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A Joyful Guide to Holiday Decorating with Winter Berries

Winter berries

Homemade holiday decorations make your home feel a little cozier, warmer, and personal. At Cascade Floral Wholesale, creating brilliant arrangements, wreaths, garlands, and more live décor for your home or special event is what we’re all about. There is nothing more festive or versatile during the holiday season than winter berries. From American Holly and Winterberry to Hypericum and Brunia Berry, the tiny red, green, white, or silver berries add a new texture and dimension to just about anything.

Fun Ways to Decorate for the Holidays with Winter Berries

Winter floral arrangement with hypericum berries

Accent Flowers with Berries

 Holiday and winter floral arrangements bring life to our dinner tables, add a refreshing touch to our living rooms, or brighten up a loved one’s day when presented as a gift. This season, red, white, green, and silver berries are cheerful additions to seasonal flower designs, especially those made of lush greenery, crisp white blooms, and radiant red flowers. Because of their small, compact size, winter berries will entice the eye when nestled among large petals and fluffy textures.

Red hypericum berries in a vase

Arrange Berries in a Stylish Vase

Whether you love a classic holiday look with lots of greenery or a minimalistic aesthetic, berries bring a warm and festive touch to any space, no matter your style. Collect only a few stems of winter berries to place in a tall, sleek vase for a perfect minimalist look, or brighten a bundle of eucalyptus, ruscus, magnolia foliage, myrtle, cedar, or pine with pops of festive berries.

Putting winter berries in Christmas wreath

Adorn Holiday Wreaths & Fresh Garland

Holiday wreaths for your front door or above your fireplace are usually decorated with fresh evergreens, pinecones, flocking, and ribbons of all sorts of patterns and seasonal hues. The same can be said for garlands that hang above doorways or lay across a mantel or table. Like the floral arrangements and ornate vases, winter berries are always a wonderful addition. However, you can also create wreaths and garland straight from winter berries, creating a clean, put-together, bright, and energizing wreath or string of garland for your home.

Decorating the Christmas tree with winter berries

Decorate the Christmas Tree

One of our favorite holiday trends is swapping a few ornaments on your Christmas tree for holiday blooms and berries. Leaning into Mother Nature’s gifts and the fresh, crisp look, feel, and scents of the outdoors is simply magical. While meticulously adorning your Christmas tree with red and white flowers or a collection of red, white, and silver berries, the tree topper surely needs to match the rest of the tree. Gather your favorite winter berries and fasten a luxurious homemade design to the top of your Christmas tree.  

Welcoming and inviting place setting with winter berries

Dress Your Holiday Dinner Table

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without several family dinners and gatherings with friends and loved ones. When it comes time to set the table, wow your guests with a small but impactful detail on their place setting – a small stem of winter berries. With the range of styles, shapes, and colors of berries available, you can coordinate your dishes and linens to offer a beautiful and inviting place for your guests to sit back, relax, and enjoy a meal together.

Tying hypericum berries to Christmas gifts

 Enhance Your Gift Packages

 The final stage of holiday planning and decorating is wrapping presents. Whether you are looking to impress or make your gifts stand out among the rest for a White Elephant or Secret Santa, don’t rely on fancy wrapping paper to do the job. Instead, turn to winter berries for the perfect gift accent to make your presents look elegant and festive.  

Kids crafts with winter berries

Enjoy Arts & Crafts with Your Family

 Winter berries are exceptional plants that can be utilized for a wide range of arts and crafts. From decorative accents that turn homemade Christmas gifts into pieces of art to a fun sensory project for kids, berries are perfect for holiday crafting. Fasten a small sprig to a coffee mug cozy, tie some around a sweet fragrant candle, add a pop of color to cinnamon sticks for decorating gifts or table settings, or have your kids glue each tiny berry to a paper Christmas tree to mimic red, white, and green ornaments. Let your creativity and imagination run wild with winter berries this holiday season.  

Flowers and greenery often steal the spotlight in arrangements and home décor almost all year round. The joy we feel during the holiday season deserves to be celebrated with something different and exciting, like winter berries. Find your favorite berries for holiday decorating and flower bouquets at Cascade Floral Wholesale.

