Best Buds

By Leah Reisman | June 8, 2016

Where can you work where you’ll be surrounded all day by something that smells and looks beautiful but doesn’t have any calories? At a flower shop of course! Shavuos is coming and I bet your Yom Tov table will be showcasing a colorful bouquet of flowers.

So let’s take a peek (and a sniff or two) at Hashem’s beautiful and unique creations and talk to the people who help them flourish.

Don’t know the difference between a peony and a poinsettia or a carnation and a calla? Let’s talk to the experts and find out how they amassed their knowledge of all things floral. Is it something you can learn from books and school or is it all about natural talent and creativity?

Name:	Business:	Location:	How I learned about Flowers:
Mrs. Leah Sicherman	Floral Expressions	Lakewood NJ	I’ve always loved flowers. I have a degree in interior design so I already knew a lot about flowers. But I had to learn about caring for them properly from a book used in classes for florists.
Mrs. Esti Lieberman	Gold’s Flower Shop	Monsey NY	My mother Mrs. Gold started the business in 1979. She learned the tricks of the trade from her mother-in-law who opened up a flower shop in Brooklyn together with her husband in 1967. My mother taught me what she had learned and eventually my husband and I joined my mother in the business.
Mr. Menachem Gottesman	Gold’s Flower Shop (Yes he is related to Mrs. Lieberman from Gold’s in Monsey)	Brooklyn NY	I began working in my grandparents’ flower shop shortly after I got married. In 1994 I bought the business in partnership with my brother-in-law Moshe Spitzer as Bobby and Zeidy Gold retired. I have an inborn artistic flair however I needed on the job training to build experience and to become the professional I am today.

International Flower Show

A trip to your local florist can be like a trip around the world. Most florists purchase their blooms from countries across the globe such as Holland Japan Ecuador Mexico New Zealand and even Eretz Yisrael though Mr.

Gottesman cautions that during shemittah one must be careful not to purchase flowers from there. One of the biggest flower markets in the world is in Holland. Although Holland is known for its beautiful flowers especially tulips and orchids the Holland flower market showcases flowers from all over the world featuring prized blooms such as roses from Ecuador and peonies from Japan.

“There’s a big flower market in Manhattan on 28th street that showcases flowers from around the world ” says Mrs. Lieberman. “My mother loves to go there. When I was a child she used to go at four in the morning and be back by six thirty to give us breakfast. But I choose flowers without ever leaving my desk through reputable suppliers I trust.”

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