Lambeth Hochwald, Author at 1800Flowers Petal Talk

What Are Preserved Roses?

Few gifts can compare to the beauty of a dozen roses, tied with gorgeous ribbon, sent to the one you love. After all, ever since the 19th century, couples have sent bouquets as a clear message of love.

But preserved roses, otherwise known as Magnificent Roses, or “Mag Roses” for short, may just be the elevated gift that rose lovers have been looking for all these years.

In fact, it’s hard not to be impressed by the meticulous process it takes to produce these magical blooms. And, while cut roses last for about one week, preserved roses, which are a form of dried roses, can last for a year — or more.

“Florists want to deliver roses to recipients that are open but not too open,” says Danielle Gallagher, senior director of product development at 1-800-Flowers.com. “Preserved roses, on the other hand, arrive all the way open. They’re in the most beautiful state, and then they’re preserved. You’re getting this glorious specimen of a rose.”

Production line

Creating these long-lasting roses is a multi-step process that begins when expert artisans in Colombia and Ecuador harvest the roses at their ideal point of beauty.

Next, these freshly harvested roses undergo a complex and precise proprietary preservation process. To start, Gallagher explains, they’re placed in a mixture made from glycerin and other plant elements. That liquid gradually rises through the trunk of the rose until it completely substitutes the sap. Within a few days, the rose is preserved and will last for months.

“These roses are the best gift. They’re pruned to perfection and picked at their premium.”
Danielle Gallagher, senior director of product development, 1-800-Flowers.com

Then, while on the production line, the roses are closely inspected for any flaws. Finally, they are placed in decorative round hat boxes or Lucite containers, which come in one-, two-, or three-dozen sizes.

“The people on the production line hand-check every single stem and place them in these gorgeous hat boxes with precision,” Gallagher says. “They use tweezers to put them in there; the amount of care and attention they put into making these is incredible. They take a lot of pride in their craft.”

In addition to boxes and containers, a traditional glass cloche can also house preserved roses — or a single one, to be exact. This presentation features petals on the bottom of the case and arrives in a decorative black gift box with coordinating red ribbon and gold logo for the ultimate romantic gift.

Preserved roses gift ideas

preserved roses Magnificent Roses Preserved Red Roses — Magnificent Roses® Preserved Red Roses

preserved roses Magnificent Roses Preserved Kaleidoscope Reflection — Magnificent Roses® Preserved Kaleidoscope Reflection

preserved roses Magnificent Roses Preserved I Love You — Magnificent Roses® Preserved I Love You

Tips for taking care of your preserved roses

To the delight of anyone receiving preserved roses as a gift, taking care of them is super simple and requires very little effort. Handle them with care and avoid exposing them to direct sunlight, humidity, and water. And don’t worry if yours lack a fragrance: While some preserved roses do have a scent, the ones 1-800-Flowers.com sells are odorless.

“Just keep your pets away from them and be sure not to place them in the front of a window in your home,” Gallagher adds. “And keep them in a cool spot.”

Best of all, there’s hardly any maintenance required — no changing out the water, or pruning or trimming dried leaves. If they get dusty, Gallagher advises simply removing the dust with an air sprayer or a hair dryer, or dusting the petals with a soft cloth.

preserved roses woman holding open box of lavender roses

An extra special touch

For Gallagher, what makes the Magnificent Roses such a delightful and romantic gift is the quality of each and every rose in the order. The fact that they’re picked at the moment of perfection and they’re alive makes them even more unique than dried flowers.

“Even with the preserving process, these are a living piece,” she says. “That’s what I find so incredible about these gorgeous roses.”

In addition, Mag Roses are available in many colors, including red (a top performer), pink, lavender, blue, black, and even kaleidoscope, which comes with every petal died a different color.

“These roses are the best gift,” Gallagher says. “They’re pruned to perfection and picked at their premium.”

After all, it’s that care and attention to detail that can take an everyday gift and make it special and unforgettable. And a symbolic gift of roses — in any form — will let the person receiving it know how magnificent they are.

6 Tips to Hosting the Best Mardi Gras Party Yet

One of the great things about Mardi Gras is that you don’t have to live in New Orleans to enjoy it. People everywhere throw parties in honor of the events of the popular Carnival celebration.

Before we tell you how best to channel the spirit of this festive occasion, a little about the holiday itself. Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday,” begins on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, and ends the day before Ash Wednesday, a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday. Some places, such as Mobile, Alabama — site of the first Mardi Gras held in the U.S., in 1703 — kick off the festivities as early as November. Most celebrations, however — including the biggest one of them all, in New Orleans — occur in the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday, which this year is Feb. 13.

As you might imagine, bringing the fun of Mardi Gras home can be tricky. Incorporating the traditions of music, parades, partiers decked out in wigs and wild outfits, dancing, and general revelry into a more intimate setting is not easy — but it can be done.

