Message in a petal

It's always a quandary this time of year: What to get Mom for Mother's Day. That stunning diamond anniversary necklace from Neiman Marcus was truly appreciated. Her birthday dinner at Joel Robuchon at the Mansion at the MGM Grand was lovely. And that romantic San Diego weekend was a perfect Valentine's Day surprise.

But Mother's Day is different -- and so are Speaking Roses. Speaking Roses is able to print customized or handwritten messages, photographs and logos directly on to flowers and plants without damaging them or affecting their natural life. With a unique, patented, embossing technology, customers create a personalized gift for any occasion, including personal gifts, weddings, graduation, corporate events, a new baby, promotions and, yes, Mother's Day.

"The art is created on the petals or leaves of the flowers," said Scott Endrizzi, regional sales manager for Speaking Roses. "We have done arrangements for the Kentucky Derby, the Grammy Awards, decorated a suite for "Extra" TV for the Emmy Awards, the Indy 500 victory party, the Rose Bowl and many other events, including the Miss America Pageant at Planet Hollywood. One of the biggest was when Tom Cruise appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" last year and presented 225 Speaking Roses bouquets to all the women in the audience."

The Speaking Roses technology took more than three years to perfect, including developing an ink that would stay on flower petals and leaves. The original idea came from a man in Chile who came to the United States to perfect the process. The first bouquet was delivered from Salt Lake City in 2001. Speaking Roses now owns the patents on the embossing technology in 54 countries, and patents are pending or have been published in 100 other countries.

"Our flowers come from local wholesalers who import throughout the year, especially from Colombia and Ecuador," said Endrizzi. "A dozen roses with one of the standard phrases, such as 'I Love You' or 'Happy Birthday' is $79. Each additional process, such as embossing a photo, a name, or actually using your own handwriting, has added costs. Our color-coordinated books can match wedding colors, prom colors, or find the perfect orange for a Halloween party. We then pick and design the flowers from those colors."

Endrizzi suggests customers visit the company's Web site (www.lasvegas.speakingroses.com) and click on the "Language of Flowers" link to see what certain colors of flowers mean. For example, lavender signals admiration, enhancement, elegance and forgiveness; pink conveys appreciation, caring, harmony and perfect happiness. Pink and lavender together say great admiration and hope for the future.

And even numbers have significance, explains Endrizzi. Send one rose, "You're the one for me"; two, "You and I are right together"; six, "I want to be yours"; or break the bank with 100 roses and proclaim to the world, "My love has no bounds."

Because there is only a certain amount of space on the flower, the message has to be properly formatted to fit the petal or leaf.

Speaking Roses is a full floral service, offering hand-tied bouquets, chocolates, on-site flower design, custom order processing, worldwide wire services and local delivery. It is located at 2700 E. Sunset Road, Suite 26. For more information, call 363-7673.