Bloomin' Blog

Florists: What Great Things To Expect At Floral Conventions

September 2, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

Flower Shop Network and Suzanne Baillie talk about the exciting events going on at the Southern Retail Florists Convention in Concord, NC. Florists from 17 states visit this show— lots of great networking opportunities for florists. There are competitions, hands-on workshops, educational presentations, marketing seminars, and much, much more!

No matter where you live, there is bound to be a floral show near you! We hope every florist has the chance to visit at least one show this year! Just listen to all of the great things you can do:

This post was brought to you by local florists in Concord, NC.
Not in Concord? Use Flower Shop Network‘s handy directory to find YOUR real local florist.

Filed Under: Floral Convention Videos, Floral Conventions & Flower Shows Tagged With: Floral Conventions, flower shows, Southern Retail Florists Association

Trend Alert: Sushi Flowers!

September 1, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell 1 Comment

Sushi lover or not, you have to appreciate the care, artistry and composition a sushi chef puts into their work. Sushi is quickly becoming one of the trendiest foods around! Even if you don’t like eating the raw-fish rolls, you can still get your hands on cute sushi gear — from stuffed animals to jump drives — sushi is invading pop culture!

Don’t forget our favorite way to use sushi — in trendy floral designs! Check out these great sushi-themed flowers we saw at floral shows this summer:

This dynamic design uses greens and flowers as sushi rolls. They recycled stems and wired them on as chopsticks! This design is very impressive and so easy to do! Great way to get some use out of those to-short, scrap flowers! The tray he selected works great for the presentation. You might also consider inexpensive plates (especially in unique shapes), lined box lids, bamboo-style place mats, simple wooden blocks and almost any container with an Asian-theme.

This design takes sushi flowers in a completely different style! You can see the little box of sushi, but also individual rolls are on the bamboo place mat. The rolls are very simple to do too — just wrap your flower heads in leaves (water pick or use a small block of floral foam for water source). This designer used chopsticks for this sushi floral design. These sushi roll flowers make GREAT hostess gifts! Plus your computer guy’s nerdy girlfriend would love these geek flowers (I would)!

Not familiar with sushi? Do a quick Google image search for sushi and you will see hundreds of styles you can interpret into floral designs!

Florists, sushi designs are easy and small. Try a sushi flowers promotion! Send a couple of little example arrangements to areas you know will be frequented by teens to college students, perhaps a college student center, movie theater lobby, or your local sushi bar! Display with a card telling about your promotion. (Also, promote it on Facebook!) To really hit with the young people, offer several size and price options.

This post is brought to you by local Long Beach CA florists.
Not in Long Beach? Use Flower Shop Network‘s handy directory to find your city’s real local florists!

Filed Under: Floral Design, Trends Tagged With: Floral Art, Floral Design, Floral Shows, Flower Trends, Sushi Flowers

What Is This Yellow Flower With Purple Foliage?

September 1, 2010 by Jamie Jamison Adams 1 Comment

Ask the Expert: Name of the plant we bought today?

Dahlia 'Clarion'

We bought a plant today in one of the private gardens open to the public for the charity. The leaves are dark (blackish purple) with yellow flowers about 5cm and about 1 and half metres. They told us it is called Clarion but alas we can’t find it anywhere online or in the books. We need to know how to take care of it. There are still some closed buds on it so it is just starting to flower at this time of year. Jacqueline

Flower Shop Network‘s Plant Expert Reply: The people who sold you the plant were correct in calling it a Clarion. They just didn’t tell you the complete name – Dahlia ‘Clarion’. What you have is a type of Dahlia. For classification purposes dahlias are divided into various classes according to their form and size. This particular Dahlia is in the single class. This means the flowerheads are composed of a single row of uniform, evenly spaced ray florets.

August is the peak blooming time for Dahlias. To learn more about this wonderful flower, Read Mandy’s August Flower Gets it’s Dues: Dahlia Flower Day post. Once a month she spotlights a flower and this past August it was the Dahlia.

Filed Under: Plant Identification Tagged With: Dahlia, Flower Identification, Plant Identification, Yellow Flowers

2010 Southern Retail Florists Convention Promo Video

August 31, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell 1 Comment

Over the weekend, Flower Shop Network attended the 61st annual Southern Retail Florists Convention in Concord, North Carolina. While there, we saw hundreds of unique and creative floral designs, learned lots at the symposium presentations and hands-on workshops, and were inspired by the design interpretations of the prestigious Harwood Cup Competition.

I will be posting blogs all this week highlighting some of the great ideas we got to see and learn about at the event — bridal bouquet trends, sushi flowers, mini arrangements — Plus great coverage of the unique Harwood Cup Floral Design Interpretation Competition, and much, much more!
These events are very important for florists to come out and enjoy! Get in touch with YOUR industry – support your floral shows!

Filed Under: Floral Convention Videos, Floral Conventions & Flower Shows Tagged With: Floral Shows, Harwood Cup Competition, North Carolina Florists, Southern Retail Florist Association

What Type Of Rose Is This From Italy

August 30, 2010 by Jamie Jamison Adams Leave a Comment

Ask the Expert: What type of Rose is this?
We found this rose on our travels through Italy. See the pictures attached. It looks like a Grandiflora, with a yellow bud. The bud turns into pink and rose.

