Love these flowers series - Chionodoxa
In Asia Minor only a little over a century ago, the Swiss botanist Pierre-Edmond Boissier discovered chionodoxas blooming at the edge of the retreating mountain snows. Today three species are widely available from Filton florists. They bloom in early spring shortly after the first crocuses open and, in light shade, the flowers will last three to four weeks. The most common species is C. luciliae, a 6-inch gem that bears eight to 10 violet-blue, white-centered 1-inch flowers on each stem. The white C. luciliae alba and lilac-pink C. luciliae rosea bear two to three flowers on a stem. C. sardensis is also 6 inches tall and has ¾-inch porcelain-blue flowers with a touch of white at the throat; it bears six to eight blossoms on a stem. C. gigantea grows 10 inches tall and bears eight to 10 1½-inch pale purple-blue flowers with white centers on a stem. The white C. gigantea alba is rare, but C. gigantea rosea ‘Pink Giant,’ with eight to 10 blush-pink 1½-inch flowers per stem, is usually available; it is often listed in bulb catalogues as a form of C. luciliae. Chionodoxas are most effective in large groups under deciduous trees, in front of early-flowering shrubs, or on banks where they can be naturalized. Though short stemmed, the blossoms are also attractive and long lived in cut-flower arrangements.

Rugged Spring Flower
Spring-flowering bulbs are not only beautiful but tough, and this ruggedness is part of their special wonder. After all my years of being a florist Haringey, I still marvel every time I discover delicate-looking win­ter aconites coming up through the melting snow. Most spring-­flowering bulbs thrive in Canadian gardens just as well as, and frequently better than, they do in gardens in the United States; the cooler temperatures prolong the life not only of the flowers, but also of the leaves, making for larger, healthier bulbs. But spring bulbs will do well almost anywhere except in the Deep South and, when a number of different species and varieties are planted to bloom in their natural succession, they can brighten the garden for two or three months.

Rose Planting Season
Every experienced florist Everard Park has his own little secrets for bring­ing a plant to the peak of free-flowering perfection. I have some pet methods of my own. But really there is no mysterious wizardry to rose culture. The techniques are simple, and if you apply them with some care, you will be rewarded with bumper crops of lovely blooms year after year. The care begins at the beginning, with the planting of a new bush. This is done when the plant is dormant: in cold climates, in early spring; in moderate climates, in late fall or early spring; in warm climates, in the brief period of dormancy between December and February. But whenever planting time comes in your area, don’t delay; plant the bushes as soon as possible after they arrive. And until you can get them into the ground, protect them carefully from drying out or freezing, or from sudden fluctuations in temperature.

Wild roses
Try to pick them with a lot of buds as they will all open in water and last so much longer like this. They can be arranged in a basket and they also look well in a glass vase. Much wild material makes a splendid background for garden flowers so I often look for spikes of red dock, teasles, and bulirushes, while in the USA bittersweet and milkweed pods are invaluable allies. Old Man’s Beard, the wild clematis, is enormously effective in arrangements and can be preserved easily. You should treat it in the same way as beech leaves by placing the ends of the stems in a solution of one part glycerine to two parts of water. Leave them for several days until they change colour and go brown. While this all seems like hard work, and it is compared to having a flower delivery Park District, the effort is certainly worthwhile when you see the results.

A beautiful flower - Bergenia
Characteristics: The large ever­green leaves of bergenia pro­vide interest in the garden throughout the year. The dense clusters of flowers that bloom in early spring are held high on strong stems. Harvest the flowers Didsbury when they are in full bloom.
Cultural Information: Bergenia will grow in almost any soil. It will tolerate full sun in the North, but requires part sun in warmer southern areas. I grow it under a tree (filtered light) in my garden, and it does very well. Bergenia will fill in quickly and make a good ground cover for the front border.
Harvesting/Drying: Hang the flowers to dry in a warm spot. The colors of the flowers will deepen as they dry. The pink flowers, for example, will deepen to mauve. The stems are rather fleshy and difficult to dry, so it is best to clip the stem close to the flower head and use wire as the stem for arranging. The attractive mauve flower heads blend well with greens and white in arrangements.

King of the roses

When you hear the word “roses”, you would often assume that it is the red rose that is being referred to. So why is this? Simply because the red rose is The Rose of all roses. Beautiful, elegant, dramatic and intriguing - Red roses are the most popular of all the roses.

The red rose is a universal symbol of romance, passion and most importantly true love. Red roses are most often used as a strong expression of love, especially on special occasions like Valentine’s Day. If you are in a relationship and your partner doesn’t receive a red rose on Valantine’s Day, then you’re in trouble my friend. Many men rush to phone their local Reseda Florist as soon as they realise what day it is.

Arranging you time
Many people fall in love with flower arranging, since it is an ideal way to pass some time, especially for the less active amongst us. If you’re not up for running a marathon, or swimming the channel, then flower arranging could be for you. There are an estimated half a million people worldwide who participate in this great hobby, so you’ll never be short of someone to discuss your problems with. There are many web sites on the internet dedicated to this great pastime, just do a google and see what you come up with. If you want to know more about this great hobby then please contact a Madera florist.

Four Ways to Dig Holes for Planting Bulbs

1. To plant individual bulbs near other flowers Portland, or in a bed of ground cover such as ivy, use a step-on bulb planter that cuts cylinders of soil. It makes holes up to 6 inches deep and works most easily in damp, cohesive soil.
2. For deeper holes to accommodate clumps of bulbs, cut a square, straight-sided plug of sod with a spade and lift out the whole plug. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole with the spade and work in bone meal before the bulbs are planted and the plug replaced.
3. After a soil bed is prepared, a tool called a dibble or dibber quickly pokes holes of a uniform diameter and depth. Some of the more highly priced dibbles have depth markers on their sides, but it is easy to improvise a marker with tape. Drop a little loose soil or sand into the bottom of each hole to avoid leaving an air space in the tip of the pointed depression.
4. The garden tool most commonly used for digging holes in prepared soil is a trowel; to make holes rapidly, plunge the trowel into the ground and pull it toward you.

Seasonal Flowers
Flowers most often requested by season:
Summer
Foxgloves, sweet peas, roses, snapdragons, lilies and liatris are among the flowers that are associated with this time of year. Cool blues and white are appealing during summer, when the weather is hot and sultry.
Autumn
Russets, warm reds and oranges are the colours that we associate with the cooler temperatures of autumn, chrysanthemums, dahlias, asters and nerines being among the seasonal flowers delivered Central Brooklyn regularly at this time.
Winter
Snowdrops, winter-flowering jasmine and viburnums are associated with this bleak time of year, along with evergreens.

How about this?
Whilst we aim to provide you with a never ending supply of flower facts, you may like to check out The Flower Fact Files if you want even more! You can never have too many tips and facts when you love flowers, or wish to have a career in the floral industry.

