Silk flowers and plants make great permanent decor items. They are almost zero maintenance and can last for years. Display them in your home to create a welcoming ambiance and that touch of nature. Silks are also ideal for the office, to brighten up a reception area or to spruce up a boardroom. And you don’t have to water them, ever.

Our silk flowers and plants also make a great gift. They are distinctive works of floral art that will be appreciated for a long time.

See them all here at MoonFlower Silks. But hurry, there’s only one of each, once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Here’s one of our new corsages on the left, featuring beautiful and exotic mokara orchids.  It comes with a copper bracelet, and can be worn on your wrist or arm.

And you guys out there, don’t feel left out, because there’s a matching boutonniere too. In fact, MoonFlower Florist has several sets of matching corsages and boutonnieres.

You can see it all in the “Contemporary” category on our website in Formal and Event Flowers.

It’s probably the busiest day of the year for florists, and there’s only so much delivery capacity available. If you’re going to get her flowers, it’s a really good idea to get your order in early to avoid disappointment. Now would be a good time to have a look at MoonFlower Florist’s selection of Mother’s Day flowers.

And if you’re a Dad, don’t forget the mother of your children! You may want to choose something from our flowers for love and romance collection.

By the way, MoonFlower Florist will be open on Mother’s Day Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm,  but only for phone order pick-up and personal shopping.

No, we don’t what it means either. But it looks neat and it kind of looks like flowers which is at least appropriate!

The colours stand for different types of HTML tags. Black is the HTML tag for the root node, which we suppose means the “start” (it’s a lone dot close to the top, right of centre). Blue shows links (the A tag). Red is for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags). Green denotes the DIV tag. Violet is for images (the IMG tag). Yellow is for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags). Orange denotes linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags). And Gray is for all other tags.  Hmm…

But the good news is that you can actually watch a video of the graph creating itself and even do your own. Click here: MoonFlower Blog Graph, The Movie! This will open in a new page. If you miss the start, just refresh the page and it will begin again.

That’s about it! Have a great Easter! Watch those chocolate bunnies!

Of course, quality silk flower arrangements do cost more than real flowers. But they can last for years and years. And another great thing about them: zero maintenance.

All of our new silk flower decor pieces are original MoonFlower designs. Some are quite large, up to 4 feet wide by over 4 feet tall. They can fill up an empty space in a hurry, while making a really “wow” impression.

So have a look at Silk Flowers & Decor Pieces at MoonFlower.ca. Even if these are not for you, there’s a high eye candy factor!

We’ll be open on Valentine’s Day, Sunday February 14, from 10 am to 4 pm. This will be for personal shopping and pre-order pick-up only.

We expect that our delivery schedule will be full on Valentine’s Day. If you do need delivery, please order by phone to confirm delivery availability. A good option is to order ahead and then just come in and quickly pick-up your flowers at the shop.

Valentine’s Day is one of our very busiest times. Be sure to order early to avoid disappointment!

In our Guys’ Guide to Flowers for Her, we said:

• Always go for quality when getting flowers for her. Even if all you can afford is one single rose, make sure it’s a really good one.

Now we’re backing up that advice with the Sweetheart Rose Solitaire. It’s the lowest priced item in our catalogue, but it still looks great. Sometimes good things do come in small packages.

By the way, did you notice the two rhinestone hearts in the picture? To view a large image and for ordering info, see Sweetheart Rose Solitaire, or check out our complete Valentine’s Day Flowers selection.

• First there is a “Compressed Version for the Impatient“.

• Let’s get to the bottom-line: Flowers = Romance. There’s more to it of course, but first you have to know why flowers work.

• By the way, if you don’t have a clue about flowers, guess what? It’s no problem!

• Make sure you avoid the biggest mistake many men make, and that you understand why quality is critical.

• Never forget the big 5 occasions, but also take advantage of the power of the surprise.

• Oh no, not red roses again – they’re nice, but show some imagination. Also, a relationship goes through many stages, so be sure to keep it appropriate.

