Flowers bring joy to any room and it can be lovely to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with some freshly cut floral arrangements to brighten up the event.
With the new year just around the corner, it is hard to know what kind of arrangements are best for a table centerpiece or to send for the occasion. Luckily, some local floral shops have got you covered.
Apart from the apples and honey — that’s a given — it can be challenging to build a beautiful early fall table. This year, with the holiday in late September, there is a large selection.
September is bright and warm. It is not fall quite yet and a lot of flowers are in their prime this time of year, said General Manager Andrew Larkin of Milwaukee Blooms, on Oakland Avenue. Some popular colors include purple, yellow, fuchsia and lime green.
The floral department of Sendik’s Food Market prepares a lot of pre-arranged flowers for customers to grab and go, facilitating the experience for them, Assistant Manager Dayna Nagel said. They get multiple pre-placed orders for the occasion every year.
The most popular floral arrangements are bright colors for Rosh Hashanah, Nagel added. Table center pieces are usually $25 to $50. Bima pieces are typically anywhere from $150 to $175. Bima pieces are floral arrangements done in foam.
“The summer slows down a bit, but we’re heading into a busier season with Rosh Hashanah kicking that off,” Nagel said.
Colors vary to everyone’s liking, however. Some people prefer a more classic look and pick out some white flowers.
“For Rosh Hashanah, it’s basically a lot of blue and white. Blue hydrangeas, blue delphinium. Some people do like the multi-colored ones. It all depends on what they’re setting their table for,” said Kurt Jorgenson, owner of Grande Flowers, Shorewood. “We have regular customers that for every Jewish holiday, they get their centerpieces.”
Centerpieces for Rosh Hashanah vary, sometimes they do one big centerpiece, some smaller ones throughout the table, or a garland throughout the table. It all depends on the person’s style and how they plan to set up their table.
Jorgenson is expecting more orders with more people gathering than the previous years. For the occasion he is expecting 30 to 40 orders.
With Covid-19, the floral shop has paused their fruit baskets. The pomegranates, honey and apples will need to be bought elsewhere. However, their average centerpiece is $65 to $100 depending on what flowers they use.
There really is no specific flower that represents Rosh Hashanah; everyone chooses what they like best. However, these floral shops do notice that people either go very bright or lean toward a classic white.
The good thing about celebrating the new year and hosting a dinner to celebrate it is that you can make it as glamorous as you would like. Those who cannot make it will also be happy to receive them.
“We are artists, so it’s rewarding to see how beautiful everything is,” said Larkin. “Anyone who gets flowers is happy.”