Last spring, 15 florists competed to become official florists for the GOP convention this week in Cleveland. Six were chosen, even though the committee had initially planned to select only three.
Watching coverage of the GOP convention in Cleveland and noticing some impressive floral displays amidst the hoopla and speeches? (We know you are.)
While beautiful flowers and plants may not be the focus of the high-profile political event, the florists behind them already have generated some headlines.
Last May, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter on the six Northeast Ohio flower shops named the official florists of the 2016 Republican National Convention:
- Blooms by Plantscaping of Cleveland;
- The Greenhouse of Hudson;
- Heatherlily of Cleveland;
- Tokar Event Design of Cleveland;
- Lowe’s Greenhouse of Chagrin Falls; and
- Cloud Florist of Cleveland.
As official convention florists, the shops “will prepare all the flowers in the Quicken Loans Arena during the convention, arrange flower displays in the plaza between Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive Field, and have the opportunity to sell flowers for receptions and meals held by all 56 GOP delegations,” Dave O’Neil, deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee told the paper.
“That adds up to quite a few flowers,” O’Neil said.
While O’Neil said he couldn’t predict how much money the six businesses would earn, he said, “I’m sure that this will be the largest event that any of these florists will have the privilege of taking part in.”
Fifteen florists applied to be the event’s official florist in March during a “Florist Day” competition. The RNC’s Committee on Arrangements initially planned to only pick three florists, but O’Neil said after the panel of judges saw the displays at Florist Day, “it was just too difficult to pick just three.”
