BRILLIANCE AT HOSPICE AND SHADYBROOK
Fresh Market once again provided us with some gorgeous, brightly colored flowers. They are fast becoming one of our most consistent supporters, committed to recycling and not wasting all that beauty. These flowers we took both to Hospice and then to Shadybrook. This was our first time at Care Partners Hospice. Danny Johnson, the volunteer coordinator, is pictured here with the flowers we brought.
The Hospice was spacious, warm and supportive. It felt good to be there. We had plenty of flowers for everyone, with a few large bouquets for the nurses’ stations and the large, brightly lit gathering room.
We still had one more bucket of flowers to distribute so we headed back to Black Mountain and to Shadybrook. We had help with the flowers and more residents came in to visit us and to get their own flowers. We’ve been going to Shadybrook from our beginning days and the residents now recognize us. They wave as we come in, someone always rushes to the door to open it for us and they crowd the room where we’re making bouquets.
DOUBLE TIME AT THE McCUNE CENTER
Late Tuesday afternoon we got a call from Boots Glenn, the owner of Black Mountain Floral Center. A truck had just delivered her order and she asked whether there were any wayward flowers on board. Much to our delight we salvaged 4 buckets full of beautiful roses. I always thought we’d be able to go directly from picking up flowers to delivering, but not today. These ended up in the coldest room in my house. Plus, having been to five facilities already this week we needed to make a few calls, find another place to deliver our beautiful bounty. We found it right here in Black Mountain, the McCune Center. They greeted us with great enthusiasm and openness. Here is a photo of Deniece Hensley, the activity director, with Louise and Lee. 
There was a lot of help making arrangements for all the tables in the dining area. On the right is Louise, Kim (from the kitchen staff), Elaine and Lee. They made short order of the flowers I’d brought. As I was leaving the McCune Center, I got a call from Fresh Market and headed off to pick up more flowers. Decided to head back to McCune’s and this time there were 8 or 10 people crowding around the table, cutting flowers, making beautiful arrangements for everyone to enjoy. It was a whirlwind of activity!
BLOOMING AT HIGHLAND FARMS
When someone asked what I’d been doing all day, I told them I was blooming at Highland Farms. This was the first time that Rose and Helen helped us bloom, making small arrangements. This is a photo of them busily at work. They made all 75 bouquets that we handed out. It was all we could do to keep them supplied with cups and flowers. We were creating quite a stir and staff kept stopping by to see what we were up to. Here’s a photo of Cora with Helen. 
Everyone left happily with flowers in hand. We had a great time - started off with over 80 roses The Flower Gallery donated to us. We then took a short break and Lisa arrived with more flowers. These were from The Bloom Room, left over from a wedding they’d had in Burnsville - stunning roses of every color, dozens of orchids, gerber daisies and bells of Ireland (Scotland?) with interesting greens to put with them. 
There were sweet little small cabbages and even an artichoke in one of the arrangements!
TREASURES FROM THE ITALIAN GARDEN
It was early Sunday morning when we travelled through the gates of Biltmore Estate in search of flowers. We hadn’t received a call but we could smell the roses as we drove in. To our delight we found six beautiful arrangements, prepared by The Flower Gallery, from a wedding in the Italian Garden. We were in luck - Louis was there to help us load them into our truck and off we went to Magnolia Health Care Center. 
The colors and variety of flowers was beautiful and Nan helped us make bouquets as she told us about her life and recited a couple of poems she’d written. It was a sweet and tender time together. And everyone got fresh flowers to brighten their room!
VINTAGE-COLORED ROSES
Another beautiful display of flowers from a wedding held at the Biltmore Estate and created by The Bloom Room. We took these rich, spectacular roses and hydrangeas over to The Laurels of GreenTree Ridge today. We met some delightful people there.
Donna helped us distribute some of the flowers and here is a photo of her introducing us to Dorothy. We also saw Margaret and Armead in the sun room - we’d met them last time we were at The Laurels. 
They’re good friends and roommates - Armead was thrilled when she realized that the arrangement was for her. And that they could actually take their flowers to their room. These flowers brought smiles and delight to everyone we met!
NEW FRIENDS AT HIGHLAND FARMS
We took a beautiful truckload of flowers to Highland Farms last week - they reaped the rewards of our scavenger hunt. Here is a photo of one of our new friends. This is Helen - she’s 92 and the first time we brought a cup full of flowers to her she said, ‘Be sure to let everyone knowthat you just made a 92 year old woman very happy.’ I took a photo of her that was very good, but she wasn’t sure she looked grateful enough so we took a few more - here is Helen looking grateful and enjoying the wonderful aroma of the flowers.
SECOND BLOOM SCAVENGERS
It was early Sunday morning but no calls had come in to the Flower Exchange Train Station. However, we knew there were flowers out there. So we packed up and began our escapade, sleuthing the event sites of the Biltmore Estate.
At the Italian Garden we ran into some of the folks from Blossoms at Biltmore Park. Alan was happy to help with our adventure. So within no time we secured flowers from them at both the Biltmore Country Club and their warehouse in North Asheville. Then, as we were snooping around the Arboretum at the Biltmore, we saw beautiful arrangments from The Flower Gallery, prepared for a wedding held the night before. A quick call to Luck and we had those gathered up. Ready to call it a good enough haul, we heard from The Bloom Room - so off we rolled to West Asheville and somehow found space in the truck for more flowers. All of theseflorists were contributing to what turned out to be a banner day for Second Bloom! Therefore a banner day for the residents at both Highland Farms and Shadybrook, who received bouquets with roses, hydrangeas, dahlias, lillies……
FRESH MARKET
Fresh Market is one of our most consistent donors! We visit their stores in both Asheville and Hendersonville a couple of times each week. Pictured on the left is Louise, from the north Asheville store. And below is Sarah, from the Hendersonville store. They call when they have flowers for us and we come running. Within 
an hour we’ll have them spread out on a table at a local nursing home, Hospice or long term care facility. There, with help from some of the residents, we cut and arrange the flowers into small bouquets for each of the rooms. Fresh Market is known for their fabulous, fresh flowers, as you can see from the photos. To see why Asheville and Hendersonville like them so much, visit their website: www.freshmarket.com.