Tulip Mania
For all the lovely innocence that bulbs display in bloom, they have been involved in some strange goings-on during the course of his­tory. Undoubtedly the most bizarre of these was the "tulip mania," a tidal wave of speculation in which tulips were traded for profit in the manner of corporate stocks, commodity futures or real estate. Tulip mania engulfed Western Europe early in the 17th Century, peaked in Holland between 1634 and 1637 and had such a sorry outcome that thereafter a professor of botany at Leiden, one Ev­rard Forstius, used to beat tulips to death with his walking stick whenever he encountered any. Before the wave crested, an other­wise sensible brewer had swapped an entire brewery for one bulb, a miller his mill for another. At its height the frantic trading in tu­lips made the Florida land boom and Wall Street speculations of the 1920s look almost colorless by comparison. It’s hard to believe such mania existed, where nowadays tulips can be found in virtually every Abbotsford flower shop.

Europe leads the way
In the UK, we each spend, on average, £28 on cut flowers a year. This is far below the European average, but it still means that billions of flowers are grown, cut, wrapped and transported - 85% from abroad - each year for UK consumers, with the traditional peak periods of Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day leading to 20-fold spikes in demand. Come on everyone, dig deep and place some orders with your friendly florist and let’s match our European cousins for the number of flowers delivered Waikato each year!

Basic flower arranging equipment
Pin holders
These are available in many shapes and sizes with metal or plastic spikes to hold the flower stems. They are valuable for shallow containers and for flowers with thick stems. You will probably find that you will generally use a pin holder in combination with a little wire netting. This provides weight and support for any thin-stemmed flowers in an arrangement.
Keep pin holders dry when not in use. Split thick, woody material before trying to secure it, to avoid bending the pins.
There are also small four-pronged plastic spikes available which can be used to anchor florist’s foam to the base of containers with modeling clay.
Sand and moss
Sand can be used to set posies of flowers in small containers. It is heavy and inclined to scratch the surface of china, souse it with care. Moss is an excellent medium. Use it to cover areas of soil in a planted dish or to hide an expanse of netting when arranging early spring flowers in a basket. Always soak moss in water overnight before use and include some with your next flower delivery Blackheath to ensure you always have enough at hand when needed.

Harmony
An arrangement of parts into an agreeable and consistent whole is the dictionary definition of harmony. With flowers, one might imagine that it would always be easy to create a pleasing picture. As you can see here, however, not only can a combination of flowers be discordant, but the background plays a significant part in the harmony, or lack of it, of the design as a whole. Harmony is achieved when everything works well together.
There are different types of harmony. Functional harmony, for example, is the association between dissimilar objects that are commonly associated, such as a knife and fork.
The association between the poppy and laurel leaves is a symbolic harmony, like that between the dove and the olive branch. In floristry, we can use seasonal harmony: autumn is associated with berries, wheat and with yellows and golds; spring evokes fresh new growth, daffodils and primroses.
In addition, a harmonious relationship should exist between the parts of the design. the container, plant materials and accessories; if the total appearance of a design gives an impression of unity, the result will be a harmonious picture. A lot for a Middleton florist to consider, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The occasion will also dictate the choice of cut materials and accessories. A special party calls for flowers that can reflect and enhance the atmosphere. Bright, strong colours, and perhaps the addition of some balloons, would give an immediate effect to any room. Flowers for hotels and restaurants should blend with the decor and with the furnishings. Fashion should also be considered — a Victorian-style dress would be complemented by a Victorian posy.

Treating Stems
Stems which bleed
When some flowers are picked, a white ring of thick, milky sap forms on the cut surface. Either place the tips of the stems of these plants in shallow boiling water for thirty seconds or singe the cut tip in a candle flame for a few seconds.
Roses
Remove all the thorns from a rose by rubbing with the back of a pair of secateurs or cutting them from the stem. The exception to this treatment is for the single rose which is going to be displayed in a specimen vase. Excess foliage should also be removed straightaway. Place roses into deep water, but if they are limp, they should be wrapped in a roll of stiff paper first to support the heads.
There are two ways to revive roses that have started to wilt, provided the flower head has not fallen so far to one side that it has cracked the stem tissue. The first is to recut the rose stem and split it, place the tip in boiling water for thirty seconds, then wrap the stem and flower in stiff paper and place the stem in lukewarm water for a long drink. Alternatively, re-cut the stems and submerge the flower and stem in a bath of water for a couple of hours. Consult your local florist La Brea-Hancock for advice in this area.
Smelly stems
If you want to use a flower or foliage that is known to smell in water, it is best to isolate it from other material. One way is to wrap the cut stem in wet cottonwool which has been dipped in disinfectant and secure the stem in a polythene bag with a rubber band before putting it with the other material.
Hollow stems Flowers with hollow stems require special treatment as it is difficult for water to get to the flower head. After cutting, turn the flower upside down and fill the stalk with water. Seal the end with your finger until you have placed it in deep water.

Unusual flowers - Daucus carota (Queen Anne’s lace)
Characteristics: Queen Anne’s lace has lovely lacy, creamy white flowers that bloom in late summer. It grows alongside roads and in meadows where it has naturalized. In fact, in many areas it is illegal for Yoker florists to sell the seed because it has escaped from gardens and is now so prolific that it crowds out many native flowers. It is perfect for both fresh and dried arrangements and is easily air-dried.
Cultural Information: Queen Anne’s lace, which is usually found growing in sunny, open areas, has few requirements. It does not require fertile soil, but does best in soil that is well drained. It will self-sow vigorously if flower heads are al­lowed to go to seed.
Harvesting/Drying: Collect the flower heads when they have just opened, before they begin to curl and turn an off-white color. The flowers can be air-dried by putting the stems through a wire rack. With this method the flower heads tend to shrink up and curl a bit. The best way to preserve the flowers is to place the heads face up in a box and surround and cover them with desiccant. For another interesting look, allow some of the flower heads to ma­ture on the stems. They will curl up and form lacy balls.

Getting the scale right
Scale, in floristry, is the relationships in size between flowers and flowers, flowers and foliage, and both of these and containers. Good scale is achieved when the relationships between all these components are pleasing. Scale and proportion are inter- linked, and sometimes there is confusion between the two. The relationship of individual flowers to each other and the container is scale; the balance between the flower materials and the container is proportion.
It is vital for any florist Norris Green to recognize the importance of scale and proportion in design work. Whatever flowers or foliage are used, they must be in scale with each other, and the proportional balance between the arrangement and the container must also be correct. A design to be worn or carried must be in proportion to the person for whom it is made, and the flowers must also be in scale with the size of the design.