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All About the Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe plant with orange flowers, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, potted Kalanchoe

What Is a Kalanchoe Plant?

Kalanchoe plants are a type of plant that belongs to the succulent family. There are 125 known Kalanchoe varieties, with the most popular being the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. The plants vary significantly in appearance, but most display brilliantly colored flowers, which makes them so charming. . The flowers bloom in bunches and range in colors from pink, red, white, orange, or yellow.

As members of the succulent family, Kalanchoe have the typical thick leaves and numerous stems. The plants vary in size, with most reaching up to one to two feet in height and width. However, some treelike species can grow up to 20 feet tall. Kalanchoes bloom for about eight weeks from late autumn to late winter and, as a result, are often seen with other festive houseplants around the holidays. Take note –  kalanchoes are potentially toxic to pets and should be kept well out of their reach.

Kalanchoe plant with orange flowers, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, potted Kalanchoe

Why Kalanchoes Make Great Houseplants 

Kalanchoe plants are easy to maintain, and they are loved for their many colorful flowers and unique shapes. Due to their low maintenance requirements, they make ideal houseplants. While the most common and easiest to care for, Kalanchoe is the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, other popular and beautiful varieties  include:

  • The panda plant (Kalanchoe tomentosa).
  • Paddle plant (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora).
  • Mother of thousands (Kalanchoe daigremontiana).

These Kalanchoe plants are ideal container plants and grow well indoors when properly cared for.

Three colors pots with thee colors medical plants kalanchoe with flowers close up on trendy pink background, bright colors concept

How to Care for Kalanchoes  

Kalanchoes originate from tropical and humid climates, so despite the fact they usually bloom in winter, it is best to keep them in 60-85 degree temperatures as they cannot withstand cold temperatures. If your Kalanchoe has not bloomed yet, ensure it is in a location that receives a significant amount of sunlight. Keep bloomed Kalanchoes in a place where they receive moderate sunlight will keep the flowers blooming longer.

As with most succulents, Kalanchoes do not require as much water as other houseplants. Every few days, check to ensure the soil surface levels are dry before watering the soil to avoid overwatering and leaving water blemishes on the leaves. To encourage blooming, use a clean pair of scissors and cut away smaller blooms at the base of a cluster.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is native to the island of Madagascar

Interesting Facts About the Kalanchoe 

  • Kalanchoe plants originate from Southeast Asia and southern Africa and are most prevalent in Madagascar.
  • They were brought to Europe from Madagascar around 1930 by a German man named Robert Blossfield, who is the namesake of the most common Kalanchoe plant, “blossfeldiana.
  • The name “Kalanchoe” comes from the Chinese phrase “Kalan Chau,” which translates to “that which falls and grows,” in reference to the way it spreads.
  • Kalanchoe plants symbolize endurance and lasting affection because of their long-lasting period of blooming.
  • A unique characteristic of Kalanchoes is they have new cells growing on the interior part of their petals which helps make them bloom. These cells also grow on the petal’s exterior to help the flowers close.

Kalanchoe potted plants in four colors of red, yellow and white powder grown in the garden

How to Get a Kalanchoe to Rebloom

The Kalanchoe is known as a “short-day” plant, just like the Christmas cactus, so to get your kalanchoe to rebloom, you’ll need to expose it to lower light levels that mimic shorter days. . Time this with the changing of the seasons as the days get shorter in the late fall. Over the course of a month, begin watering the plant less, if at all. Expose the plants to only eight or nine hours of light a day. Then, put it in a closet in complete darkness for the rest of the time. Once you start to see flower buds, move the houseplant back to its bright light position, and resume watering the plant as you would normally.

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Ideas for Creating Gorgeous Holiday Bouquets

There’s nothing more beautiful than a vase of seasonal, gorgeous fresh blooms adorning your holiday table, or adorning any room in your home. Creating simple yet stunning floral bouquets is easy, and the experts at Cascade Floral Wholesale have a few pointers for you. 

