Do you really need a reason to say I love you?

Most people tend to only buy flowers for important events during the year. Women expect flowers on Valentine's Day. Mom's tend to be dissapointed if there isn't something from their children for Mother's Day. Secretaries Week is an occasion meant for staffs to be rewarded with something beautiful. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't need a holiday or anniversary to express our love? Shouldn't you show your love all year round?

Well now you can, thanks to Flowers Year Round! We have it set up that you can choose from a seasonal bouquet, orchids, roses, or even a nice blooming plant. Every month your loved one will receive a new arrangement or plant to enjoy. Why wait until you're "supposed" to express emotion? Let those close to you know that your love lasts all year round!

Fun in the Sun!

I just want to say how incredibly excited I am about the response of our summer photo contest. There have been so many great entries so far, check them out here. The deadline for our contest is July 27th and I hope you all have the opportunity to submit a photo. Take the opportunity this Fourth of July to capture that perfect moment that will win you $100 dollar American Express Gift Card and a Beneva Signature Sunflower Bouquet.

Celebrate Independence Day!

I know many of you are either planning on taking a long weekend or all of next week off to celebrate our nation's birth. For those of you who'll be in the Sarasota area, I've listed some of the celebration's that'll be going on this fourth of July. However if your just planning a family barbecue be sure to add a sense of patriotism with a Beneva Signature Bouquet, or treat the kids with some all American cookies, lollipops, or some gourmet chocolate covered strawberries.

However if you are unable to be with your family and friends, then send them a FREE eCard to show that they are still in your thoughts.

Stars and Stripes Performs
The 15-member Sarasota Star Spangled Band that features singer Michelle Amato honors the armed forces. Tickets are $15 to $20 for the 7:30 p.m. show. The show is at Van Wezel Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call 941-953-3368 or (800) 826-9303 or go to http://www.vanwezel.org/.

For the Veterans
The American Brass performs at 5:30 p.m. in a veterans tribute to be held at Island Park in Sarasota. It takes place before the annual fireworks display. Veterans and military groups will be there, and seven color guards will participate. Food and beverages will be available. Visit http://www.popsextras.org/ or call 941-362-7632.

Fourth of July Celebration
Gillespie Park in downtown Sarasota at 10th Street Gillespie Avenue, have an event from 9:30-11 a.m. There will be patriotic music, an honor guard and refreshments are part of the program. It's free. Call 941-377-5965.

Pre-Fourth Concert Set at Asolo
On Sunday, July 1, the historic Asolo has a concert with Gloria Musicae. It has an afternoon performance of Sarasota's all-professional chamber vocal ensemble. The theater is at 5401 Bayshore Road. It starts at 4 p.m. Tickets are $15. Call 941-360-7399.

A Tropical Holiday at Selby
Live Zydeco music highlights Marie Selby Botanical Gardens' Tropical Fourth of July celebration. It gets under way at 6 p.m. and has children's games, the Gumbo Boogie Band and prizes for the best patriotic costumes. Selby Gardens is at 811 S. Palm Ave. Tickets are $15 for Selby Gardens' members and $18 for nonmembers. Children 12 and younger are free. Call 941-366-5731 or go to http://www.selby.org/.

Earn Money for Having "Fun in the Sun!"

32 Lives Saved!

Last month everyone here at Beneva Flowers learned the real value of giving after teaming with the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank to hold a Blood Drive on May 30th. With the help of Recruitment Specialist Vivian Steidel-Santiago and all our employees here we are pleased to anncounce we helped save 32 lives!

It all started when sales employee, Annie Derry, dropped a note in the suggestion box encouraging a blood drive. The Management Team agreed it was a great idea and contacted the Blood Bank to set a date. On May 30th the Blood Bank bus pulled into the Beneva Flowers parking lot and began taking donations.

For our first Blood drive we focused on a small advertising campaign, which still resulted in many community members giving blood. Each donor received coupons to local restaurants from the Blood Bank and a carnation with a Lucky Stems™ tag from Beneva Flowers. Several donors won prizes from local business when they logged on to http://www.beneva.com/ to check the number on their Lucky Stems™ tags.

The staff here really enjoyed the event and were eager to know how much their efforts had helped the Blood Bank. Needless to say, the employees were blown away to hear the real numbers and how their interest and participation were able to help their communities. Immediately, everyone was asking when they could schedule another Blood Drive.

We have set two dates with the Blood Bank, August 29th and October 31st. Beneva's Marketing Department has already begun working on creative ways to reward community members for donating. You may see free giveaways for Labor Day donors or maybe even costumed contributors on Halloween donating and receiving a free floral arrangement!

All about Father's Day

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.

This year, Father's Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 17th!

Flowers for Health & Wellness

‘Where flowers bloom so does hope.’ - Lady Bird Johnson

Hundreds of independent studies have confirmed it! The flower is officially good for your health and well being. A study conducted by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, states;

1. Flowers immediately & universally have a positive effect on happiness. All recipients expressed “true” or “excited” smiles and demonstrated extraordinary delight and gratitude.
2. Flowers have a long lasting positive effect. The positive effects felt by participants lasted anywhere from 5 – 21 days. Participants felt less depressed, anxious or agitated and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.
3. Flowers lead to increased social contact. Participants increased their contact with family and friends, and when friends or family were in the presence of the flowers those positive effects were passed on to them.

Another study by Dr. Roger Ulrich concluded that patients recovering in the hospital who were sent flowers had shorter hospital stays, took fewer prescription medicine for pain and whose medical tests revealed healthier and better results.

