If there’s one thing Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, loves, it’s storytelling. (Well, and flowers, obviously.) The longtime author of Canadian Florist’s “Neville on the Level” column is wrapping up his first book, a compilation of his greatest hits from the magazine, and already working on another. For his second book, the owner of My Mother’s

Earlier this week, our friends at Bloomerang outlined the devastating effects of FTD Inc.’s Valentine’s 2018 market campaigns. This approach lead to a Valentine’s holiday that underperformed their expectations by as much as $20 million. The company is considering $50 million in credit support from their largest shareholder, Liberty Interactive Corp.

But this article isn’t about FTD. At least, not directly.

You see, this latest incident with FTD is not a new problem, but is actually symptomatic of a much larger problem in our industry. It’s a problem that is perpetuated much more frequently by retail florists than the various conglomerations of online and order gathering outfits.

Could you use a jolt of inspiration? Mark your calendar for April 21 and 22, when a dynamic lineup of presenters descend on St. Catharines, Ontario, mere minutes away from beautiful Niagara Falls. The weekend combines two conferences — the Canadian Florist Business Forum and the Niagara International Association of Florists’ Design Show — offering

Earlier this month, Jodi Duncan, AIFD, shared a short, conversational video about the difference between purchasing flowers artfully arranged by a professional florist and choosing a too-good-to-be-true Internet promotion (i.e. blooms in a box). To make her point, she held up a chocolate chip cookie and then a basket with said cookie’s ingredients. “Same thing,

To encourage florists to share their knowledge with customers and to feel more comfortable with social media, The Floriology Institute launched the #TeachFloralContest, with a really covetable prize attached: a VIP experience at AIFD Symposium this summer in Washington, D.C.

Virtually every florist knows his or her craft helps people express emotions and commemorates life’s salient moments. However, it’s easy to forget that fact—that honor—when crunch time hits and the work piles up. In the coming days, you’ll no doubt feel the mounting pressure of Valentine’s Day. If you feel your passion start to slip,