1944 Jellico Train Wreck

This weeks train derailment in Philadelphia brought back memories of the famous train wreck of July 6,1944 that happened in our area in which 34 solders died and over 100 were injured. It was one of the worst train disasters in US history.  Ironically, just like the Philadelphia wreck, excessive speed was the leading cause of this derailment.

 

Troop trail wreck near Jellico.
Troop trail wreck near Jellico.

 

I remember my Uncle Paul Martin, who owned Martin Funeral Homes in Clinton and Lake City at the time, telling me about this wreck and how all area funeral home sent ambulances (funeral homes were in the ambulance business back then) up to Jellico to help pick up solders and transport them back to local hospitals.

The local Red Cross helped, but had to do so in secrecy since the main office was in Oak Ridge, at the time a top secret military operation, so all correspondence and newspaper datelines had to use Clinton office as the address. It was one of the biggest undertakings in the local Red Crosses history.  Below is a list of links to this disaster:

www.drwebman.com/trooptrainwreck/  A website dedicated to the Jellico train wreck

17 Killed In Troop Train Wreck-AP  Original AP story of train wreck

Survivor of the troop train wreck returned to Jellico Story in Lafollette Press 

Do you have any recollections about this event? I would assume that the old Lake City Hospital took in some of the injured. Post your comments on Facebook.

 

Order Your Mother’s Day Flowers From a Local Florist

Make sure you know where the flowers are coming from. There is a common assumption that flowers ordered online will arrive arranged in a vase. While many Internet companies put their orders though a local professional florist, some offer product “direct from the grower” and the flowers are boxed and must be processed (cut stems) and designed by the recipient.Stargazers & Roses

If your expectation is give a gift of flowers that are professional designed and delivered to your Mom’s door or office, make sure you are ordering directly from a local florist, or from a website that puts the orders through a professional florist. Our website address is www.knightsflowers.com.

Mother’s Day Flowers

The first celebrations of Mother’s Day can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who worshiped mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. During the 1600s in England a special day was set apart as Mothering Day, a day of taking small cakes and trinkets to mothers.

Teacup & Roses

In the United States the idea for Mother’s Day has generally been credited to Anna Jarvis. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service held at her request in Grafton, West Virginia (the burial place of her mother) on May 10, 1908. Because of her mother’s fondness for them, Miss Jarvis wore a carnation to that first service. She went on to play an active role in encouraging the government to establish a national holiday to honor mothers everywhere. By 1911 Mother’s Day was being celebrated throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico, Canada, South America, China, Japan and Africa. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as National Mother’s Day and asked all Americans to offer their respect and love for mothers publicly.

5 Gifts That Will Drive Your Sweetie Pie Nuts at Valentine’s

 When it comes to flowers for Valentine’s guys can become clueless as to what to get. More often than not they go for the safe bet…Red Roses.
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Just the other day I had a young customer come in to buy his girlfriend flowers for Valentine’s Day. He wanted to really impress her. I showed him a few arrangements and he kept saying “No that’s not impressive enough”. He REALLY wanted to blow her away. So I let it all hang out and sold him a big bouquet of our amazing  Groovy Lovin’ Roses in which each petal is tye dyed along with another dozen red roses added to the arrangement.Now that’s a statement! His bill came to over $200! Wow!

Wanna be a hit Valentine’s and have you bumpkin’ swooning all over you? Here’s 5 can’t miss gifts from Knight’s Flowers:

  • Groovy Lovin’ Roses- The most talked about roses we carry and we only get them at Valentine’s. Each petal is dyed in a rainbow of colors to create the most psychedelic look you’ll ever see in flowers. When your honey bun sees these beauties he’ll be speechless.

