Ask the Expert: please give me tips on china doll aralia plants
every year i buy one of these but with no luck. is there a secret i am missing? i can grow almost anything inside and out.please help thank you Rosemary


Plant Expert Reply:
Here are a few plant care guidelines for China Doll Aralia (Radermachera sinica):

• Keep it away from temperatures below 65 degrees and away from heaters or radiators.
• Place in full bright light but avoid light sources that shine directly on the plant.
• Check the need for water frequently. You will need to let the soil dry  to the point of almost wilting but not beyond.
• Fertilize the plant once a month with a water soluble during the growing season (spring & summer) and bi-monthly the rest of the time.
• All growth comes from top. Prune occasionally. After pruning you might need to cut back on watering for a while.
• Watch for signs of  Aphids, Mealy Bugs and Spidermites.

These plants tend to go through severe transplant shock. It is important to place them in the optimum location as soon as you bring it home.  The first few weeks will be the most difficult for the plant.  Don’t fertilize and watch your watering very closely.  Good luck. Keep me posted.

Ask The Expert: My ex and I are still friends. We dated for a long time but now we are both with other people. His mother just passed away. Is it appropriate to send him flowers since we aren’t together anymore? Thanks. ~ Keely

Flower Etiquette Expert: I’m sorry to hear about your ex-boyfriend’s mother, Keely. In response to your question, it is appropriate in a few situations. There are a few very important questions to answer though. I have included the appropriate flower etiquette for each situation. I hope it helps you both deal with this hard time in a positive way.

“Do I get along with his new girlfriend?” — This one is hugely important because it will dictate when/where/if you are able to send sympathy flowers. If you do get along with his new partner, feel free to send sympathy flowers to his home but make a point to mention her as well on the enclosure card. This is polite even if you aren’t close to her. It can be something as simple as “please let me know if you and *partner’s name* need anything during this difficult time.” It’s simple and lets both of them know that you aren’t trying to horn in on her territory during a weak moment when emotions run high.

“Was I close to his mother?” — If you were close to your ex-boyfriend’s mother and remained that way after the split, it is appropriate to send funeral flowers to the funeral home. Sympathy flower etiquette also allows flowers to be sent to her  home but usually addressed to the family instead of just one person. If you were never close to her, sending flowers to your ex depends mostly on whether or not his new partner would be accepting.

“Would my new partner be offended?” — The chances are slim that your new partner will react in a negative way provided you discuss sending sympathy flowers before the gesture is made. Otherwise, it may seem shady whether it was meant that way or not. If your new partner is offended anyway and refuses to budge on the issue, the decision to send flowers or not is completely up to you. At that point it’s juggling your partner’s feelings and consideration for those feelings should be put first.

We are so excited for Scott Darhower of Apple Blossoms Floral Design & Gifts who was just voted The Best Florist of Tampa for 2009. What an honor! Scott is an excellent designer and savvy business owner so we were not shocked at all to see him earn such a lofty honor.

Christmas Decorations by Apple Blossoms Floral Design

Scott’s skills are impressive to say the least. Like many other talented Tampa florists, Scott does it all. Not only does he create beautiful floral works of art for most major occasions, but he is also one of the finest wedding florists in the area. His unique mastery of making art meet beauty keeps people returning to his flower shop just to see what his creation will be for their next occasion.

The inside of his shop is a work of art as well. You walk in and get a glimpse inside his creative mind. He decorates the shop for each major holiday in a very upscale, unique way. Spending a great deal of time at the shop, Scott makes his flower shop as appealing and homey as possible. It is familiar, pleasant, warm and inviting. It takes merely opening your eyes to his designs to imagine what your own home can look like. If he can do that in his shop, imagine what his designs will look like in your home, office or at your wedding? The possibilities are shocking.

We are very proud of Scott for his recent award. We know that it was definitely earned. Way to go Scott! Congratulations!

There is no easy way to express condolences. Extending sympathies to someone who has lost a loved one is never without a pang of emotion. Many people express their sympathies in different ways such as sending funeral flowers to the funeral services. Others choose to wait a few days or more before having a arrangement of sympathy flowers delivered to the funeral home. It is very important to the grieving that they never feel the void of loss, never feel alone. This is why it is so important to send flowers but even more important to include an enclosure card with the right message.

