Dandelions Turns 37

Did you know that Dandelions has been serving Eugene & Springfield since 1974?? After 37 years, owner Shirley Lyons still has a personal relationship with her customers, has a staff that is like family, and continues to serve her community and industry.

Shirley started selling flowers at the Saturday Market and soon thereafter opened the first location of Dandelions at 6th & Chambers. A few years later, the store was relocated to its current location at 18th & Chambers. Take a look at some of the pictures from over the years…

Shirley Lyons                                         St. Patrick’s Day Parade 1986

Storefront 1980′s                                              Storefront 2000′s

Indoor display cooler 1985                                    Indoor display 2010

Valentine’s Day 1991                       Breast Cancer Awareness Month   Oct. 2010

Kindergarteners come for a field trip!

Today we had a group of adorable kindergarteners come to Dandelions for a field trip. Their curious and inquisitive faces loved all of the smells and new things that they saw. They learned how we clean flowers and make arrangements, toured our large flower cooler, and piled into our delivery vans. Everyone got to choose a flower to take with them when they left.

We have groups of children come in a few times a year to learn about what we do here at Dandelions Flowers as well as to learn about the flowers themselves. We often donate flowers to science classes where they disect the flower to learn about its anatomy. It’s wonderful to share our floral world with the next generation and to watch them as they view our world with wonderment!

Researching the issues for Congressional Action Days

I am taking a break from researching the issues that we are presenting to our senators and representatives on Capital Hill tomorrow. The Society of American Florists has done a great job putting together position papers for us regarding the issues that affect us in the floral industry (and many other industries and small businesses out there). We are working on immigration reform, Agriculture jobs, the Estate Tax, and other issues that affect small businesses. It is a lot of information to take in but I am doing some additional research on my own to be as prepared as possible.

It was gorgeous weather when we arrived Friday evening but snowed a fair bit last night and is cold and windy outside. We’re florists, though, and made from tough stock so we can handle it.

In between meetings I have walked over to the White House a few times since it is only 2 blocks away and am taking a tour of Iwo Jima with James Bradley (author of Flags of our Fathers and Flyboys) later tonight. I am very tired from the last few days (6th cup of coffee in front of me right now) but know that the work that we are doing here for our industry and small businesses all across America is worth it.

Congressional Action Days

We are getting ready to head to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Annual Congressional Action Days. This is an opportunity for florists from around the nation to meet with their senators and representatives and discuss important issues facing the floral industry as well as small businesses in general.