Flowers UK London

Valentine’s Day arrived as quickly as it passed by. Few of us can say that this special day was not refreshing, especially at this time of year, when the days are just short of drab. So you have eaten all the chocolates and your flowers have wilted, what to do now?

This is not the time to give up on flowers, keep bringing the blooms indoors! There is nothing more pleasant than having flowers bloom indoors. The amaryllis is a dependable flower and it produces the best flowers at this time of year, even if they do not last all that long.

Orchids do fairly well in the winter, this is another flower that does not bloom all that often. When they do spread their petals the flowers are nothing short of a piece of art. If you are looking for something that will bloom for a longer period of time then this is the flowers to choose.

Of course, not all of us have the green thumb or time to have these flowers blooming in the next couple of weeks. Buying flowers is a great mood-boosting investment. It is best to have your flowers purchased on a warm day, Flowers24hours.co.uk, can have the flowers delivered to your front step on the day you wish. So when the weather is a bit milder, you can make your decision on exactly which blooms you would like to have brightening up your dining table!

The drab and cool days of winter are just begging for a bit of colour. One great solution for brightening up your home is the lovely amaryllis.

This flowering plant comes from the tropical Americas. The bulb that it grows from is quite large, it is often the size of a mango. The stalk and the flower of the plant are quite formidable as well.

The beautiful flower of this plant comes in a variety of colours, red, pink, orange and white. There are also some varieties that come in a combination of these colours. Most importantly the shades of this bloom are warm, in contrast to the weather outside!

If you order this flower or send it to someone special. Make sure that it is placed in a warm spot where it will get an optimal amount of light. If you get the potted plant, then it is important to remember to keep the soil moist. The rule of thumb is to feel the soil daily, and as soon as it is not moist to the touch, water it.

As soon as the amaryllis plant stops growing, you can cut back the stalks, and it will be just as beautiful as a houseplant.

If you are thinking of getting this plant as a gift for someone special there are many options out there. It is hard to decide, which option is more heart warming, potted amaryllis for delivery, or a beautiful arrangement. Regardless of what you choose you can be sure that this will, take the recipients mind off the monotonous days of winter!

There’s a lot going on at this time of year, and if you are a gardener you have even more on your plate. With the nights getting longer, this is the ideal time of year for plants to start setting their buds.

Some examples of these flowers and plants are chrysanthemums, poinsettias and zygocacti (Christmas cacti) mainly they can be seen blooming in stores. They are even pushed to bloom to fit specific marketing, and this is done by controlling the length of the days in greenhouses.

The end of October and beginning of November is a ‘green light’ period for gardeners to get their spring blooming plants. I doesn’t matter if you have purchased your bulbs earlier on in the year there is still time to get the planted.

The bulbs need to be planted at least twice the depth of their length, in a spot where they will get about six hours of sunlight, and is important that their pointed end is looking upwards. If it is not clear which end is the pointed one plant them on their side. The shoots and the roots will grow in the right direction on their own.

If your roses are still blooming this is the time to stop cutting them, when roses are cut they produce new shoots, as the weather is fairly cool now frost could kill any new growth, which is not good for the plant.

Take this opportunity to cut a few more blooms for your home, and leave the plant alone until January, when you can get some pruning done.

Sources:

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20091105/LIFESTYLE/911050335/Betty+Coffelt++Some+plants+will+start+setting+flower+buds

According to the Flowers and Plants Association, the phalaenopsis orchid has found its way into the hearts of the British as it has been the favourite plant in the nation for the second year in a row.

Thirty years ago, the spider plant was a hit, twenty years ago the parlour palm was a favourite and the chrysanthemum held first place in the previous decade. Now, a majority of homes in the UK decorate their window sills with this popular plant.

This flower is more commonly known as the moth orchid, supermarkets and high street stores are reflecting this trend showing a considerable increase in sales.

“The reason for the increase is because of changes in growing techniques and breeding, which mean commercially grown phalaenopsis have not been difficult to grow in the UK, and so in turn are now less expensive to buy and more readily available in retailers. Previously orchids were only available through more specialist suppliers or retailers, but they are now far more available,“ said the spokeswoman for FPA, Sarah Holland.

This flower first made its way to the British Isles about 300 years ago, among the cargo of church missionaries and explorers. Collectors and the rich were the first to own and care for this plant. South America, the West Indies and Japan are the natural habitat of this flower, where they grow in trees.

Whether or not you are keen to follow trends, this is a beautiful flower but it is meant for the patient caretaker only as it does require special attention.