What type of rose is it and will it survive in Zone 5 or 6 (Southern Ontario)?

And even better, where can I get one?

Sonja

: Roses In An Italian Garden

: Fully Open Pink Rose Bloom

: Yellow Rose Bud With Orange Tips

Flower Shop Network‘s Plant Expert Replay: Grandiflora roses are a cross between a hybrid tea and a floribunda. Their flowers grow in clusters and the plant is usually tall. Both of these qualification seem to be present in the rose in question. Since I am not an expert rosarian, I can not say with certainty which grandiflora it is.

However, I can tell you that there are many rose varietiesthat start out in one color in bud form and mature to another color. A few of those varieities are Dream Come True, Heart o’ Gold, Rio Samba and Joesph’s Coat. If you want a rose that closley resembles the one in the picture I would choose Dream Come True. It is a grandiflora rose that is hardy to zone 5. The best place to get one is at your local garden center & nursery. These professionals will not only have the roses, but will explain what is needed to make them grow successfully in your area.

Filed Under: Flower Identification Tagged With: Rose Plants

Why Does My Peace Lily Have Yellow Leaves

August 30, 2010 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: Peace lily lower leaves turn yellow and then die?
I repotted my peace lily about 18 mos. ago. The lower leaves turn yellow and then die. At first I thought it was just the shock, but it continues to lose leaves. It was a huge plant and now is looking rather pathetic. HELP!!! I love this plant. It is in a south window, but gets limited direct sunlight. I have it in a self-watering pot. Any ideas would be appreciated. Linda

Flower Shop Network‘s Plant Expert Rely: This peace lily problem is directly related to a water issue. Normally, I would assume too much water. With self-watering pots it is hard to tell. It could be getting too much or not enough.

Peace Lily

Another issue could be that the plant was planted too deep when re-potted. The top of the root in the old pot should have been the top of the root ball in the new pot.

In other words, you should not have added any soil on top of the plant. If you think you place the plant deeper than it was, you might need to raise it up. This would be a good time to see if the roots are rotting.

Once you have taken care of the repotting issues, start caring for your plant by creating a humid environment. Mist the air around the plant with tepid water every day or at least every other day. Then make sure the soil is evenly moist (a self watering pot may not be the best for keeping the soil evenly moist.)

Usually a once a week watering will keep the soil moist but not soggy. If your plant is in really low light levels, you may be able to water your plant every other week instead.

Once you have evened out the water issue the plant should make of full come back.

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Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Peace Lily, Plant Problems, Spathiphyllum

What Is This Vine With White Flowers & Cactus-like Seed Pod

August 27, 2010 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: What is it?
we have a crawling vine on our fence that looks like a maple leaf but has little white flowers and it has little cactus looking plums on it? grows really quickly. Deline

California Vine With Small White Flowers

Coast Wild Cucumber

Marah fabaceus Seed Pod

Flower Shop Network‘s Plant Expert:
It looks like a member of the wild cucumber family which is the Marah genus.

I think this particular plant is a Marah fabaceus. It is commonly called California manroot, Coast wild cucumber, Manroot, wild cucumber and bigroot. The plant is found throughout California. Although the Marah genus can be found in various parts of the country, the Marah fabaceus is endemic (limited) to California alone.

It is consider a perennial vine and a herb. The prickly fruit may resemble cucumbers, but is not edible. It has a very bitter taste.

Native Californians used this fruit medicinally. The Kumeyaay people use the crushed tubers of this plant to aid in fishing. They throw the crushed tubers in the water to immobilize the fish.

This plant identification was brought to you by the local florists in San Francisco.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions, Plant Identification Tagged With: Blooming Vine, Plant Identification, Prickly Seed Pods, Vines

Design Inspiration Challenge: Round 6

August 27, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

FSN is PROUD to bring you the NEXT Design Inspiration Challenge! Florists everywhere are buzzing about this new Challenge, we hope to see designs from each and every one!

BUT FIRST….

The WINNER of the Design Inspiration Challenge Round 5: Stained Glass—
Keith from BUDS N’ BOWS FLOWER SHOP!

A hard inspiration to interpret, Keith from Buds ‘N Bows Flower Shop did a great job with this one! Congratulations Keith! Great use of carnations to interpret the small inner circles! All of our finalists did a great job on this one! Keith from Buds N’ Flower Shop won by just 1 points! We loved the unique design they submitted. Keith wins a beautiful award certificate, great FSN tote bag and is now a finalist for our grand prize! Congratulations!

We Would Also Like To Recognize:
2nd Place – MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts (48/60 points)
3rd Place – Forget Me Not Florist (45/60 points)
View all entries here…

We think everyone did a FANTASTIC job on their arrangements. It was so close, and a very tough decision!
FSN would like to thank everyone who was a part of this contest!