Summer’s Grand Parade of Color
Much as I admire dahlias, summer is too rich in blooming bulbs to permit one favorite to monopolize the season. Half a hundred genera of bulbous plants flower in summer, although the most popular (in addition to dahlias) are lilies, gladioluses and tuberous begonias. Among lilies alone there are hundreds of varieties, with flowers held upright like cups, horizontally like trumpets or hanging like bells, on stems that range in height from less than a foot to 8 feet. The spectrum of colors that has been brought about through modern hybridizing methods is astonishing. Beginning City Centre florists tend to think of lilies as white, and indeed the familiar Easter lily, Lilium longiflorum, and many others are. But in the genus Lilium, which includes all the true lilies, as opposed to day lilies, Hemerocallis, and the many other plants that have the word "lily" in their common names, hues range from yellow to orange to red to purple, with many varieties spotted and striped.

Keep your blooms cool

Never place your flowers from a Howard Park Florist in bright or overheated areas in your home. This breeds bacteria and causes an excess water loss. Use a vase that is in proportion to the size and amount of flowers that you have ordered. This could create even more water loss that you are not aware of.

Further reading
Thanks for reading the post, we hope you enjoyed these great flower facts and tips. If you’re a florist, or looking to become one, you may also enjoy Angel’s Flower Facts which has even more information for you.

Old-Fashioned Potpourri
Petals from roses are the principal ingredients of potpourri, a fermented concoction of flowers, herbs and spices whose pleasant aroma filled many a 19th Century home and is still used to scent rooms today. To make an authentic potpourri requires more than a dozen ingredients; the following recipe, adapted from several old formulas, calls for such diverse materials as brandy, salt and balsam needles:
Collect about a pound of petals from fully open roses, preferably a mixture of light-scented and heavy-scented varieties. Spread the petals on paper, sprinkle lightly with salt and allow to dry. In similar fashion, dry a smaller number of petals of other fragrant flowers such as heliotrope and jasmine, (which you can find at a Warneet flower shop) and the leaves of fragrant herbs such as rosemary and marjoram. When dry, place all the materials in a half-gallon container that can be tightly covered. Add a sprinkling of balsam needles and salt as well as pinches of cloves, mace, cinnamon, allspice, crushed coriander and powdered cardamom seeds. Then put in an ounce each of gum benzoin and violet sachet, a little alcohol or brandy, and close the jar tightly. Allow to ferment for several weeks, opening occasionally to stir and sniff until the desired aroma is attained. Then set out small quantities of potpourri in open bowls, replenishing as required.

Spread those blooms around the home
There is no reason to restrict flowers to specific locations. Flowers are now so affordable and so easily available that we can live with them every day, all around the house — in the kitchen, the bathroom or next to the computer. Perch them on a ledge, a windowsill, the edge of the bath, the landing, or even on the floor. Be bold, too, with your container. Experiment with something that usually serves a different purpose, such as a large, glass salad bowl, or even a collection of chunky candles that have been hollowed out and stuffed with dampened floral foam to keep flower stems moist. These materials can be supplied by good florists Waikato in your area.
Because they are almost prodigal in their ubiquity, carnations often get a bad rap. But carnations are more versatile, and varied than a clichéd buttonhole would lead you to believe. Unlike hasty carnations, sweet peas are one of nature’s most tender stemmed flowers, and their vase life is short — just a few days. Packing them in tightly gives them strength in numbers, and shows them off in all their frothy charm.

Sympathy & Memorial
Memorial designs are often taken to the graveside at Christmas and other times of the year to express love and respect, and to offer comfort to the bereaved. The use of evergreens for Christmas decorations is a traditional practice that dates back to ancient times, and from the florists Riverside viewpoint, holly wreaths and crosses offer a practical alternative to cut flowers placed1in cemetery vases, with the advantage that, at a time of year when the elements can quickly damage flowers, evergreens will withstand wind and cold — even frost and snow — and remain attractive for a long time. Cones and clusters of bright red berries are lasting alternatives to the carnations used here.

Choosing flowers for a man

Like women, just about any kind of flowers – roses, tulips, lilies, sunflowers, orchids etc – are bound to touch even an alpha male. But the kinds that really appeal to them are flowers that are “sturdy” and “full of personality” like the angular birds of paradise, anthuriums or orchids.

Skip the fluffy big bouquets and head straight for the exotic, tropical or contemporary arrangements in linear or angular compositions. If this is your first time giving your man flowers, you can play it safe with a flower/plant dish that he can place on his desk at work or on his coffee table at home. If you send flowers Sutton to his place of work then you are just asking for trouble , take it from me ladies.

Improvement of Varieties
Much improvement of flower crops has been due to the careful and systematic methods followed by Cotham florists. Beneficial effects of the work of hybridists began to be seen in the early part of the decade from 1890 to 1900. Some work had been done before this but it was un systematized, and few records were kept. The value of plant-breeding may be illustrated particularly with the rose. Hybrid Tea roses were not grown to any extent previous to 1900, but Tea roses, especially Bride and Bridesmaid, were generally cultivated. Such varieties had been improved considerably from the small-flowered short-stemmed rose of the Bon Silene type, the true Tea rose, or Rosa chinensis. With the crossing of the Teas with the Hybrid Perpetuals, or Remontants, as they are more correctly called, a new type of Hybrid Tea roses, with comparatively long stems, large flowers, more perfectly formed buds and types resistant to disease, came to be grown. The Hybrid Tea Killarney, and its subsequent mutations, quickly replaced the Tea roses, Bride and Bridesmaid. The colors of the early Hybrid Teas were principally pink, red or occasionally white. Pernet-Doucher of Lyons, France, introduced the yellow "blood" of the Austrian Briars into his rose breeding, and produced the now famed Pernetianas; roses with rich yellow and copper tints, such as Souvenir de Claudius Pernet. Crosses of the Pernetianas with the Hybrid Tea Ophelia have given such varieties as Talisman from which have come the bud mutations or sports, Souvenir and Mary Hart.

Tree Roses
Tree roses, which look like small trees, are man-made plants that may be of almost any rose variety. They usually consist of three plants: a sturdy rootstock onto which is budded another rose variety that produces a sturdy trunk, or standard, which in turn supports a budded-on plant that forms the flower-bearing crown. Nurseries sometimes combine the first two steps by growing a strong rootstock that also produces a tall standard, but in either case the process is slow and takes skill; for this reason a rose variety costs several times more in tree form than it does as a bush.
Because the tender bud joint at the top of the stan­dard is very vulnerable to frost damage, most tree roses are hardy enough to survive winter weather without protection only in warm climates; elsewhere, West Bromwich florists must wrap them snugly, or partially dig them up and bury them flat in the ground, unearthing and erecting them when spring comes.
Varieties with strong, upright stems like hybrid teas are the most popular tree roses; their round, stately crowns of blossoms make a striking sight, especially in formal gardens. Climbers also create spectacular ef­fects: when weighted with flowers, their long, pliant stems droop over like graceful weeping willows.

