple hydrangeas, green hypericum berries, yellow gerbera daisies , a striking blue delphinium, and Birds of Paradise flowers. 💙💚💛🧡

This my friends, is when designers are given free reign to create. There is no recipe, no AI, no stock photos. We see the most amazing palates of color, variety of flowers, and the absolute power of what fresh flowers bring.

It is an absolute joy and privilege to be a part of Cottage Flowers legacy.

Today's joy is the Zen Garden. Zen Garden is a luxurious floral design of premium hot pink roses, pink Asiatic lilies, bamboo, red hypericum berries and greens is sure to impress!
Orientation: One-Sided

This is a great arrangement for those seeking a bit of contemporary peace. The unopened lilies gives a longer life expectancy of the bouquet as they will bloom in your home.* There is nothing sweeter and serene as watching nature come alive.

*Add water to this arrangement everyday and remove the stamen once the lily opens to prolong the life of the bouquet.

Do you need a bit of zen for the week?

🌺 CALL: 260-426-3405
🌺 ONLINE: www.cottageflowersinc.com
🌺 IN-STORE: 236 E Wayne Street, downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana

While struggling with the idea of bad reviews on Google, and to wake up the next morning to 4 more, I thought, what a minute, we have not had any reviews in over 5 months. This seems odd that there haye been absolutely no reviews. This sounds weird right? Did we break Google? Are we lost in the Google shuffle of life?

I asked everyone at the shop, gave it much thought and decided to get more pictures of our designer's work, both on our website and social media. Here are some examples I took yesterday, comparing AI to actual real work. See how close we can get? That, my friends, is a trained skill. It's our passion! One of the biggest reasons why we work with flowers is to see smiles on faces and to comfort others when at times, words fail. My personal favorite is the arrangement called Regal Hues. It is the smaller one where two different designers show their interpretation. We see the differences of their style, what they chose to focus on, and of course their flair! It is so interesting to see. 🥰❤️

Please bear with us as we rework our website's pictures. I truly believe that realistic photos of our arrangements will not only be a true representation of our artistry but will allow customers to see that flowers are an organic material. To see how stems can come in with crooked blooms or stems. Or what people see as blue is actually purple.

Now here is where I ask you for a favor. 😃 If you have ordered in the past 4-5 months, could you leave us a review on Google? Reviews are imperative for small businesses! We absolutely NEED to know how we are doing, what we can do better if there is an issue. Do you like our flower arrangements, are we rude and short on the phones or happy and helpful, how about our drivers, are they careful? We want to hear about our overall service. 🙏

Please follow the link and let us know!
https://g.page/r/CdBOYjJOi67GEB0/review

Friends, let's talk about AI photos. I genuinely, without a doubt, hate them. As a florist, we often have customers share a picture of an arrangement online and think that photo can be reproduced. Some do not realize that pics online; Facebook, Pinterest, and Insta, the majority of them are AI, fake. I always say, "Thank you for showing me your inspiration. While it’s beautiful, it’s actually AI. What I can do is show you is similar color palette/ design that I can make with what’s available and within season”… or something along those lines ❤️

That is what these photos show, an inspiration. The online photos are an example of what the flower choices are; type, color, and palette of the bouquet. Using the picture above, some want this round mound-like structure. I can assure you, this is not fully achievable with organic materials. Mother Nature is not artificial and there will always be discrepancies based sheerly on stem structure and bloom growth. We cannot control an organic, natural, wonderfully made flower stem. Although we get as close as we can!!

Please understand that floral design in fresh is a form of art and not a photo copy service. It is like physically recreating a famous piece from Rembrandt, by hand painting using oils and brushes versus a copy by just printing a photo of his work. Floral design takes a great amount of skill and training, some florists are certified, we hold art degrees, and have worked in the business for more than 25 years. It continually amazes me that florists are held to such a standard and yet, there are those that demand a carbon copy bouquet that is AI generated.

So, here we are, with a website full of these photos, some from FTD, who by all rights is the leader and trend setter of bouquets, AI generated photos, and an awesome substitution clause that no one reads. We received a scathingly bad review this week, over the lack of understanding of what an AI photo arrangement is. This customer could not be satisfied even when our owner redid the arrangement himself, and added to it. Currently, the customer has enlisted his friends as well, to damage our small business and our reputations. Friends, it hurts my heart.

Positive Thinking Day is on September 13 on the National Day Calendar as a day to promote the power of positivity and the impact this simple act can have on your life.

To us, the easiest way to see the positive things in life, is to have flowers! FYI, Chrysanthemum is a flower of optimism. It's easy to be positive when you're in love, right!?

The sunflower symbolizes hope and positivity, and its bright yellow color is associated with happiness and cheerfulness. Sunflowers do make that frown upside down!

The pink rose has come to symbolize joy and positivity.to send for almost every occasion. In particular, the pink rose is simple, elegant, and subtle, pink roses are a great flower to send to friends and family to show how much they mean to you.