The Agricultural Act of 2014, the farm bill, will affect the nation’s Christmas tree growers in addition to other floriculture programs.

After several years of research and development, GPW Direct Consumer LLC in St. Cloud, MN, has introduced Blooming Greetings, a combination greeting card-flower vase that assembles from a flat pack retail package into a bouquet vase and greeting card wrapped into one.

According to Corey DeVille, Midwest regional sales manager for Blooming Greetings, the company has received an enthusiastic response from several supermarket chains, including SpartanNash in Grand Rapids, MI. DeVille was interviewed last month at a SpartanNash tradeshow in Minneapolis.

Tedeshci Food Shops in Rockland, MA, rolled out a new floral program in all its stores right before Valentine’s Day, according to a company press release.

Established in 1923, Tedeschi is a New England family-owned-and-operated convenience store chain, with more than $600 million in annual revenue. The company operates 191 convenience store locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The 2014 Valentine’s Day initial sales reports from different parts of the country showed variable results, but indicated a slight increase over last year.

Paul Harris, sales and farm liaison for Tradewinds International in Boulder, CO, after polling member-wholesalers around the country, said that holiday business improved as you moved from the East Coast to the West Coast.

“People in the Northeast got hammered, but the numbers got better as you moved west. In fact, one wholesaler in Colorado reported a 24 percent sales increase over 2013,” Harris said.

One of the more popular flowering potted plants in North America is the Easter lily. These lilies are heavily marketed for the Easter holiday season, usually during the week immediately prior to Easter.

Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year it falls on April 20.

Administrative Professionals Week is observed the last full week of April (this year, April 20-26), with the Wednesday of that week set aside as Administrative Professionals Day (this year, April 23).

Over the years, Administrative Professionals Day has become one of the larger workplace observances and its purpose is to honor the growing and diverse contributions of secretaries, administrative assistants and other office professionals.