Time to meet some new florists

Design lines

The main lines in a traditional flower design include the outline, which refers to the contours, and is created with spike materials; the focal point line, which is the main line of graded flowers, forming the centre of interest, and for which a mass form is used, and the transitional lines, which link the two contrasting spike and mass forms. Smaller flowers and foliage are arranged in sequences (lines) of graded sizes, buds being placed towards the outer edge, and fuller Raby flowers at the centre. Other materials can then be placed at various levels to fill in the gaps in the design. Follow these simple guidelines to create some inspired floral arrangements.

Pots and tubs


There are various ways of dealing with pots and tubs. A friend of mind has a rotation system which is very successful. As he has practically no garden, he capitalizes on a terrace on which he has only two large tubs showing at a time, although in fact he has eight pots or tubs in all. In winter two are planted with a small winter-flowering Viburnum tinus called ‘Evelyn Price’. This evergreen has clusters of pinky-white flowers, and blooms almost continuously all winter long. Meanwhile he has planted two tubs of mixed bulbs for spring and they are placed on view when they break into flower. For high summer he has tubs of the most beautiful lilies I have ever seen including Lilium regale and with its wonderful gold stamens, Lauratum, the sun lily of Japan. (Lilies do grow very well indeed with the protection of a pot.) And as lilies are his specialty he also puts out many different lilies in pots which make a lovely show. Lastly, the tubs are replaced by two large hydrangea plants (available from your Porirua florist) and these bloom from August to October. But, don’t forget that to make this system work you do need an area near the house to keep the out-of-season pots, or if not near the house, well out of sight and near a tap or access to water. Tubs and pots need plenty of water especially in the summer months. If you are able to submerge the pots under soil level they do not dry out nearly so quickly.

Recession

This is the placement of flowers, foliage and perhaps ribbon bows on lower levels within design. To achieve recession, set back short-stemmed flowers, foliage or ribbons by placing them behind other materials. A design that lacks recession will appear hat and two-dimensional, whereas materials placed on lower levels attract and lead the eye into the design, creating visual balance. Short-stemmed materials also have the advantage of hiding the mechanics, giving he design an attractive finish while strengthening the profile. Check your next flower delivery Shirley meets these criteria before sending to the recipient.

Achieving recession

• Use open flowers (avoid buds) and bold foliage, which will fill in the design quickly.


• Use darker colours — their recessive quality will give greater visual depth.


• Remember to leave space around the materials, otherwise the design will appear packed and visually bottom-heavy.

Design Principles

Composition is the organization of the elements within a design to achieve unification. Form, color and repetition contribute to the composition of the design.

Unity is created when the elements in a floral design relate to each other. The individual materials then blend together to produce a unified whole. This is achieved through color harmony as well as material selection.


Proportion refers to the correct relationship of the design elements; they should be of comparable size. The container or base determines the size of the items; a small wreath should not be overwhelmed with overly large flowers. Focal points should be similar sizes, whole fillers should be smaller. In addition, the scale of a design in relation to its surroundings must be considered. A tiny basket will look out of place on a long, formal dining table. For this reason it is often necessary to have an idea of your recipient’s home décor if you choose to send flowers Collyhurst as a gift.

Balance results in visual and, often, physical stability. Placing smaller flowers of lighter colors at the top of a design with larger, darker flowers at the base provides visual stability. For symmetrical balance, place the elements in the design with equal visual weight on each side of a vertical line. By placing the items unequally on each side of the imaginary vertical line (heavier on one side), asymmetrical balance is established.

When to send flowers to your girl?

I recommend sending some fresh blooms at least once a month, just to keep things ticking along nicely. It doesn't cost a lot, but the rewards can be substantial, especially in the bedroom. The best time to send flowers is . . well anytime as long as it's something she isn't expecting. The key is surprise, surprise for her, for her workmates and for you. Just make sure that you place your order in plenty of time so it's not a huge surprise for your florist when you organise the flower delivery Lincoln Heights.

Simple Steps to Long-lasting Cut Flowers

Keep the water fresh and deep. For maximum life, change the water in your vase at least every third day. Many flowers benefit from fresh water daily. There is a direct correlation between clean water and long flower life. When you change the water, cut ½ inch off the base of the stems with a sharp instrument. Also consult with your florist for the best advice when you take your flower delivery Scotstoun.

