Category Archives: Holiday Gifts

Looking for Ways To Stretch Your Holiday Budget?

Gifts, Holiday Gifts, Host & Hostess Gifts

Are you looking to stretch this year’s holiday budget while still giving top quality presents that will delight your recipients? Scroll below for a handful of shopping tips from the elves at White Flower Farm:

Mini Flowering Plants

Our mini flowering houseplants, which come in sets of four (starting at $65), can be divvied up to make four individual gifts. Pictured above are our Mini Orchids in white ceramic cachepots. For more mini plant options, click here for Mini Red Cyclamen in ceramic cachepots, and here for Mini White Cyclamen in glass cachepots.

Bareroot Amaryllis Bulbs

Our premium, large grade, bareroot Amaryllis bulbs start at an affordable $23 per bulb. Wrap up a bareroot bulb and give it along with a printout of our potting tips, or go the DIY route, and pot up a few bulbs yourself to give as gifts. Click here to find a wide variety of Amaryllis varieties, all available as bareroot bulbs.

For an easy guide to potting a bareroot Amaryllis bulb or growing it on pebbles, click here.

Bareroot Paperwhite Bulbs

Buy any single bag of 12 premium bareroot Paperwhite bulbs (starting at $35). Divvy them up and give the bare bulbs as is or do a little DIY project and set a few bulbs atop pebbles in  a hurricane vase or in several smaller glasses or bowls to multiply the number of gifts. Tie a ribbon around the vessels, and you have several great presents that will flower and bring fragrance to any indoor space (and smiles to the faces of your recipients).

For bareroot Paperwhite ‘Ziva’ bulbs, click here.

For bareroot Paperwhite ‘Ariel’ bulbs, click here.

For bareroot Paperwhite ‘Wintersun’ bulbs, click here.

Tabletop Evergreen Quintet

Our Tabletop Evergreen Quintet ($115) includes five different mini plants along with five canvas boxes. The quintet can be divided up to make five individual gifts, each charming, lasting, and easy-care. Click here for the quintet.

Lavender Sachets by the Yard

Our popular, fragrant Lavender Sachets by the Yard ($32) arrive as a single segmented yard of eight fragrant Lavender sachets stitched inside lilac-colored organza fabric. Simply cut apart the segments to create eight great individual gifts or stocking stuffers.

Gifts Priced To Include Standard Shipping

A number of gifts we offer are priced to include standard shipping. From lovely pre-potted bulb gardens to favorite gardening gloves and boots to stylish botanically-themed scarves and our charming new Flower Garden Tea Towel Calendar. All of these gifts make budgeting easier because the shipping charges are already included in the price. For more gifts priced with shipping included, click here.

3-Gift Offers That Include Standard Shipping

Our 3-gift offers are among our bestselling items year after year, mainly because they provide a great value. For starters, choose what type of gift you wish to send: Amaryllis (red, white, pink, or bicolor); pre-potted Bulb Collections; or Citrus Samplers. We’ll send three gifts of your choosing, one to each of three addresses, at a price that includes standard shipping. For all of our 3-gift offers with shipping included, click here.

A White Flower Farm Gift Certificate

A White Flower Farm Gift Certificate never expires, and it invites recipients to choose whatever they might like from our wide array of garden plants, indoor plants, tools and gear, fresh-cut flower bouquets, seasonal decorations, botanically inspired home and garden accents, and more. Our gift certificates start at $25. Those valued at $50 or more receive a 10% discount. We send your recipient a gift certificate along with a copy of our latest catalog. Click here to order.

On behalf of the staff at White Flower Farm, we hope your holiday season is merry and bright!

Favorite Holiday Decorations & Gifts Selected By Our Staff

Holiday Gifts, Staff Picks

Need a little help with your holiday shopping this year? Take some inspiration from our staff! We polled a variety of team members about their favorite holiday items, and the responses were just what we hoped – a representation of some of the best of our diverse inventory. Scroll below and enjoy seeing both longtime favorites and new finds singled out for their superior quality as decorations and gifts at holiday time. There is something for everyone! Check out our website for more.

Canella Berry & Cone Table Basket

“This basket rests on our coffee table, generously stuffed with highly scented fresh-cut greens, cones, and berries. It makes for the perfect Christmas morning – the Canella berries gleaming from the light of the fireplace as my two young sons open presents from Santa. Five stars from me!”

~Michaela P., Customer Service Representative

Picnic in Provence Bulb Collection

“Talk about making an impression and being the envy of family and friends! There was great fun watching the bulbs emerge, and then the real show of color exploded into cheerful and enchanting hues of spring. This bulb collection really brightens up a long winter’s day.”

