You see it all of the time in books and magazines, so why aren't more people decorating their mantlepieces with flowers? The truth is that many people don't consider it or put other items there. There is nothing wrong with family photos and mementos on the mantlepiece. However, decorating a mantlepiece with flowers is a great idea for those needing a flower decorating tip for spring and summer months.

Photo Credit: Petals A Florist in Atlanta Georgia

I know that it seems odd to think about the mantlepiece during the spring and summer. After all, it's definitely a winter fixture in the home. But you know, who wants to look at a boring empty mantlepiece all spring? Spice it up!! Add flare to it with flowers from your local florist. From a home decor perspective, here are two reasons why you will be glad that you chose flowers to enhance your mantlepiece.

Decorating the mantlepiece with flowers adds color to the room. Colorful flower arrangements are eye-catching no matter where they are placed. Setting them on the mantle surrounded by votive candles, family portraits or unique mementos will quickly draw the eye in this direction.

Flowers help draw attention to the fireplace and that side of the room. If the theme of the room centers around that fireplace, why not play it up all year round? Decorating it with flowers will help during the spring and summer months.

You can't go wrong when you decorate with flowers. The beauty of decorating your mantlepiece with flowers is that you get to enjoy their beauty while giving life to the fireplace for more than just three or four months out of the year. When it's time to put out the fire, light up the room with flowers from your local florist.

Ok, small or hybrid vehicles.

Thankfully, some very efficient florists have found a clever way to save money and go green at the same time. Many florists are turning lemons into lemonade by switching to smaller or hybrid delivery vehicles. These smaller vehicles save on fuel costs for day-to-day deliveries. This also makes it very cost effective to simply rent a large van for major events.

The ability to save money by lowering fuel costs is a huge advantage for any florist. Consider the amount of fuel used to power a large van during the course of a year. Even a five or ten mile-per-hour (mph) difference can add up to hundreds of dollars during the year! That's reason enough to switch to more fuel-efficient delivery vehicles.

Just as many local florists want to "green" their flower shops. The trend toward smaller delivery vehicles is one that can be adapted rather quickly and with little more hassle than any similar activity for the shop. With all that extra moolah at stake, switching to fuel-efficient delivery vehicles is well worth the consideration!

I recently spoke with David Strong of Piano's Flowers & Gifts in Memphis, Tennessee about his recent switch to a more eco-friendly delivery vehicle. According to Mr. Strong, his customers have only rave reviews about the new van, citing things like "Leave the van. Keep the flowers." Mr. Strong was very pleased to be getting 29 miles to the gallon for his in-town deliveries. Having spent a significant amount of time in Memphis traffic, I would be too!

What I found very interesting was that the design of Piano's new vehicle was actually a customer's idea. Knowing a little bit about your customers is what keeps them coming back, and apparently creating fantastic designs for each new delivery vehicle!

Have you already adopted these trends in your flower shop? Tell us some of the ways that you are reducing your fuel costs with "green" vehicles or send pictures of your hybrid delivery vehicle.

The secret to creating unique containers is…

*drumroll*

Imagination. Indeed, imagination mixed with a little bit of creativity is the secret to creating some of the most fabulously unique containers for all of your arrangements. The most valued vases aren't the ones that are the biggest and the brightest (necessarily) but rather the ones that express the most unmatched and distinctive qualities.

Creating your own containers and vases is an excellent cost saving measure because it spares the fancy price tag of buying a set amount of someone else's creations. Better still, each vase or  container becomes instantly one-of-a-kind. There may be similar ones crafted by your own hand, but no two are exactly alike. What a great selling point for a unique gift idea!

Creating Unique Vases Step By Step

There are many ways to design and create your own unique vases. To get you started, here is a technique that many florists have found to be an eye-catching design to customers.

Ribbon is a staple item in local flower shops. It brightens an arrangement and adds color where more is needed. It softens the appeal of the bouquet while adding a very distinctive look. There is, however, another way that ribbon is being used that draws on these well-known qualities. Wrapping ribbon around the vase or container is becoming very popular. Not necessarily covering the entire outside of the vase, a small amount of ribbon can be wrapped around the vase to make a very pretty and distinctive pattern. This enhances the beauty of the flower arrangement while adding an extra pop of color and style. Take a look!

Begin by wrapping the ribbon around the base of the vase.

The fun part is in creating these little twists which make the ribbon look like pretty bows!

Form a bow by twisting the two ends of the ribbon around each other over the center of the vase, making sure to line up the knot with the others.

After twisting to form the knot, pull both ends tightly. Maintain pressure while wrapping around again or the knot will loosen and come undone.