Groovy Lovin' Roses

  • Pretty In Pink-Our number one selling Valentine arrangement. Girls just loooove pink. Yep, I know what your thinking…red means love, but pink also means love. This is the most fenimine of colors that coveys caring and nuturing. Induded in this arrangent are one of the gals favoite flowers-pink Stargazer Lilies. With a few red roses added, this stunning arrangement will have your loved one bowled over with joy.v13Pretty in Pink1
  • Valentine’s Jewels Bouquet-Each year we feature a new rose that not red for that descriminating customer that wants something different. This year we are featuring the lavender rose variety called ‘Purple Haze’, with it’s light lavender petals that have hot pink edges on the petals.Valentines-Jewels
  • Chocolates-Sure, we’re a flower shop. We petal flowers. Chocolates? We’ve come across the most mouthwatering  handmade truffles from our chocolatier Sweet Shop USA we’ve ever tasted. Much, much better than that stuff you get at the drug stores. Perfect by themselves or added to a flower arrangement.GOCHOC
  • Red Roses-The most fail safe flowers a guy can give a girl. Are there any gals that don’t like red roses? We carry not just any red rose. We carry the greatest red rose in the world. No, I’m not kidding. We are one of the few florists in the country that carry the beauty called ‘Corazon’ , which is spanish for heart. This rose opens fully into a gigantic garden rose look and best of all it lasts and lasts. For over 10 days! Dozen Red Roses

So there you have it. An insider’s guide for men that gets your the biggest, wettest kiss and bear hug of all time.

Oh, one more thing. If you gals are reading this pass this along to you other half. You know what I mean? Don’t go away disapointed this Valentine’s. Make sure your pootsy wootsy gets his flowers from Knights.

5 Pitfalls to Buying Your Wedding Flowers Online

Many couples has they plan out their wedding stumble across ads on the internet for beautiful wedding flowers that can be shipped to you at prices much lower than your local florist. These ads are temping with beautiful photos of exotic flowers with unbelievable prices. Unfortunately, there are some dangerous pitfalls that brides to be need to be aware of.

Bridal Party

1.Pictures Can be Deceiving

Have you ever bought something online that looks huge and gorgeous, but when you get the flowers they are small and dinky? I’m sure we all have at some point. One of the advantages at Knight’s is we carry a huge selection of flowers throughout the week. We carry over 30 different variety of flowers in an array of colors at any given time. Many of the flowers that a bride will want for her wedding will be available to see, feel and smell right from our huge display cooler. This prevents any hidden surprises.

2. Wilted Flowers

Two of the most important components of keeping a flower fresh are water and cool/cold temperatures. When flowers have to travel great distances via FedEx they usually get hot (especially in the summer months) and are out of water. By the time they arrive in your home they can be wilted or very stressed. While re-cutting them will revive them, hopefully, the dramatic stress they endured probably knocked several days vase life off the flowers. Buying from a florist like Knights we keep your flowers in a temperature controlled cooler built just for flowers at around 35 degrees and 80-90% humidity so the flowers will be at optimum freshness for your wedding. We also hydrated the flowers in a special solution, plus store them in water mixed with just the right flower food to keep the blooms at just the perfect openness. When you pick up or have your wedding flowers delivered they will be in water with vases we give you.

 3. Sticker Shock

Online wedding flowers look to be like a great deal until you figure in the shipping and other charges the merchant tacks on at the end of the sale. Those bargain basement hydrangeas, once you’ve add up the miscellaneous charges can cost more than you can get at your local florist, especially Knights. We see brides that check our prices out and are amazed just how reasonable we are. Of course, you have to compare apples to apples-size, variety and color. With enough lead time we can get the prices way down, even  for the DIY’er.

4. Late Delivery

You have your flowers schedule for delivery on the day before the wedding and they haven’t showed up yet. Finally, they arrive really late in the day or worse the day of the wedding. Yikes! Believe me I waited on more than one bride on a late Friday afternoon desperate for last minute flowers for a wedding to replace the flowers that didn’t show up. Talk about panic stricken. At Knights we get our flowers in several days before the wedding to make sure they look great, properly hydrate them, and if there is a problem we have plenty of time to get replacements.

 5. Storage

OK, you’ve got your wedding flowers in a few days ahead of time to cover for possible problems. Now you’ve got to store them. You planned the perfect set up. Your old fridge out in the garage. This is just about the worst place you can store your flowers. I can not tell you how many brides that have ruined their flowers flowers in these fridges. What’s wrong with old refrigerators? Plenty. First, they may have old odors from leftover food that give off dangerous gases that can kill the flowers. Second, the temperature can vary dramatically from the top part to the bottom part of the fridge. Thirdly, If the fridge is in the garage or warm room the hot moisture from outside come onto the flowers in the fridges and collects on the petals and foliage causes them to turn brown or black…and possible wilt or die. Don’t put flowers in the fridge! Better to put them in a cool draft free dark room. Even better, buy your flowers from a local florist that has state of the art coolers just for keeping flowers.