Use Flowers and Trimmings in the Colors of the Season

White, red, blue, and green are popular colors of the holiday season. Create a lovely arrangement by adding white seasonal flowers with touches of red flowers (or berries) and green accents for a holiday arrangement.  Wonderful combinations include white flowers such as spider mums, camellia blooms, or anemones paired with red hypericum berries, red roses, or red carnations with seasonal greens such as pine or fir, with pine cones for a rustic touch. 

berries white flowers cones and pine

Other unique elements to include if you like the rustic look include scabiosa pods, blue thistle, cotton flowers, feathers, sticks, and eucalyptus stems as seen in the below arrangement. 

gorgous winter bouquet with scabiosa flowers blue thistle red roses pinecones and feathers

Besides red flowers and berries, you can get creative with your holiday arrangement by adding red in the form of ornament balls, red velvet ribbon, or even apples

Create a new happy memory for the winter season! Roses, carnation and seasonal textures designed in a glass vase filled with red, silver, and grey accents.

Lots of greenery such as pine, fir, and juniper with a few white florals is charming, elegant, and brings the wonderful fragrance of winter into your home. The beautiful centerpiece below is composed of red carnations, white flowers, white cotton flowers, and an abundance of seasonal pine and fir greenery

holiday centerpiece with red flowers white roses cottonflowers and greenery of pine, fir, and eucalyptus 

Other seasonal flowers to experiment with are anemones, amaryllis, wax flowers, and eucalyptus

Bouquet of beautiful winter blooms with hypericum berries, white anemones, red amaryllis, white cotton flower and eucalyptus

The below charming arrangement is highlighted with a single beautiful amaryllis bloom paired with white spider mums, hypericum berries, and fresh pine.  

If an all-white bouquet is more your style, then you have plenty of seasonal blooms to choose from such as white roses, lilies, and hydrangea with pine cones and a decorative gold ribbon for holiday accents.

A beautiful mix of roses, lilies, and hydrangea with delicate filler flowers, designed in a cube vase.

Add a touch of blue into your white bouquet with ornaments to highlight the beauty of the delicate textures of elegant whites blooms such as lilies, carnations, roses, and baby breaths surrounded by green accents. 

Take their breath away with this stunning arrangement. Featuring glimmering accents and delicate textures alongside rich blues and elegant whites, it calls to mind the beauty of our own Cascade Mountains in their most majestic season.

Creating beautiful holiday arrangements is fun and easy. Get your hands on some seasonal blooms from Cascade Wholesale and let your creativity go.  There are so many ways to make it festive by adding beads, bells, acorns, Santa figurines, and more. Pick us some pine or fir or stick from your yard to add to your arrangement for an instant touch of rustic beauty. Your friends will be impressed, your home will smell great, and your holiday table will be complete! 

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The Most Romantic Flowers

Bulk Wholesale Summer Flowers Combo

There are so many times in life when flowers express our feelings better than words. While flowers used to carry very specific meanings that were taken seriously in the Victorian era, they haven’t totally lost their significance. In fact, these days many people love attaching deeper meaning and symbolism to gifts and treasures. At Cascade Floral Wholesale, we know which flowers express romantic feelings and sentiments best. As Valentine’s Day approaches and wedding season is right around the corner, we want to share with you the best blooms to share with your sweetie.

Roses

These classics get their own category because when it comes to romance, roses stand alone. Luscious, fragrant, and timeless, the only real decisions you’ll make are which color and how many. Pinks, reds, and oranges are best for expressing deep love and desire, while white speaks to the purity and yellow embraces friendship. Choose wisely when selecting rose colors, but trust that the roses themselves will communicate your message beautifully.

Tulips/Lilies

The bright bursts of color inherent in tulips and lilies bring the cheerfulness of spring into full focus. Send lovely, happy tulips to communicate how happy you are as a new relationship blooms. These bring positive energy and uplifting thoughts. Lilies are a little more serious but no less beautiful. Let white or pink stargazer lilies show your partner how valuable they are to you.

