Over the years my mother would receive plants and flowers, and with her green-thumb it was not unusual to see those flowers in her house 10 to 15 years later and fresh-cut flowers on her table for months not days. She was also a hopeless romantic and my father knew all about romance, or possibly he was always getting in trouble and needed a great way to get back in her good graces. I am going to stick with the former, after all they did have nine children.
When I first moved to Naperville, my youngest daughter was born and someone sent us a floral arrangement from Phillip’s Flowers. My mother was visiting and helping all of us get settled in when the flowers arrived. Her eyes opened wide and she shared a story of how my father once gave her flowers from Phillip’s, she was nearly driven to tears (of joy) telling the story. I am sure it wasn’t the first time he gave her flowers nor the last, she just felt a connection to the package and maybe the idea of a gift of flowers, and remembered nearly every time she got them.
The flowers my mother received were from Phillip’s original location on the west side of Chicago. According to Baxter Phillip, a third generation florist, his parents literally grew up in the flower business, the family home was above the Cicero shop. Back then, the flowers were all bought locally, now blooming and green plants are bought regionally while fresh cut flowers are stocked from around the world. The flowers my wife and I received to celebrate the birth of our 3rd child were sent from the original Naperville Phillip’s Flowers in 5th Avenue Station. Baxter and his family moved the business to the current location, 1007 E. Odgen Ave, 10 years ago to the 4,800 square foot building they bought from McDonalds some years before (1991). This completely renovated facility is one of the largest stores they operate, and has two large display coolers and two walk-in coolers. Brad Behrens, manager of the Naperville location said he loves the floral business as the gift of flowers itself conveys people’s emotions, and it is an awesome responsibility. He further said he also loves Naperville because we celebrate everything, and we have a lot to celebrate…wonderful community evolvement.
Baxter Phillip shared that they will make over 1,000 deliveries of long stem roses (still the most popular order) starting a few days before and including Valentines Day. But that is not the busiest time for them. Mother’s Day is a much busier week and December is the busiest month. The largest single order they filled from the Naperville store was 500 fresh cut flowers sent by a man to his wife on her 50th birthday. The romantic in me often wins over the cynic, so I really want to know how many children those two had!
