The death of flowers are inevitable, and as florists, we deal with it a lot! There are, however, many creative ways to reuse these withered beauties to be enjoyed for many days, weeks or even months to come! We had a few ideas of our own, but we also asked our florist friends on Facebook for their input!

While They're Still Kinda Fresh

1. Donate Before Flowers Are Too Gone

We have several florist friends who create short-lived flower arrangements out of their flowers that are about to expire. This is a great idea for florists who typically have a lot of extra flowers.

"Here at Gwinn's Florist in Union, SC, we give our old flowers we wouldn't send out to our local dialysis clinic right up the street from us, so their patients can enjoy them, even if it is for a day or two. :)" – Darlene

"We at Old Dominion Florist take our extra flowers that are still ok for a day to the Nursing Home right up the street. We did this 4th of July when we shut down the cooler for the weekend!!!" - Becky

"Extras are arranged in recycled vases and delivered to the local cancer center where they are given to patients undergoing chemo that day. Extras… never old or dead. We try to utilize extras for retirement centers, hospitals or the cancer center long before they are old. We love flowers and try to be good stewards of them.That is Spreading Sassy Sunshine!" – Linda, Sassy Floral & Design, St. Anthony ID

2. Use Flowers Deconstructed

Although they have withered, some flowers can still be used in arrangements in creative ways. You can strip the petals and use only the centers if they still look nice, or use the stems of the flowers to create unique lines in your designs.

Janet Frye of The Enchanted Florist in Asheville NC recommends using sunflower centers in arrangements. "Love it when sunflowers get older, so I can justify plucking out the petals and featuring just that beautiful brown center" - Janet

3. Create Works of Art With Flowers

Pressed flowers look beautiful on their own, however when arranged properly, they can be a true work of art. Just like creating arrangements, choose colors, sizes and textures that flow together and arrange them in unique ways on a flat piece of cardboard (such as the insert to a photo frame). Add a thin layer of acid-free glue to help the flowers stay in place. You can even cover the board in fabric or a nice paper (acid free works best and will make flowers last longer) to add to the look you're going for.

Continue reading "10 Ways To Put Life Back Into Your Dead Flowers!" »

Ask The Expert: just wondering, is  there a way to  prolong the life of cut flowers!!
thanks – bn

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
Yes. The proper preparation will extend the life of cut flowers. There is some information on Flower Shop Network's Blog that might be helpful to you.

Read Important Tips for Arranging Flowers at Home

Quick Tips For Prolonging The Life Of Cut Flowers:

• Place stems or bouquets of fresh flowers in water as soon as possible.
• Add preservative to the water. Preservative packets can be found at local flower shops.
• Keep fresh flowers away from draft and extreme temperatures which can quickly dry the flowers and cause wilting.
• Avoid placing flower arrangements in windowsills and other areas of full sun where flowers can wilt due to overheating.
• All flower stems should be submerged in water. Decline of fresh flowers occurs much more quickly after stems have been removed from water.
• To maintain fresh flowers longer, trim the stems and change to fresh water after a few days.
• Immediately remove dead or wilting stems from fresh flower arrangements.

Hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.

The iconic, casket flower arrangement has become a staple in our funeral flower traditions. Open or closed casket, the large spray of lush flowers and foliage has a way of calming our spirits in a time of loss. Beautiful flowers have a way of enhancing the atmosphere at somber events. Additionally, it gives guests something to talk about that is comforting and uplifting.

But what if there is no casket?

What if the deceased chose to be cremated, can you use flowers on a funeral urn? Absolutely! Florists everywhere are creating magnificent floral displays for funeral urns that are equally as impressive as the traditional casket spray.

Cremation flowers can be personalized to celebrate the life of the departed by using the their favorite flowers and colors. Incorporate favorite hobbies and pastimes into your flowers. If they were an avid gardener or loved to fish, use some of their equipment within the flowers to better represent them. Treat flowers for cremation urns just the same as you would in planning for casket flowers.

Below, Robbin Yelverton of Blumz… by JR Designs in Detroit & Ferndale MI walks us through creating flowers for cremation urns.

