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What Causes Houseplant Leaves To Turn Brown And Dry Up

June 1, 2010 by

Ask the Expert:

what cause the end of my house plant leaves to turn brown and dry up ? Nicole

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

The number one cause of browning leaves on any plant is a water issue.  It could be getting too or too little water.  Depending on the houseplant you may need to keep the soil very moist, but not soggy.  Sometimes this is hard to determine.  Another cause could be too much sunlight. If the plant is close to a window the sun could be burning the leaves.  Some insects can cause browning but it usually presents itself in the middle of the leaves.

I recommend checking the soil moisture. Make sure the soil is moist and that the container can drain excess water.  Check the position of the plant. Move it out of the direct line of the window. Look for signs of insects. Check the backs of the leaves for signs of insects.

Once you determine which issue you have, you can correct it and the plant should make a full recovery.

Dundalk Florists hope this plant care questions helps others with brown tips on their houseplants.

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Brown Tips On Purple/Pink “Leaves” Of A Bromeliad

June 1, 2010 by

Ask the Expert: brown tips on top of bromeliad
I received a bromeliad at my grandparents’ recent death. It is green with pink/purple top. I was told to water it by filling the ‘wells’. I noticed yesterday that the tips of some of the pink/purple ‘leaves’ were turning brown. What do I do? Amanda

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

I am assuming you are talking about the bloom of the bromeliad. These like all blooms will start to deteriorate as they age.  Bromeliad blloms usually last for quite a while. However, yours may be under stress from all the moves (florist to funeral home to your home) and different caretakers.

For now I would just concentrate on taking care of it properly.  A while back I wrote a post called How To Care For A Bromeliad it has alot of great information in it and discussion with other bromeliad owners as well.   We, also, have a post Tropical Bromeliad Basic Houseplant Care that has helpful information.

I have been told to place water in the cups of the Bromeliad as well. However, it has been my experience that watering the soil is a more effective way of keeping the bromeliad happy and healthy. A humid environment is also crucial. I don’t mist my bromeliad directly, but I do place mine in a bathroom where the steam from the shower creates a humid environment.

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How To Make Sure Your Hanging Basket Of Petunias Stays Pretty

June 1, 2010 by

Ask the Expert: hanging baskets of petunia’s
My son bought me two of the largest, most beautiful hanging baskets of petunia’s for Mother’s Day.  I was with him and the lady said to “water them every evening until water come’s out of the drain hole, and feed them 1/3 cup of the mixture on the Micerial Grow Box,” and I would have flowers until frost.  I mixed the Miricial Grow Plant food as directed, one scop to every two gallons of water.

My plants are still as beautiful as the day he bought them, and I do what the lady told me to do.  My question is: Do they do this just to keep them beautiful until they sell them or if I am doing the right thing by following her advice?  I clean out the dead leaves and such around the soil each morning when I feed them, and I pick off the dead flowers at that time as well, I have had a few that have the stem has [Read more…]

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The Official Memorial Flower

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

– John McCrae

In 1915, World War I Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields which expressed his grief over the “row on row” of graves of soldiers who gave their loves in battles. His words paint a vision of beautiful poppies (Papaver rhoeas) swaying slowly in the wind between the crosses. These poppies quickly became the symbol of remembrance for those who fought in WWI.

poppy-stamp

The poppy became a well-known symbol to allied countries — America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Two women, Anna E. Huerin and Moina Micheal worked to initiate the sale of artificial poppies, called Buddy Poppy, with proceeds going to help orphans and others left destitute by the war. In 1924, an artificial poppy factory was established in Pittsburgh, PA providing a place for unemployed or disabled veterans to work. The VFW trademarked the name “Buddy” as an artificial flower, which guarantees any Buddy Poppy you buy since 1924 was hand-assembled by a disabled veteran in a VA hospital.

buddy-poppy

Today, veterans at VA medical facilities and veterans homes, veterans still assemble these symbols of remembrance. The Veterans of Foreign War distributes these small tokens every November for Veterans Day. Donations received from the distribution of these poppies have helped countless veterans and their widows, widowers, and orphans over the years.

For Veterans Day, remember the poppy in your red-white-and-blue decorations. No flower evokes memories and emotions of war as much as the red poppy, it is truly the official memorial flower.