If you’re considering throwing your own Fat Tuesday celebration, read on for six food and décor tips. And don’t forget the beads!

1. Prep a festive menu

To stay on theme, prep foods that fit the occasion, suggests Gina Tepper, an on-air lifestyle entertainment expert. She recommends some authentic New Orleans appetizers and main courses to serve your guests.

appetizer assortment — World-Inspired Appetizer Assortment

mardi gras party Wine Pairing Collection — Wine Pairing Collection

Appetizers: Gourmet snacks with a wood cutting board for easy serving, assorted cheeses, mushrooms stuffed with Cajun-seasoned crabmeat

Main Course: Red beans and rice with smoked sausage, chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya, shrimp étouffée

2. Don’t forget themed beverages

A Mardi Gras party is no time to serve a dull drink. Instead, Tepper suggests tapping into New Orleans culture with such options as:

Mimosas with the glass rimmed with Cajun seasonings
Cajun bloody marys garnished with a jumbo shrimp
Café au lait, a popular New Orleans hot beverage, consisting of coffee and hot milk

3. Serve king cake for dessert

This sweet, circular brioche cake has been the centerpiece of the Catholic celebration of Epiphany since the Middle Ages and is a traditional dessert served during Mardi Gras. An authentic king cake will always be decorated with purple, green, and gold icing — the traditional colors of Mardi Gras — and baked with a tiny plastic baby inside to symbolize Jesus’ arrival.

“One fun activity is that whoever gets the tiny toy baby in their slice is responsible for bringing the cake the following year,” Tepper says.

4. Ramp up the décor

Mardi Gras is a high-energy holiday, so your space should reflect the fun spirit of the day. Tepper suggests getting crafty and DIYing these four décor options, many of which can be found in local dollar stores.

Create fun and festive Mardi Gras masks or embellish inexpensive masks with feathers, buttons, beads, and rhinestones. Use these as decorations or party favors. Teppers also recommends glittery gold chenille sticks (pipe cleaners). “They can easily be formed into a three-loop flower and attached to the center top of the mask over the feathers.”
Decorate with flowers in classic Mardi Gras colors, which include purple, green, and gold. Embellish the containers with beads.
Make a detailed centerpiece of a Mardi Gras float using inexpensive materials and reused items, such as cardboard, a box, buttons/beads, felt, artificial flowers, and acrylic paint. “Cut out a pattern for the Mardi Gras float theme on white foam core or cardboard. Paint the design with different colors and accents with craft foam, beads, buttons, ribbon, glitter, or whatever you have on hand,” Tepper says. “Glue the cardboard design onto a box. Embellish the box with flowers, felt, and strips of tissue paper to make the float come alive.”
Paint a “Bourbon Street” sign using cardboard, a tissue box, cardstock, and a printout of a Bourbon Street sign.
Scatter Mardi Gras-themed bottles filled with colorful feathers around your party space. You can easily create these using reused bottles and craft paint or accent beads.

Picture of Lovely Lavender Medley — Lovely Lavender Medley

Photo of purple Cala lily — Elegant Calla Lilly

Photo of Lavender Garden Bouquet — Lavender Garden Bouquet

5. Remember the bunting

Bunting can transform your space without costing a lot, says D. Channing Muller, an event planner and principal at DCM Communications in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Hang purple, green, and gold flag bunting from the ceiling around your event space or along the railing of a patio, deck, or staging area, and you’ll be golden,” she says. “This is a go-to décor item for New Orleans homes at Mardi Gras and instantly creates a festive atmosphere in any party space.”

6. Set your table with runners

To honor the Mardi Gras color scheme, layer striped purple, green, and gold table runners on all the buffet tables where you’re serving food and beverages, Muller says. “These are relatively inexpensive and, as long as you stay on the color scheme with the same shade of purple, green, and gold throughout your décor, your party will look like it’s hosted by a native New Orleanian.”

A Valentine's Day ad for the Celebration's Passport membership program

Amanda Kloots Talks Broadway, Grief, and the Power of Flowers

Our series “Reimagining Grief” encourages you to rethink your understanding of grief. Through personal stories, informative articles, and uplifting videos, we’ll guide you to a peaceful, pleasant mindset and understanding. Bestselling author and talk show host Amanda Kloots joined 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., founder Jim McCann for the latest installment of the Celebrations Book Club.

Celebrations Book Club: A Chat with Amanda Kloots

When Jim McCann interviewed Amanda Kloots over Zoom for the most recent Celebrations Book Club event, it felt like two friends connecting about all the things that matter in life. In fact, over the course of the hour-long conversation between the founder of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., and the host of The Talk, the two covered everything from Kloots’ New York Times bestseller Live Your Life, about how she’s dealt with the death of her husband, actor Nick Cordero, from complications related to COVID-19; to why the time is now to connect with those you love; to what life is like for Kloots as mom to her son, Elvis, who turns 3 in June.

