As the seasons turn

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Every summer at shopping centers, hotels and apartment

buildings all over the city, there is a changing of the guards.

Old flowers bow their heads to new ones in tribute to the new season.

The bright petunias and snapdragons of summer appear in place of the

azaleas and pansies of spring or the ferns and orchids of winter.

“Everybody likes flowers,” said Steve Mensinger, president of Arnel

Management Co., which manages apartment complexes including The Cape and

Wimbledon Glen at Metro Pointe, and South Point in South Coast Metro. “It

helps brighten up the entrance and your community. It’s a statement of

your attitude. And residents like to see the change in color.

Mensinger explained that his company uses between 150 and 200 flats of

flowers per property entrance.

“It helps identify your property and makes it a pleasant place to be,”

he said. “We use a lot of color.”

Mensinger said the apartments see new flowers every season.

Summer flowers -- including seasonal snapdragons, pansies and

petunias, as well as annual begonias and impatiens -- were planted about

two weeks ago, he said.

“We try and use high-contrast colors with patterns,” Mensinger said.

“We use seasonal flowers because those are typically the ones that have

the most color. Perennials, like begonias and impatiens, get long and

leggy and lose their color, so we have to replace those, too. They are

not as dense or vibrant as the seasonals.”

Doug Ryan, who visited Triangle Square on Thursday, said he likes the

new flowers that replaced the green winter ferns in late May.

“Ferns are beautiful plants, but they are not festive like flowers,”

he said. “The colors make it summer. I think they need more of them,

though. It’s exciting here with the music they have and the people

they’re attracting. More flowers like these would create an atmosphere

that would really bring it all together.”

Bob Marino, another Triangle Square visitor Thursday, said he was also

happy to see the new flowers.

“They’re better than the ferns,” he said.

Triangle Square’s summer bouquet includes pink, purple, red, orange,

yellow impatiens and white alyssum.

“They are seasonal and they make it look more colorful, bright and

cheery,” said Lori Pelzl, marketing director at the square. “We want to

get all the colors out, all the happy stuff.”

The blooms are changed twice a year, she said.

Floral changeovers are also considered a matter of tradition and pride

at South Coast Plaza, where the interior flowers in the west wing of the

center are changed every two weeks, spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said.

Currently, the wing contains mums and greenery. But the flowers in the

west wing don’t just reflect the season; often, they match special

events.

The flowers are orange for an annual Halloween event and burgundy and

white for an annual wine-tasting event, Gunn Downing said.

The flowers that are still good after two weeks on display are donated

to local charities, she said.

South Coast Plaza also changed its exterior flowers for the season

this month, she said.

“We look for blooming plants that compliment the colors of the

season,” Gunn Downing said. “We always want the plants to look as fresh

and new as possible. We’ve even won awards for our landscaping.

“At South Coast Plaza, we’re all about quality and we want that to be

reflected in all of the details, including the interior and exterior

landscaping. We try very hard to give our customers a very positive and

pleasant experience and I think having beautifully done landscaping

creates an environment that makes people feel good.”

The exterior landscaping gets renewed five times each year, she said.

This season’s landscape includes salvia in Victoria blue, zinnias in

orange and marigolds in yellow, as well as the annual red shrub roses

that continually line the perimeter of the shopping center.

“It’s like your garden at home,” Gunn Downing said. “You reflect the

seasons. You wouldn’t have poinsettias all year-round, would you?”