Orchid

Orchids/Lilacs

More unique than traditional roses, orchids are among the most exotic flowers we know. Communicate how rare and unique your love is when you send a beautiful stem of orchids in her favorite color. Lilacs are a gorgeous way to express fresh, new love with a bouquet of tumbling purple or magenta blooms. 

pink carnation

Carnations/Daisies/Alstroemeria

A sweet relationship deserves a sweet sentiment, and all three of these flowers deliver! Carnations have often been associated with more introverted types. So if your partner or newfound love seems a bit shy, she might prefer carnations to a more showy bloom. Daisies are the epitome of cheerfulness and will brighten her day, just like she brightens yours. Alstroemeria add a touch of drama while still making a beautiful friendship gift. If you’re enjoying your new friend but hope to take it to another level, these Peruvian lilies just might do the trick. 

Ranunculus/Camellia

Tell your partner how charming and attractive you find them with any shade of ranunculus you like. These rounded, frilly blooms are luscious and extravagant…and available all year round! Maybe this is just part of the reason they’re considered among the favorite flowers chosen for weddings. Camellias add a touch of romance to any setting. Soft and delicate, these natives to Japan and China whisper messages of faithfulness and longevity to all who receive them. 

Sending flowers is often seen as a romantic gesture, but when you send a bouquet of one of these extra-romantic flowers, your message will be clear. Take a moment to consider your partner’s favorite colors and flowers, but also feel free to choose flowers that communicate the special message you want to say. Talk to the professionals at Cascade Floral Wholesale to learn more about the best flowers to send to your special someone the next time you’re feeling a little romantic. 

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The Amazing Aster

Asters are having their moment as we move into fall. Shared with Morning Glories, Asters are the stars of September and bring a wealth of beauty and symbolism to this season. Grown in damp, cool climates and seasons, asters bring cheerfulness to every garden. With so many varieties, Asters can be found at 8 inches up to 8 feet tall, in a rainbow of colors ranging from white and pink to deep blue and lavender. Cascade Floral Wholesale is proud to offer multiple varieties of this versatile flower for planting in your fall garden or simply displaying for the changing of seasons. 

Continue reading The Amazing Aster

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Use Berries to Add Dimension and Intrigue to Your Holiday Bouquets

As the holidays approach, you’ll want to design bouquets, centerpieces, and wreaths that reflect the joy and magic of the season. A gorgeous holiday display can be designed easily when you include special seasonal accents in your bouquets. Not only will berries, pinecones or branches of wintergreens give your piece a holiday update, they also add rich texture that’s visually pleasing. Use accent pieces to complete the shape of your design or to create visual intrigue in three dimensions. The floral experts at Cascade Wholesale Florist are eager to share some of our favorite holiday accents that will make your designs unique and intriguing to every customer. 

Continue reading Use Berries to Add Dimension and Intrigue to Your Holiday Bouquets

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Help Your Customers Do It Themselves with Fall Blends

Fall is such a fun time for color, texture, and decorations. For your more crafty floral customers, this is also a great season for creating something new. Homemade decorations that reflect the holiday spirit are more special because they’re imbued with a unique sense of nostalgia. The expert designers at Cascade Floral Wholesale have a few crafty ideas up their sleeves to help DIY-ers create fabulous fall decorations this year, along with all the flowers, berries, foliage, and plants you need to get started.

Continue reading Help Your Customers Do It Themselves with Fall Blends

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How To Handcraft A Bouquet For Mom

Mixed Bouquet of Blooms

Step aside, brides. There’s a new bouquet in town. 

When’s the last time you handed over a hand-wrapped bouquet of flowers, specifically designed to be gathered up in one’s arms, its beauty breathed in, its fragrance fawned over? Chances are, it’s probably been a minute. And while it’s de rigueur to offer mom a pretty floral arrangement for Mother’s Day, presenting her with a gorgeous handmade bouquet is a more meaningful gesture. Especially when she finds out it was made by none other than you. Cascade Floral Wholesale has the skinny on how to make a Mother’s Day bouquet that she will never forget. 

