Floral industry members interested in helping develop the first national standard for sustainable agriculture have until April 7 to submit their applications to the Leonardo Academy, which is overseeing the process. A committee, made up of an estimated 40 "stakeholders," will be chosen by the Leonardo Academy to be the voting body for developing the standard.

Hallmark, Inc., recently announced that it will stop selling direct-to-consumer flowers and gifts through its Web site. The company cites an overly competitive marketplace as the reason behind pulling the plug.

As part of an ongoing effort to protect U.S. floriculture from chrysanthemum white rust, inspectors in Santa Barbara County, Calif., intercepted and later destroyed a box of cut mums from Holland on Feb. 19. There was no official statement regarding whether the mums were infested with chrysanthemum white rust, a "quarantine significant pest" that is "caused by the fungus Puccinia horiana," according to the Web site of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

SAF member Manny Gonzales of Tiger Lily Florist in Charleston, S.C., knows the power of Congressional Action Days. The first-time attendee prepped for his appointment with Rep. Henry Brown, Jr. (R-1-S.C.) by researching what his positions were on immigration reform, estate tax and increased floriculture and nursery research spending. Gonzales met with an aide from Rep. Brown's office on Feb. 26 about the issues affecting the floral industry.

To help ensure that the memory of a floral industry great lives on, the Kirk Pamper Memorial Scholarship Fund is currently being established. The goal of the scholarship is to provide floral designers an opportunity to further pursue an education in the floral industry. The scholarship hopes to encourage its future recipients to remain cutting edge as designers, businesspeople and as spokespeople for the floral industry.

If your shop is located in Florida, then you're lucky. According to American City Business Journals, three Sunshine state cities — Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Jacksonville — rate among the best metropolitan areas in the nation for small businesses.

When Phillip's Flowers and 800florals.com (a subsidiary of Phillip's), of the Chicago area, introduces new seasonal lines, they make sure designers and staff are pumped up and ready to sell by bringing in outside speakers and designers.

Exotic Flowers in Boston has been the florist of choice for at least three celebrities in the past 60 days. And while that star-studded business has led to some positive press — it also ended in one unexpected snafu, according to managing director Rick Canale.

Have you caught an employee catching a few zzzs on the job? Well, hold the pink slip — a new study from the National Sleep Foundation says work may be to blame.

To make the case that globalization can be a tool to fight poverty in the world's poorest countries, a New York Times columnist turned to the floral industry.

Educating customers about flowers is a sales tactic most industry experts rally around. But according to new research, a little information goes a long way.

A man from Grand Rapids, Mich., has sunk to a new low — and he did it with flowers — according to his girlfriend.

• "Keys to Communication" by SAF's PFCI featuring Sharon McGukin, AAF, AIFD, PFCI: July 7, 2-3 p.m. in Chicago, in conjunction with the AIFD National Symposium.
• SAF Palm Beach 2008: Sept. 17-20, 2008, at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

To be profitable in today's market, a florist needs to be able to take control of their cost of goods sold. That's exactly where SAF'S Retail Pricing Worksheet comes in. That's exactly where SAF'S Retail Pricing Worksheet comes in. Download the free worksheet along with the easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions for setting up the Excel spreadsheet so that it can do the work for you — apply mark-up rates and calculate what you should be charging per bunch, per stem, or even per bloom.

This past week, members couldn't stop talking about Web sites — from how to set one up to whether it pays to set up a store front through another site.

The results from last week's e-poll seem pretty one-sided. When it comes to bringing in an outside trainer to motivate staff, slightly more than 68 percent of respondents said it was something they had tried.

For almost all retail florists (95 percent), Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday, was a normal business day in terms of shop hours.