Feng Shui

Feng Shui is directly translated from Chinese to “Wind Water”. It represents the elements that surround us in our daily lives that contributes to our ‘Qi’ or ‘Chi’.

Qi is an ancient Chinese concept that positive energy is flowing all around us. What Feng Shui does is manage the (mostly) inanimate objects of our daily lives and position them to allow Qi to flow freely around your environment. Once you’ve ‘Feng Shui’d’ your house, the theory is that it can fully allow this positive energy to surround you, filling your life with positive activities.

While it’s often fine to Feng Shui your house yourself, in Chinese speaking countries, many people opt for a Feng Shui expert to evaluate their house, their Chinese astrological sign and their status in life to decide where things are best positioned. Traditionally, a Chinese compass is used to decide the positioning of many objects in the house. There are however, some easy to implement rules that apply to most houses.

1) Your feet should never face the door of your bedroom as you sleep. Feng Shui experts suggest that this mimics a coffin, which is lifted feet first. Literally meaning all of your energy goes straight out the door. This may result in you waking up feeling exhausted and energy drained.

2) Toilet lids should always be shut when it’s not in use. This is because wealth can be literally ‘flushed straight down the toilet’. This is probably one of the most easy things to do with Feng Shui as it doesn’t require moving or painting objects of your house.

3) To salvage all the Qi that may go out of the toilet, you can place fresh flowers or pebbles above the toilet to capture all the escaping positive energy

4) A glass of water in the North of your house promotes a good career. If you don’t have a compass, google maps is an easy way to find out which side is North if you don’t already know.

5) Well placed plants. Most plants bring luck to your environment. Placed in the East, South East and South corners of your office, a plant can bring a positive change to your career (as well as your mood!). Plants with thorns should be avoided at all costs. While the thorns are supposed to have a protective shield, these are best placed just outside your home.

6) Fresh flowers. Fresh flowers provide luck and fortune to your house and most often advised to be kept in the living room. Make sure you throw them out as soon as they die however, as they can bring misfortune, much like dried flowers. If you don’t want to get fresh flowers weekly, a more cost effective and less time consuming alternative is silk flowers. (We can also deliver fresh flowers weekly to your home to make the process easier!)

7) Trim the plants and trees around your house regularly. Overgrown plants provide an ideal place for negative energy to gather, but once the plants are trimmed and tidy, the positive energy is free to flow through the house again.

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Brightening up your home for the summer can be done wonderfully easily with a vase of flowers.

In the long summer days where sunlight pours through the windows most of the time, it’s always handy to have a beautiful vase of flowers to perfect that warm glow of sunshine in the living room. The flowers, accompanied by their heavenly scent, provide an excellent relaxed atmosphere for the family.

Flowers have long been associated with human emotions and science has proven the positive effect they have on human beings.  Scientists in Rutger University examined the possibility that flowers improve emotional health.

Research Findings

This team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants’ behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods. They concluded:

1. Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. All study participants expressed “true” or “excited” smiles upon receiving flowers, demonstrating extraordinary delight and gratitude. This reaction was universal, occurring in all age groups.
2. Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods. Specifically, study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers, and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.
3. Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.

“Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy,” Dr. Haviland-Jones said. “Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being.”

So flowers in your home will not only improve the aesthetic environment but also your family’s mood!

So the summer’s here! Family is visiting, friends are coming around for barbecues and things are busy in the house hold.

Livening the house up can be tricky, especially in tough financial times such as these. This is why our sister company, Todich Floral Design, is launching brand new, introductory rate flower arranging classes!

Starting with the basics, you will learn which flowers are seasonal and which best to use for what occasion. You will learn about colour schemes, positioning of flowers and how to use foliage correctly when creating an arrangement. There are three types of courses: the first is a 3 hour course; second is a 3 day course and the third is a wedding arrangement course.  In all of them, you will be guided through, step by step, how to make a vase arrangement, table arrangement and hand tied bouquet / bridal bouquet.

3 Hour Sessions – £25 SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY RATE!

Availability: 10 places

In these 3 hour sessions, our head florist will teach you how to create a vase arrangement, a basket arrangement and then a hand tied bouquet!

July 11th – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

July 12th – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

August 8th – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

August 9th – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

3 Day Summer Course – £120 SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY RATE!

Availability: 10 places

Celebrate the beginning of the summer with our 3 day floristry course! You will see the whole floristry process in action. We will teach you how to create a variety of designs as well as an interesting talk from a guest speaker from the floristry industry to help further your knowledge. Upon completion you will be rewarded with a completion certificate approved by Todich Floral Design.