~Tom B., Retail Store Manager

Amaryllis ‘Red Pearl’

“‘Red Pearl’ is absolutely the most velvety, deep red Amaryllis. Hands down my favorite.”

~Pam W., Customer Service Representative

Cretan Candle Lantern

“Whether outside for a summer or fall evening or indoors in the bay window on a winter night, I light a candle in my Cretan lantern throughout the year. It always provides a welcoming glow. A unique, handmade gift that many have enjoyed.”

~Mary A., Product Information Manager

Jasmine

“Jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) is one of my favorite gifts to give (and receive) because it’s unusual, beautiful, and hard to find. The dark green, filigreed vine arrives covered in clusters of pinkish-white buds. They open into small white flowers that release an exotic scent reminiscent of warm, tropical places. In wintertime, it’s pure heaven.”

~Deb H., Senior Writer & Editor

Scandinavian-Style Christmas Tree Quartet

“Small but eye-catching. I love the contemporary yet timeless style. We’re using these charming trees as a centerpiece on our coffee table.”

~Teresa F., Art Director

Spiced Orange Wreath

“This wreath is my favorite holiday item offered this year. Orange is my favorite color, and I remember having an Orange stuffed in the toe of my stocking each year of my childhood.”

~Sheryl M., Customer Service Representative

Mini Orchid Quartet

“I just love Orchids, and nothing is better than sharing them as gifts at the holiday season. This quartet allows for just that. Perfect as teacher gifts and for friends and family, too! Moth Orchids are easy to care for and very cheerful during short winter days.”

~Lorraine C., President

Holly & Greens Runner

“This freshly assembled Noble Fir and Holly runner brings the holidays to your home. Love the enduring, rich evergreen fragrance.”

~Samantha F., Customer Service Representative

Paperwhite ‘Ariel’

“While the end result is spectacular, it’s the process of growing Paperwhites from bulbs to blooms that so endears them to me. The fragrant, slightly earlier-blossoming white trusses of ‘Ariel’ are heavenly. Seeing them develop from humble beginnings is a powerful reminder of the miraculous during this special season.”

~Erica A., Assistant Editor/Writer

Amaryllis ‘Cherry Nymph’

“I love Amaryllis ‘Cherry Nymph’ for sheer petal power. Those bright red double blooms keep coming, brightening up the winter days.”

~Liz Z., E-Commerce Director

Dianthus ‘Little Pink’ Trio

“These adorable Dianthus gift us with a sweet, spicy scent and pretty flowers that last for weeks. The plants come as a set of three, great for a presentation or for giving a couple away as gifts. Don’t forget to keep one for yourself!”

~Caitlin L., Customer Service Representative

Wildflowers Glass Night-Light

“This night-light is more colorful, beautiful, and different than any other I have ever seen. I’m very impressed by the description (on our website) about how the piece is made. The colors are stunning, and I bet they’re even more stunning when it’s lit up in a dark room.”

~Jodie T., Customer Service Representative

Clivia miniata

“This is the sturdiest, longest living flowering plant we sell. Its dark green, glossy foliage always looks great. It is very happy in clay and blooms when you least expect it. A great gift for the plant lover when you are looking for something just a little different.”

~Cheryl D., Nursery Inventory Manager/Buyer

Cape Primrose ‘Grape Ice’

“This cheerful Cape Primrose is the gift that keeps on giving. Perky purple flowers strikingly marked with delicate white throats, veins, and edges keep appearing for months if you remove spent blooms. I’m starting the holiday season by treating myself!”

~Karen B., Senior Horticultural Advisor, Customer Service

Staff Favorites for Holiday Gifting

Gifts, Holiday Gifts, Host & Hostess Gifts

Around the farm, our staff is a wee bit busy picking and packing gifts for customers all across the land, but between things, we’ve all been placing our own orders holiday gifts. If it helps you wrap up your shopping, we put together a collection of some of our staff members’ favorites for holiday gifting. Please bear in mind, the standard shipping deadline for online orders is Dec. 19th at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Resplendent Reds Bouquet with a Vase and Starlight Bouquet with a Vase

‘I especially love the pinecones in the Starlight Bouquet, and the rich reds of Resplendent Reds. They’re both terrific for seasonal decorations, or for any day you or someone you love could use a lift.

Chinese Evergreen

Also great for gifting and getting are our houseplants. Philodendron ‘Congo Rojo’ and Chinese Evergreen, shown above, are great choices for low light. Draceana ‘Jade Jewel’ will add great color and interest to a bright spot. They’re all so easy and beautiful!!’

