Pisces may represent the last sign in the zodiac, but your Pisces is the first in your heart. Self-sacrificing and compassionate, your beloved deserves a beautiful and unique gift on her birthday. If the love of your life was born between February 19^th and March 20^th then a Pisces-inspired flower arrangement is an excellent and unique gift for her this year!

Pisces tend to be very tolerant, giving, emotionally deep and involved, compassionate and empathetic. These are amazing qualities in a mate or friend. I can see why you love her! However, these endearing traits can also be very draining for Pisces who receive very little in return. Show your sweetheart just how much you love her with a beautiful zodiac flower arrangement from your local florist. Freesia, jasmine, lilac, narcissus, and Madonna lily are fragrant blooms that add pep to the step of Pisces.

It is often difficult to match words to the intense feelings of love, respect, and adoration that we feel for our partners. Rest at ease this time. Learn more about colors associated with flower meanings to find the colors that express your most sincere feelings. The gentle lavender color of lilacs represents femininity and gentility. The milky white of the Madonna lily represents purity, inspiration, and innocence.

Often the flowers themselves have deep meanings. Narcissus sends the message "stay as sweet as you are." Freesia spread thoughts of trust and innocence. When the right message counts, contact your local florist who will create a flower arrangement perfect for expressing your most romantic feelings.
White freesia and carnations make a beautiful gift for your Pisces!

Ask the Expert: What does the fern and lilac mean spiritually
Received these plant and flower from someone  Crystal

Reply:

Crystal,

Many plants and flowers have symbolic meanings, in this case when someone sends a fern the following meanings that can be implied are magic, fascination, confidence and/or shelter.  The meaning for lilac, the plant (Syringa) not the color, symbolizes youthful or innocence.  Keep in mind that not everyone knows the symbolic meanings that are associated with plants.  So, you might need to ask.  DO they mean to say, they had confidence that these items would give magical shelter to your youthful innocense.  Just my interpretation.  They could just mean that they are facinated with your innocense.  Of course, you can probably tell from the meanings what the send was trying to say.

Yellowing Lucky Bamboo

Ask the Expert: Why my lucky bamboo turned yellow and how to fix
I have my lucky bamboo for a year or so, and i noticed a few months ago that some of its leaves were starting to wither. But now I am really worried, because the stem turned yellow from the bottom up (see picture attached). I would really like to save it, but I don't know what to do, or where I did wrong so far. Please help.
Thank you Natasha

Reply:

You are not alone. Yellowing lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) is the problem of the week.  A few things can caused lucky bamboo to turn yellow — Too much light or too much fertilizer.  Exposure to fluoride can cause leaf discoloration that may start out looking yellow but eventually turns brown.  When lucky bamboo turns yellow from the bottom up, it is a strong indication of exposure to too much fertilizer.  In a case like this, your best course of action is to change the water and rinse the container. Refill with distilled water and do not add fertilizer.  **If you don't have distilled water, you will need to use water that has been exposed to the air for 24hrs.  This will allow both the fluoride and chlorine in tapped water to disapate. Then you can use it to fill your lucky bamboo container**   By doing this your lucky bamboo will have a chance (although slim) to recover.  Another option is to cut off the yellow and start over.  Lucky bamboo roots fairly easy.  If you go to my previous blog post We Are Not Always Lucky With Lucky Bamboo, you will see a detailed outline on how to do this with pictures.

Good Luck and please keep me posted.

Ask The Expert: I have a bamboo for a house plant.  One of my stems is turning yellow and the leaves are also turning yellow.  I have not idea what the problem is.  I moved in December from Florida to North Carolina.  I clean the stone once a month.  Any ideas of the problem and how to fix it.
Thanks so much.  This was a gift from my grand children.  I would hate for it to die.
Debbie

Reply:

Debbie,

As a result of the move, your lucky bamboo probably went into shock.  When plants are stressed, they tend to be more susceptible to the effects of normal problematic issues.  With lucky bamboo exposure to fluoride or too much light can cause yellowing.  This may not have been a problem before because: (1) the plant wasn't in stress or (2) the environment was different.

Different water systems have different levels of fluoride.  Your North Carolina water may have more fluoride thus causing the problem.  In this case as long as the stems are not soft or mushy, the plant will recover if you change the water using distilled water or by letting the water air out for 24hrs before you use it for your lucky bamboo.  Does the lucky bamboo have the same light exposure as it did in Florida?  If not, try to mimic the same light exposure in your new home.  As long as, the stems are not soft and mushy the lucky bamboo should recover.