Step One: Gather Ye Rosebuds

Seek seasonal flowers. Let this be your mantra. And when it comes to building a beautiful Mother’s Day bouquet, you really couldn’t have picked a better season. If you stick with florals that are abundantly available, you’ll be keeping your costs down, ensuring that your flowers are in the prime of their life, and discovering far more selection. We love our Spring Bulb Flower Mix for a seasonal bouquet. It comes with an assortment of tulips, hyacinth, ranunculus, and daffodils, making the design possibilities quite literally endless. Choose our 50-bulb option to ensure you have plenty to work with, and don’t forget to pick up other supplies you’ll need: garden pruners or shears, vase for storage, floral tape, corsage pins, and wax paper and ribbon for presentation. 

Step Two: Prep Your Petals

Arriving home with a bounty of fresh, high-quality flowers is like winning the lottery. You’ll have the strong desire to take exceptional care of them, and you should, right away. Clear a working space that offers you plenty of light. Position a mirror (full-length is ideal) nearby. Unwrap the flowers, cut the stems a bit, and remove any leaves or excess foliage around the bottom of the stems, where your mom’s hands will be. Plop each flower into a bucket of water as you work through all of them. When you’re ready to design, remove your blooms from the water and lay them out in groupings, keeping like with like. This will help you see all of the floral riches at your disposal. 

Step Three: Commence Designing!

Stand in front of the mirror and begin to create a base of foliage or greenery, about 5 stems, in your non-dominant hand. As you work, keep your hand firm but loose, and check the mirror for perspective. Once you’ve framed out your base, begin adding in your heavier, more prominent flowers, 3-5 at a time. Alternate feature flowers for interest, texture, and color. Pop in smaller blooms and accent ones, filling out your bouquet. Embellish with more greenery. Once you’re finished, carefully turn the bouquet upside down and cut all of the ends evenly, for a clean, polished look. Take your floral tape and wrap it around where it will be held. Leave the floral tape sticky side up for the last couple of wraps, which will allow the ribbon to stay in place. Wrap over the tape with the ribbon, affix a few corsage pins, and voila! You’ve just made a Mother’s Day Bouquet.

If you want to present your bouquet wrapped in wax paper, that’s easy enough to do. Simply leave off the floral tape and hold your flowers together with some twine. Fold your flowers into the paper, burrito-style, and tie it all together with the perfect ribbon.
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Make A Fall-To-Winter Centerpiece

DIY Fall Flower Bouquet

It’s not hard to create a gorgeous fall-to-winter centerpiece that will set the tone in your dining room and wow your guests this season. In fact, it’s fun. There’s nothing like being able to point to your centerpiece and take credit for making it, along with the turkey, yams, and stuffing. You’ll need a few basic items to get started, a good clean working space, and a riot of richly-hued flowers, of course. 

In this quick tutorial, we’ve used peach roses, marigold, protea, eucalyptus, red berries and Japanese maple, all seasonal signatures that bring a lot of warmth to the table. Otherwise, all you need is a floral foam block, floral scissors, and a container of water big enough to accommodate your block. Choose your favorite vessel (we’ve gone with a simple, long and low holder) and make sure that your block fits inside it (if not, cut to scale).

DIY Fall Table Arrangement

#MakeThisLook! Check-out our first DIY video tutorial on how to create your perfect Fall centerpiece!🍁 Autumn is not over yet and you still have time to surprise your guest with your design skills!🌿Find everything you need here:➡️ https://bit.ly/2OuIYIj

Posted by Cascade Floral Wholesale on Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Once you’ve sufficiently soaked your block, set it into your vessel. Then, place your greens and stems to define the scale of your design. Place your biggest flowers first. Remember that your centerpiece will be viewed from all angles of the table, so distribute for symmetry and balance. To create space, remove excess leaves. Add in your most colorful, vibrant flowers to really give your arrangement a lot of visual appeal. Pop in your berries and leaves near the end, wherever you need a little extra interest and texture. Use the eucalyptus to further frame and define your design. Voila! You’re done.