Congratulations Tuyen from Stems!

Congratulations Tuyen – one of our florists here at Stems. She has just been awarded a second prize in the inaugural Floral Gift at The Royal Melbourne Show. Tuyen competed against 40 top florists from across Victoria to create an exciting and inspiring floral gift. The competition is a partnership between Flowers Victoria which is the State's peak industry group and the Royal Melbourne Show Society.

Take a look at her fabulous creation!



 

This week at Stems its all things French in the anticipation and excitement that our very own Aussie Cadel Evans could be the first Australian to win le Tour de France.  Thats right we are thinking its Cadels year  -2011 le tour is his.

So the girls created two Frenchy arrangements to help us celebrate his impending victory.  So get in the mood, get on your bike and pop into Stems to grab your french inspired flowers this week because lets face it everyone needs a little bit of France in their lives.

Go Cadel; the team at Stems is behind you all the way to Paris-   actually we wish we were with you!

Richard returned home from the 'Australian Flower Conference' which was held in sunny Brisbane and packed some sun with him because today is an awesome day for Winter in Ballarat.  So what did he learn- heaps and he has come home very enthusiastic especially after listening to a very inspiring talk by Australian Gold Medalist in swimming Duncan Armstrong.  It was a great chance to network and learn from experts in the Flower Industry with many of the guest speakers travelling from countries like Italy and the UK.

So today he is off to the farm flower lab to do his vase tests, growing medium tests and pack out tests all of which will hopefully end up down the line as a better stronger flower for you our customers.  

Whilst he was away Michael and the boys were busily preparing the fields for our new exciting crop coming your way this Christmas.  We are all really really excited about this new crop its something we haven't tried before but fingers crossed you will be purchasing some this December from Stems.  We will keep you posted over the coming months hopefully with some amazing photos.

Stems Fresh Flowers Ripe for the Picking

We currently have 9 beds flowering and the crops look breathtaking! Over the next 14-21 days we will be picking plenty of good quality stock ready to be delivered to all of our favourite florists. Do you and your customers a huge favour and get some of our flowers locally grown here by us (rather than from Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam or Holland). There are so many varieties and colours to choose from 70cm length and available in apricot, lemon, mauve, cherry pink and white. Get your orders in to Stems Flower Market.

Erlicheer, jonquils and daffodils instore at Stems:

Also heaps of great white lissy - 

   

We had heaps of fun this week designing what we thought Kate Middleton might be holding as she walked down the isle to meet her Prince . Check out our wedding flowers page to see the closeup shots.  We voted instore and one of our lucky customers one a $50 gift vouchers, movie tickets and champagne whilst at last count Janine our designer won some movie tickets as her bouquet got the most votes.  Thanks to all our team for their efforts.

Stems at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

Take a look at the arrangements that Stems Flower Market are displaying at this year's Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. They will be on display at the Exhibition Building from Wed 29th March to Sunday 3rd April. Stems were invited to exhibit the products that we grow as part of the Grower's Avenue display.

We are showcasing our exclusive range of Florigene Moon series carnations, the new green trick Dianthus and a new release Alstromeria "Extreme". Stems are the first grower to make this available for the floristry industry!

Our display will be judged at the industry cocktail party on Thursday night and the first prize is $2000 cash - so wish us luck! Better still, come on down to Melbourne and take a look at our display and plenty of others down at the 2011 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

We hope to see you there!

Princess Kate's Bridal Bouquet 

Everyone is talking about the upcoming royal wedding and Kate is certainly going to make a stunning bride and princess. Here at Stems we thought it would be fun for our floral designers to come up with what they think Kate's bridal bouquet is going to look like and what it will include.

So come instore on Friday 29th April to view the bridal bouquets and place your vote. Each vote goes into the drawer to win a $50 gift voucher and two movie tickets. The floral designer who gets the most votes will win a return trip to London – no, just joking, they will win a bottle of champas and two movie tickets!  

On a side note, we would like to thank Kate Middleton's luxury florist, Rob Van Helden, for his kind words on one of his internet sites where he says:

"People can be snobby about flowers, about carnations, about gypsophila, but I think they speak for themselves. They can all look great."

So thanks Rob for these words and here at Stems we totally agree as we grow carnations and gyp here at our Ballarat flower farm, Ballarat Carnations. Who knows - we might see Kate Middleton walking down the aisle with a huge bouquet of carnations!  

See you instore Friday April 29th.

From the Stems Bridal Team.

Today at Stems we were happy to help launch Organ Donor Week.  For us its all about getting information out to the community and to help start you all thinking about the possibility of whether you or anyone in your family would consider donating organs.  Its an indepth decision and one worth chatting about to your loved ones.  Thankyou to all who contributed to this great morning and a special thankyou to our understanding customers who happened along in the middle of the presentation.  Well done to Jo (Ballarat) and Jo (Melbourne) for all their efforts.  It was a special event to have four Ballarat organ recipients there with their families to read their stories and the Stems team enjoyed being part of this event.

   

Organ week started on sunday and we will have fliers and information in store all week if you want to come in and grab anything please feel free. Starting the conversation with your loved ones is the first step and as the brochures say anyday is a good day to talk about organ donation. 

Well February has arrived- the month of LOVE.  Valentines Day falls on a Monday this year and you can rest assured here at Stems we will be here for you whatever your needs.  Roses, chocolates, champagne, balloons and even a teddy or two we can help make your day that extra bit special.  What I love about Valenties Day is that most people really know what they are after some have been getting the love of their life a single red rose every Valentines Day for the last 40 years whilst others just want the biggest most impressive arrangement they can get their hands on.  But whatever it means for you we can help you out, phone or order online, or drop in anytime.  Come along and shop where the florsits shop here at Stems Flower Market this Valentines Day.

We had such a great day, bright colour filled gladdies, champas and Brian Mannix - what more could you ask for at the Ballarat Cup.  Below are some pics of our flowers and friends enjoying themselves.  Well done to the Ballarat Turf club on a very successful day especially Liz and Robbie for all their work and a very special note of thanks to Tom our bus driver from Gold buses for our safe transport to and from the venue.

Well its Ballarat Cup day this Sunday yes sunday the 21st November 2010 and we are all very excited as we have booked our marquee on Selkirk Walk.  Thats right Stems has grabbed some staff, grabbed some friends and grabbed some flower growers from Melbourne and off we are going to the races.

So once the dress is decided on and the fascinator, of course the bag and shoes the only possible thing left to worry about is the flower decorating.  How should we do it what should we use? Do we go with the often underated Ballarat Carnation (a stayer until the end might we add) or do we go with the amazing peonie rose which is in abundance this time of year for a small window of time (which often leaves brides sighing with despair!) or  a personal favourite of mine for their height and colour the gladdie. Yes still a bit of time to think about it well actually 3 days!

So if you are off to the Ballarat Cup this Sunday enjoy and we hope luck is on your side.  Don't forget to order your buttonhole early as we will be busy getting ready ourselves. Well theres another decision the buttonhole...

   

Well its Melbourne Cup 2010 day and whilst our thoughts should be with the Spring Racing carnival   its difficult in this weather so instead I'm starting to get excited about the silly season and whilst we don't like to get too excited too early at Stems decorating and so on we just had to blog about Paper Boats press which I opened up today.  So these are now up for grabs there are limited numbers but I have popped them on the online shopping cart incase you are so desperate to not miss out.

We are also expecting in the next week or so some gorgeous 'merry christmas' tags  which won't last long but will look amazing to add to your gifts this year especially if you are wrapping with kraft paper.  I'll keep you posted.