Bottom Line

Stick with your local florist. At Knight’s we’ve been doing wedding flowers for over 60 years. When accidents happen, and they will, we are on the spot ready to fix it. Not 1,000 miles away sitting in a cubicle helpless to solve your problem.

Our Mission

We help budget minded couples planning a wedding make their dreams a reality with bloomin’ gorgeous wedding flowers without the stress and confusion of what to order.

 

 

 

 

 

Peonies-When Tastes Exceeds Budget

Peonies, one of mother natures most beautiful flowers. Big, fluffy and sweet they are the ‘in’ flower for weddings in 2014.  Peonies come in range of pastel and white colors. Unfortunately, peonies have one big drawback for brides on a budget. Price.  Peonies are very expensive.

Why are peonies so expensive?

It takes a peony 2 years to grow from seed to bloom

More importantly, peonies have a very short growing season. The main peony growing season in the continental U.S. is in the spring-April through June. Now growers in Alaska are starting to grow peonies during the summer months , but the supply is limited. Also, in the winter peonies are available in small quantities from Chile during the winter months.

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Peony Varieties

There are about 25 to 30 major varieties that florist use as cut flowers. The hottest variety for weddings in 2014 is undoubtedly ‘Coral Charm’.  With one of the big color trends in weddings this year is coral, ‘Coral Charm’ fits the bill perfectly with it heady ruffled bloom that give weddings that garden look.  One thing to keep in mind with ‘Coral Charm’  is the color changes from day to day as it opens, going from a pinkish shade to coral as it fully opens. Below is a brides bouquet we did for a wedding last month that was filled with ‘Coral Charm’ peonies

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Another wonderful peony is ‘Red Charm’ with its deep scarlet palate that is wonderful in the fall. We feature this peony in a beautiful wedding package called ‘Rumba Red’.

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Of course we can’t forget the most popular peony in weddings over the past several years, the gorgeous pink ‘Sara Bernhardt’. This huge blossom will work in with lots of shades of pink and it holds up very well.

peony-sarabernhardt

 

They are out of my budget

OK, you’ve just seen the most beautiful wedding bouquet on Pinterest or in a bridal magazine that has peonies in it. It’s to die for. You go to your florist and they quote you a price that is also to die for. Way more than you can afford. What’s a bride to do?

Well, at Knight’s we specialize in  finding substitutions for peonies that are less expensive. The best substitution are with garden roses. Many garden roses open up as big as a peony and have those ruffled petals and wonderful smell. In fact some garden roses look so similar to peonies most people would be hard pressed to noticed the difference. Check out a previous post on garden roses.

gardenrosepinkSo if your dying to have peonies, but they are out of season or just too darn expensive for your budget we here at Knight’s can help. Don’t hesitate to call or come by our shop. We can make your wedding memorable with or without peonies to fit any budget.

Our Mission

We help budget minded couples planning a wedding make their dreams a reality with bloomin’ gorgeous wedding flowers without the stress and confusion of what to order.

5 ways to do your wedding reception for under $50

One of the last items left on a brides to do list quite often will be decorations for the wedding reception. It can also be something that is over looked when budgeting for the wedding, which means no or little money left for the this important event. What’s a bride to do?

Here are 5 simple low budget do it yourself ways you can decorate a reception for under $50 that will take very little time.

1-For that vintage look that is so popular right now, buy some mason jars and fill them with similar flowers from your wedding. If you want to be a little more decorative you can try spraying you mason jars different colors. There are several sites online that will show you how to do this. At Knight’s we also carry several lots of mason jars that are tinted in the more trendy color palates.

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2-Candles are a great way to make your reception pop. Votive candles put in little glass vases can really make a plain reception decor sparkle. For extra impact get some glass mirrors and put under the candles

candles

3-Adding a single flower to a cube vase can really add a touch of elegance to a reception, especially if the flower is something exotic or has a high perceived value like a hydrangea, open rose or lily. Check our shop for some incredible deals one single stem flowers.

 

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4-Spread rose petals over the tables. Simple but effective way to give your tables a little pizzaz. At Knight’s we sell a box of rose petals for only $10 in any color.