~ Lorraine

Honeybells

‘While I am typically a plant enthusiast, there is nothing like biting into our incredibly juicy Honeybells. Perfect to give or receive, as there aren’t many people who would pass up that incredible flavor in the dead of winter.’

~ Rob

Mini Red Cyclamen Quartet in Ceramic Cachepots

‘In addition to adding easy, festive color to a holiday dinner table, mantelpiece, or side table, these long-blooming little charmers are perfect for brightening small nooks around the house or the corners of office desktops. I’m giving my daughter a set to share with her coworkers to lend a touch of holiday cheer to their workspace. And the graceful blossoms and silver-patterned leaves will continue to provide enjoyment long after the holidays are gone. Plus, no green thumb is required to grow them.’

~ Ann

Armscote Bee Pot

‘I’m going to fill the Armscote Bee Pot with a few gardening supplies, a trowel, gardening scissors, and a pair of gloves. It makes a terrific gift for gardening friends.’

~ Mary

Organic Culinary Herb Set in Art Seed Packs

‘If you love gardening and cooking then you can’t go wrong with gifting or receiving the Organic Culinary Herb Set in Art Seed Packs. This set has an excellent variety of herbs that you can use everyday. Plus it’s so fun to get them growing indoors, it will help take your mind of the winter blues.’

~ Shantelle

 

Red Amaryllis to 3 Addresses

‘I have 3 favorite picks for gift giving: Red Amaryllis or Bicolor Amaryllis to 3 Addresses, and Holiday Cactus. The#1 is Red Amaryllis to 3 Addresses: It’s fast and easy, and foolproof. Holiday colors! #2 is Bicolor Amaryllis to 3 Addresses: I sent this last year. I don’t like to repeat colors so this year I switched to red.’

My #3 pick is Holiday Cactus Blush: It’s easy, takes all light levels, and plants are easy to keep alive.’

For receiving, I’d be happy with any Amaryllis.’

~ Cheryl D

Anthuriums in Terra-Cotta Cachepots

‘I love to give and receive anthuriums as gifts because they add a decidedly tropical flair to almost any location and  provide a welcome splash of color during the snowy months of winter.  Add to this that they are easy care and tolerant of a wide range of conditions and you have a winning combination!’

~ Martha

Pine Cone Party Holiday Wreath

‘For giving, I love the festive feel of the Pine Cone Party Holiday Wreath, and the simplicity of the colors and tones go with anyone’s holiday décor.’

‘For receiving, I’m asking for our Leaf Brush. Big-leafed houseplants are so fun to grow, but sometimes they need a little help in getting the dust off of their leaves. This brush is the perfect tool to gently clean them. It’s one of those items that I didn’t know I needed until I learned it existed.’

~ Liz

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Holiday’ in Atlanta

Garden Design, Holiday Gifts

The winter holidays come to an end for most of us the day after New Year’s when empty champagne bottles and party hats are tossed out, and it’s time to get back to the office. But if you happen to work in the gifting business, which, in part, we do, mid-January requires that we celebrate all over again at the annual Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market®. This remarkable show, which this year attracted more than 7,000 vendors and 100,000 visitors to Atlanta, Georgia, was like getting a glimpse of Christmas Future long before the real event.

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Floors and floors of showrooms at the International Gift and Home Furnishings Market in Atlanta.

This year’s show was held from January 10 to 17 at Atlanta’s AmericasMart®. The focus, as always, is on holiday gift, floral and home décor, and to say the spectacle is a bit overwhelming would be an understatement. The 7,000 brands are spread throughout three buildings, each housing about 20 floors. Some of the vendors keep year-round showrooms, but many arrive just before visitors do, and they set up temporary showrooms for the duration of the show.

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This year, we were delighted to send our new hard goods manager, Nikki Fappiano, to the show. An experienced buyer, she went armed with a shopping list, camera and notepad. For three days, she hunted for treasures for our holiday 2017 season.

“It’s hard to get back into the holiday mindset the second week in January after just putting holiday 2016 to bed,” Nikki says. “But the excitement of the show – with new products, new vendors, and tons of people – really helps.”

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Nikki walked an average of 7 miles each day, visiting with vendors who currently do business with White Flower Farm, and meeting new ones. Two floors, called the “Gardens,” are dedicated exclusively to lawn and garden products. She spent time there, and also voyaged into other areas including Holiday, Floral, and Gift & Home Accents. She gathered up ideas, spotted emerging trends, and placed orders for items we’ll be trying out.