There is no single correct way to express condolences. Many begin to compose a sympathy card message but get lost somewhere between “is this helpful” and “am I being insulting?” It is completely natural to have a difficult time writing sympathy cards. After all, often the sender is a close personal friend of the family was the same to the deceased. There is no need for this difficulty anymore. Florists understand the grieving process. To make the process of sending sympathy flowers easier on everyone, below is a list of condolence card messages compiled by empathetic local florists.

Extend Your Sympathies With These Condolence Card Messages:

1)       With deepest sympathy

2)       Keeping you in (our) thoughts and prayers

3)       Thinking of you during these difficult times

4)       Deepest condolences for your loss

5)       May the Lord comfort your heart as only He can do

6)       Sharing in your sorrow

7)       Please know that (our) loving thoughts embrace you

8)       May the peace which comes from the memories of love shared comfort you now and in the days ahead.

9)       May you rest in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding

10)   Words are not enough to convey my sympathies at a time.

11)   Just thought you could use a little extra sunshine today.

12)   Just wanted to let you know that (we’re) here for you

13)   Thinking of you with sincere sympathy at the loss of someone so dear.

14)   Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

15)   Condolences on your loss. May you find strength in the love of God.

There are more condolence enclosure card messages to help express your deepest sympathies. These enclosure card message ideas are brought to you by Flower Shop Network and Flower Shop Network Funeral Homes.

I received this questions on 9/9/09.

Ask the Expert:

Solanum Triflorum - Cutleaf Night Shade

Plant Expert Reply:

I am stumped. I have passed the picture on to some colleagues at the Wyoming Extension Service.  Hopefully, they will have an identification for us tomorrow.  I apologize for the delay in identifying this unique plant.

After sending this message to Connie, she replied back with this message:

Dear Jamie,

Attached are a few more photos of the plant.  The last photo shows the hilltop location of the plant which is in middle of a scoria rock outcrop.

One lady thought it might be a tenpetal starburst but I researched and the leaves are not at all rough but shiney and it makes no mention of the fruit that hangs along the underside of the leaves.  In fact, all of the starbursts I looked at did not have any fruits but had seeds which were not like little tomatoes.

thank you so much,

(I’m researching too still but come up with nothing).

Connie

Thanks to an email from Karen Panter, we finally have an identification. This is the email identification I received:

It’s a weedy plant known as Solanum triflorum or cutleaf nightshade. It is native to North America east of the Cascades to the Great Plains. It inhabits waste places and cultivated fields as a weed.
Karen P.

Karen L. Panter, Ph.D., C.P.H.
Extension Horticulture and Specialty Crops
Plant Sciences - 3354
University of Wyoming

Thanks Karen for the identification!

Malasian Orchid - Spathoglottis plicata

Ask the Expert: flower identification
Would appreciate your assistance identifying the common and scientific name of this flower. It is growing in in my mother-in-law’s front yard on the Big Island of Hawaii at about 1500 ft altitude.  Wally

Plant Expert Reply:

I believe it is a Malasian Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata).  It is a terrestrial (ground) orchid that naturalizes quite easily and it sometimes referred to as a garden orchid.  It can be found in Hawaii, Australia and tropical Asia.

Hi, my name is Brynn and I’m a “Twilight” addict.

I know. Since I’m certainly not a tween and other stories in this genre are unappealing to me, it seems strange that I would like the books and movies but I do. I really, really do.

I was thinking about what to do before “New Moon” releases and it made me think of florists. Go figure, right? I knew that I would be hosting a Twilight themed party at my house before leaving to see “New Moon” in theatres. I started thinking about the decorations and it dawned on me. Flowers!

So in my many hours of dedicated thought–ok, like 15 minutes–I decided that I would have one of my local florists create a few Twilight themed flower arrangements for my party. I even thought of a few tips for making it more Twilight-y to share with my florist. If you’re interested in the movie or your children are (more likely), think about having Twilight themed flowers delivered to your home for a pre-screening party. You’ll be the coolest parent in school. That’s for sure!

• Use a black or brown vase. These are the colors of Edward’s eyes *hint hint*
• Use white flowers  with red edges or dipped in something red. There is a flower like this on the cover of the “New Moon” book.
• Think Vampires. Halloween flower arrangements often have the elements needed for a Twilight themed flower arrangement.
• Mix up the colors. Many dark flowers and many light flowers. These are to reflect the constant mood changing of Bella and Edward.
• Attach a Twilight mylar balloon or an apple mylar balloon (Twilight book cover) to the arrangement.
• Create a werewolf themed arrangement for the group of fans that are on “Team Jacob.”