Continue to wrap and tie until the top is reached.

Trim the edges of the ribbon and then you have...

The Perfect Creative Vase

Like what you see? Find another great tip for creating your own unique vases in this month's Aspects of Design post.

Yesterday when I went home for lunch to check on my 10month old puppy, I notice several things popping up in my garden. The daffodils were in full bloom and the tulips were making their way out of the soil. So many times on the Bloomin' Blog, we talk about what to do with flowers we receive from a florist. These flowers come prepared and the only thing that needs to be done is to figure out where to place them. Of course, you have to refresh the water and occasionally re-cut them. Mostly, you just sit back and enjoy them.

But, what if you want to cut flowers from your garden and bring them inside. Just like a florist, you will need to prepare your flowers to ensure that they last. A few weeks back, I read a blog post over on Florists Blog by Frank Sarno of Cricket's Flowers in Lexington MA that detailed the very steps needed to ensure that the spring flowers brought in from the garden would last.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I asked Frank (who is one of our Lexington Ma Florist members) if I could republish his handy tips.

So, take a look at the information Frank provided. I think it will be very helpful.

How do you care for fresh cut spring flowers?

Let Cricket's Flowers show you to create wonderful flowers, that last.

Like most flowers, stems of spring bulb flowers should be cut on an angle to increase surface area. It is best to try and cutting stems under water to prevent air bubbles from forming in the stems. Trim about 1 inch of each stem every few days,this will help to make sure the flowers receive enough water.

Use floral preservative each time you change your water. Clean, fresh water is the most important thing you can do to keep cut flowers looking fresh. If you are out of floral preservative try using one part sprite ( or similar, clear colored soda) to 3 parts of water 2 tablespoons lemon or orange juice, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon bleach to 1 quart of water . This will give you the sugar, citric acid and bleach that will help keep the flowers fresh and free of bacteria.

Spring flowers are sensitive to ethylene, so keep fruits and vegetables away from any flowers you may have displayed on your kitchen counter or table.

Daffodils: When cut the stems secrete sap. They are best used in a vase with all daffodils so that the sap will not clog the stems of the other types of flowers arranged with it. Or if you want to mike then with other spring flowers it is best to keep them separate for several hours, then rinse their stems and change the water in the vase.

Freesia: Removing older flowers on freesia stems this will help to open the closed buds. Hyacinth: The stems should show white on the ends, which you can trim off. Hyacinth stems will grow, and continue to open after they are cut.

Lily: Always remove the pollen from lily blooms. To avoid staining the petals with pollen, remove anthers when the bloom is just starting to open before the pollen is fully developed and dry.

Tulips: stems continue to grow for about a day, and can grow up to another inch and their blooms will open in daylight and close up when placed in the dark. Place tulips in even light or rotate them every other day for even growing.

Cricket's Flowers

Thanks, Frank. I didn't think about rotating my tulips. I'm going to try that when mine are ready to cut.

This afternoon I received a call from Sandy (Flower Shop Network customer service rep).  With the tone of "say it isn't so, Joe", she asked me if daffodils would kill the other flowers in a mixed flower arrangement.  As a defender of the lovely yellow flowers I replied, "I don't think so."  It seems that she had been told that daffodils would kill other cut flowers.  As I hung up the phone I wondered, why would someone speak slanderously about this delicate flower.

Now I was on a mission.  I needed to find out if this was an urban legend or some daffodil secret I knew nothing of.  I watch a lot of crime shows, CSI, Criminals Minds and my favorite The Mentalist.  So I applied a few of their techniques to obtain my answer.

Here is what I know about daffodils. They are in the narcissus family and members of the narcissus family when cut produce a harmful stem clogging sap.

Here is what I know about making cut flowers last. Pre-treatments and pre-conditioning are a must for cut flowers.  Pre-treatments are usually done by the growers.  Pre-conditioning is a task performed by the receiving florist and very important for the longevity of cut flowers.  Most flowers receive the same pre-conditioning as soon as they hit the door and you can go from one variety to another without any problems.

However, certain flowers need special procedures to ensure their health and the health of the flowers around them.  This is true in the case of daffodils.  They must be conditioned separately from all other flowers. Why? Because of the sap that drains from the stems when you cut them.  If the sap is absorbed by the other flowers, it will clog their stems thus shutting off their ability to stay hydrated.

OK,  here is where I see Urban Legend status emerging.

