Archives for July 2011

Watering Bromeliads and Forcing Them To Bloom

July 21, 2011 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask The Plant Expert: Hi, I’m new to blogging and to my bromeliad. I’ve tried to look up exactly what type of bromeliad I have, and it comes up with “Bromeliad”. Here is my question: I’ve live in NY and I have a beautiful bromeliad which I have outdoors right now. I have noticed that the leaves are starting to turn brown and curl under as if burned. I have it next to my table under an umbrella so no direct light it hitting it. What am I doing wrong?

Also, I have searched for a diagram of the bromeliad so that I could understand the central cup so that I don’t add water to it. Then I come across other websites that say add water to the central cup. Not sure where to add water. So, my questions are: leaves and central cup. – Jacquie

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

The central cup of the bromeliad is the center of the rosette where the leaves are formed.

BROMELIAD Care Instructions:

WHEN FLOWERING – Feed with a 20-20-20 fertilizer once a month. Do not let the soil dry out; evenly moist is the ideal state. Water the soil only. If you fill the cup and let it flow over into the soil, this water must be changed every 2 days. Conditions vary in each household or office, check by lifting the plant daily. The pot should feel heavy versus the rest of the plant. Water should not be dripping from the bottom, nor should it be sitting in an enclosed container holding water. The holes in the bottom of the pot are for good drainage. If the plant seems to lose its luster, you can always mist it with the same rate of fertilizer (only the plant – not the flower).

WHEN FINISHED FLOWERING – Cut the stem off inside the cup. Bromeliads flower once in a lifetime. After the blooming cycle, the mother plant will have offspring sprouting from the base which, at the proper time, will bloom. The feeding in this period is stronger. Use the same fertilizer at the same strength but with every watering. If you lose roots, turn to misting daily for two weeks.

FORCED FLOWERING – Bromeliads can be forced to flower after one year of growth. Drop a small slice of tomato, apple, or any fruit into the cup. The decomposition of this fruit will release ethylene gas and induce the flowering. If the plant is older it will flower with the change of seasons. Feeding in this period is stronger. Use the same fertilizer at the same strength but with every watering. If you lose roots, turn to misting daily for two weeks.
ENJOY

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Blooming Problems, Bromeliad, Bromeliad Plants, Brown Leaves

New Direct Mail Options From The U.S. Post Office

July 20, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell 3 Comments

Thanks to FSN member Tim, at Botaniq Floral Studio in Santa Rosa Beach, FL for giving us the tip about this new program!

The U.S. Post Office has come out with a brand new direct mail program that could be a huge benefit to local businesses. They call it Every Door Direct Mail.

What is Every Door Direct Mail

Every Door Direct Mail enables you to extend your customer reach without the need for mailing lists, permits, and the associated fees. With Every Door Direct Mail, you create a direct mail without applying individual names and addresses to each mail-piece.

You pay 14.2¢ (cents) for each mail piece you send out.
Your target area can be a city, neighborhood or specified distance from your business.
Every Door Direct Mail is available only for Regular Standard Mail Flat size pieces.
The minimum number of pieces required is the number of active deliveries on a carrier route (not less than 200 pieces per mailing).

How Every Door Direct Mail Benefits you

Target a location without an address list
Easily send out local mailings
Build more traffic
Find new customers

FSN Makes It Even Easier With Direct Mail Templates

If you’re one of our fantastic(!) FSN members, we offer a Direct Mail Template Generator for you in your FSNf2f dashboard. Simply log in to FSNf2f.com and scroll down to the Marketing section in the orange right menu. Click on Direct Marketing Templates and you will see the 3 template options available to you: Build A Marketing Piece, Build A Brochure, and Build A Statement Stuffer.

All of these are easy to use and will feature your shop’s information! The Build A Marketing Piece is the one you want to use to create your direct mailer. If you are using Every Door Direct Mail from the post office, you will not need to select bulk mail permit. If you need help creating your template, watch the Video Tutorial by clicking the green button. More on the USPS site on Every Door Direct Mail Requirements.

Be sure to contact YOUR local post office before hand to make sure the size and weight of your direct mailer is correct BEFORE mass printing them. You will also need to know how many addresses are on a specific route.