July 22^nd – 9:00 – 1:00pm

July 23^rd – 9:00 – 1:00pm

July 24^th – 9:00 – 1:00pm

1 Day Wedding Floristry Crash Course – £68.75 SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY RATE!

Availability: 10 people per course

Our wedding crash course is aimed at people wanting to purchase and create their own flower arrangements for their wedding!

Starting with an early morning trip to our supplier, we will give advice to which flowers are the best value for money. There we can also explore different types of vases and floral decoration. We then head to our studio and show you how to create the typical types of flowers for a wedding – button holes, bride’s bouquet and a table arrangement.

If you would like to attend our 1 day wedding crash course, please contact us for more information on 020 7737 1166. Alternatively, if you wish to place a private booking we can tailor the package to suit your needs, for example, teach you how to make a pedestal or candelabra arrangement.

July 30^th 8:00 am – 3:00pm

August 13^th 8:00 am – 3:00pm

All lessons will be held at our studio, the full address is:

Railway Arch 405,
Lilford Road,
London,
SE5 9HR.

Zucchini Flower

Since Jamie Oliver came along on telly discussing his latest recipes for zucchini flowers and lavender, we’ve been getting a few calls to see if we can suggest any recipes. Most of our flowers are indeed inedible, however, there are a few which parts of can be eaten, which include: lavender, alliums, apple blossoms, banana blossoms, carnations, chrysanthemums, dandelions, fuchsia, gladiolus, wild hyacinths, jasmine, sunflowers, violets and more.

Chrysanthemums have long been used by the Chinese for making beautiful tea, which is often said to cure sore throats, as well as help acne, treat eye diseases that are related to stress and aid recovery from influenza. Might help with all the swine flu going around! It is also used by Koreans for waking up and used by the West as a drink and a compress to treat circulatory diseases such as varicose veins and atherosclerosis. It’s available in all Chinese supermarkets and also easy to make at home – place some dried (or fresh) chrysanthemum leaves into a teapot and pour in water between 90-95ºC. Add in rock sugar to taste. You can repeat this process several times with the same leaves and drink either hot or chilled. Jasmine tea can also be made in a similar process.

Lavender is a popular flower for cooking recipes. Lavender Creame Brulee, Grilled Pork Chops with Lavender Flowers, Lavender Sorbet and my personal favourite, peppered lavender roast beef. This beautiful recipe is best marinaded overnight and I personally like to add some dark soy sauce with the oil mixture. Gravy can be made with the excess fats with some extra lavender dropped in, some port and vegetable stock. The full recipe can be viewed from here.

If you’re picking these yourself from your garden, always make sure firstly you’re picking the correct flower and secondly that you avoid any poisonous parts of the plant or flower. If you have a known allergy to touching a particular flower, it is, not surprisingly, best to avoid eating these at all costs!

January, February are the coldest and most depressing of months. But the flowers love it! It is expensive in the summer to keep the place cool enough and keep the flowers happy, but at present it is a case of keeping the florists warm enough. You would think that we were prepared for a day’s tobogganing in the snow if you came to our workshops and saw the woolly hats and body warmers amongst the roses.

As i said, the flowers love it! There is no better time to get value for your money than now when flowers will keep longer on top form. Amaryllis, hyacinths and orchids are all at their best right now.  And there is nothing like a touch of colour seen against the grey background of fog, mist and snow.

There is no time like now to brighten up the world by buying flowers for your home, friends and relatives.

Just look into your new diary and you will find a range of festivals are coming up. Why not sent flowers for Australia Day or for Burns Night?

Every December our attention is suddenly turned to Christmas Trees. They are so different from our usual flowers and gifts that it quite changes things here. Most of our bouquets can be lifted by the tiiest florist and suddenly we find ouselves asking for tall strong delivery men to lift eight foot trees onto a roofrack!

Planning begins in Spring as soon as Valentine’s Day is over with a visit to the Spring Fair to look around for decorations and festive items such as wreath bases. Changes to the computer system if needed would also be planned early in the year.

By late summer we are setting up the web-pages and   finalising suppliers and prices . And in October the first orders start to come in- a trickle at first with the main surge around the first of December. After that there are still last minute trees, replacement trees and emergency trees being ordered. “We must have a tree for tonight – the party starts at 6pm!”

We also supply decorations in various styles to suit your taste and pocket. You can go for the basic Christmas glitter look or upgrade to deluxe with the addition of such items as gilded pinecones, cinnamon sticks, preserved lemon slices and brocade bows.