2010-Feb-8 - Take me with you in search of the perfect flower

Colour it right
Proportion can also relate to the amount of colour, texture and space used within a design. A less effective design does not have enough of ribbon fern, the green pteris foliage, in proportion to the white flowers. A guide to the amount of colour that can he used within a successful design is 50—75 per cent of tints, 15—30 per cent of tones and shades, and just 10—20 per cent of strong hues. These proportions of colours, if used effectively, will give a pleasing design. Having this grasp of colour usage is essential for all modern florists Nelson if they are to trade successfully in this competitive market place.

Say it with flowers

Sending flowers is not only very traditional, but it is also a very stylish way of expressing your sentiments. You can send flowers to say welcome; I am sorry; I love you; and for many more occasions. Beautifully arranged and fragrant flowers can brighten up a person's day. In all parts of the world flowers have played an important role in weddings and rituals. In short, receiving flowers in Hokitika can mean so much to so many people.

Varieties of Perennials
The perennials are numerous and diverse, and can be found in nearly every Guadalupe flower shop; they include such garden mainstays as delphiniums, columbines and daisies, and such oddities as cohosh bugbane, with its curious spike of white flowers that resembles a bottle brush. Some of the best of them appear at the very times that the garden needs them most. When the tulips and daffodils have faded and summer annuals still are seedlings, the bushy peony, the stately iris and the alluring hairy-leaved Oriental poppy rise to perform spectacularly. And when autumn frosts and gales have driven everything else off stage, chrysanthemums and hardy asters remain to flaunt their colors in a grand finale.

My Favourite Flowers - Allium
Onion, leek and garlic all belong to this family, and the species grown for their flowers are also faintly onion-scented, which may be off-putting for some people, but they are good as cut flowers despite this.
My favourite is A. siculum from Sicily, its large dark-red bell-like flowers with the outer petals striped in blue-green, borne on curving 90 cm (3 ft) stems. The loose umbels of up to thirty flowers, appearing in May and June, are very unusual and striking. The shorter A. caeruleum has rounded heads of deep-blue flowers in June and July. Others I would recommend are A. giganteum, a real giant with huge heads of purple flowers on 1.2 m (4 ft) stems; A. rosenbachianum, one of the best for arranging with large heads of purple-lilac flowers Kingston upon Thames; A. ostrowskianum, with short stems of bright pink flowers, excellent for the rock garden; and A. roseum ‘Grandiflorum’, a little taller with small rounded purple flowers, which dry so well and retain their colour all winter.
Cultivation
Plant from September to November — the earlier the better — in any good well-drained soil, in sun in an open bed, or among herbaceous plants. Mulch and give some soluble feed for the first year or two until the bulbs are established. Remove flower heads as they fade.
Conditioning and drying
I find a teaspoonful of bleach put into water in a vase stops the onion-like smell. The seed heads should be hung upside down in a dry atmosphere; take care that the heads do not touch each other.
Arranging
These rounded heads are useful for putting into summer mixed groups, and are marvellous to use when dried. They dry best if left in very shallow water in a warm place, or if hung upside down.

Wiring Cut Flowers
You can keep tulips and other tall cut flowers standing up straight and prevent them from bending toward the light by stiffening the stems with St George florists wire. Insert the wire into the stem below each blossom and up into the flower’s base, then gently wrap the wire down around the length of the stem. In the case of hollow-stemmed flowers such as anemones, the wire can be inserted up through the bottom of the stem until its tip reaches the head of the flower; the stems then can be shaped into graceful curves if desired.

Choosing the plants
In the garden you use the same technique as for flower arranging, grouping for contrast and allowing leaves to play a major part. When arranging a vase, the best way to avoid a spotty effect is to place together one or two flowers of the same colour. For example, an outline of twiggy flowering shrub such as forsythia, then some pieces of the green hellebore with delicate but solid heads, a centre focal point of two rounded heads of Petasites japonicus, or three or five yellow tulips with a few stems of straw-coloured hyacinth on either side. To find out what these flowers look like, it is a good idea to pay a quick visit to your Shirley florists shop.
Exactly the same principles can be followed when you plan your border: in this case the forsythia and large-leaved petasites would be at the back, with the smaller plants in front providing different leaf forms and colour.

Simple Alice Band construction
Switch on the glue gun and place your materials on a sheet of paper. Prepare small ribbon bows and wire and tape small clusters of wax flowers, removing most of the flower stems. Starting at the ends of the headband, glue on first a small trail of hedera and then an attractive combination of flowers and ribbons. Work from the ends up to the centre and then fill any gaps with small flowers or clusters of foliage. Allow the glue to dry completely; spray the finished band lightly with water, and store. For safety reasons, any good florist Llanedeyrn will not forget to switch off the glue gun if it is not required for further use!

What is flower taping?
This is the technique of covering wires with a specially manufactured tape. A good florist must be able to tape materials quickly and neatly, and in the beginning this will take practice. Wired stems are taped for the reasons given below.

• Taping conceals the wires, giving protection and a professional appearance that heightens the general public’s appreciation of the florist’s skills.
• Sealing the stem with tape gives a natural appearance and holds in the moisture, prolonging the life of the materials that can no longer take up water.

Purchasing Seeds
Fortunately, garden catalogs and many West Brazos florists sell the seeds of outstanding cultivars of perennials, annuals, and biennials each year. I like shopping from the colorful catalogs that arrive almost daily in my mailbox in early winter. Studying them on a snowy day gives me a chance to plan the most perfect garden ever, though I invariably covet far more plants than I have space for.
It is important to order seeds early, before the choicest cultivars are sold out. When they arrive, sort the packages and store them in a cool, dry, dark closet until you are ready to plant. Read the directions carefully to see if any pre-planting care is necessary. Delphinium seeds, for instance, germinate better if they are kept cold in the refrigerator for three or four weeks before you plant them. Many shrubs and evergreens need a two- or three-month period of moist, cool storage (called stratification) in order to germinate well. Planting collected seeds directly in the soil as soon as they are ripe fulfills this requirement nicely. The seeds stay dormant and germinate the following spring.

How about this?
Whilst we aim to provide you with a never ending supply of flower facts, you may like to check out Funky Florist 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.