Get some seedlings

Hopefully, many of your gardener friends will have spare plants and will be happy to give you seedlings and cuttings, and I do advise you to accept these even if they are not exactly what you want, for they can always be replaced at a later date.

I tend to plant much too close together, pessimistically assuming that not everything is going to grow, but I suppose the ideal would be to plant each subject with enough space to grow to full maturity. Seeds, of course, can sometimes be included within a flower delivery Huyton-with-Roby instead of you having to take a trip to the nursery. If you are strong-minded and can do this, I suggest filling in during the early years with annuals, especially those like atriplex and moluccella, which are also lovely for picking and drying.

Harvesting Dried Flowers


For success with all methods of drying flow­ers, remember a few simple steps when harvest­ing. Pick flowers at the correct time in their development; before the color has faded and the petals begin to drop. Harvest in midmorn­ing, after the night's dew has dried and before the heat of midday has caused the flowers to wilt. Check the flowers to make sure they are free of insect damage and discoloration. The smallest imperfection will be magnified after the drying process, which you may have noticed when visiting a Rhiwbina flower shop and looking closely at the dried arrangements. Remove thorns from flowers (roses in particular) before drying. They will only become more difficult to handle safely after they are dried.

Whichever drying technique you use, the faster the moisture is removed from the plants, the better they will hold their true color and shape. However, do not rush the process by placing the material too close to a furnace or oven. Heat will make your flowers look faded and they will become brittle and too delicate to handle. The length of time needed to dry flow­ers varies depending on the amount of moisture in the drying room and the size and denseness of the individual flower. Under the right condi­tions, most flowers and foliage will take from two to four weeks to dry. Once dry, they can remain in the drying room until needed.

Telephone Books and Newspaper for Pressing

Telephone books are good for drying. They're cheap, plen­tiful, and have absorbent pages. This means you probably won't even need to use paper towels. If you bring the phone book right out into the garden, you can place your flowers directly into it (which lessens the chances of delicate petals being blown apart). When you open the telephone book to check your flowers, remember to start from the back of the book. The pressure will hold the other flowers flat.

For larger plants, use several sheets of newspaper. The fo­liage of many plants, such as ferns and astilbe, dry beautifully using this method and become more durable if you choose to send flowers Le Petit Senegal to another place. Follow the directions from a florist for layering each page. Cover with more sheets of newspaper. Allow about 10 pages between each filled page. Continue to layer leaves and paper, and finish by putting a weight on top.

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Talk it through with your local florist

Pink Rose Myth

It is said in Greek mythology that after unfairly attaining the right to be the protector of women, Rhoanthe was turned into a pink rose by the God Apollo. In view of this circumstance, pink roses were said to have symbolized pain, extreme suffering and even death. However, as time goes on, the meaning behind pink roses has evolved significantly.

Modern meaning


Today, pink roses no longer have negative connotations to them. The pink rose is now a symbol of a new romance that has yet to bloom into full passion. Pink roses can also be used to signify joy and sweet affection, as well as wishing luck upon others. Graceful and elegant, pink roses can be divided into two categories – light pink roses and dark pink roses.

It is said that light pink roses symbolizes gentleness and admiration and they can also be used to express sympathy. This is why they are a very common choice for funeral arrangements according to a professional we use to get our flowers delivered
St. Peters that we spoke to recently. Dark pink roses however are the very symbols of gratitude and appreciation. It is said that by tradition, dark pink roses were sent as an expression of thanks.

Purchasing Tips

There are a few simple steps you should follow to make sure you get the best quality flowers. The main aim when buying flowers is simply to spot the bunch which is the freshest! By following these steps you can also make sure the flowers you buy, last as long as possible.

Of course, if you buy from an experienced florist you can rely on them to provide you with good quality and freshness making purchasing so much easier and reliable for you. They can also provide you with specific care advice at home relating to the type of arrangement and the variety of flower.

Buy 'inside' flowers

Many retailers place flowers outside to advertise that they sell flowers. Don't buy these! Buy the flowers Henderson that are inside the shop, out of the sun and away from potentially harmful car fumes. To make sure they last, most flowers should be kept in the cool and out of the sun. Some flowers can also be harmed by car exhausts, which contain ethylene gas. This gas speeds up flower wilting and drop in flowers like carnation, roses, orchids and waxflower. So it is best to choose flowers that are inside, away from these harmful conditions.



