Cindy Asks:

I have called a local florist, but they could not help me. Why would my peace lily have green flowers??? They are green when they open and stay green until they turn brown at the end of their cycle. Can you help? Thank you.

Jamie Replys: Normally peace lily blooms are green after they have been pollinated and are in a declining phase. Here are a few suggestions: Trim all the blooms off — go to the base of the stem to cut them. Fertilize the peace lily with a houseplant fertilizer. By trimming the blooms we stimulate the plant to produce more. By fertilizing we insure the plant has the proper nutrients to form the blooms. Hope this helps; please keep me posted. If you would like more information on peace lilies read FlowerShop Networks Newsletter Caring For Peace Lilies

Monica Asks:

I bought a plant a few days ago and I do not know what kind it is how do i find out what it is.

Jamie Replies: There are a few ways; FlowerShop Network has a gallery of house plant pictures — go to FSN Pictures of House Plants, check out FSN Floral and Plant forum’s plant identification, or send me a few pictures of the plant and I will identify it. You can summit the picture to me through our ask the expert page.

Valentine’s Day has past but that doesn’t mean the need for sending flowers is gone. Birthdays, anniversaries, and other flower giving events are still occurring. When sending flowers it is fun to let the flowers speak for you. You can choose flowers that represent the emotion you want to convey. The flower meanings for daffodils for example are:

• regard
• unrequited love
• you’re the only one
• the sun is always shining when I’m with you
• chivarly

So try this sometime: Send your girlfriend a vase of daffodils to let her know “she’s the one”.

You can Learn more at Flower Meanings

Gary asks:

We have a 3 stalk Lucy Banboo plant and it was doing well but in the last two weeks we have ovserved that the biggest and tallest one has start to trun yellow. The leaves are all green and healthly looking. We live outside of Bethlehem PA. The temperature is about 60 degrees. The plant gets indirect day light but it is not in a window.We use only spring water and we water it twice a month.

Is this condition something that I should be worry about.

Jamie’s Reply: Although you use spring water, it may still be heavy in salts. Too much floride, chlorine, or salts can cause the leaves to yellow. Try using distilled water. I would not worry if only one or two leaves at the bottom are turning yellow. Flower Shop Network has an informative newsletter called Caring for Lucky Bamboo. Hope this helps.

Gary responds:

Thank you for getting back to me but the leaves are not the part that is turning yellow but 1 out of tree stalks are turning yellow.

I printed out the newsletter and will read through it. Should I be worried about the stalk turning yellow?

Jamie’s Reply: I am a little concerned. You may have some type of pathogen — insect or fungal. Check for scale or spider mites both are insects. Scale will be a cottony substance or a shell like attachment on the stem or at the base of the leaves. You will need a magnifying glass to see the spider mites — they will be actively crawling around. As for fungal, check for soft tissue any where on the stem especially at the water line. One other thing have you fertilized your lucky bamboo? I will research a little further to see if I can come up with any other possibilities.

Gary Responds:

Thank you for getting back to me.

I will get a magnifying glass and check for spider mites and fungal. No we have not fertilized the luck bamboo but we will. Can you please let us know what and how we should do this.

Jamie’s Reply : Use any standard house plant food at about one-tenth the recommended dilution rate each time you change the water. Make sure you are using a water soluble fertilizer.

With the 2007 Valentine’s Day holiday approaching, Flower Shop Network would like to offer these suggestions and tips to ensure your satisfaction as well as your customer’s, on orders placed going outside your delivery area:

• Delivery fees in metro areas average $10 to $12.

• Provide recipient telephone numbers. Many shops will not accept orders without a working recipient phone number.

• During the Valentine’s Day holiday, the minimum order amount is $40, plus delivery which averages $8-$10.

• Must provide 2nd choice products on orders: this includes flowers, colors, etc…

• Guaranteed delivery cutoff will be Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 2:00pm CST.

• Please inform your customers that orders placed after the cutoff date and time will be delivered as quickly as possible according to the delivery date.

The staff at Flower Shop Network appreciates the opportunity to work with you and wish you a happy and prosperous Valentine’s Day.Sincerely,

Julie Ratliff
FSN Relay Manager