Apopka Flower Shops

Apopka FL News

Feb 1, 2020

Sarasota orchid show, now in its 63rd year, has a flower for everybody - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

New College of Florida before graduating in 2018. He now spends his days working with flowering plants at Krull-Smith Orchids in Apopka and, much like Dalstrom, was attracted by the complexity and the immense variety held by the family of flowering plants.“There’s so much more variety than what you see in your average supermarket or Home Depot. There’s so much more to explore than you realize; you’ve just got to keep your eye out for it,” said Baruch. “Keeping orchids is my favorite addiction.” ...

Feb 3, 2017

Young gardeners plant seeds for flower show

The plants and projects earn points which count toward one of 33 scholarships to Camp Wekiva in Apopka, Lynch said. But more than gardening skills and a chance at summer camp, the youngsters pick up life lessons. "It brings out kids' nurturing side when they have something living to take care of," said volunteer Patty Heath, who has two children who have participated in the kids' club. Fifth grader Michaela Lovejoy finds working with plants calming, she said. "It's kind of a way to connect with nature," Lovejoy said. Additionally, the children took tours of the park's hardwood hammock to learn about the value of conservation. "They'll take away the importance of preserving, protecting and restoring all of these areas," said Birch State Park ranger Jenni Leve, who led the tour. Overall, the morning spent at Birch State Park learning about the environment and working with soil gives students an education not found in front of a computer screen. "It's a great experience that they don't have too much of these days with tech," said Analia Toaer. "They do this with their own hands." hwolt@tronc.comor Twitter @HelenWolt ... (Sun Sentinel)

Dec 2, 2016

Meet Ocoee's Famous Felines: The Flower Shop Boys

Six years ago, Lucy, a former delivery driver, found BJ at Marvin C. Zanders Funeral Home in Apopka. Lucy, Tomyn said, was delivering flowers to the funeral home when she came across a feeble kitten in danger of being eaten by two dogs. So Lucy ran over and picked BJ up by the scruff of his neck, effectively plucking him out of a situation he might not have survived. Lucy then took the rescued kitten to the flower shop, and he’s been there ever since. “Everybody went crazy over him, and he just became a part of our shop at that point,” Tomyn said. “Even though the last thing we needed was a cat.” BJ pretends he has no idea who made that mess. Boo, on the other hand, was in Tomyn’s backyard. She found him a year after losing a white cat. Boo, she said, looked just like her lost cat, so she ran after him and spent four days looki... (West Orange Times)

Sep 28, 2016

Incubator 'graduate' Details Flowers set to accelerate growth, founder says

As a child, she sold flowers at farmers markets that were grown at Bill Brown's Greenhouses, her family's Apopka nursery. She and her husband Gregory started a business of their own 13 years ago, Boutique Floral & Photography Studio. The business which began in a storefront on Seabreeze Boulevard in Daytona Beach is now run from the couple's Ormond Beach home. It provides floral arrangements, photography and planning services for weddings and special events. Over the years, Heck said she came to the realization that there was a need for a software program that could specifically help florists and special event planners keep track of clients' orders and requests as well as monitor inventory and the status of deliveries. Not knowing of an existing software program that could do all that, she decided to create one herself. She launched Details Flowers in 2014 to focus on developing that software. That same year she also applied and got accepted as a client of the Volusia County-funded UCF Business Incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport. After going live with her subscription-based DetailsFlowers.com service a year ago, Heck today has 47... (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

Aug 29, 2016

Continuous improvement a focus for flower pot molder

Mast calls the hard goods portion of the lawn and garden market. The company has 400,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space in Apopka, Fla., near Orlando, thanks to the purchase this year of American Designer Pottery, a division of Fiskars Brands. Bloem also uses five custom molders in Illinois and Michigan to make products. Mast said an acquisition in each of the last three years may have been the key for Bloem’s rise, but he knows what will sustain the company and its 160 employees. “The flower pot world isn’t exactly one that’s going to light on fire with innovation. We try the best that we can. At the end of the day, it’s a product that holds dirt and you put flowers in it. There are minor tweaks to that. There are differences to approach. It comes down to being a reliable supplier and having the right product mix,” he said. Mast said his partners’ financial expertise has guided the three acquisitions with short-term debt financing, some mezzanine investors and cash. Any more acquisitions on the horizon? “We’re always looking and we’re open to it, but we’re focused on our segment of the business and we want to make sure that it’s not distracting to our core business. But if it’s something that’s a good add-on and makes sense for our customers, certainly.” That caution seems justified given that the ADP/Fiskars purchase in January ballooned the company’s employment from 10 to 160. “We took on a lot. Considering how big a step it was for us, it’s gone remarkably smooth,” said Mast, pointing to filling 10 additional positions in Michigan and implementing a new ERP system to bolster planning and resources. Because of that purchase, Mast’s work cycle now includes a week in Michigan, a week traveling to customers, a week in Florida. Repeat. Mast points to e-commerce sales through its major retail clients as a growing portion of Bloem’s business. “We have a dot-com portion of the business and they’re fulfilling these orders on a daily basis. Just a few individuals do this. I’ve watched the stack of boxes in season grow each year. They’re processing several hundred packages a day, shipping direct to consumers across the country. It’s a growing convenience factor for the consumer, no doubt about it.” Mast says one of his strengths is building relationships with staff and customers. But what keeps this young executive up at night? “For myself, it’s continuous improvement. I want to make sure we don’t let down our customers. That we’re delivering better products, better service and that constantly is improving and never going the other direction. “With our staff, I want to make sure they’re seeing more from us as a company whether it’s a safer, better work environment, more benefits peripherally, however we can improve their lives. It’s a pressure point. That also comes on the vendor side as well. Whoever we do business with, I want to trust them and we want to get the most from the vendors we do business with. It’s this continuous improvement and not sitting idly by that keeps me up,” Mast said. (Plastics News)

Jun 22, 2016

As Orlando funerals wrap up, survivors worry about future

True Care Home Health Care. He studied social work at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. (Facebook) Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old was rom Apopka, worked at FajitaMex Mexican Catering. (via Facebook) Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40, was a supervisor at Gucci. He is from Guayama, Puerto Rico and had studied tourism at ASAG. (Facebook) Shane Tomlinson, 33, attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Tomlinson's band Frequency performed at Blue Martini nightclub just hours before he was killed, according to The Orlando Sentinel. (Facebook) Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old lived in Davenport, Florida, and worked at Reunion Resorts. (Facebook) Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old was from Statesville, North Carolina, according to his Facebook page. (Facebook) Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old worked on the Telemundo show "La Voz Kids," which is produced in Orlando. (Facebook) Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old was a mother who leaves behind 11 children. (GoFundMe) Christopher Leinonen, 32 grew up in Detroit but moved to Orlando where he met his boyfriend, victim Juan Ramon Guerrero. Their families said that they were very much in love and will be buried together. (Facebook) Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old (GoFundMe) Antonio Davon Brown, 29, was a U.S. Army Reserve Captain from from Midwest City, Oklahoma. (Facebook) Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24, who went by Mary, was from Ponce, Puerto Rico, and Orlando, according to her Facebook page. Friends said on Facebook she was married and had two young sons. (Facebook) Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37, was living in Orlando and originally from Barcelonta, Puerto Rico. He was the owner of the D'Magazine Salon & Spa. His partner Luis Conde was also killed in the shooting. (Facebook) div class="lin-gallery-list-item" data-inde... (WANE)