Continue reading "The Importance of Flowers For Cremation Urns" »

Ask The Plant Expert: We had some dried baby's breath saved from a previous vase of roses.  We put the dried baby's breath into a new vase of roses, and all the roses died within 4 days, after bending over and facing down and losing leaves.  Normally we can keep roses alive in a vase for a week or two, and then they finally die facing up without losing leaves.  We used the same vase we always use, same tap water supply, same rose food, and same store where we always purchase the roses.  The only thing we did differently was to add the dried baby's breath.  Is it possible that the dried baby's breath was toxic to the live cut roses? Thanks. -Dave

Flower Shop Network's Plant Expert Reply: When it comes to dried flowers, the rule is absolutely NO moisture. Even high humidity can damage most dried and preserved florals. Unfortunately, when your dried baby's breath was put into the water it began to rot and mold, thus turning the water for your roses toxic. Don't worry, there are ways to mix dry florals with fresh flowers! You must prevent the water from getting to your dried stems, do this by

1. Wrapping the stems in floral tape
2. Coating/dipping the stems into melted wax
   
3. OR coating/dipping your stems into melted glue. (Like from a hot glue gun.)
   

Dried flowers mixed with fresh flowers can create a very unique and beautiful flower arrangement, you've just got to prep it! Thanks for your question, Dave! Hope this helps!

One of our florist friend's daughter published a fantastic article to Yahoo called, Valentine's Day Flowers: Demystifying the Experience. It was so good, we just had to mention it on the Bloomin' Blog!

Rachael Priest is a freelance writer and daughter of Paula Wagnon, owner of Buds 'N Bows Flower Shop in Crawford, Georgia. Growing up in a flower shop gives her plenty of insight into the craziness of Valentines Day from a florist standpoint. Her tips are best for easing the stress of sending flowers.

Rachael gives excellent tips for consumers who are planning to order flowers for Valentines Day. Whether you are ordering flowers online or over the phone you can use these tips. There is even a section for sending custom flowers and under special conditions, such as sending Valentines Day flowers to your child at school. These tips are good practices to use when ordering flowers, even if they are not for Valentines Day!

What was Rachael's key to ordering flowers? ORDER EARLY! It's always best to order flowers early for the freshest flowers and on-time delivery. This is especially true when ordering custom or specific orders.

So before you order your Valentines Day flowers, make sure to read Rachael's article!

Great article, Rachael! Thanks for the mention as well!

This post is brought to you by Flower Shop Network. Find your local florist with our online directory!

If you're looking for a little something extra to spice up your holiday flower arrangements, try this cinnamon vase technique!

Not only will this arrangement spark Christmas spirit, it will smell wonderfully for weeks to come! Cinnamon is a favorite in holiday smells, and will definitely set the mood for any holiday party. This little design would make a perfect hostess gift for the elf in charge of your favorite Christmas get-together.

For this technique, you will need:

• a small, plastic cylinder container under 8"
• a bunch of 8" cinnamon sticks
• hot glue
• scissors
• ribbon

First, hot glue the individual cinnamon sticks vertically to the outside surface of your vase. (tip: cut the tops of the cinnamon sticks different heights to give it a staggered, rustic look)

Tie ribbon around the center of your cinnamon vase to finish the look. Depending on your design, you could use ribbon, rafia, wire — it's really up to you. If you want to go a step further, add a bunch of holly, mini candy cane, mini pine cones, or anything festive, to the front of your design.

Don't stop at just cinnamon! Think of other ways to use this technique. You could use branches from your yard. (Birch wood is very popular this time of year.) How about the large candy cane sticks? Instead of a vase, use this as a great candle treatment. It's all about using your imagination!

This is a great technique for florists to use in their shops. However, if you're a craftster like me, try this at home! Just don't forget to visit your local florist for a great winter flowers to use in you're new and aromatic vase!

This post is brought to you by local Auburn, NH florists.
Not in Auburn? No worries, use Flower Shop Network's handy directory of local florists to find a florist near you!

In every Flower Shop Network's monthly newsletter, we include a Quick Flower Care Tip. This month's was:

Have you ever brushed up against a lily and gotten pollen all over your favorite shirt? To avoid the dreaded pollen catastrophe make sure you remove the pollen.

When your lily bloom opens wide enough, take a soft paper towel and gently pop the anther (pollen) off of the filament. Then you can dispose of the pollen and avoid the messy pollen issue.

After reading our Quick Flower Care Tip, Mary Williams at Ideal Floral and Gifts in Lyons, Ga sent us a great way to remove pollen from clothing.

Just read your info on lily pollen. I have found that if you do indeed get the pollen on you or your clothes you need to lift it off with tape. Any kind will do. This surely has saved a lot of ruined clothes for my customers!

Mary, thank you for such a useful tip. I will be sure to remember it the next time I pick lilies from my garden. I seem to get get pollen all over me every time I pick my lilies.

If anyone else has a secret way to remove pollen from clothing, please share you tips with us.

It's that time again — PROM! Fancy dresses, perfect hair, jewelry, makeup, high-heels and beautiful flowers — when these are the essentials, you know it's bound to be a good night! Mothers and daughters everywhere are planning big things for this year's festivities.