• Flowers say a lot by themselves, but if you include the right message, you can tone things up or down. Speaking of messages, what about an apology? Flowers can really help you get out of the doghouse.

• Some finer points — learn how to conquer the corsage and master the boutonniere. And don’t forget the other ladies in your life.

• And last but not least, a couple of notes for the women out there.

Get the full story at MoonFlower Florist’s Guys Guide to Flowers for Her.

Well that’s what the MoonFlower Photo Gallery is for of course. And we just did an update, so have a look!

Where do these unique flower arrangements come from? Often it’s a customer who has something specific on his or her mind, and we always do our best to accommodate special – and even unusual – requests. At other times, it’s someone who may not know much about flowers, but they do know what message they want to send, and that they want to do it with style. At MoonFlower, we come through.

Another factor is that some flowers are only available at certain times of the year, or we’re able to get our hands on something rare or unusual. We always have some “different” flowers on hand which we use in our custom bouquets.

Less common flower varieties however  may only be around for a short time, so you won’t see them as a “regular item” on our website. The only way to find out about these is to come in or call us, and ask what’s new and different.

As an example, the arrangement of roses at top right is clean and classy. But their outstanding feature is that they are an unusual cinnamon color. It might be hard to tell depending on your monitor, resolution, and so on, but live and in-person, these cinnamon roses are absolutely gorgeous and strikingly different.

For more, take the tour of the newly renovated MoonFlower Photo Gallery!

These small but stylish beauties have been an in-store best seller since we started making them shortly after opening back in 2006.

We’ve had them bought to be used as office arrangements, get well wishes for hospital patients and even as centrepieces for a local prom.

They’re also easy to take care of. Cymbidium orchids have incredible staying power and this arrangement requires no more than a top-up of water.

Find it in our MoonFlower Exclusives and Orchids sections.

Don’t let the word “package” fool you. These are beautiful, top-quality wedding flowers. The bridal bouquet shown above for example contains 19 roses, and the contemporary design features elegant bear grass cross loops and real satin banding.

There are 4 coordinated designs to choose from. See MoonFlower’s Wedding Packages for bigger pictures and more information.

Notice something different? It’s more than just flowers. In addition to a dozen absolutely gorgeous deep red roses, there’s also a bottle of Inttimo aromatherapy massage oil, a candle in a glass holder, and a bag of real rose petals (with instructions if you can’t figure it out!). And the tag line says “Now, can you think of something to do with all that?”. Hmm …

Yes, it’s for lovers, especially on Valentine’s Day. But you don’t have to wait for February 14th, which comes just once a year. You can get a MoonFlower True Romance Kit at any time. Just have a look in our Love and Romance section.

The 3 above are called “Sleigh of Sweets”, “Celebration”, and “Santa’s Coming” (for kids large and small!). These available for delivery only in our direct Toronto/GTA delivery area. And there’s plenty more to pick from. See the full collection at MoonFlower.ca until the end of December.

The 3 arrangements above are called “Jingle Balls”, “Christmas in Hawaii”, and “Yuletide”. They are MoonFlower *Exclusives*, and available only in our direct Toronto/GTA delivery area. See the full collection at MoonFlower.ca under “Merry Christmas!” until the end of December.

Answer: Getting flowers for a whole year!

We flower crazy people at MoonFlower Florist have introduced Flowers for a Year, the ultimate gift! It’s a MoonFlower Designer Original bouquet once a month for 12 months. Yes, it’s the gift that truly keeps on giving! If you really want to do something very special for a very special someone in your life, consider Flowers for a Year. Every month, a beautiful bouquet will arrive, and will be a constant reminder of your dedication.

Flowers for a Year is also a great service for all types of businesses that want to add that extra touch to their image. Whether you’re a restaurant, car dealership, a professional services firm, or at corporate HQ, here’s a way of saying you’re a cut above the rest.