Some florist some where didn't pre-condition their daffodils correctly.  When flowers started dying in mixed flower arrangements containing daffodils, they blame the daffodils and not the conditioning practices of their shop.  (This is kind of like blaming drinking water for cholera instead of the unsanitary practices that allowed waste material to flowing into the drinking water.)  Of course this florist started spreading the word and all of a sudden a misunderstanding became an Urban Legend. This has probably caused some wonderful florists to believe that daffodils are flower killers. When in actuality, they can live harmonious with others as long as they are conditioned properly.

So for those of you convinced that the Urban Legend about Daffodils is true, try this experiment.  Condition some daffodils the correct way and then arrange them with some flowers.  Wait and watch.  Do they last as long as any mixed flower arrangement would.

Follow these pre-conditioning steps for daffodils.

1.  Prepare your daffodils after all other flowers have been prepped.

2.  Fill a container with cool water and add a professional floral food.  The water in the container should be shallow to avoid stem deterioration in the daffodils.

3. Cut at least 1/2" off of the daffodil stem and place in the container with the floral solution.

4. Leave the daffodils in the container for at least 6 hours before you use them.

5. DO NOT recut the stems when arranging them.  Cutting them will release the sap and you don't want that to happen.

If you follow these steps, you shouldn't have any trouble using daffodils with other flowers.  Of course the best way to use daffodils with other flowers is in floral foam arrangements.  You will have less of a chance of sap leakage in a foam arrangement than in a vase arrangement.

I hope my investigative skills have proven that the killer daffodil is an urban legend based on a simple misunderstanding.

***Tip for working with daffodils - For support insert a chenille stem or a section of leather leaf stem into the hollow of a daffodil stem and then insert it into the floral foam.***

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.

Ask the Expert: How to keep stephanotis fresh in bridal boquets
Tips For keeping cut stephanotis fresh. thanks Theda

Reply:
Theda,

Although I am not well versed on stephanotis, I do know this:

1. Stephanotis is a short lived cut flower and should be arranged as close to the time period needed as possible.

2. The oil on your finer tips can and will turn the blooms brown. So limit your touching or wear gloves when arranging stephanotis.

3. Bridal bouquet with stephanotis need to be misted frequently and have a damp tissue placed over the blooms.

4. Keep stephanotis bridal bouquets very cool. Warm air with accelerate the decline of the blooms.

I believe there is a special way to prep the stephanotis blooms by inserting something in the stem I will research this and discuss it with some of the designers I know and get back to you.

****Addendum***

Cotton Tipped Wire

I spoke with Regina Berryman an AIFD floral designer about the this issue. Regina told me that Stephanotis blooms have to be prepared with a cotton tipped wire called a Stephanotis Stem.

I am attaching a picture of one that was used in a Stephanotis arrangement.
Regina said insert it into the base of the Stephanotis bloom. ***Once this is done, you take a small container filled with water and take the flower and turn it upside down and dunk it into the water. This will keep the stephanotis hydrated and the wire will allow you to place the bloom in your arrangement.  If you need to hide the white of the stem wrap it with floral tape. *** The cotton and the wire can be trimmed on an as need basis.

You should be able to find this type of wire at one of your floral suppliers. You can also create your own with cotton and regular floral wire. I hope this helps.

If any florist has pictures of how to do this I would love to post them on this blog.

Stephanotis Stem

**** I spoke with Regina who clarified my explaination above. (See *** section).  She said that trying to make your own Stephanotis Stem is not easy and buying the Stepahnotis Stems is much easier and more cost effective.  Stemson 's has a product called Stephanotis Stems.  The stems come in white or green. The picture to left shows the Stephanotis stem as it is inserted into the Stephanotis bloom.  You can go to Stemson's Stephanotis Stems page for a better demo of the product.

Crimson and Cream Bouquet of Fresh Flowers

With Christmas Eve just a day away and Christmas Day just after that, it's very likely that you already have your Christmas decorations up and out. However, some decorations are just better when brought out the day of or the day before the occasion. Any person that wants to decorate with fresh flowers should consider this unspoken rule.

While time is of the essence as the holiday crunch begins, there's no need to worry about adding a whole bunch of time to your holidays. Just relax because these fresh flower decorating tips are quick, easy and beautiful:

• Two to three days before your holiday dinner, pick up a Christmas flower arrangement from your local florist. This can be placed on the family table before the meal and easily moved when the food is being served. While guests are mingling, a colorful arrangement can serve as a festive centerpiece.

• Another fun idea is to ask your local florist for stems of flowers. Single flowers can be sporadically placed in the midst of the Christmas tree branches to add a fresh flair. The deep green of a Christmas tree creates a lovely backdrop for poinsettias and other known holiday flowers, but other flowers might be easier to find in single stems. As with any fresh flower idea, decorate with these items within 1-3 days of the holiday.