NOW BACK TO…

THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATION CHALLENGE:

A delicate jellyfish with lacy white tentacles. . Study this photo carefully and use your imagination to interpret it into a floral design. I can definitely see this as a frilly bouquet or cascading arrangement. This inspiration is a great exercise for your textures, usage of line and other elements/principles of design. We hope these challenges are helping you to learn to see design in your every day lives.

This contest is over, click here to see the winners.

HOW TO ENTER:

Entering is EASY! Simply:

Go to our Facebook Page
Post a photo of your design on our wall or email it to mandy@flowershopnetwork.com
Be sure to include the name of your shop. (If your shop has a Facebook Page, link it by typing @ and your shop’s name)
Include the name of the designer (Optional if you are only submitting one per shop.)
Please specify it as being an entry to the contest. “My entry for the design contest.”
Include a brief description of your design and how it was inspired by that week’s challenge (Optional)

HOW TO WIN:

You have 2 weeks to create and enter your challenge arrangement. Then, there will be two types of voting — think Idol. Round 1 is open public voting on our website for your top 5 finalists! Then those finalists move on to Round 2 where our FSN Design Team will judge them based on creativity, style and how well their design interprets that week’s inspiration.

How the judging works: Our design team will score each finalist on 3 categories: style, creativity, interpretation. Each category is worth 20 points for a total of 60 points. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at mandy@flowershopnetwork.com

Timeline:

Contest Begins (Today, Aug 27)
Two weeks to design (Aug 27-Sept 9)
One week to vote (Sept 10-16)
Winner Announced/Finalist Round Begins (Sept 17)

Each winner will receive a great FSN tote bag and awards certificate, plus a special feature on our blog with their arrangement, a link to their shop’s website, an awards certificate and a great, big FSN tote bag! They will also be promoted on our Twitter and Facebook for two weeks. After 6 challenge winners (September) we will have a Tournament of Inspiration and our top winning designers will compete for a grand prize! (More on this later)

You are allowed to enter the weekly contests more than once, but only entered as a Grand Prize Finalist once. Shops may only submit one design per designer. (Please no cheating :P This contest is just for fun and to stretch your creativity)

Filed Under: Floral Design Tagged With: Floral Design Competitions

Floral Design Competitions: 2010 Mid-America Invitational Cup

August 26, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell 1 Comment

Yesterday we talked about the 2010 Arkansas Cup Competition, so today it’s an even BIGGER competition. The 2010 Mid-America Invitational Cup took place at the Arkansas Florists Association’s Annual Convention. The prestigious floral design competition challenged State Cup winners from 7 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Who was this years winner? Kay Schaefli from Expressions Flowers in Fort Smith Arkansas! Kay was competing as Arkansas’ State Cup winner. Congratulations Kay!!

Flower Shop Network’s headquarters are in Arkansas, and although we are big fans of all local florists, we are VERY excited Kay won the cup representing Arkansas!

This post is brought to you by local Fort Smith AR florists.
Not in Fort Smith? Use Flower Shop Network’s handy directory of real local florists to find a flower shop near you!

Filed Under: Floral Convention Videos, Floral Conventions & Flower Shows Tagged With: Arkansas State Florists Association Convention, Floral Design Competition, Fort Smith AR, Mid-America Cup

Arkansas’ Next Top Designer: The Arkansas Cup Competition

August 25, 2010 by Mandy Maxwell 1 Comment

The 2010 Arkansas Cup Competition at the Arkansas State Florist’s Convention in Hot Springs AR is just one of the many State Cup competitions going on this summer. Winning your state’s cup earns you the title of Designer of the Year and is a high honor for any local florist!

In this video, we take you on a brief tour of the entries for the 2010 Arkansas Cup. Each participant this year was asked to create a wedding package, a surprise package and a sympathy package using the tools and flowers available. Although there can be only one winner, all of the floral designs looked remarkable!

Bitsy Carter of Hope Floral, Arkansas’ Floral Designer of the Year and winner of the Arkansas Cup, will go on to compete for Arkansas in the 2011 Mid-America Invitational Cup. The Mid-America Cup competition challenges state cup winners from 7 states to find out who will be Mid-America’s Next Top Floral Designer… (Sounds like an interesting reality show to me!)

Competing in your State Cup competition is easier than you’d think! The competitions usually take place at your state florist association’s convention. Find your your state florist association’s website and look for upcoming competitions to find out how YOU can be in the running for next year!

This post is brought to you by local Hot Springs AR florists.
Not in Hot Springs? Find your real local florist with Flower Shop Network‘s handy local florist directory.

Filed Under: Floral Convention Videos, Floral Conventions & Flower Shows Tagged With: Arkansas Cup, Arkansas State Florists Association Convention, Floral Design, Floral Designer of the Year, Hot Springs AR, Mid-America Cup, State Cup Competitions

Do you love the idea of having plants in your house but don’t have much time to take care of them?

The WINNER of the Design Inspiration Challenge Round 5: Stained Glass— Keith from BUDS N’ BOWS FLOWER SHOP!

THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATION CHALLENGE:

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The WINNER of the Design Inspiration Challenge Round 5: Stained Glass—
Keith from BUDS N’ BOWS FLOWER SHOP!