AIFD recently unveiled plans to introduce a new floral professional design designation, Certified Floral Designer® (CFD).

Paul Ecke Ranch, best known for increasing the popularity of poinsettias at Christmas, has announced that it will not grow most of its finished poinsettia crop this season. Instead, Armstrong Garden Centers, headquartered in Glendora, Calif., will produce the plants and sell them under the Paul Ecke Ranch brand name.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised the I-9 form. DHS will begin enforcing the requirements Dec. 26, 30 days after the Nov. 26 announcement, giving employers time to transition.

Gentrification and zoning changes could drive the only remaining wholesale flower market in Washington, D.C., out of the city.

Bam! Hey Ya'll. Yum-o!. All sayings now recognizable thanks to the rising popularity of celebrity chefs, and retailers are finding ways to take advantage of consumers' growing interest in the culinary arts.

Kirk Pamper, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, internationally recognized floral designer, commentator, instructor and consultant, passed away on Nov. 19.

Florida growers got some good press for their businesses — and the challenges they face — in a local paper.

Looking for a media hook? Don’t overlook the news value of what’s in your cooler. Just ask Rick Canale, managing director of Exotic Flowers.

Just three months after helping to close his family's wholesale operation, Lincoln Wholesale, in Lincoln, Neb., Lee Sorensen joins Design Master color tool, Inc., as an account manager.  

With some economists drawing the holiday sales glass as half full, others depict it as half empty. Who is right? No one is certain as there are plenty of "facts" to back up each perspective.

Shoppers will spend $26.3 billion on gift cards this year, up from $24.8 billion in 2006, reports the National Retail Federation (NRF). While those projections are good for retailers, it’s bad for shoppers, according to Consumer Reports.

With the new year comes the new $5 bill, scheduled to roll out in early 2008, according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Green is the new black; at least that's what Barneys New York is saying with its new environmentally-conscious holiday promotions.

Flowers are upstaging supermodel Kate Moss in an upcoming fashion spread in V Magazine, and the New York-based fashion and arts magazine is looking for donors to help steal the spotlight.

SAF's 24th Annual Conference on Pest and Disease Management in Ornamentals is jam-packed with sessions designed to help you take action against current crop threats in the most effective ways.

Click here for the full list of sessions and to register today.

Did Thanksgiving clear you out? Stock up for the holidays with SAF's Ultimate Floral Industry Supply Guide, which features an amazing range of floral products and accessories. And now it's even easier to get what you need — SAF recently launched the second edition of UFISG, which now offers Request for Information (RFI) functionality. This new feature allows you to contact participating suppliers with a click of a button and inquire about different products with ease. The guide also includes a desktop search mechanism. Just download the free application and access the Ultimate Floral Industry Supply Guide right from your computer's desktop screen.

Only 37.5 percent of readers responding to the previous week's Thanksgiving e-poll said they prefer dark meat. To the 62.5 percent who said they prefer light meat, the American Heart Association applauds you. None of the readers responding to the e-poll were vegetarians.

Florists offer a number of Christmas-related decorating services to their retail and corporate customers, according to an SAF survey of retail florists conducted following the holiday in 2006.