Using the Microwave Method
Microwave ovens vary slightly and each type of flower dries at a different rate, so you will have to experiment to find the correct amount of time needed. Stay close to your microwave oven and check often. Place similar flowers in the micro­wave together, and make sure that they do not touch. Most flowers are best dried facing up. Start by putting 1 ½ inches of silica gel on the bottom of a microwaveable container. Place the flower or foliage on top of the silica gel layer (be sure to allow 1 ¼ inches between the sides of the container and the plant material). Gently sprinkle silica gel around the plant ma­terial until it covers all surfaces evenly. Place the uncovered con­tainer into the microwave.
The drying time for several flowers generally is two to two and a half minutes, which makes the microwave method the ideal choice for those who need to send flowers Llanrumney in a hurry. But the density of the petals and the size of the flower will deter­mine the drying time, so it is important to check often during the process. The flowers will feel brittle or dry to the touch when they are ready.

Adding Texture to a Wreath
To add to the textures in the wreath, Viburnum tinus, a very versatile evergreen foliage, was used to fill in any small spaces. The rosettes of dark green foliage and the tiny bronze buds and white flowers add another dimension to this open wreath. The combination of bold and warm oranges and reds make this a suitable colouring for a cold, and perhaps bleak, winter service.
Flowers delivered Great Crosby are a comfort and act as a focus at funerals, when conversation can become difficult. Funeral directors are in a unique position to observe the effect of flowers at funerals, and many agree that the bereaved mention flowers as a comforting aspect of the funeral.
Companies sending flowers to a funeral service as a mark of respect will invariably choose a wreath as the traditional and more formal way of expressing sympathy.

Propagating Plants
Different kinds of excitement (and different challenges) await the florist Buda who turns to experimental rose growing. Any florist who has space for more roses can easily grow additional plants from parts of bushes he already has on hand. Such a segment will, if properly treated, grow roots of its own, reproducing its parent by what is known as vegetative propagation.
The offspring will be an exact duplicate of the parent. In contrast to plants propagated sexually, from seed; seed-grown roses resemble their parents no more than human offspring do. One caution: Most garden varieties are protected by plant patents, which give the breeders the right to control the duplication of their plants for 17 years; unauthorized propagation of a plant still cov­ered by a patent is a violation of the law.
The easiest way to reproduce rosebushes vegetatively is by cutting part of a plant and inducing it to sprout roots. The result is an “own-root” plant, as opposed to those plants that do not grow on roots of their own but are joined to the roots of another species. Hybrid tea roses do not grow well on their own roots, but if you choose a good climber (or, in a warm climate, a tea rose), you stand a good chance of getting offspring that grow and bloom quite well.

Can’t get enough aye?
Ok, so you need even more facts, tips and information on flowers? Well, you’re in luck, just head over to The Flower Fact Files for more great information. Say hi from us as you browse through their mountain of flower and florist tips.

Spring’s Gleaming Jewels
Not only are spring bulbs extraordinarily colorful, but the choices are legion. Daffodils alone account for a large percentage of varieties selected for Stokes Croft flower delivery and provide 11 broad classes of flowers in shades of pink as well as yellow and white, sizes from 1 to 5 inches, and blooming periods that cover a two-month span. For example, in Zone 5 miniature daffodils blossom in early March, jonquilla hybrids in mid- to late March, and trumpet varieties in April. One bulb, ranunculus, blooms beyond spring, over a period of three to four months. Individual blossoms, as a rule, last longer in cool weather than in warm, and the double, or many-petaled, varieties of plants like anemones usually remain beautiful longer than single-flowered ones.

Dahlia and Gladiolus Planting
Dahlias are generally planted outdoors as soon as the ground has warmed up and there is no further danger of frost. Gladioluses may be planted in series, a week to 10 days apart, continuing until mid-July. As a more general rule, they may be planted until 60 days before the first expected frost; the gladiolus becomes virtually a year-round plant in frost-free areas, making it a very popular selection for London flower delivery. Successive plantings greatly extend the flowering season, since gladioluses of a single variety that are planted in series will bloom in the order in which they were planted. But some called "early blooming" take less time to flower than do those designated "mid season" or "late", so three different varieties planted the same day may bloom weeks apart. By planting in sequence and using different varieties, the shrewd gardener can keep a supply of gladioluses available for cutting all summer long.

Baskets for Weddings
Flowers and foliage attractively arranged in baskets make lovely designs for bridesmaids and flower girls to carry at a wedding. Easy to carry, such baskets are ideal for small children to hold. If the flowers and foliage are arranged at several levels and for all-round viewing, a design of this type will always look quite charming in wedding photographs, however awkwardly a young child may hold it.
Seasonal variations
A basket can be designed to reflect a particular season and will look delightful, for example, when filled with spring flowers, such as tulips, hyacinths, freesias, muscari and narcissi. For the summer months, you might combine larkspur, sweet peas, scabious, pinks, cornflowers and roses. Wheat, corn, berries, seed heads, copper beech, roses and lilies are appropriate for an autumn wedding flower delivery Lane Cove North; while the winter bridesmaid might bear a rustic basket filled with variegated hedera, blue pine, conifer, holly, heathers, roses, freesias and Euphorbia fulgens.

An Open Posy
When ordering flowers for a funeral, many customers prefer to send a natural-looking tribute, such as an open posy or basket. The open posy can be made in a range of sizes, and various combinations of flowers and foliage can be used. This would be a suitable tribute to suggest for a child’s funeral or for a design to be sent on behalf of children to the funeral of a grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin or friend. They have that childlike feel to them, which makes them ideal when children are involved. If you are unsure when to use posys, just canvass some other florists Jordanhill for their opinion, I’m sure you’ll find someone willing to share their knowledge.

Garlands
Flowering vines and garlands offer more creative opportunities. Available in 3’-9’ lengths, they include coordinating varieties of flowers Manchester, leaves, twigs, pine or fir sprigs. Because the floral materials are spaced evenly along the length of the garland, they can be added to most bases, creating a wonderful background for additional materials. To add materials to a garland, dip the stems into glue and insert them among the garland sprigs, making sure they attach to the main stem.
Pine or fir garlands are usually found in 9’ lengths and are extremely versatile holiday decorations. Materials can be added to the plain garland, creating a full and rich look. A garland can also be cut into shorter lengths and wired to other bases such as baskets or wreaths. Spread the individual sprigs apart and cut through the heavy binding wires; twist the cut wire ends together to secure the end sprigs. If matching pine stems are needed, but none are available, cut sprig sections from a pine garland and wire each to a long wood pick.