Here are some highlights from their talk.

McCann: I loved reading your book and hearing your story. I’m imagining this young gal in Canton, Ohio, who has this dream of moving to New York City and becoming a Rockette. Growing up in Queens, my sisters had that dream. How did your dream come true?

Kloots: A lot of hard work, a lot of determination, a lot of lessons, and a lot of not giving up! I started dancing at age 10. I fell in love with musical theater and performing. So, when I was 18 and it was time to go to school, I begged my parents to let me move to New York City and go to musical theater conservatory to pursue my dreams. Luckily enough, I was successful.

a photo of amanda kloots with her Dancing with the Stars partner, Alan Bersten — Kloots with her *Dancing with the Stars* partner, Alan Bersten.

McCann: I know you talk a lot about the Broadway community. As a florist, I had Broadway people working at our shops. It seems like there’s such a strong community among theater people.

Kloots: There’s nothing like the Broadway community. It’s a beautiful group of people. It’s because we all understand the struggle. I think that sense of determination and resilience creates the most beautiful community of people that will continue to be there for you, to be your friend, to support you like no other group will.

McCann: To achieve what you have, including your recent stint on Dancing with the Stars, there must be a strong competitive streak in you?

Kloots: I like to work. I like to hustle. I don’t know if I would say “competitive.” I really learned in my Broadway days that I like to stay in my own lane. I put blinders on, and I focus on my dreams, my intentions, what I want to accomplish in my life. It’s more so competing against myself if anything.

McCann: Your book is a huge hit. Writing it must have taken a similar commitment.

Kloots: It did. My sister [Anna], who wrote it with me, was living in Paris and we were up against a deadline, so that was a bit of a challenge. In retrospect, I’m so glad we had to do it quickly. There was so much information in my head, so many medical terms, numbers, dates, and details that are in this book. If you asked me to write it now, I wouldn’t be as descriptive.

a photo of amanda kloots: holding her book Live Your Life — Photo courtesy of Amanda Kloots

McCann: Were you journaling when you went through that horrific experience?

Kloots: I didn’t write anything down. I don’t journal, but it’s what I lived and breathed for 95 days. It was all right here in my head: what I was wearing, eating, what the doctor said, how I felt. I remember everything.

McCann: What are you focusing on right now?

Kloots: The book is becoming a movie, and I’m writing that screenplay right now. I’m also creating a Christmas movie with CBS, and I will be starring in it and filming it this summer. Plus, I have a children’s book in the works and I still run my fitness business. I’m always working on that.

McCann: If you can forecast forward, what do you want to accomplish in the next five years?

Kloots: That’s a great question, but I don’t know what the answer is. I’m a vision board kind of girl, but if you asked me five years ago “Do you think you would be a talk show host with a New York Times bestselling book and a screenplay?” I would have laughed in your face. I don’t know what the world holds, and I don’t know if I would want to guess. Life is so full of surprises, and I’m trying to be very present in today and be excited about what the future holds.

McCann: When do you think about what you’re grateful for?

Kloots: I do that a lot in my car. I pray a lot in my car. I tell God how grateful I am for my health, to be going to a job I love. I talk to Nick [her late husband] a lot in the car. I also find the little things in a day that are worth remembering, that remind you how lucky you are, like every time I look at my son. Pick one flower a day you’re grateful for and, at the end of the week, you have a beautiful bouquet. You can steal that for a campaign — I’ll give you that one for free!

a photo of amanda kloots: amanda and nick with baby elvis

a photo of amanda kloots: amanda and nick with elvis — Photos courtesy of Amanda Kloots

a photo of amanda kloots: nick and amanda with elvis

McCann: Having gone through what you went through, what would you tell people in terms of what to say to someone who is in pain?

Kloots: You have to express yourself. You have to get it out. Trauma will eat you alive if you keep it in. What I’ve learned from writing the book, recording the audio book. and dancing through my grief is that every time I share my story it heals me and takes the weight off my pain and grief. My best advice is to write things down, join a group, do therapy, and find any way you can to release that pain and suffering.

McCann: What’s the best way to be there for a friend who is going through a hard time?

Kloots: Be your authentic self. If you’re a helper, help. If you’re a baker, come over and bake. If you’re a comedian, come over and tell me jokes. If your instinct is to send a card or flowers or say I love you, do it.

Note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Janet Evanovich Isn’t Interested in Changing the World. She Just Wants to Make Her Readers Happy

The third installment of the “Celebrations Book Club by Cheryl’s Cookies” featured New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich. During the event, Evanovich discussed her writing career, her creative process, and her latest book, The Recovery Agent.