The inspiration for Flowers for a Year, by the way, came from something MoonFlower Florist did this past Spring. We held a raffle with all proceeds going to the Hospital Foundation. Tickets were just 50¢, although most people bought multiple tickets, and the prize was, of course, flowers for a year. Well, we had a great response! Some community groups even helped out by selling tickets. We had people coming in to our shop that we had never seen before to buy tickets. And when we drew the winner, everybody wanted to know who it was, so we had to put up a webpage – see Flowers for a Year Winner.

Now, admittedly Flowers for a Year may not be for everyone. Even though it’s great value for money,  you do have to pay up front. But there’s a deal: you pay for 11 and one month is free.

Get the scoop at Flowers for a Year!

• “What flowers should I get for (you name it)?”: We have hundreds of arrangements to choose from on our website at MoonFlower.ca, but that can be a little overwhelming, especially if you don’t know that much about flowers.
• “Can you do (you name it)?”: In this case, you may have something very specific in mind, or even some special request that may seem a little over the edge. Maybe a lot over the edge.

What you see on our website is really only a fraction of what we do. We are real florists and we create custom bouquets all the time when people call or come in to the shop and ask. There are also are many great flowers that are only available at certain times of the year or in limited quantities, that may never appear on our website. For example, we sometimes have “High Magic” roses (that’s their real name) which are very special – they’re naturally orange and red, and one of the few dual coloured roses in existence.

Enter MoonFlower Florist’s Designer Originals. The idea is very simple. You can order a custom bouquet at any time and just let us go at it. The more you can tell us about who is getting the flowers or what the occasion is, the better. Should it be traditional? contemporary? in between? – just let us know. We design to suit. Furthermore, our Designer Originals always use the best flowers we have available. Our “Freshest First” policy is part of The MoonFlower Difference. This also gives us a chance to use and show off those special flower varieties that we have on hand at the time and that you won’t find online. If you want something special and different, this is how to do it.

By the way, we’re dedicated and enthusiastic florists, and there’s nothing we like better than a chance to create a custom flower arrangement. We could go overboard! We believe you’ll find that ordering a Designer Original is excellent value for money too.

MoonFlower Florist’s Designer Originals are sold by price and are only available for our Toronto/GTA direct delivery area. Check it out on our website at Designer Original.

Some of the main points are as follows.

• What you see may not be what you get. One deception is that the vase you see is actually not included and only available at extra cost.
• Beware of hidden and extra charges that are only revealed after you start into the order process.
• Beware of superlative claims like “top”, leading”, “premier”, “nationwide”, and so on. These are almost always bogus or detrimental to you as a consumer.
• Don’t trust even the small claims. It’s easy to put up an image that looks good but that has nothing to do with where your flowers are actually coming from.
• Free delivery? There’s no such thing. It really means “delivery included” at best.
• Free vase? Same thing, see above.
• “We buy direct from the grower” is another claim that’s just loaded with spin to the brim.
• Courier box delivery of your order may sound okay, but it can actually cause big problems, like dead flowers. And it doesn’t make for a great presentation – see the video.
• There are some links for further info and reporting problems if you’ve been ripped off.

Read the full story at Consumer Beware! Part 2, More to Watch Out For.

Here are the key points.

• It’s up to you to watch out when shopping online, because consumer protection legislation that applies in the bricks and mortar world doesn’t work the same way on the Internet.
• There are a lot of flower e-marketers (order-gatherers, telemarketers, virtual florists, etc.) online. They’re not primarily in the florist business – they’re in the sales and marketing business.
• E-marketers will pass your order on to a real local florist, but only after they skim off a 20% (or more) commission that they don’t tell you about. You will get much less for your money than you thought.
• There’s a whole list of suspicious signs to watch for that indicate an e-marketer.
• The main thing is to verify location, and there are some simple online tools you can use for this.
• Things got this way because traditional florists were slow to get online, but some are now fighting back, like us at MoonFlower.

Read the full story at The E-Marketer Scourge. And why “Part 1″? That’s because it’s such a long and twisted tale. Look for “Part 2″ coming very soon to a website near you!