MAGNOLIA MEETS FRESH MARKET
This morning Fresh Market donated about 30 bunches of flowers that delighted everyone at Magnolia! We had a couple of new residents that joined us, making over 60 small bouquets to be shared with all. We arrived about 45 minutes before lunch and so work was fast and furious - though no one was mad. So perhaps to be more accurate, work was just fast. With just two minutes to spare, those who were helping left for lunch and we took our cart full of flowers to the residents’ rooms. Another successful, heart-filled day for Second Bloom.
HOMEWOOD AND COLEMAN PLACE
Here are two beautiful venues for just about any event or conference you might be planning. Homewood is a fabulous historic stone manor that looks like a castle. It has hardwood floors, stone fireplaces, high ceilings, chandeliers - quite an ambience. To find out more about them, go to www.mybelovedhomewood.com. Coleman Place is a more contemporary, open design with lots of space and great mountain views off to the west. See www.colemanplaceevents.com.
EARTH FARE
Today we got our first donation from Earth Fare of Westgate Shopping Center. They provided us with the flowers we took to Shadybrook Assisted Living Center. Just a couple of buckets of flowers can bring out the smiles and good humor in most of us. That was definitely the case when we showed up with these. For a good look at Earth Fare, visit their website: www.earthfare.com.
LAURELS OF GREENTREE RIDGE TURN BLUE
This was our first showing at GreenTree Ridge. We’d picked up some flowers from a wedding where the main color was blue. Whites were added that really made the blues pop! It was a very interesting effect. The flower arrangements were originally made by The Bloom Room, but once in the hands of Second Bloom they were ‘Flowers On The Move’ - going from vases to trays in the back of a truck to table tops to different vases where they finally rested. We made about 10 large arrangements for the dining room, sitting room and nurses’ stations.
BLOSSOMS AT BILTMORE PARK
On this beautiful fall morning Blossoms at Biltmore Park provided the pink and white extravaganza of flowers that made their way to Magnolia Health Care Center. We took the flowers right out of the vases, put them in trays with a little water in the bottom and headed off down the highway. Blossoms at the Biltmore has this beautiful storefront that matches their equally beautiful website. Take a look at their site: www.blossomsatbiltmorepark.com
MAGNOLIA BLOOMS PINK
Pink was the main color at this weekend’s wedding event. It was accented by gorgeous hydrangeas - white, green and pink. Blossoms at Biltmore Park did the 
beautiful arrangements that we tore apart to make more beautiful arrangements - enough for every room at Magnolia. The photo outside of Magnolia is with Lisa, Jean and Rick. Rick has been at Magnolia for a year and is headed home today. We’ll miss his humor and his ready smile.
SUNSHINE AT SHADYBROOK
Here’s a great photo of Lisa with Karon and Cindy, two staff members at Shadybrook Assisted Living Center! We’ve been coming to Shadybrook every couple of weeks since late summer, but today was the first day that some of the residents joined in making bouquets for the tables. It was great to have the help and the fun of doing it together. The yellow lillies and deep red roses were a hit!
JOKING AROUND AT MAGNOLIA
This was the morning that Joan volunteered with us. Everyone was laughing and joking around. John was especially funny - hamming it up and making Vernelle laugh. 
This particular morning we made over 100 small bouquets and gave them out to everyone. Joan came up with a great idea to help us streamline our process - something that every volunteer will appreciate!
JOIN OUR VOLUNTEERS!
Joan still looks fresh as she begins getting flowers to take to Magnolia Health Care Center. Looks like a small amount of buckets? That’s because you can’t see the rest of them. The back of the truck ended up being packed full with containers of flowers. Definitely a sight to behold! From downtown Asheville we headed to Magnolia to be with our new friends who are always excited to see us. Each week we get someone else to join in the fun. Check out the photos at Magnolia on the day Joan was there - she had everyone laughing.
A BRIGHT OCTOBER MORNING
On this beautiful sunny day we went to Highland Farms Retirement Community to hand out flowers. We worked outside on one of the patios and Jake came out to see what we were up to. His daughter was coming to visit him later in the afternoon so he chose some flowers that he thought she would like. Then with a full cart of over 70 small bouquets we went inside to visit the residents in their rooms. That’s where we found Rose, who is always ready with a welcoming smile. She told us about her grandson Pete and granddaughters Ann and Karen - you could feel the love she has for them. We put a call in to Pete in Massachussetts so he could let the family know that Rose was featured on our website. She was delighted about it.
THE BLOOM ROOM
The Bloom Room, now located at 508 Haywood Road in West Asheville, donated these vibrantly colored flowers from a Saturday night wedding at the Biltmore. These photos cannot begin to show the vibrancy, texture or amazing variety of flowers we were given. From this one box we made over 70 small bouquets. This batch went to Highland Farms Retirement Community - check out the great photos.
To see a sample of The Bloom Room’s beautiful creativity, log onto their website at www.bloom-room.com.
MAGNOLIA HEALTH CARE CENTER
Magnolia Health Care Center has been overflowing with flowers! Vernelle and Nanette, two residents with previous experience in the floral industry, join us every time we arrive. Together we make aboout 100 small arrangements so that each resident can have one. These small gifts of flowers bring smiles and joy to the faces of those who receive them. The connection we make with each of them is very sweet. See who are donors are this week.