A New Spin on Fall Harvest and What is Raffia?

By David Swartz, Business Development at Swartz and Associates

Iowans with any connection to a farm know the value of family gathering to help finish the fall harvest. My wife and I honor this family tradition with a modern twist. We help our floral designer-owner daughter, Sarah at her Bend, OR shop during Valentines and Mother’s Day – her biggest weeks of the year.

My roles are simple – taking phone orders, occasional deliveries, and cleaning buckets. My wife preps greens for arrangements and makes Grab-n-Go arrangements.

This last Mother’s Day tested Sarah’s personal mantra to seek Tolerance for Adversity and Uncertainty. She faced staffing adversity, uncertainties on tariff effects on pricing and customer demand. Fortunately, the shop experienced a record week – confirming the value of tolerance in the face of many challenges and calmly moving forward according to careful planning.

I even learned that raffia is a floristy, fancy type of ribbon, used for those Grab-n-Go arrangements which I was charged to cut. It’s timely to note that Swartz+Associates put a big ribbon on completing all of our April 30^th property tax appeal deadlines as result of a high level of new engagements. Thank you for your continued confidence in us and we will soon report on our successes!

Finally, a creatively designed flower arrangement from a local flower shop makes a loving gift for anyone, and if you ever need flowers in Bend, OR then Wild Flowers is the flower shop to call!