Filed Under: Florist Spotlights, Flower Suggestions, Holiday Info Tagged With: , , ,

Interesting Bloom Is A Poppy

May 28, 2010 by 1 Comment

Ask the Expert: What is this?
We moved into an already landscaped home a couple of years ago. I have always thought this was a thistle and pulled it, not thinking twice about it.  This year it escaped me and this is what we have? It looks like a thistle but it is not prickly, the stems are “hairy” but soft. After it started blooming it shed it’s “pods”. The leaves look almost like crepe paper. They are truly beautiful if it is a thistle!  Do you have any ideas? Suzie


Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

The plant you have is a type of a poppy.  I believe it is an Oriental Poppy ( Papaver orientale “Allegro”), but just from a picture it is hard to tell which poppy it is. The Oriental Poppies are clump-forming perennials that spread and bloom late spring to mid-summer.  It is very similar to the corn poppy or field poppy ( Papaver rhoeas) which happens to be the Memorial Day Flower.

Although similar in looks it is not a California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) which is the state flower of California.

This flower identification question was brought to you by the local Sacramento Florists

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Rotting Roots Can Cause Yellowing Of Peace Lily Leaves

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Ask the Expert: What’s wrong with my Peace Lily?
I have a rather large peace lily that I have been keeping on my front porch (no direct sunlight whatsoever) and the bottom leaves are beginning to turn yellow and die off.  What am I doing wrong?  Pat

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

A peace lily (Spathiphyllum clevelandii) that has been exposed to a soggy condition for an extended period will develop root rot. The first indication that a peace lily has root rot is the yellowing of lower leaves. Theses leaves will eventually fall off.

To see if the roots are rotting, you may need to remove it from the pot.  Peace lilies should be planted in a container that has the ability to drain excess moisture. You may need to repot the peace lily. Once the peace lily is placed in the proper conditions it should recover.

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Personalized & Creative Funeral Flowers

May 26, 2010 by 5 Comments


Funeral flowers are not what they used to be, and for good reason. We have become so used to personalization, why not customize our final tribute to a lost loved one? People everywhere are opting for sympathy arrangements with a more personalized feel.

Above you see an incredibly detailed floral guitar set piece made by Hart Floral in Modesto, CA. This is a great custom funeral design for someone who was known for their love of music. Perhaps they were sent by someone in a band with the deceased. What a great way to honor those memories they shared together. Custom set pieces* are great to pay tribute to the deceased favorite hobby or interest.

Tribute symbols are also popular in funeral flower design. Whether a heart, cross or peace sign, these symbols can have a calming effect in the minds of those attending the funeral. If you know the deceased favorite color, use flowers in shades of that color in your memorial design to create a more personal final tribute (like the heart arrangement above, by Hart Floral.).

In life, the things that make us the happiest are often our hobbies and interests. Even the colors Hart Floral used are the favorite football team’s colors. I’m sure this sports fan would be beaming with pride over this sports themed funeral wreath.

The above couch casket display** has been perfectly personalized for any fisherman to love. Even the mossy greens and flowers used reminds me of underwater lake photos with fish swimming in the aquatic plants. This great casket piece was created by Every Blooming Thing in Akron, OH.

So, even if it’s as simple as the deceased favorite color, or as elaborate as a full tribute set piece, funeral flowers like this remind us in the final moments of precious memories together that do live on forever.

*Set Piece – the custom shaped funeral flower pieces, such as the guitar in the top photo.

**Couch Casket Display – the large floral design that sits on top of the casket.

This article is brought to you by Flower Shop Network – A Network For Local Florists.

Filed Under: Floral Design, Funeral Flowers Tagged With: , , , ,

Violence In Bangkok Affecting Orchid Shipments

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Bangkok, Thailand has long been known for it’s high-quality orchids. It’s tropical climate is the perfect environment for native and introduced, non-native orchids to thrive. Bangkok orchids dominate the local flower mart and can be spotted everywhere, from high-class restaurant tables to the most modest of apartment windowsills.

But currently, Bangkok is in a state of civil unrest. As reported by the Huffington Post,

…the Red Shirt protesters began their latest campaign to oust the government in March, saying it came to power illegitimately and is indifferent to the poor. In several rounds of violence since then, 43 people have been killed and more than 1,400 wounded, according to the government. The casualty toll included 16 killed and 157 wounded in the latest violence.