[Update] After talking to several post offices about this, we have found out that pages need to be legal size, which is 8½” × 14″. One post office said a standard paper size (8½” × 11″) would work, while another said no. So.. again CHECK WITH YOUR POST OFFICE!

For much more information about Every Door Direct Mail, visit the USPS Website.

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Direct Mailers, FSN-F2F Online, Marketing Tips

What Is This Summer-Blooming, Crocus-Like Plant?

July 20, 2011 by Jamie Jamison Adams 2 Comments

Ask The Expert: Can you tell me the name of this plant? She blooms every summer. Usually has long grassy foliage, but this year the most flowers ever! I’ve had her for years as she just showed up in my yard and I dug her up and potted her. -Rochelle

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply: I have had a hard time identifying the plant, but I believe the plant you have is a Colchicum cilicicum purpureum. Sometime referred to as as an autumn crocus, which usually bloom in the fall. I don’t understand why it is blooming now. Is the pot kept in the house year round? If so this could explain the unusual blooming time.

I hope this information was helpful. Please let me know if I can assist with anything else.
Flower Shop Network

Filed Under: Flower Identification Tagged With: cilici

Southern Florist Recaps Biggest Floral Event of the Year – AIFD’s National Symposium

July 19, 2011 by Flower Shop Network Leave a Comment

Written by member florist, Shirley Carmack of Shirley’s Florist in Birmingham AL:

I have not been home from AIFD Symposium in San Francisco a week, and my head is spinning from the magnificent floral displays presented! Being a “white knuckle” flyer, it was a pretty big deal for me to get on a plane and fly across the United States to attend this — my first AIFD Symposium. I can not describe the excitement I was feeling by attending this event!

The theme of symposium this year was all about 60’s Flower Power. I am old enough that I actually lived through this era as a young teenager. The hotel, every restaurant, walkway, doorway, you name it was covered in flowers! Flowers were inside bookcases, stairwells, landings — even the back wall of the check-in desk was covered in foliage and anthuriums! I have honestly never seen anything like it.

The first reception I attended, everyone was dressed in 60’s hippie garb. Tie dyed T-shirts and pants, denim and leather jackets complete with fringe, bell bottom pants, and flowers, literally everywhere. I was dressed in jeans, tie dyed T-shirt, leather sandals and peace sign earrings. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Floral Conventions & Flower Shows, Floral Design, Florist Spotlights, Trends Tagged With: AIFD National Symposium, Florist Spotlights, Local Florists

Ridding A Rock Garden of Weeds

July 18, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell

Ask The Expert: We had rocks brought in for the space between the foundation of our home and the lawn. They are the size of a small fist or smaller, and seem to catch every weed seed that is floating in the air. Needless to say I can’t seem to get a handle on ridding the area of weeds. The worst is the creeping Jenny, it has now started showing up in my lawn… I do have some perennials planted in the rocks, therefore am looking for an idea to rid the “rock flower bed” of weeds without killing the flowers. Any suggestions? Any suggestions about killing the creeping jenny from my lawn? Thanks! -Lisa (SD)

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply: I am afraid you will need to do a little hard work first and then I have a solution for those weed seeds. First you will need to pull all the unwanted plants up. Once this has been done you can apply a pre-emerge to the rock bed. This pre-emerge will keep most seeds form germinating thus keeping your garden free from unwanted visitors. However, it will also keep certain wanted seeds from germinating as well. So be very judicious where deciding to use pre-emerges. I use American grass and weed stopper as my pre-emerge of choice. There are several good pre-emerges out there. You can find these pre-emerges at your local garden center and nursery.

I hope this information was helpful. Please let me know if I can assist you with any thing else.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Rock Gardens, Weeds

Facebook Fun: Flower Arrangement of the Week!

July 18, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell 2 Comments

We are very excited to start a new fun feature of our Facebook page. We know how much florists and flower lovers enjoy visiting our Facebook page for inspiration and ideas, and to encourage this, we are beginning a new weekly feature — Flower Arrangement of the Week!

For the new Flower Arrangement of the Week feature, we are asking our florist friends to share the favorite designs they’ve created during that week on our Facebook Page.

