Lilium has carried Jellycat plush toys in the shop for several years. We love their unique designs and high quality craftsmanship, and they make perfect gifts for baby showers, birthdays and holidays. While we knew kids loved receiving Jellycats, we didn’t anticipate the increased interest from the teen and young adult (Generation Z) crowd. Thanks to social media platforms like TikTok, Jellycats are all the rage, and have become quite collectable.

what’s the big deal?

Jellycats are not your average plush toy. They are so very cuddly, made with luxury fabrics and stuffed just enough to be floppy and squeezable. Their designs range from classic teddy bears and long-eared bunnies to sea creatures, insects and dragons. The company’s Amuseable line brings everyday objects like food, plants, sports equipment, and holiday icons to life with cheerful smiles and adorable dangling legs and feet.

We started getting phone calls before Christmas this year from parents looking for specific Jellycats, not for their young children, but for their teens and young adults. TikTok, in particular, is filled with video content of Gen Zs showing off their latest Jellycat acquisition. Jellycat introduces two new collections per year, but they also retire about 75-100 plush designs per year. This creates even greater demand for the rare and hard to find Jellycat.

Jellycats have become quite collectable. There are websites for collectors that feature databases to help fans manage their collections. The company has experienced a 59% increase in online searches over the past year, with 639,000 searches per month.

HOLIDAY favorites

Jellycat releases new holiday styles each year, and most are sold out well before the holiday. Lilium will offer the Bashful Red Love Heart Bunny and Amuseable Pink and White Marshmallows for Valentine’s Day 2024. Quantities are limited, so don’t wait to place your order, or stop by in person to claim them for your own.

New to our collection

Lilium is pleased to offer a large selection of Jellycats, including bunnies, bears, kangaroos, koalas, cows and hippos. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, so don’t miss out on Drake the Dragon (retired in 2021) and Snow Dragon. We are adding several NEW Jellycats to our inventory, including Finnegan Frog, Bashful Lamb, Fuddlewuddle Lion and Bashful Wolf.

Stop by Lilium and meet our menagerie of wonderful Jellycat creatures. Take one or two home to add to your own collection!


The holidays are barely behind us, but we are headed full-steam toward Valentine’s Day. In the world of sports, all eyes turn to the Super Bowl February 4 and the Olympic Games on February 9. In the flower game, however, the biggest event of the year happens a few days later on February 14. Whether you mark the day with cards, flowers or candy, Valentine’s Day is one of the most anticipated (and sometimes dreaded) days of the year.  In honor of the big day, we thought we’d share a few fun facts about Valentine’s Day.

There was more than one Saint Valentine, but the one most associated with Valentine’s Day is the one who defied Emperor Claudius II by helping couples to marry in secret. The emperor felt single men made better soldiers, and forbade them to marry, but Valentine was sympathetic to their plight. Valentine’s actions cost him his head, but he is immortalized centuries later as we celebrate love. Isn’t that romantic?

Nothing takes you back to those classroom Valentine’s Day parties like a box of conversation hearts. Invented in 1866, Necco (New England Confectionery Company) now produces 8 billion conversation hearts each year. Production continues year-round to meet the February demand. Each box contains assorted messages (50-60 different ones are produced each year), including current references like, “IM Me.” If you have a few boxes left once Valentine’s Day has passed, don’t worry. They have a shelf life of five years!

Vernona, Italy, home of William Shakespeare’s fictional lovers Romeo and Juliet, receives approximately 1000 letters addressed to Juliet each year. Letters to Juliet are answered by members of the Club di Guilietta, who take their task very seriously.

Casa di Guiletta in Verona
Visitors to Casa di Guilietta leave behind love notes

Overall, $18.2 billion is spent on Valentine’s Day each year. The average man spends $150; the average woman spends $74. Approximately 9 million people will purchase a Valentine gift for a pet.

Hallmark began mass-producing Valentine’s Day greeting cards in 1913. Today, approximately $1 billion is spent on Valentines, making it the second largest card-giving occasion, behind Christmas. According to Hallmark, 50% of the US population purchases Valentine’s Day greeting cards. Of that number, half are purchased in the six days prior to February 14. Procrastinate much?

