Give your lady what she really wants - flowers!

Consider Backgrounds
Flower arrangements are always seen against a background. It may be the sitting room wallpaper or the grey stone of a church wall. When choosing wallpaper, we always look to see if it will go with the carpet, for we know by experience that it might look perfect in the shop, but dreadful when we get home. In the same way, the eye registers the difference, or contrast, between an arrangement and its background, so the former must be brighter than the latter, to enable it to show up.
The background to an arrangement is already in situ, so we need to create a design of flowers Redfield that will be seen against it. This is quite easy in large buildings, such as churches, where the walls are of grey stone or white paint. It becomes difficult if the walls are brightly coloured or painted. In this case, try to find an alternative site for the arrangement. If this is not possible, use a colour that will contrast with the background.

Flower Deliveries
Ensure that deliveries are carried out in a respectful and professional manner — there should be no impression of a last-minute rush. Containers should not leak, and designs must be stable and well balanced. Pollen stains are difficult to eradicate, so stamens should be removed from lilies.
Prickly and sharp foliages should be avoided, as they make tributes tiresome and difficult for funeral directors to handle. Keep to these simple rules when organising your next flower delivery City of London and you'll be well on the way to becoming a successful florist.

Winter Arrangements
Flowers associated with winter include hellebores which, although not generally available as a cut flower, can be purchased as pot plants. This is also true of the poinsettia, which will last much longer if the roots can be retained. Poinsettias are now available in pinks and creamy whites as well as scarlet, and combine beautifully with red carnations and carnation sprays.
The early spring flowers Kensington can be teamed with some of the flowering winter branches, such as witch hazel or Viburnum x bodnantense. The first narcissi and tulips appear in winter and these and other spring flowers help to brighten the dark winter days. The spicy scent of hyacinths makes them a favourite, and the delicate beauty of snowdrops is a very special pleasure.

Making a Rose buttonhole
Gather together all the materials — rose, stub wires, tape and pin. The rose has attractive foliage, so choose three perfect leaves.
Wire the cut materials. A rose with a stem of medium thickness will require a 0.71mm (22 gauge) wire, but you may need a heavier or lighter gauge of wire, depending on the weight of the rose. Insert the stub wire up the stem of the rose; it should be pushed just past the seed box.
The rose leaves need to be loop-stitched. A small stitch is taken at each side of the main vein, using 0.32mm (30 gauge) silver wire. Bring both ends of the wire down to the base of the leaf, at the back, supporting the stitch between finger and thumb to prevent the stitch from pulling. Secure the leaf stem and one of the wire ends by taking the remaining wire firmly around both, two or three times.
The rose and leaves are then taped. For ease of assembly by the florist Cowglen, the leaves can be taped together, with the largest leaf in the middle, and a smaller one at each side.
For assembly, the rose is placed on top of the foliage; the largest leaf acts as a protective backing for the rose and also looks attractive. The buttonhole can be assembled either by using a short length of wire or with tape only. The wire stems are cut to length and then completely covered with tape. The design is sprayed with water and a pin added.
Rose foliage is the traditional backing, but as with the carnation, many other materials can be used, and a rose buttonhole for a lady is sometimes given a delicate ribbon bow for a finishing touch.

My Favourite Flowers - Alnus
Hardy deciduous trees, water-loving and usually found growing near streams or rivers, alders are beautiful all the year round. As soon as they lose their leaves, catkins start developing, and with some of the previous year’s cones still on the branches, they remain attractive until May or June. A. incana ‘Aurea’ is one of the most attractive, with pink-tinged catkins in January.
Cultivation
Plant in any good soil, but not shallow chalky soils; excellent in cold wet places, the alder is exceptionally hardy. Plant October to March. No pruning is usually required.
Conditioning
Hammer the ends of the stems well, and put in warm water for several hours. Ordering a flower delivery Prestwich may be easier, but it's a lot cheaper to do it yourself.
Arranging
Branches of fresh young catkins, with small clusters of black cones, provide one of the best outline shapes and can be used for weeks, as the catkins continue to develop in water. It makes an excellent background for a vase of spring flowers in moss, or for daffodils, and is a mainstay in many oriental-type arrangements. I often keep the best branches to use in dried groups in the winter.

Making Flowers Last Longer

1. Always use clean vases or containers. This will prevent any bacteria from ruining the quality of the flowers.
2. Remove all of the leaves which will be under the water while in the vase. Leaves that are submerged will rot, thus creating bacteria and shortening the life span of your flowers.
3. Always add the cut flower food supplied to you by your Toy District florist, to the water in the vase. Change the water and flower food every three to four days.
4. Our grower fresh flowers are shipped when they are in bud or half open, which is the recommended state to pick flowers. You will then have the pleasure of seeing them slowly open up, this also increases the life span of your flowers.
5. Never place your floral arrangements in full sun or over a radiator. This will cause excess water loss from the flowers, and they will wilt very quickly. For a maximum life span the best place for your flowers is in a cool room.
6. Use a container that is in proportion to the amount of flowers you have. Too small of a container for the flowers will not hold enough water, and they may dry out before you realize it.
7. Once or twice a day lightly spray your finished arrangement with clear water to create a humid atmosphere around the flowers.

Longer lasting flowers
In the last ten years there has been a considerable increase in consumer purchases of cut flowers. Worldwide, the sales of flowers can be numbered in the billions. Mirroring this growth in the flower industry has been extensive scientific research into the post-harvest care of cut flowers and foliage. For many customers the quality of the flowers is determined by their longevity; the professional florist will need to ensure that cut flowers achieve their maximum vase life if consumers are to be kept satisfied with their flower delivery Lomita.

Preparing a mossed frame
Most florists use plastic foam bases as foundations for funeral tributes, as preparing a moss frame — mossing the frame, backing and then edging it — is a tedious task. However, the techniques involved in using a mossed frame are part of the florist’s basic skills.
Mossing, backing and edging
Collect the materials together and start by cleaning the damp moss, removing any twigs or stones. Attach reel wire or string to the frame and, with the frame directly in front of you, place several handfuls of moss, about 5cm (2in) high, on the frame. Bind the moss on firmly, and continue, adding moss evenly and binding diagonally across the fame until it is completely covered with moss. Take the reel wire around for a second time between the previous twists of wire. Cut the wire; return it into the moss, and trim the moss to an even shape.
Now back the wreath: turn the frame over; secure the wreath wrap with hairpins on the inside; stretch the wrap over the frame and hairpin it in place at regular intervals. Continue the process until the frame is complete.
Before getting the flowers delivered Winnie, the wreath must be edged. Double-leg mount well-balanced fans of cupressus and, starting on the outer edge, insert the wired fans into the lower part of the frame, just on the wreath wrap. The anchored foliage should slope downwards, towards the workbench. Complete first the outer and then the inner edges, ensuring that the foliage overlaps and maintaining an even circular shape.

It's all in the Preparation
It is important to prepare the flower food correctly, using tepid water. Dispensing systems are available to florists. These regulate the proportion of nutrient to water, ensuring that the correct amount of flower food is used. Excessive dilution of the flower food will deprive cut materials of its beneficial effects. Use the solution once only, and do not mix old solutions with new. One point to remember is that flower food should not be used with metal containers, as a reaction can occur between the metal and the nutrients. This hinders the performance of the food and can corrode the metal. Some manufacturers specify that their foods should not be used with lead crystal containers. Don't even think about having those flowers delivered Northern Brooklyn until the necessary prepartion work has been fully completed.