• Welcome • Training • Motivation • Businesses • Resources • Advertising • Water Cooler • AdlandPro • Yellow Pages •

Flowers

Some of the Crusaders who travelled overseas encountered the tradition of brides carrying orange blossom as a symbol of eternal love and fidelity. Within the English setting, this tradition was modified by the use of native British flowers. During Elizabethan times a popular method of freshening the air was to place a potpourri in a room. Flowers have also long been used for medicinal purposes.

During the Victorian era the language of flowers (often referred to as floriography) was used to send coded messages via a floral arrangement. Bluebells sent a message of everlasting love whilst snapdragons (antirrhinum) symbolise a gracious lady. Colour (especially of roses) was also important with burgundy suggesting mystery, pink indicating grace and orange communicating passion. Although the full range of the language of flowers is rarely understood now other than by specialist historians or florists, the enduring message of love is still communicated through the gift of red roses to a lover.

Our continuing affection for flowers is reflected in the popularity of using them as girls’ names. Recent favourites include Daisy, Lily and Poppy.

One of the attractions of flowers is their fleeting beauty. Nonetheless, we usually want the blooms to last as long as possible. Fortunately this is often possible by following our Hot Hints.

• Check your flowers carefully when buying. Leaves should be crisp and green rather than limp and bruised.

• Most flowers can be bought before they are fully developed. With the a few exceptions which include orchids and some tropical flowers, they will continue to open once placed in a vase.
• Prepare your vase for your flowers by ensuring that it is very clean. Bacteria can kill flowers by blocking the stems and preventing the flowers from taking on water.
• Using a sharp knife – scissors can crush the ends of the stems – cut the stems off at an angle about 3cm from the bottom. This opens up the stem so that the flower can take on fresh water. Cutting at an angle provides a greater surface area and prevents the stem from becoming sealed against the bottom of the vase.
• Introduce flower preservative to nourish the flowers and keep bacteria away. Many flower arrangements come with proprietary compounds which are ideal. Extra supplies can be purchased from florists or garden centres. Homemade versions are an alternative. One example can be made using a litre of water with a teaspoon each of vinegar, bleach and sugar. Change the water every two days.
• Remove foliage below the water line in order prevent the leaves decaying.
• Most flowers need to be kept away from ethylene gas which is given off by ripening fruit and bananas. Flowers including freesias, lilies and carnations are especially sensitive to this gas.
• Some flowers need special care. Tropical flowers including orchids will be particularly sensitive to cold temperatures and care should be taken to keep them in temperatures above 13oC. If you want to try to prevent your tulips from drooping make a small prick at the top of the stalk just below the flower. For further information consult your local florist.

Use Local Service Guide to find a list of florists near you.