Cottage Grove location open

9 – 6 Monday through Friday
9 – 5 Saturday and Sunday

Edgerton location open

Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30
 Sat 8:30-5, Sun 9-4

"He should just sleep in this bed. Falling off doesn’t hurt. It’s just uncomfortable."
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Snippet from Lucy’s journal…Autumn 2014

Finale to last week’s chapter 85.

Yeah, my mom’s home and she’s carrying something into the house.  Oooo, is it for me?  I really like surprises! 

After our usual greeting of hugs, sweet talk, and many kisses my mom says, ‘Lucy, quick, I need your help.  We need to get this thing set up in the bedroom before your dad gets home.’

I looked at this ‘thing’, and then looked up at my mom, ‘Huh?’  ‘Here’s the deal,’ she tells me,  ‘We don’t want to take a chance on your dad getting hurt falling out of bed again, so this contraption should keep him nice and safe the next time he has one of his craaazy dreams. It’s a railing that keeps little kids from falling out of their bed at night. I figure if it keeps little kids from falling out of bed it should work for big kids like your dad.’  My mom cracks me up! 

So, we get this thing put on his side of the bed and my mom says to me, ‘There we’re all done. What do you think, Lucy?  Will that keep your dad from falling out of bed?’

We started to laugh and we just couldn’t stop!  We heard the front door open and we scrambled out to the living room.  My dad walked into the house, looked at us and said, ‘What’s going on you two.  What’s so funny?’

Neither one of us could talk, we were laughing so hard.   We tried really hard not to look toward the bedroom, but, well, ya can’t fool my dad.  He noticed and he very slowly walked into the bedroom.  We followed him, laughing the whole time.  My dad stood looking at the bed for a while, and asked, ‘What the heck?’  Then suddenly, he got it.  And with a big grin on his face he threw his head back and just roared! 

Gosh, it’s fun to be silly (& safe) at my house! 

Till next time!
~Lucy

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Would you like to learn how to make a terrarium or a miniature garden? Join us this weekend and we’ll show you how.

Come out, this Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, anytime between 10am-3pm, for our Make and Take Terrarium workshop or our Make & Take Miniature Garden workshop.

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We’ll show you how easy it is to create a lovely terrarium or a charming miniature garden that you’ll enjoy for years to come. We have a wide selection of miniature plants and itsy-bitsy furniture and tiny lawn accessories to choose from. 

Bring in your own terrarium and/or containers from home (minus any potting soil or dirt of any kind) or choose from our large variety of pottery.  We also have a limited selection available of gallon-sized open top glass bowls and covered glass containers.  All accessories for these workshop must be purchased from America’s Best Flowers.

Remember America’s Best Flowers provides FREE potting soil at all our container workshops.

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Tropical plants will brighten your home or office and add oxygen to any indoor environment.  We have Bird of Paradise, Schefflera, and weeping Ficus in Bushes and Braided Standards, all varieties are in 10-inch pots.

Bird of Paradise like bright light and some sun.  A window facing East or West is best for this plant and should reward you with lots of growth and eventually flowers.  When watering keep the soil moist, not waterlogged, and well drained.  While this plant is in the growing state, fertilize once a month.  No feeding during the winter months is needed.  Did you know Bird of Paradise is the official flower for the city of Los Angeles?

Schefflera, also known as an umbrella tree, has glossy dark green leaves and grows well in pots or other containers.  Fertilize during the growing season with liquid fertilizer, during the winter months fertilizer is not needed.  Place in a bright spot with some direct sun and this plant will be happy.

Ficus, Weeping Fig, is a popular elegant indoor tree that makes a statement in any brightly lit indoor room but will tolerate less light.  Water thoroughly, then allow to dry out slightly between waterings and fertilize once a month spring through fall with a balanced fertilizer diluted by half.  This plant doesn’t like change and should not be moved around, as it will drop its leaves.  In the fall this plant will naturally drop some of its leaves, but with good care it will grow new leaves in spring and summer.

"100% Made in the USA"

How many of you have heard the adage, "You get what you pay for"?  Corinthian Bells wind chimes offer top range value and are acoustically exceptional.

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These amazing wind chimes are manufactured in the USA with heavy walled aluminum tubing and interior pin suspension that allows the chime to resonate longer and clearer. A weather resistant high density striker gives these chimes their outstanding tones and resonance. Powder coated aluminum on the dome, tubes, and sail provide weather resistance to the chimes, as well as a sophisticated, clean finished look. Available in a variety of colors and sizes, these chimes would be a perfect gift for the deck or patio. 

Corinthian Bells are made in the USA and are noted for quality, superior materials, attention to detail and superb craftsmanship.  All backed up with a 5 Year Warranty, making Corinthian Bells Wind Chimes superior to any others.

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Yes, our seed potatoes and onion sets have arrived!  The varieties of potatoes we have are Red Norland, Yukon Gold, Kennebec (all purpose white), Russet Burbank (baker) and All Blues.

And we have red, white and yellow onion sets available.

Our associate of the week is Cheryl who started working for America’s Best Flowers in 2002 as a seasonal associate at our East Menard’s satellite location.  She also worked at our West Town and Monona locations.  She also helped with planting from February thru Mid-April in Cottage Grove, which she still does to this day.  In 2011 she was asked to come to Cottage Grove to work as an Assistant Manager.

If you ask Cheryl what she enjoys most about her job she smiles and comments, working with my co-workers.  She feels that together they create a greenhouse full of beautiful plants for you to enjoy.  She also loves learning new things about plants and related products from her co-workers and customers so she can share that knowledge.

Just ask Cheryl’s co-workers what her favorite plant is and they will tell you ‘she loves everything’!  She does have a passion for succulents, ‘the more unusual the better’.  The best thing about succulents is how they require very little attention, a little water, plant food and sun, and that’s it.  Grandchildren and gardening are at the top of her interests – hobbies outside of work.  She is also an avid pool player having played in the Women’s Independent Pool League since the age of seventeen.  She hopes to see you soon at America’s Best Flowers.

America’s Best Flowers is teaming up with Fevolden Farm LLC to teach Compression Only CPR (Hands Only CPR) throughout the day on Saturday, April 18, 2015 between 10am and 3pm. 

Tom and Ginny Olson will be on site to provide hands-on training on CPR, the Heimlich maneuver for relief of choking, and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).  There will be no charge for this training and it is open to anyone 10 years of age and older.  Just drop in and learn.  Expected time commitment – 15-30 minutes.

In addition to their experience with alpacas and alpaca products, Tom & Ginny have many years of experience in the health care field.  Ginny has over 20 years experience in critical care as a Registered Nurse followed by 10 years as a Nurse Infomaticist at the Madison VA Hospital.  Tom has over 30 years experience teaching safety and emergency response classes at Madison College and the Madison VA Hospital.  Both are retired volunteer Deer-Grove EMTs and have been teaching CPR for over 30 years as certified instructors for the American Heart Association.