Diane Relf of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute determined;

1. People communicate better in the presence of flowers or plants
2. They tend to eat slower when flowers are on the table.
3. Flowers restore mental fatigue and enhance self-esteem.
4. Some potted plants remove pollutants from a room’s atmosphere.
5. Placing plants and flowers in a room significantly increases humidity, which reduces some of the effects of illnesses such as the common cold.

Another study conducted by Rutgers, geared more towards senior citizens & flower effects, shows some great results.
1. Flowers decreased depression in over 81% of seniors studied.
2. Flowers helped to refresh recent memory & provided enriched personal memories in over 72% of participants.
3. Flowers encouraged companionship in over 40%, by re-engaging with members of their communities and enlarged their social contacts to include more neighbors, religious support and even medical personnel.

Sending flowers not only brightens the day of one person, but has an immediate effect on many people. Flowers in a nursing home can bring increased health and happiness to all within the building & can brighten the day of someone who feels alone and forgotten, and this could be a person who is not even receiving the flowers!

Send flowers to your mom, dad, sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, or congregation members just to say, "I'm Thinking of YOU!" and it will be a day no one will ever forget!!

September Sunflowers

As mom always said, staring into the sun will make you go blind.

Greek mythology teaches us the tragic tale of Clytie, a Roman water nymph, who was enamored with Apollo (also known as Helio), god of the sun. Their romance, to her dismay was short lived, and she soon found herself weeping and pining for her lost love. Clytie decided she could not sit by and do nothing, and so she went to the father of Apollo's new love, Leucothea, to tell her tale. Orhcamus, Leucothea's father, was so angry with what Apollo had done to Clytie and could possibly do to his own daughter he took Leucothea away to spite Apollo. Clytie took this opportunity to try and win back his love, but her actions had only hardened his heart.

As the legend goes Clytie sat alone crying for nine days. The hot sunny days went by quickly and the cold nights left her lonesome and angry. As the sun would rise every morning her eyes followed its solitary course through the sky at every hour without fail. She could see nothing else, as she was blinded by her love for one who could not see her, so small and petty sitting alone and crying. At the end of her nine days of suffering she was transformed into a sunflower, destined to spend the rest of eternity turning her head longingly to watch Apollo's chariot of the sun.

"The heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close;
As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
The same look that she turned when he rose."

Ancient mythology is filled with stories explaining the names for flowers today. The word sunflower comes from the Latin word, Heliotropium (Helio = sun, Anthos = flower). Today the sunflower symbolizes an undying love. It screams "I only have eyes for you!" A typical symbol of late summer and fall, the sunflower sends a bright and cheery message. Send a sunflower arrangement nationwide today!

The Meaning of Wedding Flowers

Flowers were brought into weddings to represent purity, fertility, new life and never-ending love. Tradition often calls for the bride to carry a bouquet of flowers and the groom to wear a boutonniere (a flower that appears in the bridal bouquet and represents his declaration of love).

The history behind the bridal bouquet:

Wedding flowers have origins deep in history. The ancient Roman bride and groom wore garlands around their necks to symbolize long life and fertility. As history reveals, the bridal bouquet symbolized a maid in bloom. The flowers were chosen based on scent, color and decoration. Later on, when the couple would come across the same fragrance, it would bring back memories of their happy day.


The tossing of the bouquet:

Tossing of the bouquet comes from an English tradition where women would attempt to tear pieces of the bride´s dress and flowers to possibly obtain some of her good fortune. To escape from the women, the bride would toss her bouquet into the crowd and run away. It is believed today that the woman that catches the bouquet will be the next to marry!

This year’s trends:

When it comes to selecting a bouquet, brides often look for a bouquet that expresses their personality. Here are some trendy ideas for making your wedding special.

Do as the Romans did in times of celebration. Add stalks of herbs to your bouquet, such as sweet-scented, pale purple lavender. Or take a bundle of typical white wedding blooms, like stephanotis or calla lilies, and tie the bouquet with a celadon-green wrap secured with a purple snap or button.

Colorful adornments -- from ribbons and fabric to beads and baubles -- will make any mundane bouquet meaningful.

Learn the meanings of these popular wedding flowers and incorporate a little bit of history into your wedding day:

Calla lily -- beauty

Freesia -- innocence

Rose -- love

Lily of the valley -- happiness

Sweet pea -- pleasure

Violet -- faithfulness

Perhaps the most meaningful way to make the most of your wedding bouquet is to incorporate a part of yourself into it, whether you choose yellow roses because you were born in Texas or bunch together peonies, grown in your mother's garden, for a homemade, homespun bouquet. Consider beading a relative's pearls around the soft rose petals of your bouquet to include an added oomph of sophistication (as well as a personal touch) to your city-chic wedding. Another idea? Accent your traditional wedding bouquet with a few stems of the flowers that represent your and your fiance's birth months or wedding date.

Sarasota Flowers

Sarasota Flowers

Flower Delivery for Any Occasion

Send flowers, orchids, roses and more anytime, to anyone in Sarasota today at http://www.beneva.com. Hand delivered gifts are our specialty in Sarasota.

Voted #1 florist in Sarasota, Beneva Flowers specializes in custom designs and prompt service 7 days a week.

Imported flowers, such as the Calla Lilies pictured here, are always available.

Flowers for your wedding in Sarasota

While many see Sarasota as a tropical retreat, it is! However, most of the flowers here are imported. This means most any flower you can imagine is available.

Beneva Flowers in Sarasota, FL specializes in weddings and special events. After all, we are proud to announce that we were voted #1 florist in Sarasota for 7 consecutive years running.

Visit our website at http://www.beneva.com and click on weddings to see packages starting as low as 199.95.

Beneva Flowers is always open 7 days a week. We look forward to exceeding your expectations when order flowers for weddings, a special event or anywhere across the USA.