Overall, “trends are ranging from farmhouse to gleaming metal,” she says, with the continued popularity of copper and bronze, galvanized metals, and gun-metal gray colors all in abundance in vases, planters and boxes for 2017.

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Gleaming copper is still trending with bronze and galvanized metal also ubiquitous.

She spotted macramé plant hangers, a flashback to the ‘70s that have also been seen in magazines and catalogs and glimpsed in a contemporary style renovation project on HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.” Wall planters for creating “green walls” indoors were ubiquitous with presentations including receptacles for low-maintenance succulents, and ferns.

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Flat-sided wicker baskets create a “green” wall of ferns and other plantings.

Succulents were seen again alongside air plants, which have trended in the last few years. They remain must-have items for interiors, and were seen in any number of beguiling presentations from terrarium-size conservatories that house the plants in glass and metal structures to single plants tucked inside suspended glass balls.

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The popularity of easy-care succulents and air plants shows no sign of subsiding.

For color trends in planters, a palette of whites, beiges and pale grays could be seen with the neutrals providing an understated background for plants and flowers. Added detail was found in textures, which ranged from earthy to marble to geometric surfaces, including patterns on glass.

Rustic and natural accents abounded with bowls and candleholders made from driftwood, some providing a home for succulents.

One cute surprise was the prevalence of pineapples in gift items and home décor accents. The motif was expressed in everything from mantel decorations to large garden statues.

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Conservatory-style containers were glimpsed alongside a variety of other vessels designed for displaying plants indoors.

Nikki returned with notes, photos, and plenty of ideas. As we write this post in early February, the samples she requested have begun to arrive. Meetings soon will be had, selections will be made, and orders put in.

White Flower Farm customers can look forward to seeing her favorite finds when we roll out our Holiday 2017 collection in our catalog and on the website in October. (You might even get a sneak peek at some of the items this fall.) We can’t wait to show you!

 

 

 

Wrap ‘Em Up, and Ship ‘Em Out!

Holiday Gifts
You know how our Tabletop Trees arrive fully decorated and strung with lights? Here, members of our staff pack up the batteries you'll need for the lights.
You know how our Tabletop Trees arrive fully decorated and strung with lights? Here, members of our staff pack up the batteries we send with the trees.

The holidays are always a hectic time at the farm, and that’s just the way we like it. The phones are ringing off the hook. Orders are coming in on the website, and the greenhouses and our warehouse are buzzing like bee hives with staff members rushing to and fro. Things get even more hectic when you factor in the December weather. Shipping live, tender plants out of Torrington, Conn., is tricky business. We’re obliged to wait and watch for windows of mild weather so our plants can travel without the threat of freezing. But with only a limited number of days until Christmas, and a determination to get as many plants to our customers as is humanly possible in time for the holidays, any weather window becomes a spontaneous game of “Beat the Clock.”

All hands on deck. Members of our staff who work in Publications, Marketing, and Finance joined forces with the Shipping Crew to take advantage of a window of warm weather for shipping tender plants.
All hands on deck. Members of our staff who work in Publications, Marketing, and Finance joined forces with the Shipping Crew to take advantage of a window of warm weather for shipping tender plants. Here, our bushy, fragrant Lavender ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ plants get packed for their travels.

This year, a window opened on Dec. 12 and 13. Like a well-timed Christmas miracle from Jack Frost and his friend the Polar Vortex, daytime temperatures rose above freezing, and the call went out for “All hands on deck!” Almost the entire staff rallied, descending on the warehouse to help the Shipping Department get the plants packed, boxed, and onto the waiting trucks.

Bushy Jasmine plants in Wrenthorpe Pancheons, bundled and wrapped in sleeves and waiting for boxes.
Beautiful Jasmine plants in Wrenthorpe Pancheons, bundled and wrapped in sleeves, waiting for boxes.

Packing plants is a bit more complicated than, say, packing sweaters. Jasmine, lavender, holiday cactus, succulents, culinary herbs, azaleas, gardenias, and potted amaryllis, paperwhites and bulb gardens all need to be carefully secured inside their pots and then inside their boxes. If the job isn’t done right, the customer receives a badly damaged plant amid a box full of loose dirt. So over the years, we’ve made a small science of packing and shipping our plants so they’ll arrive looking just the way they did when they left our greenhouses. To secure the soil or potting mix in each pot, we use a combination  of specially sized die-cut cardboard pieces, packing paper, grass, cello tape, and/or plastic sleeves. The plants are then packed inside specially designed cardboard boxes so if, for instance, a carton containing a Topiary Azalea becomes part of a festive game of “football” at a shipping facility or if it’s accidentally dropped upside down by a driver or a recipient, the plant and pot both survive intact and show no traces of the mishaps.

A Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) wrapped in a plastic sleeve, waiting to be boxed.
A Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) wrapped in a plastic sleeve, waiting to be boxed.

Part of the joy of packing plants is spending time with them before they leave. Those of us who work in the Marketing, Publications, Human Resources, and Finance departments don’t often enjoy the hours in the greenhouses that some of our colleagues do. So as we all stand around the packing tables, securing our charges for their journeys, we fall in love all over again with the soft, felted grey leaves of Lavender ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’; the intensely fragrant flowers of Jasmine polyanthum; the delicious scents of Golden Sage, Rosemary, and English Thyme in our Cook’s Herb Trio; the delicate but unstoppable blooms of the Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger); the dazzling color the Pink Topiary Azaleas; and the spiky forms of Aloes and Succulents. It’s easy to see how happy these plants will make someone when they’re discovered under the tree on Christmas Day or presented as part of any celebration. Imagining the happiness of our customers is a holiday gift to all of us at White Flower Farm. It’s a very large part of why we do what we do.

Amaryllis 'Clown' packed and ready for shipping.
Amaryllis ‘Clown’ packed and ready for shipping.

Helleborus niger: The Best Gift Plant Ever

Holiday Gifts, Indoor Plants

By Margret Delves-Broughton

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Tucked away on page 51 of White Flower Farm’s Holiday 2016 catalog is a plant that is, in my humble opinion, the very best gift plant, ever. It is so pretty that when my friend Henry walked into my house a few years ago and saw it in bloom, he paid the highest compliment I have ever gotten on any plant I have ever grown. “Those are fake, right?” he asked.

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As a houseplant, Christmas Rose, or Helleborus niger, is densely packed with shiny dark green leaves at its base. Above that, delicate white buds and open flowers with yellow stamens bring a little bit of woodland garden inside. I have had great success with them just by keeping them evenly watered all winter long. True, they did not look as great in April as they did in December, and some people might opt to move on to other houseplants at that point, but I think that would miss half the reason to buy this plant: In spring, you add it to your garden.

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After living for a few months as a houseplant, Helleborus niger was loaded with seeds that dropped all over my kitchen counter (warning: they look a lot like mouse droppings!).

Our catalog and website state that “once spring arrives, add this exceptional perennial to your shade garden, where it will soon settle in and bloom the following year. Plants are hardy in Zones 3–8.” I figured it was worth a try, so in about April I dug a hole and added a good amount of compost and planted my slightly tired-looking houseplant. That was probably 4 or 5 years ago, and I have since added several more in the same spot. As an outdoor plant, Helleborus niger acts a bit like a groundcover with lots of twisted stems and a ton of evergreen leaves, but unlike many groundcovers, it forms a clump that does not seem to be getting much bigger (this is a good thing for me, though I couldn’t think of anything nicer than a carpet of Christmas Rose).

Hellebore in garden
This picture gives a sense of scale. The flowers are not enormous, but they pop in a winter garden. Photo taken on December 16, 2015,

But here’s the best thing about my beloved Helleborus niger – it blooms. In December. In fact, it’s loaded with buds in my northwest Connecticut garden right now. It has blossomed every year that I’ve had it at this time, though I must add that some years we’ve had snow cover by this point so technically, I can’t verify that it bloomed during those winters. Any new gardener will laugh when they hear that the first few times it bloomed in December, I asked other gardeners what they thought was going on. Most of them looked at me funny and said that the plant must be “confused.” It turns out that it’s not confused – it’s supposed to do this! According to the Missouri Botanic Garden, “Helleborus niger, commonly called Christmas rose, is a winter-blooming evergreen perennial which blooms around Christmas time in warm winter regions, but later (February or March) in the cold northern parts of the growing range…. Flowers sometimes bloom in the snow and bloom can survive spurts of sub-zero temperatures.”

Christmas Rose in snow
This photo was taken on December 31, 2015.

If you’re thinking of adding one to your holiday list, here are a few tips: I planted mine close to my front door so that it’s easy to keep an eye on their pretty blooms when I am coming and going. As a houseplant, it dropped a ton of seeds in my house by the end of winter, so if you know what to do with Hellebore seeds, you could possibly grow more (I scattered them in my garden and hoped for the best – nothing happened). Another reason it’s a wonderful gift plant is that it doesn’t seem to be widely available, so it is a treat even for the person who has everything. If you are already convinced, you can order one here.