Once upon a time, before she began churning out New York Times bestsellers over the course of a career that has spanned more than four decades, Janet Evanovich was a college student majoring in fine arts. After graduating from Douglass College, she became a painter, got married, had two kids, and became a stay-at-home mom.

And that’s when her dreams changed.

“I realized that what I liked about painting was that I was always telling myself stories about the things I was painting,” Evanovich said during a “Celebrations Book Club by Cheryl’s Cookies” virtual event. “My husband was a grad student, and we were sort of struggling, and I thought, ‘I’ll write a book, they’ll make it into a movie, and I’ll be rich and famous.'”

And write she did.

Launching into romance writing

Amazingly enough, Evanovich wouldn’t be published for a decade. “I kept trying to learn the craft, sending things out, learning who I should get as an agent, and finding ways I could get better,” she said.

She started out writing romance novels, but after nearly five years, she had an epiphany.

“I realized I was in the wrong place,” she said. “I wanted my books to have more action — less romance. I liked the sex part, but I didn’t like the prolonged relationship romance.”

A year later, she launched the Stephanie Plum series, and 28 books later — with a 29th coming in November — it’s still going strong.

I feel that my calling is to write books that give people a little break from whatever might be a misery in their day.

Janet Evanovich

Bestselling author

Talking about process

When Claudia Copquin, host of the Celebrations Book Club and founder and producer of the Long Island Litfest, asked her about her writing process, Evanovich acknowledged that her approach has evolved.

“I used to spend a lot more time on several edits of a book,” she said. “Now, when I start a new book — if it’s a Plum — I already know a lot of things about it.”

But some things have never changed: She always takes notes in a steno pad, she always establishes how each book will begin and end before she sits down to write it, and she always lays her novels out in three acts, like a screenplay.

“I know what I’m going to try to accomplish with the relationships within the book, how much growth the characters will experience. I know the crime and several plot points that will drive the book,” she said. “It’s more of a storyboard, and I write more like a screenwriter in that way.”

Then, at night, she takes her steno pad to bed with her.

“I take notes on what I did that day and where I want to go tomorrow or maybe two days ahead,” she said. “Somehow, when I do that before I go to sleep, the ideas go around in my head while I’m sleeping and I’ll wake up with a whole lot of ideas about where I want to go.”

A rigorous daily schedule

Evanovich jokingly told Copquin that she has “no life” and spends eight to nine hours a day writing.

“I’m the world’s most boring person, but I love what I do,” she said with a laugh, adding that she loves mornings the most. “I’ll wake up early, at 5 or 5:30 a.m. and get coffee, let my little dog out to pee, and then I go back up to my office and get into this new world of characters,” she said.

After a lunch break, it’s back to her desk.

“That’s when I have no more ideas,” she said, again with a laugh. “But I need to make more pages and keep on schedule. Sometimes I only write for a couple of hours, and if I need to do shopping therapy, I will. I take time out to take a walk with my dog, but I like the continuity — I like to write every day.”

Her latest works

Game On, which hit bookstores in November 2021, revolves around Stephanie Plum chasing a cyber criminal.

“One of the things I love about this book is that I brought Diesel into it, and he’s one of my favorite characters,” she said. “In this book, he’s in there the whole time — he’s Stephanie’s partner — and they’re after the same bad guy, though she’s not sure if he’s working with her or against her.”

Evanovich said there’s a lot at stake in this book and a lot of fun is had between Stephanie and Diesel. “There’s also a nice twist at the end,” she added.

When Copquin asked how much she researched the hacking world, Evanovich said she focused her research on the many recent news reports about cybercrime.

“Usually with the Plum books I don’t do a lot of research anymore,” she said. “In the beginning, I hung out with cops in Trenton, I walked around with pepper spray, I learned how to shoot a gun, and I knew Trenton because I’m a Jersey girl.”

In her next book, The Recovery Agent (publishing this March 22), Evanovich has dreamed up a new heroine, a daredevil named Gabriela Rose.

“She’s in many ways the opposite of Stephanie,” Evanovich said. “She’s a gourmet cook, a fashionista, and she’s very good at what she does. It’s really an Indiana Jones kind of adventure story and a quest to find treasure. I can’t wait for everyone to read it!”

In the end, Evanovich shared the goal she thinks about with every book she writes: “There’s a lid for every pot,” she said. “There are cathartic reads and serious books, but that’s not my job. I’m a happy author. I write books that make me happy. I want to make my readers happy, and I want them to know if they’re having a bad day, it’s not as bad as Stephanie’s and we can all march on.

“I don’t have visions of changing the world, but I feel that my calling is to write books that give people a little break from whatever might be a misery in their day.”