There's more to Valentines Day than red roses

Basic flower arranging equipment

Secateurs and scissors


Sharp secateurs and a pair of short-bladed florist’s scissors are essential equipment and well worth investing in. Ordinary scissors tend to squash the stems of flowers.

Florist’s scissors are designed to make it easy to get right into an arrangement to snip off non-essential material. They can also be used for cutting thin wire and any flowers Longwell Green. A good pair of secateurs will be used constantly for gathering flowers and cutting woody branches from the garden.

Wire netting

A fairly pliable chicken wire with a large mesh, approximately 5 cm (2 inches) is useful. It can be bought in convenient lengths from hardware shops.

The beauty of wire as a base is that you will be able to achieve open, airy arrangements easily and can economise on the amount of material required. Keep the netting clean and dry when not in use. The amount you will need depends on the size and shape of vase you frequently use. Fold the netting into layers so that the holes overlap and stalks can be held in position at several levels. In a tall container you should aim to get four or five layers. In a shallow dish three to four layers should be enough. Once you have achieved the right shape for a particular vase, keep it only for that purpose. This avoids continuously bending and folding the wire which will crack the galvanizing causing the wire to rust and deteriorate rapidly. Place the netting so that the cut ends are at the top of the vase. They can then be twisted to clip around the rim or vase handle to hold the wire firmly in place.


To use wire in a glass container, make a tangle of netting to fill the upper third of the vase, hooking the cut ends over the rim of the glass. Then when you make your arrangement hide this with down-curving foliage.

If you are using a valuable china vase or silver container, either line it first with thick brown paper or try plastic coated wire netting to protect the surface from scratching.

For a wedding presentation

During the wedding reception, many newly married couples wish to thank their parents publicly. A basket of flowers and foliage is a perfect gift for several reasons: as the flowers and foliage are arranged in water-retaining foam, they will remain fresh throughout the reception, which is particularly useful if it is an evening function; a basket is also easy to present, carry and transport home. If the basket is to be a memento, suggest that it is returned to the shop and filled with fabric and dried flowers echoing those used in the bride’s bouquet. This is a lovely keepsake, especially for the bride’s mother, and can be incorporated when you have the flowers delivered Twickenham for the wedding.

Decorating your Packaging


There is no correct or incorrect way to decorate an acetate container. It is a matter of taste, and also of your customer’s particular likes and dislikes. Do not forget that he or she is the one paying for the design not the florist Jindalee.

When choosing a ribbon to decorate your cylinder, remember that there are now many that are specially designed for occasions such as Valentine’s Day or Christmas. The ribbon can often make preformed bows if you pull a cord.

The cylinders are simply enhanced by taking the ribbon around the tube and attaching it with sticky tape at the top and bottom. They are completed with a well-made bow of special ribbon, attached to the lid.

Do your homework on your florist

Although a professional flower stylist can enhance your special day with beautiful floral arrangements, the florist must know your style, criteria and budget. Many attributes must be carefully thought through before selecting a florist or flower shop. Carefully read through the information in this blog to save you time, money and unsatisfactory results from your delivery of flowers Mosspark. Florists are like any other profession - there are good ones, and there are bad ones. do your homework and make sure you end up with one of the good guys.

A Handtied Posy


Handtied bunches are a delightful way of giving flowers. The stems are clear of leaves and the flowers are arranged. All the recipient has to do is to re-cut the stem ends and place the flowers in a vase of water. Handtied bunches have always been part of the European florist’s repertoire; nearly every assistant in a florist’s shop will arrange flowers in the hand as they are bought, the stems having already been stripped of their leaves before they were placed on display.

Starting with one good strong stem, the other materials are added as the bunch is turned in the hand. This distributes the flowers evenly around the main stem, and forms a good all-round shape. The top of the design may be flat or domed, depending on the personal preference of the Pendlebury florist making the design. There is no correct method -- just different styles, chosen as appropriate.

Planting a Potted Rosebush

1. To plant a rosebush purchased in a tar-paper or metal pot, dig a hole twice the diameter of the pot and twice as deep as the height of the pot. Then fill the hole with soil mixed with fertilizer and peat moss until the pot, when set in the hole, has its own soil level even with the level of the ground.


2. After having watered the plant thoroughly (to make the soil adhere to the roots in one big lump), gently tip a tar-paper pot over far enough so that you can cut and peel away the bottom.


3. Place the pot in the hole, then cut the pot down both sides and pull it apart without disturbing the soil around the roots. (If the pot is metal, have it cut apart at the Historic Filipinotown flower shop and bound with twine; lift the plant out and set it in the hole.)



4. Fill the hole with soil, pressing it down to make it firm around the roots. Mold a trough about 1 ½ inches deep around the canes, then water until thoroughly soaked. Add 2 inches of coarse peat moss or other mulch to the soil surface around the plant.

Condition wild flowers

The most important point of all about getting wild flowers for arrangements — you must be sure to condition them as well as possible. I have mentioned that they should be placed in a polythene bag when first cut, then the re-cut ends put into very hot water. This is the same treatment as for garden flowers which do not stand well when cut. The boiling water technique may be used for a mixed collection of wild and garden flowers — hydrangeas, roses, dahlias, clematis, wild roses, cow parsley, willow herb and other wild flowers — treating them all the same. Place the end of the stems into an inch of boiling water, count up to thirty, and then stand them in cold water for several hours so that they may have a really long drink. You can also use this method of course when you have flowers delivered Glendale that need conditioning prior to being put into a vase.

Florist background

Ever wondered how your local Kenedy Florist is able to send out such wonderful blooms on your behalf? Well before they actually get to the florist, there is a whole wide range of steps taken in the cut flower market. By harvesting and handling a cut flower crop in the best way, the quality of the marketable product is greatly improved, and with better quality comes longer shelf life.

Tips for drying flowers

To keep your house full of flowers through the winter, dry your favourite blossoms in your microwave oven. Roses (including buds), geraniums, marigolds and zinnias dry well; impatiens and petunias don't. Whatever you use, cut the flowers late in the morning, after the dew has dried. And be aware that your dried flowers Schuylerville will come out a couple of shades darker; red roses become almost black, pink or coral ones become red.

Line a microwave-safe container with a bed of silica gel crystals (available at craft shops) and heat on High for 3 minutes to make sure the crystals are as dry as possible.

Pour 1 in / 25 mm of warm crystals into a heavy glass container wide enough to accommodate the flowers you're drying.


Snip each flower stem so that only 1in/25mm remains attached to the flower, then push the stem into the crystals so that the blossom stands upright.

Gradually pour the remaining warm crystals down the side of the glass until the blossom is completely covered.

Microwave on High for 1 minute 45 seconds for rosebuds, or up to 4 or 5 minutes for large, fleshy blooms. Experiment first with imperfect blossoms to judge the precise timing of the drying process.

Cool for 20 minutes, then gently pour off the crystals. Clean the flower petals carefully with a fine paintbrush, then mist lightly with an acrylic spray. Tape to florist's wire to make a new stem.