One more thing just popped into my head.  When you moved was the lucky bamboo exposed to severe temperature changes or exposed to the cold for any length of time?  If so, the lucky bamboo will simply need to ride out the shock.  Don't fertilize it until you see healthy new growth.

If the plant doesn't look like it is going to make a recovery, I suggest starting a new plant from the healthy parts of the stalk.  Good Luck and Keep me posted.

Fat Tuesday Gift Ideas For The Skinny Minny Who Needs A Hand

"Mardi Gras" Flower Arrangement

Believe it or not, I do get asked a lot of questions of a trivial nature. Answering them (or finding an answer) seems to be my forte in the eyes of my friends. One friend recently asked me what Fat Tuesday is and what gift he should take to a Fat Tuesday party. Interesting enough, right? Having never celebrated the holiday but having enough Catholic friends to know the basic ins and outs, I gave him the following ideas but not without a bit of information first.

Fat Tuesday is traditionally celebrated as the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. In the Catholic and Episcopalian churches, it can also be called Shrove Tuesday. Either way, Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent. The tradition of Lent is when people give up something valuable to them such as a food or a habit like smoking. Such a chaste period is hard to enter into without one last run so Fat Tuesday is pretty much the free-for-all (within reason) day of celebration.

So what would you give someone at a Fat Tuesday celebration of just as a Fat Tuesday gift? I can't in good conscious pass up the opportunity to say "Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!" It just wouldn't be right. I can recommend a Mardi Gras flower arrangement in the traditional colors of purple, green and gold. In the celebration, purple represents justice while green represents faith and gold stands for power. Perfect!

"Fleur De Lis" Iris Arrangement

Another good idea is a king cake. Now while picking up this party cake from a New Orleans bakery may not exactly be "on the way home," it's still a great gift idea. Local bakeries may carry them for this special occasion or find a recipe online. The more traditional the better but it's still the thought that counts.

What kind of enthusiast would you be if you didn't think of a fleur-de-lis symbol first when Mardi Gras in New Orleans came to mind? This tiny symbol permeates nearly every part of my existence from jewelry to home accents. I say that to say that it's really easy to find gifts with this name or symbol. It's traditional and powerful all at the same time. In other words, a great hostess gift for your festive friends.

Have any more ideas? Feel free to share your Fat Tuesday gift ideas or stories of recent celebrations with us!

Are you worried about sending flowers to your friend that sneezes due to allergies? Flower allergies are more common than you'd think, but don't let that deter you from this tried-and-true gift idea.

There are many allergy friendly flowers that send the same message of love and friendship but without the mess of lousy symptoms. The next time that you're interested in sending flowers to someone with strong allergies, consider some of these for your allergy-friendly bouquet:

Gladiolus



Potted Daffodils

• Agapanthus
• Bouvardia
• Carnations
• Daffodils
• Gladiolus
• Hydrangeas
• Hypericum Berries
• Iris
• Leucadendron
• Lisanthus
• Magnolia
• Orchids
• Protea
• Snapdragons
• Spray Roses
• Thistles
• Tulips
• Hibiscus

See anything you like? The good news is that this list is full of very commonly used, gorgeous flowers that are popular in every local flower shop. It's so simple to make two caring gestures by sending flowers for an occasion (or just because!) and making sure that they are allergy friendly. Your friend will be very appreciative! Don't forget the foliage! There are also several types of allergy friendly plants that you can ask your local florist to send instead.

• Blooming Azalea
• Flowering Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana)
• Blooming Hydrangea Plant
• Golden pothos (Scindapsus aureus)

Sending flowers and plants has become a standard gift-giving idea for many reasons. Whatever the cause may be, sending flowers or plants is a great way to express feelings to a friend or loved one. Let your friend know that you're looking out for him or her in the biggest ways by sending allergy friendly flowers or plants.

Ask the Expert: re:  azalea
I recently received a blooming azalea.  It is loosing massive amounts of its leaves.  What should I do? Sheila

Reply:

Sheila,

Your plant is in shock.  Probably from the move from the florist shop to your home or office.  All plants will go through some shock when they are moved from one place to another.  This won't kill the plant if you take the proper steps to help it through the shock.  With blooming Azaleas the shock is intensified when the plant is over-watered or under-watered.

The first thing I do when I receive a blooming plant is remove the beautiful foil wrapping.  The foil wrapping makes for a great presentation but not for a great environment for the plant.  You can enjoy the plant for a couple days with the foil on but, then it is imperative that you remove it.  Why? Because the foil won't let the plant (in this case a blooming Azalea) drain properly.