5-Buy some 4″ plants like rose plants, kalanchoes or other blooming or foliage plants that are in season and place throughout your tables.

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These are just a few of the ideas for simple, inexpensive ways a bride can transform her reception into trendy setting without breaking the bank.

At Knight’s we have lots of ideas to help  budget minded bridal couples have a trendy, fashionable wedding. Check us out!

Our Mission

We help budget minded couples planning a wedding make their dreams a reality with bloomin’ gorgeous wedding flowers without the stress and confusion of what to order.

The 4 Top Rose Color Trends for Valentine’s

Back in the early 1950’s when Knight’s Flowers started in business in Lake City, just about the only rose color your true love got for Valentine’s was red. A florist might have a few white or pink roses back then, but 60 years later we have kaleidoscope of colors. At Knight’s we carry over ten different rose colors. Now there are over 120 different rose varieties to chose from, many which last over 10 days!

The 3 top selling colors for Valentine’s are:

Ravishing Reds

The new reds for roses range from shades of bright raspberry to majestic scarlet to velvety-dark red to orange-kissed hues. At Knight’s we use the heart stopping Corazon rose from Rio Roses, which is a bright red rose that opens fully, last for over 2 weeks and amazingly doesn’t droop. Check our our ‘Dozen Red Roses’ arrangement that is sure to impress your love one.
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Pretty Pink Roses

This year we have traditional bridal pinks or adopted siblings of hip hot pinks. Cousins on this family tree include peaches, apricots, corals and lavenders. Check out our ‘Valentine’s Jewels’ bouquet for a wide variety of pink color tones this Valentines.
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Wild Yellows

Whether crisp lemon, buttery hues, golden yellows or trendy two-tones, the variety of yellow roses cover a broad spectrum of color – and appeal. If you’ve never given flowers to a man before, introduce him to this family of colors. Yellow is the second most popular color cited by men. This year at Knight’s we have a wicked yellow rose that has red tinted edges on its petals called ‘Circus’. Check our ‘2 Dozen Circus’ roses arrangement that sure to brighten up any lovers day.
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Rainbow Roses

One of the hottest new trends in Valentines colors that past couple of years is a rose color called ‘rainbow roses’. Each petal on this rose is dyed a different color to create a spectacular show. If you want to just blow away you sweetie pie this valentines order this rose arrangement we call “Groovy Lovin’ Roses”.
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Roses are like fine wines, a delight to be savored and cultivated. Like an expanding wine cellar, Knight’s Flowers coolers are now stocked with more choices worth learning about. After all, variety is the spice of life.

The Most Breathtaking Candles Ever

 At Knight’s we get new products in almost daily, but recently we got a shipment of candles in from a new vendor called Habersham Candles that had the whole shop filled with the most amazing fragrances we’ve ever encountered. Immediately we opened the boxes to see what in the world smelled so wonderful. Like little kids at Christmas we were tearing away at boxes opening them up to check out these incredibly scented candles. Oh my gosh, the bouquet was amazing!
That wasn’t the only thing that blew us away. The shape of these candles are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. While many candles are in jars, these extraordinary candles are in the shape of a bowl or a round sphere. The colors are striking with little hand panted flowers on the outside of the candle. Describing these candles really can’t do it justice. You just have to see them for yourself. They’ll take you breath away.
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If the fragrance and the appearance of the candle isn’t awesome enough, get this…it’s releases it fragrance without having to be lighted! No more messy, melted wax or awful black soot. You won’t have to worry about the kids accidentally knocking the candle over starting a raging fire.
These marvelous candles will continue giving off a scent for at least 6 months. Some people have claimed they still retain their fragrance up to 2 years!
We have an exclusive to Habersham Candles in our area. Come by our shop and see why Habersham Candles are the hottest selling candles in the gift industry today with alluring fragrances like Chocolate Orange,  Sunflower Lemon Vanilla, Mahogany Apple,  Harvest Home, Cranberry Spice and Sage among others. Come in an see all of the different fragrances we carry or view them online on our Habersham Candle Page. We can deliver them in our delivery area or ship them anywhere in the USA.
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Doesn’t the scents of a wonderful candles remind you of fond memories of the past? Visiting grandma for a big thanksgiving dinner. Trip to the beach. Maybe a Christmas when you were just a tot growing up.

Musings about flowers, food and history.