Our very own Tom Sebenius (Creative Director – Starbright Floral Design) is once again in Pasadena to oversee the production of several floats at the Rose Bowl Parade. Every year at this time we celebrate Tom’s creativity and what he brings to Starbright. You can be sure that every member of the Starbright Team will be glued to their TV sets to see these amazing floats strolling through the parade to the amazement of all.
Here is a pictorial behind the scenes look at Tom’s work on the West Coast. We are all really proud of you Tom!
Starbright is proud to encourage all the members of our team to maximize their creative potential. Tom has been a part of the Rose Bowl parade since long stemmed roses were taller than he was… A lifetime dedicated to this floral extravaganza. Tom is one of the most reviewed floral stylists on the web and he always gets five stars! We are proud to have Tom on our team.
Starbright Floral Design is a florist in Manhattan (New York City). Our design studio is located in Chelsea (a NYC neighborhood) in the heart of the Historic Flower District on 28th Street. We offer same-day delivery of flowers in Manhattan and everywhere else in the USA. Gorgeous flowers, masterfully designed by Starbright Floral Design.
We invite you to visit our website at www.starflor.com. where you will learn more about our organization and the work that we do. (or you can call us at 800.520.8999)
Poinsettias and Christmas seem to go together like peas and carrots. This association hasn’t always been the case. Its roots stem from Mexican legend. As legend has it, a child who could not afford a proper gift to offer the Christ child on Christmas Eve was left to pick weeds from the roadside. The child was told that any gift given in earnest and with love is valued in God’s eyes. When the child placed the weeds onto the church altar, they miraculously bloomed into a poinsettia with its bright red flowers.
Poinsettias are native to southern Mexico and Central America, where they may reach heights of sixteen feet. They are named after the first United States ambassador to Mexico, Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett. A physician, politician and an avid amateur botanist, Dr. Poinsett sent samples of the plants to the U.S. in 1825 and by 1836 the plant had become commonly known as the poinsettia.
The Aztec Indians prized poinsettias (pronounced oohahargh-do in their native tongue) and considered them a symbol of purity because of their brilliant red color. The Aztecs made a reddish dye from the flowers of the poinsettia. They also made a medicine said to fight fevers from the sap of the plant. One common myth of the plant is that its sap is poisonous. Although not tasty, it has not been found to be poisonous.
Today every festive holiday party is sure to contain the popular plant. Its brilliant colors are sure to brighten any venue.
This scribe is brought to you from all of us at Starbright Floral Design. We are big supporters of all things to eradicate Leukemia. We hope that you will join us in contributing to this fight.
If you would like to read more about Starbright, who we are and the scope of the work that we do, please visit our website.
If you would like to place an order for flowers (worldwide delivery), please visit our e-commerce portal.
Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China as a flowering herb in the 15th Century BC. The flower was brought to Japan in the 8th Century and the Emperor adopted the flower as his official seal. The flower was brought to Europe in the 17th Century and named from the Greek for “Gold Flower”, a reflection of its original color.
The Chrysanthemum - November Flower....
These days the flowers come in various forms and can be daisy-like, decorative pompons, or buttons. In addition to the traditional yellow, other colors are available such as white, purple and red.
In the United States, Chrysanthemums are identified as cheerful holiday flowers. Fall arrangements and Thanksgiving Day Flowers in NYC and throughout the country incorporate Chrysanthemums in their decor. However, many European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Hungary and Croatia) have identified Chrysanthemums with death. Accordingly, their use in floral arrangements is limited to funerals or on graves.
Other Uses:
Be sure to bring Chrysanthemums with you when taking a walk in the jungle. The flower is considered a natural source as an insect repellent. The Pyrethins when extracted and applied on the skin in an oil suspension or as a powder can be lethal to insects such as mosquitoes. The Chinese have used the flower for its antiseptic and antibiotic qualities for centuries.
Starbright Floral Design is located in the heart of New York City’s Historic Flower District. We are in a second floor loft space from where our customer’s orders get dispatched. To learn more about our organization and the work that we do, we would like to invite you to visit our website at www.starflor.com or you may call us at 800.520.8999. Either way, we would be thrilled to hear from you and to be of service.
Starbright deliverers flowers in Manhattan (our home city) as well as world-wide. In addition to flowers and plants, fruit and gourmet baskets, balloon and the like; we are also the go-to florist for events (both corporate and personal). Flowers, Festivals & Celebrations…. It is what we do!
Wishing you a wonderful day!
