In The News
We are interested in both our community and the environment.
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AndFlowers is honored to be one of six recipients to win a grant from the Pittsburgh Pirates "Going to Bat for Small Businesses". Thank you, Pittsburgh!
Pittsburgh Arts Council
Yes, Floral Design is an art form!
Fifty Western Pennsylvania creative entrepreneurs were awarded a total of $100,000 from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council to support their business’ general operations as part of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ (PCA) Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator program.
Click here to view this article and recipients
The Pitt News Feature
AndFlowers was so honored to be interviewed and featured by The Pitt News! Thank you for all of your support.
You can read the article here.
Success Story
Family Promise Turns Urban English Garden into Thriving Small Business
No assistants. No coolers filled with fresh-cut flowers. Just a promise to design and deliver centerpieces for a 200-person wedding. For Karen Toole, a niece’s wedding helped her create a niche, women-owned small business.....
Featured in Pittsburgh Magazine
5 Real Pittsburgh Weddings
Our Vine Project
AndFlowers is holding an Earth Day event throughout the month of April to raise awareness for an invasive vine species in the Pittsburgh area. At its heart, AndFlowers is a business that values the environment and community. We hope to bring members of the Pittsburgh community together for a common cause. We believe the event is great for those interested in flowers, gardening, and environmental interests.
Happy Valentine's Day from the AndFlowers family.
Today we'd like to share an eloquent article from Pittsburgh's Upstream Newsletter. We do not own this article and all creator credit, editing, and writing goes to Upstream.
With that, we'd like to remind you about our favorite Valentine...The Earth
"Be the Earth's Valentine?
We all need an extra bit of love sometimes, and right now, our planet needs us more than usual. Can we make the commitment for a day, or a month, or a year to give it that extra attention?
Image credit: John Moyer
Our relationship with the Earth is one of our first...
Have you ever been going through the motions of your day (making coffee, commuting to or from work, walking to that crucial errand) and been interrupted by nature? We don't mean an inconvenience, like a flooded street or a tree branch that whacks you in the face. We mean stopped by something so unexpectedly beautiful that you are almost forced to acknowledge it. You catch a glimpse of the clouds painted by sunrise, or the scent of a blossoming tree, or the sound of a rain storm on your porch awning and, for a moment, you're having a silent conversation with it. Both you and the planet engage each other as equals, even if it's just for a few seconds.
If you're like us, you experience this phenomena quite often. This openness to the wonder of the natural world around us is a part of the building blocks of being human. We begin our journey through this life running barefoot through fields, splashing in puddles, letting mud slide through our fingers all without a second thought. It is only as adults, when we are so caught up in the details of running the businesses of our lives, that we forget that our first loves were always the ecosystems that raised us when our caregivers weren't looking.
And isn't it beyond time to remember that?
In that vein, we want to ask you, "when did you first fall in love with nature?" Email us at info@upstreampgh.org and tell us about your favorite childhood tree to climb, or about the park you ran through every day in college, or the little pond behind your house where you spent your summers in high school. You might even get featured on our social media as we celebrate Earth Month in April.
Let's shower the Earth with love this Valentine's Day by reminding ourselves how we came to adore it in the first place. Once we reconnect with that, the commitment to care and compassion that it so desperately needs will come easy to us.
Our first friend in this life needs us.
Will you make the Earth your Valentine?"
Everyone Can Enjoy Flowers
By: Katelyn Kruszewski
Orchids fill the bay window at the front of the house. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. My favorite is the blue-violet one that creeps near the front doorway. It’s amazing how something so beautiful can be so difficult to care for. My grandfather cares for them like small children, making sure they’re carefully attended to at all times.
The weather turns to summer and my mother and I visit grandpa, supplied with donuts and hot coffee. A little Polish flag waves triumphantly in his small square garden. My grandpa is lounging in an old patio chair, soaking up the sun. He is surrounded by new plots of blossoming orange and red begonias. He invites us to sit down and explains to my mother how to care for her own begonias.
My parents and I wander with my grandpa through the sea of florals at Phipps Conservatory. My grandpa wears a soft smile the entire time, gazing at the masses of botanicals and sniffing their sweet scent along the way.
Whoever told you men don’t enjoy flowers was lying. There’s evidence in my grandpa who has loved and cared for his flowers throughout his life. I think of my guy friends who have never received a bouquet in their life, but secretly have a favorite flower in mind. I ask them and they all respond differently, daisies, roses, babies breath…
When I see orchids, I text my grandpa. Begonias make me think of coffee and sun and make me miss my mother while I’m away at school.
I’ve grown up with flowers, learning from my mother and my grandpa every step of the way. I will be the first to admit that I have no green thumb, but my family certainly does. Watching my grandpa care for my plants, it makes me think there’s an odd stigma around men enjoying flowers. But why?
I guess the stigma comes from the fact that flowers are something only women can enjoy, but this is entirely false. I bet if you were to ask your husband, brother, father, etc. they would all tell you otherwise.
The truth is that flowers can connect us. They remind us of memories with loved ones, moments we shared together. I think of flowers and I’m reminded of the boutineer I put on my first date to prom (white and purple with dark green leaves), the daffodils my father helps plant in the springtime, and my grandfather’s tender care for orchids.
Flowers are for everyone. They draw us together and create memories. Why should we be hiding behind a stigma that nature isn’t for everyone to enjoy? Florals are for everyone and they can bring us together in ways we could never imagine.