For florists, however, prom can be a daunting task. Designing corsage after corsage with little guidance will really drain your creativity. The solution? A corsage bar! They are one of this prom season's coolest trends.

A corsage bar is a buffet-style spread of all sorts of cool corsage accessories. Your prom-goers will be able to pick their "base design" and build their own unique corsage with whatever materials they choose.

Here is an example of the process:

• Have a few examples of basic corsage designs and let them pick their own flower types, flower colors, ribbons and maybe a few other basics for a base price.
• Have several trays and bowls set up on a table in different colors or styles to make it easy for color coding.
• Put all of your smallest trinkets into a red bowl, the bigger, more unique things on a blue tray. Lay feathers and wires on a green mat.
• Have a price guide based on your colored bowls and trays, so they can pick and choose what they want within their budget.

Example:

Package A: Base Design + 1 red bowl trinkets + 1 blue tray accessory + 1 green mat = $XX

Package B: Base Design + 3 red + 2 blue + 3 green = $XX

You get the idea.

• Price your pieces individually too. Everything in the red bowl is $X each. So I can get Package A with 3 extra red bowl accessories at ($ Package A) + 3 × ($ red bowl price) = AWESOME CUSTOM CORSAGE. [Sorry about the confusing math, if you have questions just ask!]
• Ask your floral supplies wholesaler what's new or prowl through your local craft store and get everything you find that goes with this years look!

Don't be afraid to suggest other accessories! Flowers to wear are a big trend this season! Use fresh or silk flowers on hair barrettes, necklaces, even on the straps of their shoes! Creating a flower ring out of wire and beads with flowers is super easy and a great add-on sale that the girls will really love!

A corsage bar is a great way to spark your creativity, as well as gain valuable interest in your shop. Make it an event by creating flyers to hang in local high schools. Facebook is another great way to publicize this awesome opportunity. Create an event page and invite students from local schools, parents you may know and your other florist friends to let everyone know what is happening in your shop.

Trust me, once students get a taste of creating their own floral designs, and parents experience having a little more control over the prom budget, everyone will be looking forward celebrating this year's event in your flower shop! Start a tradition this year with your very own corsage bar!

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. Christmas is the time to send lovely bouquets of flowers to loved ones down the street or across the country. Florists bring flowers to life in spectacular arrangements filled with the red, green and white colors of Christmas (plus a few non-traditional beauties as well).

"Holiday Happiness" Christmas Flowers

With the popularity of sending Christmas flowers, it's important to know what information your florist needs to deliver your order smoothly. You don't have to worry about getting lost in the shuffle. No, nothing like that. It's just important to keep I's dotted and T's crossed during one of florists' busiest holidays.

To get your Christmas flowers delivered more promptly than if they came on Santa's sleigh, remember to include the following information when speaking with your florist.

• Recipient's Name – Seems like a no-brainer but trust us. Sillier omissions have been made.
• Recipient's Address – If your loved one is staying out of town for the holidays, have the address of their other location. This will prevent flowers being left in the cold or returned to the flower shop because no person was available when the delivery was attempted.
• Recipient's Phone – This is particularly important to the driver who may need permission to access the premises, help locating the address, etc.
• Consumer's Phone – This is your telephone number. Though rare, the florist filling your order may need to contact you regarding flower substitutions, unsuccessful delivery attempts, and other similar events.
• Allergic Information (if applicable) – If the recipient is allergic to a particular flower, your florist should be given this information.
• Special Instructions – Special instructions vary and are not always mandatory. Special instructions can include a requested delivery time, allergic information, an alternate address, delivery instructions for an apartment complex and more.

This may seem like a lot of information but take heart. Ordering Christmas flowers from your local florist (or your loved one's local florist) is quick and painless. All it takes is a quick phone to the florist or you can order Christmas flowers online from a local florist using Flower Shop Network.

We wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year!

Ask the Expert: Holly
How do you keep holly fresh looking ? Margaret

Plant Expert Reply:

Keeping holly looking alive and vibrant is a little tricky. Think about it! First we cut it from it life source and then we put it in a house that is warmer than its natural environment.

The key to keeping it vibrant is to create an environment as close to nature as possible.  First, keep it hydrated.  If possible, put it in water or at least mist the foliage every day.  You can create wreaths and other holly arrangements with floral foam soaked in water.  This will keep your holly hydrated.  The second key is to keep it cool.  Holly will do better if the room is slightly cooler than normal and away from any blowing heat source.

Fortunately even as holly deteriorates, it still looks pretty good.