Starbright Floral Design
“The Official Florist of the City that Never Sleeps”
The Marigold is the October birth flower. Its list of uses is as long as its rich history. However, its use in floral arrangements is not advisable. Marigolds do not survive for long when cut. Accordingly, birthday flowers for October babies play off the rich color of the flower and autumn floral arrangements are the norm.
The Marigold is native to southern Europe but do well in North America as well. Seeds planted in April take root in any type of soil in full sun or medium sun locales. Practically no care is required other than weeding and pruning. Marigolds bloom from June until the first frost kills them. However, their death is short lived reappearing with young plants in the spring.
Religious Worship:
In India, the marigold is considered a sacred flower. Hindus devote the marigold to gods and goddesses in religious ceremonies.
Medicinal Uses:
Plant pharmacological studies have indicated that Marigold extracts have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory qualities. Marigold solutions have been used topically to treat acne, reduce inflammation, control bleeding, and sooth irritated tissue. The petals are edible and can be used fresh in salads or dried or used as a replacement for saffron. Eaten in salad, Marigold petals have been shown to relieve abdominal cramping and constipation.
Demonic Evictions: Sixteen century herbalists used the marigold to remove evil spirits from one’s head while simultaneously strengthening eyesight. According to folklore, all Linda Blair and Emily Rose needed was a blossoming marigold plant placed in her bedroom (ironic that a marigold is needed in a rose bedroom). Once the girls stared at the marigold petals their demons depart and would return to the wonderful little girls they were before their demonic possessions. Coincidently, children throughout the New York area have been growing marigolds in classrooms and day care centers as classroom projects since I was a kid. The stated scholastic reason is that it teaches the kids about germination. However, many teachers have been heard branding our children as “little devils” (mine of course, can only be mistaken for angels). Perhaps there’s something else going on.
This scribe is brought to you from all of us at Starbright Floral Design. We are big supporters of all things to eradicate Leukemia. We hope that you will join us in contributing to this fight.
If you would like to read more about Starbright, who we are and the scope of the work that we do, please visit our website.
If you would like to place an order for flowers (worldwide delivery), please visit our e-commerce portal.
All in a day’s work at our flower emporium… We hope you like the photos!
The shoes were the centerpieces at this event!Tropical Flowers Galore!Bouquets of early autumn...
From time to time we keep a camera at our design table to bring you the latest photos of our work. These are actual pictures of compositions as they come off our design table and we post them to give you inspiration for the next gift you send, the next event you host or even for your wedding day.
Please feel free to visit our website at www.starflor.com where you will gain a bit of a broader perspective on our work at Starbright Floral Design.
Starbright Floral Design is located in the heart of New York City’s Historic Flower District. We are in a second floor loft space from where our customer’s orders get dispatched. To learn more about our organization and the work that we do, we would like to invite you to visit our website at www.starflor.com or you may call us at 800.520.8999. Either way, we will be thrilled to hear from you and to be of service.
Starbright delivers flowers in Manhattan (our home city) as well as world-wide. In addition to flowers, plants, fruit and gourmet baskets, balloons and the like we are also a go-to florist for events both corporate and personal. Flowers, Festivals & Celebrations…. It is what we do!
Wishing you a wonderful day!
Starbright Floral Design
The Official Florist of the City that Never Sleeps.
The rose, June’s birth flower is rich in symbolism and myth. Its image has been utilized throughout history on such diverse topics as love, war, politics and beauty.
The Myths
The first rose of record is said to be in ancient Greece. The Gods had a tendency to find beauty in tragedy. It was one of these tragic moments that created the rose. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, created the rose when her tears mixed with the blood of Adonis, her lover. The Romans, not fearful of copying the Greeks like a Xerox machine, created their own legend of the rose’s creation. According to Roman legend, there was an incredibly beautiful maiden named Rhodanthe. She was relentlessly pursued by suitors. Exhausted by their pursuit, Rhodanthe sought refuge in the temple of Diana. Diana was jealous of Rhodanthe and when the suitors broke down her temple gates to get near Rhodanthe, she became furious. Diana’s rage led her to turn Rhodanthe into a rose and her suitors into thorns. The rose’s appeal was farther reaching then just the west. The Persians had their own tale of creation. The Persian legend explains the creation of the red rose as well as the origin of the nightingale’s beautiful voice. According to legend all roses were originally white and nightingales were ordinary birds who can only chirp. One day the nightingale met a beautiful white rose and fell in love. The nightingale’s love was so intense and his need to express his love so great that he was inspired to sing for the first time. When the nightingale made his moves on the rose and pressed himself up against it the thorns pierced his heart, coloring the rose red. If you are like me (Greek), clearly the Greek mythological tale is more appealing. However, fossil evidence suggests that roses existed 35 million years ago, well before any of these myths suggest.