• "Oh by gosh, by golly. It's time for mistletoe and holly." While Frank and Bing sing this little ditty, get in the spirit by hanging bunches of mistletoe in the doorposts. These beautiful little berries can also be used as placecard holders. Take a small sprig and insert a placecard between the stems. This is a very festive decoration that guests will love.

These fun ideas take almost no time but add a significant bit of decor to the home. Guests will love your creative use of fresh flowers.

Have a fun tip for decorating with fresh flowers? Please share your comments below.

With more and more consumers "going green" and encouraging environmentally friendly practices, flower shops are using tips like these to ensure the highest quality designs and products.

There are many benefits associated with more eco-conscious work habits. First, you gain the trust and patronage of conscientious consumers. Secondly, you reduce your energy dependence and energy bill by proxy. Another great benefit is that you encourage other people to adopt these habits. Every little bit helps.

On a side note, I know of an elementary school in my area that has used the money received from recycling alone to buy new playground equipment. With a student body of a few hundred K-2 students, the school has purchased more than a dozen new pieces of equipment thanks to the hardwork of the students. Help keep our planet green for younger generations to enjoy beautiful flowers thanks to eco-friendly practices such as these:

• Recycle paper, cardboard, plastic containers. Shredded newspaper comes in very handy as packing material. Cardboard boxes from a new shipment of vases can be used around the workstation to absorb water and protect that table from cuts. Empty milk jugs can be used to water plants or hold pre-mixed preservative. Print on both sides of the paper or cut used papers into squares for scrap paper.
• Phase out / eliminate use of aerosol sprays.
• Encourage and reuse returned containers. For example, offer a free arrangement with the return of 5 vases.
• Buy local products when possible for a smaller carbon footprint. Buying products from local nurseries, growers, and suppliers helps keep travel costs down which reduces carbon monoxide emissions.
• Turn off non-essential electrical appliances at day's end. With the exception of security systems, floral refrigerators and other essential equipment, reduce your electricity bill and conserve energy by simply shutting off the lights and switching off your computer at the end of the day.
• Favor the use of cloth towels over paper towels. Cloth towels will need regular cleaning but these costs are minimal when compared to continually supplying paper towels. Another option is to opt for durable shop towels over paper towels. These cloths tend to be made of stronger cloth fibers. Though as disposable as paper towels, shop towels tend to last longer under the stress of big jobs.
• Fill delivery vehicles with gas during cooler times of the day. The popular belief is that gas vapors do not evaporate as quickly during the cooler morning and evening times. Therefore, you get more bang for your buck because you are gaining an extra fraction of a tank.
• Recycle vase water by using on outdoor plants. Instead of taking a hose to outdoor plants, conserve water by using your vase water on outdoor plants. Instead of dumping the water from an arrangement that is a few days old, use it instead on outdoor plants.****This is only for clear vase water. If it has floral preservative in it you can not use it.*****
• Replace standard light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs. Looking much like a glass curly fry, these light bulbs come in a variety of watts but reduce wasted energy. Plus, they usually last as long if not longer.
• Use plant-based cleaners to clean spills and workstations. Harmful chemicals can hurt the environment and your plants. Avoid using these chemicals and opt instead for plant based cleaners.

There are many ways to protect the environment. Energy efficiency is at the top of the headlines almost daily. Efforts to save the environment are gaining popularity and spreading like wildfire. Tips like these are a great place to start because they help everyone go green while saving some green.

Harvest Halo Fall Centerpice

Since Thanksgiving is only a few days away, here are a few quick and easy ideas for decorating your house with flowers. With a dash of creativity and the help of a local florist, these simple flower decorating tips will your guests making plans to celebrate at your house next year.

1.  Decorate the mantelpiece with colorful fall flowers. When your loved ones gather around the fire, everyone will love the way that the light of the fire accentuates the beautiful shades of your amber, red, brown and burgundy fall flowers. A few miniature pumpkins and gourds will give this mantelpiece a finishing touch that can be carried over through the rest of the fall season.

2.  Liven up the dinner table with a Thanksgiving centerpiece from your local florist. Having your florist create a colorful centerpiece saves you time and effort but still allows you to add some personal touches once you arrive at home.

3.  Hallway tables, unobtrusive corners and other places are often overlooked. This Thanksgiving, turn your whole house into the place to celebrate by brightening these nooks with arrangements of fall flowers or buying a houseplant from a local flower shop.

4.  Where tablecloths and runners begin the decorations of the food table, finish it off with a few vines of ivy or ask your local florist to create an elongated floral centerpiece. The dimensions of these will draw the eye to the ends of the table, giving the mind a chance to enjoy a glance at the many delicious foods.