Hallmark's popup flower bouquet
Hallmark Valentine

Chocolates are a favorite gift choice for Valentine’s Day. We often see those heart-shaped boxes on retail shelves before the Christmas clearance signs even go up. Why chocolates? Historians tell us that physicians in the 1800s advised their patients to eat chocolate to calm their pinings for lost love. Chocolate increases the brain’s level of serotonin,  the feel-good chemical. In the mid-1800s, Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates specifically for Valentine’s Day. He designed the heart-shaped boxes himself, adorned with roses and Cupids. Whether we purchase the chocolate to celebrate love, or mourn the lack of it, Americans spend $1 billion on Valentine’s Day chocolates each year.

Flowers remain the most popular expression of Valentine’s Day affection, with red roses topping the list of romantic blooms. Americans will purchase 220 million stems of roses for their Valentines this year.

The tradition of sending flowers comes from a custom of using non-verbal methods of communication. Looking back to the 1800s once again, specific flowers were assigned meanings to convey certain sentiments. Years later, we still honor many of the sentiments attached to our favorite blooms. The classic red rose symbolizes love, beauty, romance and perfection. Tulips stand for perfect love. Peonies are most often associated with romance and bashfulness, with some believing they bring good luck.

Corazon roses from Rio Roses, premium blue-ribbon roses, are known for their large, long-lasting blooms.
Tulips from Holland represent perfect love.
Fan-favorite peonies are not officially in season, but a few lucky florists will have them in stock.

Weekday Valentine’s Days are the busiest for florists, as people take advantage of sending flowers to their loved ones at work. With Valentine’s Day falling on Wednesday this year, consider sending an arrangement early in the week. You will get the best selection of flowers before the rush, and the recipient will be the first in the office to receive flowers (making them the envy of their co-workers, and making you the hero).

When it comes to sending flowers, anything goes! According to the Society of American Florists (SAF), about one third of women send flowers to their husbands or boyfriends. No significant other in your life this year? SAF says that about 20% of women will send flowers to themselves for Valentine’s Day. #wewontjudgeyou

Whether you are celebrating with your sweetheart, or celebrating single-hood, have a  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love is in the air, and Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. At Lilium, we are in love with the beautiful Corazon rose, and we think it is a perfect way to say, “I love you” this Valentine’s Day.

The Corazon (Spanish for “heart”) is a beautiful, true red rose with qualities that make it unique and highly desirable. The award-winning Corazon rose, from Rio Roses, is grown in Ecuador, where the climate produces superior bloom sizes and quality. They have more petals than any other red rose, and the blooms open fully, similar to a garden rose. Additionally, all of the blooms open at a consistent rate, so you will not have some buds remaining closed while others open.

Each Corazon bloom continues to open for four to five days. When fully open, it measures almost five inches across. Blooms this size need a strong support system, and Corazon roses measure up with their long sturdy stems and strong necks. With roses of lesser quality, the blooms bend and droop in a matter of days, but Corazon roses will hold their shape for up to two weeks.

To show our customers how beautiful and long-lasting these roses are, we created a display in our shop. Customers can see the progression from bud to full bloom, and appreciate the lasting beauty of these spectacular roses. Here are our Corazons on day 1 and again on day 7:

We are so crazy about the Corazon rose, we entered Rio Roses’ “How Do You Say Corazon?” video contest and won first place! Take a look at our winning entry on Rio Roses’ How Do You Say Corazon? You Tube post.

One of our most popular Valentine’s Day selections is a dozen (or two or three) Corazon roses arranged in a vase, with their lush, dark green foliage providing the perfect setting for the rich red blooms. We also love to use them in combination with other seasonal favorites in our fresh arrangements.

Corazon silver bowl

Look for Corazon rose arrangements on our 2018 Valentine’s Day menu. We know you will fall in love with them too.

New York
New York arrangement from the 2018 Valentine’s Day menu
Rio Logo Red