There are many other cool things you can do to inspire the right mood for watching “Twilight” followed by “New Moon”. These flowers are also great for a Twilight themed birthday party, Twilight book party, or even a girls-only sleepover consisting of tween-age Twilight fans. Your florist will have fun creating something so unique and different. Just give them plenty of tips and have fun!

Rosh Hoshanah Flowers - Florist eCommerce Page

Just in time for the holiday, a new ecommerce page for Rosh Hoshanah is now available to users of the Flower Shop Network ecommerce websites.

The new holiday page is available immediately to FSN members using our florist ecommerce websites. FSN members that have purchased Advanced Website Controls can turn on and edit the page by accessing website controls inside FSNF2F.com.

If you have questions or would like to provide feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Click here to view a live sample showcasing Rosh Hoshanah flowers, courtesy of Floral Scentsations, a Flower Shop Network local florist in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

As you probably know, most flowers are associated with a particular meaning. For instance, the flower meaning of red roses is “passionate love.” Forget-me-nots are a rather obvious one, “remember me forever.” Ginger is associate with being proud. Sweetpea is associated with shyness. There are tons of flowers associated with a particular meaning which comes in very handy when you need a unique anniversary gift.

For the creative type this year, write a poem for your sweetheart. It can’t just be any poem though. Make this one special to your beloved, unique to his/her personality, and include a few flower meanings that are associated with his/her disposition. When you get ready to buy anniversary flowers for your love, simply ask the florist to use a mix of those flowers only or a pretty blend that is predominantly one kind; the one with a meaning that best reflects her uniqueness.

If you’re not the creative type, I’ll help you out by giving you an anniversary flower arrangement idea. I’m sure I’d love your sweetheart but since I do not know her/him, I’ll make this example about me and my beau. If you have a different personality type in mind, simply view Flower Shop Network’s list of flower meanings and pick out the ones that mean the most to you. Here goes!

Anniversary Flowers For A Woman

My personality is very distinctive. I am very open, blunt and slightly opinionated. I am very thoughtful, analytical and intelligent. I am perky around people and completely quiet when left to myself. For a personality like this, try:

• Pansy (loving thoughts)
• Larkspur (beautiful spirit)
• Freesia (spirited)
• Yellow tulips (hopelessly in love) — a reflection of your feelings for her

Anniversary Flowers For A Man

My sweetheart’s personality is very complementary but different. He is very reserved, cautious and protective. He doesn’t brood on things as I do but he is able to assess a situation. His entire world is wrapped around being with his family and providing for them. His personal hobbies are a little young for his age but that’s only because he works harder than anyone his age should have to.  For a personality like his, try:

• Lilac (first love) — he is mine, this may be appropriate for you as well
• Black-eyed susan (encouragement)
• Pink carnations (gratitude) — for everything he does selflessly
• Gardenia (joy)
• Ginger (proud) — because you’re proud of him
• Passion flower (passion) — a reflection of your feelings for him

If these do not strike a chord with you, view Flower Shop Network’s list of flower meanings or visit FSN’s flower dictionary to discover other unique things about these flowers.

Ask the Expert: Why is my lucky bamboo yellowing and droopy
My 5yr old lucky bamboo is in a small pot glued in under pebbles and can’t be repotted.  It’s leaves used to stand straight up, but over the last month, it’s leaves have begun to yellow and are now yellowing rapidly.
The stalks are still dark green, but the leaves are drooping badly.  Can I save my plant? Jan

Plant Expert Reply:

All good this come to an end and so has your lucky bamboo and it’s container.  The container no longer gives the lucky bamboo what it needs - a good home.

I suggest you propagate new lucky bamboo stalks.  To do this you will need rooting hormone (a powdery substance from your local garden center), a new container, a sharp knife and some distilled water.  Begin by locating a node (raised ring on the stem of you lucky bamboo stalk) that is half way up the stalk.  Now take the knfie and cut the stalk at a 45degree angle about an inch above the node.  Now you have a top with no roots and a bottom with no leaves.

Take the top and dip the cut side in rooting hormone.  Wait any where from 2 hours to 24hours and place the top in the new container with water. In a couple of weeks, this stalk will form roots and you will have a new plant.

Usually the bottom will develop new leaves beside the cut.  However since the container is small and glued in this may not occur.  I would still give it a try.  Beginning 2 days after cutting, start misting the plant twice a day.  Do this until you see new shoots for on the sides of the cut.

Once you have roots and leaves treat your plants as you did before you propagated them.  Good Luck and Keep me posted.