Digging up Bulbs
After your spring bulbs have finished flowering in the garden, leave them to build up energy for the next year’s cycle; when the leaves have yellowed and withered, you can snip them off if you like. In the case of most spring bulbs, this is the last gardening chore of the year. However, to guarantee a good show for next year, certain bulbs should be dug up and replanted. The very large-flowered tulip bulbs produce their biggest flowers the first spring after planting, and then the bulbs multiply into more but smaller bulbs. As a result, smaller flowers Encino will appear in following years. The best way to guarantee large blossoms is to dig the bulbs up, sort them into various sizes and replant immediately, setting each size in separate groups. (Keep them out of direct sun while sorting, or they may dry out.) Eventually the small bulbs become larger, but if they are not dug up and replanted in enriched soil each year, they soon exhaust them­selves and the soil around them through overcrowding. The same technique is used for hyacinths. On the other hand, daffodils, cro­cuses, fritillarias and most of the other spring bulbs will multiply and become more beautiful each year without being dug up and re­planted. Only when they become so crowded that they produce fewer or smaller blossoms do they need to be lifted out and di­vided; the excess bulbs can be used to increase the size of the present bed or to start new beds elsewhere. When you replant, set the bigger bulbs where they will be conspicuous when they flower. The smaller ones can be planted in an out-of-the-way corner in the gar­den, a sort of nursery bed. When they have grown up they can be set in a place of honor to give you pleasure for years to come.

Water Immersion can help those blooms
Some cut materials can absorb water through the epidermal cells surrounding the stem and leaves. This method of complementing water taken up by the roots has led to the development of foliar feeds.
Violets have the additional advantage of a cuticle that is less restricting than that of other plants. The cuticle is a waxy, waterproof layer, exuded by the epidermis. Holly and laurel have tough cuticles, whereas violets, rose leaves and new foliage have thin cuticles. A good florist Chula Vista will take advantage of these facts when preparing cut materials.
Immersion in tepid water is beneficial for violets, some tropical flowers, soft, young foliage, and wilted materials. Petals can be damaged by prolonged immersion, so this should only be for a short time — some ten to twenty minutes would be sufficient for anthuriums and dendrobiums, or an hour for violets, young foliages and wilted flowers, such as roses.
Hairy leaves should not be submerged, and nor should grey foliage, which will lose its colour until it has dried out. Waxy and fleshy flowers should not be submerged, as they will discolour and stain.

Wedding Designs
Weddings are gloriously busy and happy occasions, and one of the joys of being a florist is that you can be involved in the preparations for a wedding almost every week. The range of designs required for each wedding is wide, and this is one reason why the florist must have so many skills at her fingertips. The bride, bridesmaids, ushers, mums, relatives, church and reception — all these people and places will require flowers.
That said, weddings can be very simple affairs, and it is not unknown for the bride to pop into the florist just half an hour before the service. A pretty handtied bouquet is just right for such an occasion, and can be assembled very quickly. Generally, however, the bride and her mother, bridesmaids and groom will all arrive at the florist to discuss the choice of Westway flowers and designs some months before the ceremony. The florist’s role is to show the range of designs and blossoms that will be available when the wedding is to take place. Advice on individual preferences and colour choice is all part of the service.
Bridal bouquets must be carefully planned. If the flowers are to give their full value, the style of design, the materials being used, and their placement are important considerations. The flowers and foliage must be perfect and well-conditioned to withstand the rigours of the day.
When the wedding flowers arrive on the day, beautifully packaged, they will add that special touch to an occasion that would be incomplete without them. Today’s bride walks in the footsteps of maidens of olden days who carried ears of wheat in their hands and ‘corones’ of flowers in their hair.

Substituting Dried Materials
If a certain dried flower or grass is unavailable from South Street florists, look at the material in a design photo and find one which is similar in texture and blossom or head size. For instance, fillers such as gypsophila, rice grass, baby’s breath and caspia can easily substitute for each other because they have similar characteristics: small flowers or seeds which will extend equally well among the larger components of the arrangement. If the product is bulky or heavy, then substitute a product of similar weight. Or try adding an unusual product for a completely new and adventurous look. Many times silk flowers can substitute for drieds. Silk baby’s breath comes in different colors and is easy to add into an arrangement which originally calls for dried baby’s breath. There are many latex fruits, pods and vegetables which are great substitutes for dried pods. The advantage to using silk and latex pieces is their longevity. They don’t shatter like dried materials, allowing the arrangements to remain beautiful for a longer period of time.

Further reading
Thanks for reading the post, we hope you enjoyed these great flower facts and tips. If you’re a florist, or looking to become one, you may also enjoy The Florist Chronicles which has even more information for you.

Improvement of Flower Crops
To understand the factors that concern the soil and its fertility, a knowledge of chemistry and geology is necessary. Botany, or that phase of it which treats of the normal functions of the plant, known as plant physiology, is especially important. Plant pathology, which deals with diseases, is equally important. All plant-growers should have some knowledge of entomology that they may understand the structure and habits of insects and thus be prepared to combat successfully their attacks.
Among the factors that have contributed to betterment of quality of florist Torrens Park crops are the following: improvement in greenhouse construction; improvement in varieties of standard crops through plant-breeding; more efficient and better educated growers, especially the present-day tendency towards specialization; better methods of marketing; the demand for better quality in flowers and plants by the buying public; the demand for novelties; flower exhibitions and the advancement of scientific research.

Flowers of the world - Humulus (hop)
Characteristics: Humulus lupulus is a vigorous climber that grows to 20 feet each summer. Hops are dioecious, which means that male and female flowers grow on separate plants. The female flowers produce attractive green pinecone-like flowers. These flowers produce the essential oils and acids that are used to brew beer, and for this reason gardeners often send flowers Blenheim to breweries to aid in the process. They are also interesting additions to winter arrangements. The variety ‘Aurea’, which has yellow foliage, is usually grown as an ornamental.
Cultural Information: Start seed indoors early or outdoors after danger of frost. Or propagate from cuttings in the spring. Plant hops in an open area with good air circulation, which will help prevent mildew diseases. Provide a strong support and rich soil and hops will happily scramble past the height of their original support in no time. Apply 5-10-5 fertilizer in early spring.
Harvesting/Drying: Hops add interest to swags and over-door decorations. Collect the fully developed flowers from late summer until early autumn. Don’t harvest before they have matured or they will shrivel during the drying process. They can be air-dried by hanging or in an upright position. You can also make a fresh arrangement and simply allow it to dry naturally. Handle hops carefully after drying as they tend to be rather brittle. You will notice a subtle scent for several weeks after harvesting.