These horrific acts of violence are taking place in crowded downtown areas like luxury hotels and shopping malls causing the city to call for a strict curfew. Orchid growers who normally operate 24 hours a day are having to comply to the 9am-5pm curfew, cutting orchid production down by 30%.

According to KITV News in Honolulu, Hawaiian florists expect orchid shipments to “trickle in” or just completely stop over the next few weeks. This is bad news for Hawaiian florists who use the flowers heavily in their graduation leis.

Giving a lei to a graduate is an extremely popular tradition in Hawaiian culture. Friends and relatives line up to present their leis to the new graduate and by the end of the night the grads are covered in mounds of beautiful flowers. Orchid leis are by far the most popular of the Hawaiian floral leis… but unfortunately may be pretty rare this year.

Bangkok fires photo by adaptorplug on Flickr.
Post is brought to you by Local Honolulu,Hawaii Florists.

Filed Under: Floral Industry News Tagged With: , , , ,

Birth Month Flowers

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Ask the Expert: what are the hawiian birth flowers for each month
WHAT IS THE BIRTH FLOWER FOR EACH MONTH Corina

Plant Expert Reply:

I have not heard of Hawaiian birth month flowers. As for birth months flowers, there is a general list that most people follow.

January – Carnations or  Snowdrops

February – Violets, Primrose or Iris

March – Daffodils or Jonquils

April – Daisy or Sweet Peas

May – Lily of the Valley, Hawthorn or Lilies

June – Roses or Honeysuckle

July – Larkspur, Delphinium or Water lilies

August – Gladiolas or Poppies

September – Asters or Morning Glories

October – Calendulas, Cosmos or Marigolds

November – Chrysanthemum

December – Narcissus, Holly or Poinsettias

Maybe one of our Hawaiian florists will be able to enlighten us about Hawaiian birth month flowers.

Filed Under: Flower Identification Tagged With:

Fun in the Flower Shop

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Contrary to popular belief, a local florist’s work can be exhausting and stressful at times, especially for the owner. When is the last time you and your great employees really cut loose and had some FUN?

Research shows that the more FUN you have in your shop, the happier and more productive your employees will be. Here are a few tips you can use to shake things up a bit…

May BirthdaysStart small. Make a list of all your employee’s birthdays, and really celebrate their big day when the time comes! Here at FSN, we post a flyer of upcoming birthdays in our break room. This is a great way to show you care and make your employees feel special (because they are!)

Have a cookout! For lunch one day, plan a cookout! Bring a grill from home and make burgers or chicken with chips. (For your vegetarian employees, you can get a small 2 or 4 pack of pre-made veggie burgers and grill just like regular patties) If you’re not a fan of grilling, have it catered. Either way, little events like these really bring the team together!

Start a “Fun Budget”. It doesn’t have to be much, but the rewards can be fantastic! Save up a little bit and look for things you and your employees would like to do.

Having fun at work is important. Just look at Google, one of the biggest corporations in the world, inside their headquarters they offer: Foosball, pool tables, volleyball courts, assorted video games, pianos, ping pong tables, and gyms that offer yoga and dance classes. They also conduct grassroots employee groups for all interests, like meditation, film, wine tasting and salsa dancing. Of course I wish all of our local flower shops could install pool tables and offer salsa dancing, but for now a cookout and a few small adventures together will be just fine!

One of my favorite treats we were surprised with at Flower Shop Network was a masseuse! During our most stressful season, our awesome management brought in a masseuse to do chair massages (head/neck) during our break times. We each got a 15 min pick-me-up and were able to push through the day with a much, MUCH better attitude. Talk about brilliant!

Some companies plan outdoor excursions like hiking, rafting, floating or canoeing. Outdoor activities can be fairly inexpensive and a lot of fun!! Just getting together for a bonfire and roasting marshmallows will increase your teams bond.

While on these “fun” trips, take LOTS of pics and even video share on your Facebook Page. This will help your followers connect on a personal level with you and your team. It’s a great way to advertise the unique culture of your flower shop.

Filed Under: Florists Only Tagged With: , , , ,
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