Every Monday, we will pick one of the photos to use as FSN’s new profile picture! The flower shop that created the design will be credited in the picture and a link to their website will be included in the caption.

Choosing the Weekly Feature

Although it technically is a sort of contest, I just want this to be a fun little feature of our page that everyone can get involved with. We at FSN want to showcase designs from all across the country, and show our visitors who aren’t florists the wide variety of designs available. Not only that, we are excited to have our wall covered in beautiful flower pictures from REAL florists and think everyone would enjoy this as well.

Any and all flower arrangement styles are welcome: everyday, funeral, events, etc.
We would really prefer arrangements made from the week prior, although any recently made flower arrangement pictures are fine.
We mostly want to keep with the feel of the season. You wouldn’t want to see a Thanksgiving cornucopia picture chosen in the middle of the summer. Remember, you want non-florists to see whats available to them right now, and hopefully be inspired enough to contact their local florist!

Fun For Everyone!

We want this new feature to be lots of fun for everyone, and hope the idea of seeing a new arrangements from fellow florists every week will be inspiring. We would also love your input and suggestions. How do you think we could make this even more fun? Let us know in the comments below, or email me at social@flowershopnetwork.com.

If you don’t keep up with our Facebook, (and just why not?!) we are already a virtual hub of florist activity. We are constantly sharing articles either just for florists, or ones great for florists to share with their customers. We also have a weekly feature, Monday’s Florist One-Liners. These are easy lines florists can use in their weekly promoting for things like, status updates, email subjects, even outdoor or window signage.

Filed Under: FSN Announcements Tagged With: Facebook, Florists on Facebook, FSN Announcements

What Is This Huge Purple Bell Flower?

July 14, 2011 by Jamie Jamison Adams 2 Comments

Ask The Expert: What is this huge purple bell flower? It came 2 years after I sowed an area with a seed mix called “Grandma’s Cutting Garden.” It grows in rich, composted soil with other flowers. I live on an island off the coast of Maine, Zone 5. – Marina

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply: Marina,
I believe the flowering plant is Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium) which is one of the 300 species of the genus Campanula. This biennial species is slow-growing and clump-forming. It is hardy in zone 5-8, and produces bell-shaped flowers in white, pink, purple or blue colors. Florists use this species of Campanula (also called Canterbury Bells, Chimney Bells or Bellflower) in mixed flower arrangements typically in April, May, June and July. This flower was one of the first imported flowers grown in colonial gardens. In fact, Thomas Jefferson sowed this particular flower at Monticello.

It can be grown in part shade to full sun, and need rich, moist soil to thrive. They are great additions to summer perennial gardens, since they natural blooming period is Junish through August.

I hope this information was helpful. Please let me know if you need any other information about this plant.

Have A Good Day
Jamie Jamison Adams

Filed Under: Flower Suggestions Tagged With: Canterbury Bells, Flower Identification

10 Ways To Put Life Back Into Your Dead Flowers!

July 13, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell 1 Comment

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.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Florists Only, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Floral Design Tips, Flower Trends, Gift Ideas

Spark Romance With Fiery Red Roses

July 12, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

For most gals, nothing is more romantic that fiery red roses. Just the sight of a florist bringing a bouquet of red roses into the door is enough to get every lady in the office’s heart pumping! Of course, when they finally sit the roses on one lucky girl’s desk, everybody’s there waiting for the scoop. “What’s the occasion?”, “I didn’t know it was your anniversary!?”

Of course the BEST response is when your honey sent you roses JUST BECAUSE! Romance does not need an occasion. Spontaneously getting roses is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts anyone can give.

Roses come in MANY styles and varieties. Choose a style that fits her personality. Typically red roses are the most romantic, but if your lady has a favorite color, choosing that color for her roses can add a personal touch that would mean the world to her.

Here are just a few examples of red rose arrangement styles. Be romantic, send one today!

Click the flowers above and enter your zip code on the following page to connect to a REAL local florist in your area to send these rose arrangements.

Filed Under: Flower Suggestions, Gift Ideas Tagged With: Red Flowers, Red Roses, Romance