One of my favourite flowers - Alcea rosea (hollyhock)
Characteristics: Hollyhocks are an old-fashioned favorite. They are available in a wide range of colors and you can have the flowers delivered Coventry in forms: single, double, ruffled and fluted. My favorite is still the original sin­gle form, but for drying pur­poses, the double forms are best. The large flowers, up to 4 inches across, are thickly massed on long stems. Allow them to self-sow about your garden to ensure a continuous supply. Because hollyhocks are tall, they are perfect at the back of the garden, or against a fence or building.
Harvesting/Drying: Pick the flowers at their peak when the color is still strong and the flowers are fresh. Both double and reg­ular varieties can be air-dried, but they will lose some of their natural color and the flowers will tighten up slightly. Air-­dried hollyhocks resemble col­orful crepe-paper flowers. If you would like to achieve a more perfect flower shape and color, dry in silica gel. Store in an airtight container after drying.

Packing perfection
Foliage from distant countries, such as Costa Rica, arrives on our shores in perfect condition enclosed as it now is in sheets of polythene, within strong boxes. The polythene keeps the foliage in the conditions of high humidity that most foliage types prefer. Mimosa also requires high humidity around its fluffy flowers, and is sold in individually sealed bags.
Chrysanthemums are usually enclosed in cellophane sleeves and packed in boxes to prevent movement during transit. The cellophane also slows down the transpiration and evaporation of water from the foliage and flowers, creating a moist and humid atmosphere. Gerberas, with their delicate petals, have an inner sleeve in the box so that each flower head is held quite still during the flower delivery Crumpsall process.

Rose Planting Season
Every experienced florist Olympic Park has his own little secrets for bring­ing a plant to the peak of free-flowering perfection. I have some pet methods of my own. But really there is no mysterious wizardry to rose culture. The techniques are simple, and if you apply them with some care, you will be rewarded with bumper crops of lovely blooms year after year. The care begins at the beginning, with the planting of a new bush. This is done when the plant is dormant: in cold climates, in early spring; in moderate climates, in late fall or early spring; in warm climates, in the brief period of dormancy between December and February. But whenever planting time comes in your area, don’t delay; plant the bushes as soon as possible after they arrive. And until you can get them into the ground, protect them carefully from drying out or freezing, or from sudden fluctuations in temperature.

Display guidelines
Forward planning is important; a good display should he planned with these questions in mind:
Why — Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day
Where — shop windows, island stands
What — fresh flowers, containers or sundries
Balance is an important factor. There should he a visual framework to attract the eye and make the display look pleasing. Presentation is equally important. Price tickets and display cards should be written neatly and clearly. Window display can become time- consuming, so keep it simple. The colour theme and accessories can be chosen well in advance, and fresh plants and flowers added at the last minute.
The essential ingredient is imagination — make your display vibrant, colourful and exciting, and it will sell your flowers Kelvinside. People automatically respond to colour, especially in the world of flowers, so use colour themes to give impact to your displays and to stimulate ideas and interest.

Drying flowers
Perhaps it is a reflection on our own hectic lifestyles that we need lasting objects of natural beauty around us. The popularity of dried flowers and arrangements has remained constant for several years.
Dried materials have an ability to fit into any decor; larkspur, roses and gypsophila have a soft countryside appeal, while exotic pods and seed heads have a dramatic quality more suited to a modern decor. The dried flowers are available in a vast range of textures and forms and, with the introduction of improved dyes, many colours. Country garden pastels — pinks, creams and china blues — are being replaced in popularity by the rich tones of burgundies, forest green and velvety blues and purples.
Mixed bouquets or bunches are useful for those who wish to arrange at home, but many customers prefer to buy arrangements that have been designed to their particular requirements for their flower delivery Birkenhead. The use of fabric, freeze-dried, and the new-look paper flowers broadens the range and the appeal of the designs that a florist can now offer.

Planting Bulbs in a Pot
Bulbs should not be buried deeply, but set so their tips just reach the surface of the soil, which should be ½ to 1 inch below the rim of the pot. Do not press the bulbs into the soil; fill the pot part way first, putting in only enough soil to hold the bulb at the proper level, and firm this soil down. Then set the bulbs on top and fill in more soil around them to cover them. Finally, water thoroughly. Some bulbs, notably tulips, have a flat side and a round side; the flat side should face outward toward the rim of the pot so that the largest flowers Splott, which sprout from the flat side, will grow gracefully over the edge of the pot.

Wildflowers and how to use them
The prospect of wild flowers growing in grass is a thrilling one, but I must sound a note of warning! If you have a large garden and an out of the way place where grass and wild flowers may grow in happy confusion, that is fine. But should your garden be small I would strongly recommend you to move with caution — after the first few weeks of delight the long grass will start to look a mess and very unattractive. It will also be difficult to get it back into shape as a lawn again. I believe Lady Bird Johnson was responsible for having thousands of seeds scattered on the road verges of Washington during her husband’s presidency, and I think that was a lovely thing to do.
If you are thinking of gathering wild flowers from the countryside it is important to have a clear view about conservation. Nowadays with the ever- increasing amount of building it is essential that we watch over our precious native plants. This is especially necessary in rural areas where the rarer species such as orchis, fritillaria, lily of the valley and other delightful flowers are at risk. The sorts of wild flowers you can safely pick are what I call ‘wayside flowers’ — wild flowers that grow along the sides of roads and which will be cut down anyway by the council when the verges are ‘tidied’. You will be surprised how many wild flowers delivered Bedford Park you will find — I have used dog daisies, which spring up in hundreds whenever any waste land is disturbed, sorrel and docks, hemlock, cow parsnip, parsley and carrot (better know in the USA as Queen Anne’s lace), willow herb and grasses of all kinds. They all flourish abundantly and picking them will not worry the conservationists.

Need more?
This information is brought to you by the Flower Baron. Another great resource for flower and florist information is FLOWER FACTS HEAVEN.

Flowers of the world - Lavandula (lavender)
Characteristics: This shrubby herb, a favorite in herb and perennial gardens, has decorative silver-gray foliage and fragrant lavender flowers that bloom from July through August. Lavender forms dwarf-flowering hedges and is attractive lining a walk or edging a perennial garden, and is also a common selection in Railway Square flower delivery. The fragrant flowers and foliage are the mainstay of sachets and potpourri and are equally at home in dried or fresh arrangements. Native to the Mediterranean, lavender has naturalized in the southern United States. There are some 28 different species. The most popular varieties are Lavandula angustifolia, found in every old-fashioned herb garden, with tiny clusters of blue to purple flowers; fringed lavender (L. dentata), with green, fernlike foliage and blue flowers; English lavender (L. officinalis), with needlelike silvery-gray foliage and deep purple or white flowers. Hardy in most climate zones, munstead dwarf (L. munstead ‘Hidcote’) grows to a height of 18 inches and has silvery foliage and lavender flowers almost the whole summer.

