Mark’s Bloomin’ Journal

What time of the year is it? Well, it’s time to write a Valentine’s Day article, you know the kind, where I enlighten you on Valentine’s roses and other suitable Valentine’s Day flowers…even as I watch the New York Giants battle the New England Patriots, Super Tuesday is mere hours away and the climatic conditions around Flowerbud’s growing regions and major delivery areas are a little less than conducive for a peaceful afternoon of chips, dip and overwrought commercials. Oregon is already 6″ above normal for rain fall (18″ in last 60 days) and if we get any more mountain snow it may well become our major export. Most of coastal California is inundated with rains and unusually cool weather and snow in drifts is about to re visit the Sierras.

This means that carefully scheduled V Day flower crops are dragging their feet. Likewise in Ecuador and Colombia there is a surplus of rain and cool weather in the growing regions. It is beginning to appear that excess will be no great problem this year. Taking that in stride I look further east and see that Chicago is storm bound and New York City is its usual frigid self…and Memphis? (more…)

Sweating as if starring in a commercial for a sports drink…is this town behind its fortified walls. I fair not one drop better sitting in a lovingly, if only modestly refurbished colonial house dating back to the early 1600’s that is at least twenty times longer than it is wide. It is entered by a very large arched doorway, off a narrow street, off a lovely square, where locals are playing board games and chatting as all the while some body part or other keeps time to one or more of the competing latin rhythms wafting around the streets. This house has dark places and only slightly more light places, arches and alcoves, running water in numerous courtyards and ballustrade after ballustrade decorated landing and window. Dark wood louvres cover every window…and all are closed.

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What follows here is an email in its entirety from one Sally Reed of Cypress Mills, TX. Sally is a “volunteer” fixture within the Lance Armstrong Foundation and can always be found on the Challenge’s finish lines handing out roses to survivors. Last week Sally was in Philadelphia for 07’s first LanceArmstrongChallenge and awaiting our large shipment of yellow roses fresh in from Quito, Ecuador via Miami. A mechanical failure on a FedEx jet saw the roses in Virginia and eventually in New Jersey. Every place but Phily! A very hard days work from Flowerbud and FedEx finally saw the roses offloaded from the failed aircraft and privately couriered to Phily in the middle of the night where Sally was waiting to prepare thousands of roses.

I might add this is a delight to publish in light of the prior posting and the miserable soul that prompted it. I really do like this job!!

Dearest of Dear people, Mark Hayes, Marcy and Andrea of Flowerbud.com, and now our new precious
Marcy of Fed Ex…and everyone in the continuum that put their hearts and
souls into this “Happening”:I don’t even have the words to tell all of you the impact of what your
concerted efforts brought about but I will tell you some stories: (more…)