Check the stem ends

Turn the bunch upside down and have a good look at the cut stem ends. They should be green or white, and look freshly cut. Don't buy bunches with dark stem ends, or where the ends have split and are curling back, as these are signs of old flowers.

Rosa (rose)

Characteristics: The Greeks called the rose "queen of flowers" and indeed it is. The rose, which comes in a wide range of colors and sizes from a Beverly Hills flower shop, is the most popular flower grown around the world, a universal symbol of love and beauty. Some of the older varieties are grown not only for their beauty but also for medicinal and culinary purposes. Many types of garden roses can be used for drying. Don't limit your choices to tea roses; many shrub roses and climbers dry wonderfully well, also. I love the look of our 'Fairy' hedge rose, which features many tiny pink roses growing in clusters. They air-dry well, but tend to shrink and curl a little. The effect is lovely and makes a welcome addition to any dried arrangement. A well-placed rose can add life and elegance to a dried arrangement. Fasten some dried roses onto a simple swag or wreath for instant glamour.

Single and Double Sprays

This informal tribute uses materials on natural stems, which can be wired for support and control when necessary. The materials are arranged in a variety of bases, including moss foundations and, even more frequently, plastic spray trays. Foliage such as Tsuga pine or Abies grandis is used to create a good outline, and almost any combination of flowers might be used. Suggest this type of design to the customer who wishes to send a tribute as a token of sympathy, perhaps for a neighbour or a distant relative. These are perhaps my favourite of all the funeral tributes because it gives the florist a chance to use flowers Purley that are just beautiful.

Check out this flower - Tritonia

The arching flower spikes of tritonias provide brilliant summer color in rock gardens and borders and make long-lasting cut flowers as gifts when you have the flowers delivered Willsbridge to someone. The 2-inch cup like blossoms come in pink, salmon, yellow, apricot, orange, red, purple and white. Tritonias grow from corms, but are not to be confused with other cormous plants in the genus Crocosmia, with which they share the common name montbretia. The saffron tritonia, which grows 1 to 2 feet tall and bears orange-yellow flowers, is the most widely grown species; outstanding varieties include the bright red T. crocata miniata, the coppery orange Orange Delight, and the deep orange Princess Beatrix. Another fine species, T. hyalina, has pinkish orange flowers and grows about a foot tall.

Four Ways to Dig Holes for Planting Bulbs

1. To plant individual bulbs near other flowers Bordesley, 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.

Slowing down flowering


There are times during the seasons when it may be advantageous for a florist to ‘hold’ the development of a flower, perhaps to even out a glut of flowers, or before a peak sales period. Tulips, gladioli and peonies are especially suited to the following method.

It is essential to use flowers that are in good condition, showing no signs of mould or fungal diseases, so a thorough inspection is recommended. If the cut flowers are flaccid, they will need a drink to regain firmness before storage. Excess foliage is removed and bunches can be re-wrapped in paper. Shake off surplus water. Cellophane should not be used, as it can induce moulds. Once wrapped bunches are carefully packed into boxes.

Placed in the cold store, or in a cold dark cellar, the flowers can be kept for five to seven days, and conditioned in the normal way when required prior to the flower delivery Roath.

Silica Disadvantage

One disadvantage of silica gel is that the dried flowers are extremely brittle, so the petals break off easily, which can be a problem if you are using West Derby flower delivery to have your arrangements shipped. To help provide support, apply a dab of clear glue to the underside of the flower head where the pet­als meet. Silica gel-dried flowers are more likely to reab­sorb moisture and become limp quickly if exposed to moist air. To avoid this problem, store the dried flowers away from damp­ness or high humidity. Warning: Silica gel has a powdery consistency and can irritate your mucus membranes. Wear a surgical mask and use only in well-ventilated areas.

Garden Essentials

Some modern day garden essentials are a patio area for dining with friends, outdoor built-in barbeques, pools, ponds, and sitting areas. However, the all time garden essential for providing beauty, fragrance and colour is flowers. We not only want everything to work together ie: the flowers with the plants, but they should also be very minimal upkeep. Coinciding with us wanting more out of our gardens, we find ourselves with less and less time available to spend actually working in the garden.

Having less time means relying more on delivery services and outside professionals. Picking up the phone to a reseller of flowers Holiday Lakes is easier than driving to the garden centre after all!

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