One of my favourite flowers - Ageratum houstonia­num (floss flower)
Characteristics: Originally from Mexico and Central America, ageratums thrive in hot summer weather as long as they are well watered. The range of blues, from soft, clear blues and powder blues to rich, dark blues, make ageratums very popular annuals.
There are dwarf, compact and tall, upright varieties. The compact varieties form mounds of fuzzy, tufted blossoms that bloom from early summer to fall. Two excellent dwarf varie­ties are ‘Blue Danube’ and ‘Pink Powder-Puff’, which both make very showy edging plants. However, ‘Blue Horizon’, a taller variety, is better for use in drying and is conveniently available for Queenstown flower delivery in many areas.
Cultural Information: Agera­tums thrive in well-drained soil enriched with organic matter. They can be propagated from cuttings, but most are grown from seed. The seed requires light to germinate, so simply press the seed lightly into a moist planting formula. The young plants are very tender and initial growth is slow. After transplanting into the garden, pinch back to encourage full­ness. On parts of the West Coast where winters are mild, seed can be planted in late summer for fall bloom. Space dwarf varieties 6 inches apart, tall varieties 12 inches.

Avoid the Insects
Even in the best of situa­tions, problems can arise dur­ing storage. A tiny weevil-like insect (possibly brought in on one of the plants) may lay its eggs in the warmth of the dry­ing room. The eggs will hatch and the insects will eat the dry petals. Checking your plants carefully for insects before dry­ing can help. However, many insects are so tiny that they are impossible to detect until the damage has already occurred. Place the infested flowers in airtight containers and place into a freezer for 24 hours; the cold temperature kills the in­sects. To prevent insects from damaging your dried flowers, add mothballs to the containers and place insect traps around the drying room. These traps can be purchased at your hard­ware store or Altadena flower shop.

How To Care for Your Flowers

1. The sooner that you put your flowers into water, the longer they will last.
2. The flowers should be re-cut at the stems while submerged in water. This is important for hollow-stemmed flowers so it will prevent an airlock from forming in the stem which may prevent the flowers from taking water.
3. The stems should be cut on an angle, which will create a wider exposed area and allow the flowers to take the maximum amount of water.
4. Flowers delivered Wembley will last longer if the plant food is added to the water. An example to an alternative to plant food would be sugar.

Click for flowers
Due to the rise of globalization end e-commerce, virtually any and every exotic or unusual flower you can think of is now available at any time or in any place, through florists or at the click of a mouse, Despite this, seasonal blooms and our indigenous wild flowers still seem to exert a powerful appeal. Perhaps this is because — through the plants, grasses and trees that are familiar to us — we feel more rooted to the earth and more connected to Mother Nature.
These arrangements are a far cry from the conventional ‘flower arrangement’. Bare branches, or those studded with emerging blossom, introduce a breath of fresh air into an interior. Dried leaves, seedpods end clusters of jewel-like berries are like treasure trove, brought inside and put on display, inviting onlookers to marvel over them and admire their tine detailing, examining the network of veins on a leaf, the intricate structure of a seedpod or the lustrous glow of autumn berries. Who would fail to be impressed by these flowers delivered North Common to your door?

What to send?

Don’t just send her favorite flowers over and over again show some originality now and again and mix it up a bit. Everyone loves surprises, and your girlfriend is no exception. Why not send the occasional bunch in her favourite colour as a nice change?
If you decide to order your flowers from an online florist for your flower delivery Wolverhampton, you have the opportunity to check out their range on the website before ordering. This would be far better than just calling them and trying to describe what you want. It is very difficult to explain over the telephone exactly what it is you’re looking for, particularly if you’re not clued up on the different flower varieties.

The Florist’s Year
The florist’s year is busy but productive. The hours are often long and arduous, but the pleasures are many. A glittering arrangement, complete with champagne, balloons and novelty hats, ushers in the New Year. Special events around the year give many reasons to celebrate with romantic red roses for Valentine’s Day, pretty posies and handtied bunches for Mother’s Day, and then the joyful abundance of Easter flowers after Lenten austerities.
Christmas, with its traditional holly, mistletoe, pine, spruce, ivy, candles and glitter, plus a whole host of other possibilities for the more adventurous, is the peak of the year for any florist Trowbridge. In between these events is a constant stream of weddings, large and small, christenings, birthdays and special anniversaries toasted with champagne.
The hours may be long and the work strenuous, but the look of pleasure on the face of a bride or a new mum, makes all the effort worthwhile.

Coat Hangers
Coat hangers make great holders for air-drying flowers or for storing already dried flowers. Wind an elastic band around a small bunch of flowers. Put the stems behind the hanger and pull the second loop forward, up and over the stems. The bunches will remain attached to the coat hanger and the rubber bands will tighten as the stems shrink. To remove the bunches, just pull downward. An attic or a warm closet with rods or heating pipes is ideal places to hang these bunches. Using coat hangers is a very simple and effective way to store your treasures until you are ready to have the flowers delivered Hunts Cross to someone you love.
To preserve berries or rose hips, simply dip them into clear shellac and hang them up to dry.

Improvement of Flower Crops
To understand the factors that concern the soil and its fertility, a knowledge of chemistry and geology is necessary. Botany, or that phase of it which treats of the normal functions of the plant, known as plant physiology, is especially important. Plant pathology, which deals with diseases, is equally important. All plant-growers should have some knowledge of entomology that they may understand the structure and habits of insects and thus be prepared to combat successfully their attacks.
Among the factors that have contributed to betterment of quality of florist Snyder crops are the following: improvement in greenhouse construction; improvement in varieties of standard crops through plant-breeding; more efficient and better educated growers, especially the present-day tendency towards specialization; better methods of marketing; the demand for better quality in flowers and plants by the buying public; the demand for novelties; flower exhibitions and the advancement of scientific research.

Further reading
Thanks for reading the post, we hope you enjoyed these great flower facts and tips. If you’re a florist, or looking to become one, you may also enjoy Flower Files which has even more information for you.

Basic Steps for Arranging
1. After choosing the con­tainer, add a support (or base) to fit securely inside. A block of floral foam or a circle of chicken wire fitted tightly into the bottom of the container will work as a support. Secure the support to the side of the con­tainer with floral tape. This important step prevents the ar­rangement from becoming top heavy. If neither floral foam nor chicken wire is available, use fine sand (a centuries-old method) as a support. Simply fill the container three-quarters full with dry fine sand.
2. Create the outline of the ar­rangement using taller spiky flowers. The stems of the flowers should not be all the same length because this would give an unnatural appearance.
3. Add tiny bunches of inter­esting material such as Nigella pods and secure them with wire onto a Warmley florists pick before adding.
4. For a final touch you may add some special flowers or pods. Place uneven numbers of these throughout the arrangement.
5. Place your filler material, such as German statice or baby’s breath, to fill in holes and give a finished look.
6. Because of the brittle nature of dried flowers, spray the fin­ished arrangement with a preservative.