All plants need to have good drainage or they can get root rot. Of course too much water is not always the problem, too little water, exposure to too much cold or heat and light issues can, also, cause the plant to loose leaves.   So, we must determine what is the root of your problem.

Check the soil for moisture.  Is it dry or soggy?  Correct either condition so that the soil is moist to the touch when you stick your finger an inch or two deep in the soil.  (Tip: pull a little soil out from that level - can you roll it into a ball? If no it is too dry.  If yes but you can sqeeze water from it to wet.)

Now check your light source.  For a blooming Azalea, it needs bright light.

Make sure the plant is not exposed to a cold or hot draft.  The air temperature needs to be a constant as possible.  Normal household temperatures will usually suffice.

Once you have corrected all of these issue, you are good to go from here on out.  However, you need to keep in mind that the damage may have occurred before you received it.  Don't panic plants are very resilient and will bounce back when given the right conditions.  The key is to look for new growth and DON'T Fertilize Til Plant is out of shock.  It might take a week or two but the leaves will stop falling off and new growth will start to emerge.  Just make sure to keep all of your conditions light, temperature and moisture constant.  Good luck and keep me posted.

Colorful Croton Houseplant

Valentines Day is over and the chocolates are probably eaten. However, there are many other occasions this month that call for good gift ideas. To the rescue once again, here is a suggestion that should no longer be overlooked:

Send a plant!

The brilliance of that suggestion deserves more fanfare. Customers in flower shops often overlook houseplants as gift ideas when they should instead be drawn to plants for many reasons; practicality, longevity, and beauty among them. Houseplants are as diverse as flowers but bring a lot more to the table (or the corner, or the desk, or the nook). They are definitely worth a mention when discussing gift ideas with your local florist.

Chrysanthemum Blooming Plant

Your florist will be able to guide you as to which plants are easier for beginners and experts. This will help you choose just the right plant for your friend or loved one. When ordering plants from a florist, be sure to ask if they have plant care information available. Many times this information can be included with the enclosure card, helping the recipient's plant last longer.

If your florist does not have this information, Flower Shop Network has plant care information for many houseplants such as daffodils, African violets, Norfolk Island pine, Schefflera, English ivy and others.

A dish garden or houseplant lasts longer than a typical cut flower arrangement. Want the best of both worlds? Send a blooming houseplant such as kalanchoe, exacum or hydrangea. While the natural beauty of many flowers is unrivaled, houseplants preserve a special memory of their sender. Help perpetuate wonderful thoughts of a budding relationship by sending a houseplant along with plant care information.

Ask the Expert: Can I plant Peace Lilies in the yard?
My mother pasted away in january and she recieved four Peace Lilies and I would like to plant them at her grave site. I wanted to know if they would be ok?  Rebecca

Reply:

Rebecca

I'm sorry for your loss.  Although Spathiphyllum (Peace Lilies) would be lovely around her grave site, these plants are tropical and can't survive cold temperatures.  Unless you live in certain areas of Hawaii or Florida, you need to keep these peace lilies as houseplants.  You can use them as outdoor plants during the warmer months.

It's actually pretty common to take a romantic vacation for an anniversary but forget to pick up contact information for the local florists. However, Flower Shop Network is your help away from home when you find yourself in this situation.

Picture it. You find a luxury hotel resort and book a room. You step inside the doorway with your sweetheart and everything is gorgeous but one thing is missing — the flowers. Something just seems off, perhaps even a bit bleak compared to what you were expecting.

Now picture this scenario but imagine the room filled with fragrant flowers instead. Rose petals strewn across the bed and around a jacuzzi instantly stand out. A beautiful arrangement of anniversary flowers resides on a table next to the anniversary gift that you know will be a hit.

All of these and many other creative options are available thanks to a local florist. They are the away from home contacts that every romantic traveler needs to have. This is where Flower Shop Network makes it easy for you to quickly and easily find a florist in your area.

It is also helpful to ask that florist to contact the hotel management with ideas for decorating the hotel room. For instance, the florist and management can team up to create a fabulous atmosphere that really stands out. When your sweetheart enters the room, the first sights are of the rose petals strewn across the bed, flowers on the nightstand, candles and gifts surrounding the jacuzzi, and a scented gift basket resting in the counter for a soothing bath or massage. Such a romantic atmosphere awaits the two of you just thanks to the partnership between you, a local florist and the hotel manager.

It's really that easy to design an impressive evening! Make the evening as perfect as possible. When this requires flowers (and it always does), be prepared thanks to help from a local florist.