Symbolism
The rose’s symbolic value is not exclusive to England but was most widely used and popularized there. The rose was first looked upon as a symbol of war. A civil war that raged on from 1455-1487 between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. The House of York adopted a white rose, the House of Lancaster was represented by a red rose. The war has been dubbed “The War of the Roses”. The winner of this war, Tudor Henry VII (The Tudors), merged his Lancastrian rose with the rose of his York bride and thus the creation of the Tudor Rose, the Rose of England.
In later years the rose evolved into a form of language creating a secret means of communication between lovers. In the mid 18th century the wife of the British ambassador in Constantinople described this language in her letters. Largely due to the publication of her letters after her death, we have the code necessary to decipher the intricate language of roses. For example if you want to ask your love interest “will you love me?”, send an open white rose. Want to ask “Don’t you love me any more?” , send an open yellow rose. Want to say “I respect and look up to you” then send a bouquet of white roses. Red roses signify “forever I Love You”. However a bouquet of red and white roses state “Together we are one and united”. Want to declare your attraction to someone but don’t want to go as far as declaring your undying love, then purple roses are the way to go. Colors alone aren’t enough to deliver the complex messages of love. In combination with the colors, the number and degree of bloom of the roses have also been assigned meaning. A dozen roses says “Be Mine”. Thirteen roses tells someone we’ll be friends forever. Three dozen roses expresses “I’m head over heels in love!”. Six dozen roses or more says “my love for you is limitless”. In addition to its Victorian assigned message, this last one says “I’m a Starbright Gold club member”.
Regardless of its diverse assigned meanings, the one constant is the rose’s undeniable beauty. The recipient of a beautiful arrangement of roses is always appreciative.
This and most scribes on this web log is brought to you by Starbright Floral Design. We are a full-service florist located in the heart of New York City’s Historic Flower District. We deliver inspired floral compositions throughout Manhattan, all of New York City and everywhere beyond. We invite you to visit our website at www.starflor.com. Here you will be able to gain a broader perspective on our organization and on the work that we do. You may CLICK HERE to visit our e-portal where you may place an order for designer-inspired flower vases and arrangements, our orchids, plants and so much more. We offer same-day delivery to most parts of the United States.
We will be honored to be of service to you now and for a long time to come… Warm regards from all of us at Starbright, “The Official Florist of the City That Never Sleeps”.
Flowers, Festivals and Celebrations – It is what we do!
On the 08th of June it was a very special day in the history of hotels and hospitality for New York City. The newest hotel opening in our city took place. The Eventi officially opened its doors with a spectacular opening bash and a party for the press and everything travel, tourism and hospitality. The hotel opened in the center of New York City’s historic flower district and the property naturally has a flair for “everything flower”.
On the opening day, we were involved with many areas of decor throughout the hotel. Here are some examples of what we did:
There was a “Flower Garland” cutting ceremony instead of a ribbon cutting ceremony.
We supplied thousands of flower blooms that were on display in compositions throughout. The lobby of the hotel, the meeting rooms, the suites and even the spa were all decorated…
The front sidewalk of the hotel was converted into a public flower market where the general public walking past the hotel was welcomed with rare seasonal blooms.
The hotel ballroom was decorated with flowers, balloons, champagne and votive candles in the theme of a New Year’s party to depict the start of a New Era in hospitality for New York City and beyond. We want to thank our partners who invited us on the team to be a part of this historic day at the Hotel. The Eventi (a Kimpton Hotel) and M. Silver Associates (msilver-pr.com) the PR agency that we worked so closely with to make so much of this happen and to make it a reality.
Here are some photos of the day – enjoy!
Celebrating a New Begining in Manhattan Hospitality!
An Outdoor Flower Market… Starbright Flowers Everywhere!
Amazing Blooms and Blue Skies Over Manhattan!
Cutting the Garland Ribbon to Officially Open the Hotel.
Starbright Floral Design (www.starflor.com) is a full service floral design studio in New York City. We carry the most amazing seasonal blooms and deliver gifts daily (seven days) up to 8PM. In addition to local flower deliveries, we also handle worldwide flower requests, special events, press junkets, plant care and much more. Give us a call (1.800.520.8999) or visit our website (www.starflor.com) to learn more about our organization and the work that we do. We look forward to hearing from you and to meeting you soon!
Blooming Thoughts 