Silica Drying Time
Flowers will dry very quickly in silica, and knowing just how long to leave the individual flowers in the silica gel is dif­ficult. Each flower you pick re­tains a different amount of water; it is impossible to know an exact drying time in advance. Most flowers will dry in three to four days, but it is im­portant to check often. You might find it helpful to mark the date on the outside of the container or box. The flowers will feel crisp to the touch when they are ready to be re­moved. If left in the gel too long, flowers become faded and drop their petals. To uncover the flower, slowly pour some of the gel out of the container. Then gently lift the flower from the gel and dust it off with a soft artist’s brush (which can be purchased from many Hammersmith florists) to remove any additional powder.

Picks
Floral picks, short stems of clustered items, are often used in floral designing. Christmas picks are the most common; they may include berries, cones, silk leaves, packages, ornaments, and pine sprigs. Short (4”-7” tall) stems of flowers or greenery are also known as picks and can be inexpensive. Flower picks generally include 1-3 blossoms with several leaves per stem. More expensive hand-wrapped latex picks often contain a large flower, leaves, a cone or pod and twigs. These are approximately 12”-14” tall and, like hand-wrapped florals, add quality to Shalvey flower delivery arrangements. While picks can be effective when inserted as stems, they can also be cut into individual components. Attach each piece to a wood pick or stem wire, then insert it into the design.

Horizontal Drying
Seed heads and pods, rose­buds, larkspur and double hollyhocks will dry best if placed horizontally on a drying rack, screen or any open airy surface that allows air circulation. Flowers with heavy flower heads, such as peonies, dry best when supported by a wire rack in an upright position. To do this, fit a piece of chicken wire over the mouth of a container to hold the stems apart. Flowers and grasses that have been air-dried in an upright position will have more natu­rally curved stems.
After drying, continue to protect the flowers from their two biggest enemies: moisture and direct sunlight. To control excessive moisture, it is often necessary to purchase a dehumidifier from a Simshill flower shop or other retailer.

Summer’s Grand Parade of Color
Much as I admire dahlias, summer is too rich in blooming bulbs to permit one favorite to monopolize the season. Half a hundred genera of bulbous plants flower in summer, although the most popular (in addition to dahlias) are lilies, gladioluses and tuberous begonias. Among lilies alone there are hundreds of varieties, with flowers held upright like cups, horizontally like trumpets or hanging like bells, on stems that range in height from less than a foot to 8 feet. The spectrum of colors that has been brought about through modern hybridizing methods is astonishing. Beginning Fallowfield florists tend to think of lilies as white, and indeed the familiar Easter lily, Lilium longiflorum, and many others are. But in the genus Lilium, which includes all the true lilies, as opposed to day lilies, Hemerocallis, and the many other plants that have the word "lily" in their common names, hues range from yellow to orange to red to purple, with many varieties spotted and striped.

The Ancient Lily
When asked, some Home Junction florists are happy to tell the tale of the lily. One of the oldest plants known to man, the lily is mentioned in his­tory for the first time on a tablet that was inscribed in Sumeria near­ly 5,000 years ago. The tablet tells of a city in Persia that was surrounded by fields of lilies and in fact was named Susa, which means lily. Some scholars believe the lily spread from Persia in the caravans of nomads who took edible bulbs along as food for their long journeys; occasionally they would drop one, according to this theory, and it would take root and grow where it fell. In any case the lily traveled far, to Crete, Egypt, Greece, Rome and, probably in the baggage of homesick Roman soldiers, to northern Europe and England. Wherever it went, it took on an aura of sanctity. The Minoans associated it with their goddess Britomartis. The Greeks made it a symbol of their greatest goddess, Hera, and the Romans associated it with Juno, Hera’s counterpart.

Blue Heaven
The professional hybridizers keep trying for a blue rose, and many Firebaugh florists hope that one is eventually developed. One Mrs. Dorothy Whisler of Shafter, California has obtained some encouraging results. Using sophisticated techniques of chemical analysis, Mrs. Whisler selected the crossbred lavender hybrid teas in order to produce offspring having optimum amounts of cyanidin, the pigment that imparts purple or magenta tones, and flavone, the pigment that gives light yellow tones. In 1960, she crossed two lilac-colored roses, Simone and Sterling Silver, and three years later she bred a seedling from this cross to a silvery lavender Song of Paris rose. The second cross produced a rose with a dis­tinctly bluish tone, which Mrs. Whisler compared to the blue haze over a mountain and named Blue Heaven. Mrs. Whisler does not claim that Blue Heaven is really blue; indeed she doubts that a true blue rose will ever be developed. However, she herself may make further progress toward that goal by crossbreeding to her Blue Heaven. It is also possible that a natural mutation may pro­duce a blue rose, or that the color may be artificially introduced by altering the genes of rose seeds with X-rays, atomic radiation or certain chemicals.

One of my favourite flowers - Ageratum houstonia­num (floss flower)
Characteristics: Originally from Mexico and Central America, ageratums thrive in hot summer weather as long as they are well watered. The range of blues, from soft, clear blues and powder blues to rich, dark blues, make ageratums very popular annuals.
There are dwarf, compact and tall, upright varieties. The compact varieties form mounds of fuzzy, tufted blossoms that bloom from early summer to fall. Two excellent dwarf varie­ties are ‘Blue Danube’ and ‘Pink Powder-Puff’, which both make very showy edging plants. However, ‘Blue Horizon’, a taller variety, is better for use in drying and is conveniently available for West Lake Hills flower delivery in many areas.
Cultural Information: Agera­tums thrive in well-drained soil enriched with organic matter. They can be propagated from cuttings, but most are grown from seed. The seed requires light to germinate, so simply press the seed lightly into a moist planting formula. The young plants are very tender and initial growth is slow. After transplanting into the garden, pinch back to encourage full­ness. On parts of the West Coast where winters are mild, seed can be planted in late summer for fall bloom. Space dwarf varieties 6 inches apart, tall varieties 12 inches.

Pods and Cones
Dried pods and sponge mushrooms are easily found in many varieties, sizes, colors and textures to be used in arrangements. Mushrooms and pods can be found with long wire stems or 4”-6” wood picks, making them easy to attach or insert.
Also available from Sunnyside Gardens florists are many different types of cones, some with heavy stems attached. Or you can collect your own cones. Always use fresh cones; if they crumble in your hands, they are too old and will not provide satisfactory results. If they’ve been collected from under trees, make sure they’re dried. Rinse the cones under running water to remove dust and debris, then bake them on a cookie sheet at 225 degrees for one hour to open the petals.

Additional information
If you love flowers as much as we do you may also enjoy Flower Files. Another blog dedicated to bringing you the very best florist information on the internet.