open your heart and give flowers

Preparing for Christmas
Carefully thought-out and well-organized preparation is essential if you are to meet the needs of this busy selling time.

• Clearing stock rooms creates storage space for the Christmas stock.
• Tidy workrooms, offices, chillers and cellars to gain maximum working and storage space.
• Plan shop window and interior displays so that special props and display stands are made in advance.
• Clean and re-organize the shop to give extra display and serving areas.
• To gain maximum interest, Christmas merchandise can be put on display in late October / early November.
• All stock must be clearly priced; staff must know every product, where it is displayed, and its name, use and price.

The florist Austral shop must always look attractive and full. Display areas and shelves must constantly be tidied and restocked to tempt customers to buy. During November, Christmas designs made with dried and fabric materials can be prepared, as can bows for gift wrapping. Nearer Christmas, prepare planted bowls and decorate holly wreaths, crosses and door garlands.
Serving areas must be stocked with wrapping/packing equipment and order pads. During the hectic Christmas rush, courteous, friendly and knowledgeable sales staff in the florist’s shop can make Christmas shopping a pleasure.

Planting a Potted Rosebush

1. To plant a rosebush purchased in a tar-paper or metal pot, dig a hole twice the diameter of the pot and twice as deep as the height of the pot. Then fill the hole with soil mixed with fertilizer and peat moss until the pot, when set in the hole, has its own soil level even with the level of the ground.
2. After having watered the plant thoroughly (to make the soil adhere to the roots in one big lump), gently tip a tar-paper pot over far enough so that you can cut and peel away the bottom.
3. Place the pot in the hole, then cut the pot down both sides and pull it apart without disturbing the soil around the roots. (If the pot is metal, have it cut apart at the Fendalton flower shop and bound with twine; lift the plant out and set it in the hole.)
4. Fill the hole with soil, pressing it down to make it firm around the roots. Mold a trough about 1 ½ inches deep around the canes, then water until thoroughly soaked. Add 2 inches of coarse peat moss or other mulch to the soil surface around the plant.

Purchasing Tips
Check the water
Any flower you buy at any retail outlet should be in water. Check the cleanliness of the water and the container. Is the water clear? Is the container clean? If not don't buy the flowers. The only exception to this would be tulips in muddy water - this does not kill these flowers. In every other case, dirty water and dirty containers will reduce the flowers' life.
Check the leaves
In many types of cut flowers the leaves start to die before the flower. Check the leaves for signs of yellowing or blotching - if you see these signs don't buy. This is especially useful when buying lilies or chrysanthemums. If you are buying roses, don't buy bunches with dried leaves.
Check the flowers
Last, have a good look at the flowers and buds. Many flower buds, like roses or lilies open well in the vase (with proper care) so choose the bunch with the fewest open flowers. Other flowers, like gerbera, need to be bought fully open. Check to find out if the flower delivery Tracy you want to order opens in the vase or not.

A Florist’s Caring Priorities
Flowers arrive in the flower shop in bunches, boxes, buckets and wraps of cellophane, and tied up in bundles. What will need your attention first?
Wilted flowers should always be conditioned first. They will need the longest time to recover, and if you leave their conditioning until last they may become too poor to sell.
The last flowers to require conditioning are those that have arrived ‘aqua packed’; several types of cut material are now being transported in this way to reduce the problems inevitably involved in transporting living, and short-lived, flowers.
Between these categories, there are others that will also require priority treatment. The delicate and generally expensive flowers such as orchids, lilies and roses should be conditioned and stored quickly, to prevent the accidental damage that might occur if they were left until last. Flowers that are required for customers’ orders should also be treated promptly, to allow them sufficient time for a good drink of water and flower food before use. The other category of cut material requiring speedy treatment consists of those that have been ‘dry packed’. These will need several hours to recover before being displayed for sale. Aqua-packed materials, on the other hand, can be ready for sale in just two to four hours by your Harrow florist. Once the priorities have been established, the flowers and foliage can be treated according to the stem structure; whether the materials are flaccid and wilted, or perhaps the particular requirements of the individual cut flower or foliage.

Gift Wrapping method
Collect together all equipment, flowers and foliage, and check that the bench is clean. Make a bow with streamers, then cut a length of cellophane, twice as long as the flowers and foliage, plus 30cm (l2in). Lay the cellophane on your florists Catbrain workbench, then place the long-stemmed materials and stems of foliage on the lower half of the cellophane. Add flowers to the right and left, then place special flowers in the centre, grouping them in lines.
Add short-stemmed flowers near the bottom, ensuring that all flowers are displayed to their best advantage and will not be crushed. Tie all stems securely together, and remove any foliage beneath the tying point. Bring the cellophane over the flowers, making sure that stems are covered.
At the sides, fold under 2.5cm (un) of cellophane, forming a neat edge, and staple at intervals. Gather the cellophane at the tying point and firmly secure a bow over it. Finally, attach a packet of flower food, together with a care card and envelope.

King-sized Hybrid Perpetuals
Floral relics usually associated with Victorian England, where they achieved their greatest popularity, the hybrid perpetual roses are spectacularly large and full; the blooms of one variety, Paul Neyron, measure up to 7 inches in diameter and another, Prince Camille de Rohan, has blossoms with as many as 100 petals. The hybrid perpetuals (so named because they bloomed more frequently than earlier types) were the first of the modern hybrid roses, the result of many crossings and recrossings of various roses, especially those of the damask and China types. Although 19th Century rose growers eventually developed more than 3,000 varieties, the hybrid perpetuals were virtually eclipsed by the newer, more colorful and more regularly blooming hybrid tea roses after the turn of the century. But even today their superior cold resistance makes them a good choice for gardens in cool climates, and they are always available for Leamington Spa flower delivery.

My dearest flower series - Lilium
A few years ago, only wild species of lilies were grown in gardens. This is no longer true; a revolution in lily culture has produced hybrids that are more vigorous and colorful, adapt to a greater variety of growing conditions and are freer of disease than their forebears. As a result, gardeners can have a succession of fragrant, blooming lilies from late spring until early fall. Except for a few tried and true species, the new hybrids are the only ones to be recommended.
Lilies can be used anywhere their striking beauty is desired to create a focal point in the garden. They are most effective in small groups, along a hedge or fence or against a dark background of evergreens. Plant at least three bulbs in each group. Colonies of bulbs can be left undisturbed for years, but the bulbs should be lifted and divided when the plants become overcrowded. Easter lilies bought as house plants from a florist Roath can be planted outdoors to flower during summer in following years. Certain Asiatic Hybrids can also be grown as house plants.

Visual balance
As well as being actually balanced, the arrangement or bouquet should also be visually balanced. This is far more difficult to achieve. To be visually balanced, a design should have the following:

• A focal point or point of origin from which all stems appear to radiate;
• Darker colours to the centre of the design. and paler colours at the outer edges;
• Finer materials, such as spike ferns, used at the outer edges, and larger, more solid forms in the centre;
• Some materials recessed to give weight to the centre of the design.

Good use of colour is also important in achieving visual balance, and is an essential component of a flower delivery Anfield design. More depth of colour is used in the centre of the design, again to give it visual weight, and the paler lighter colours are taken to the outer edges of the design.

Dahlia and Gladiolus Planting
Dahlias are generally planted outdoors as soon as the ground has warmed up and there is no further danger of frost. Gladioluses may be planted in series, a week to 10 days apart, continuing until mid-July. As a more general rule, they may be planted until 60 days before the first expected frost; the gladiolus becomes virtually a year-round plant in frost-free areas, making it a very popular selection for Stanton flower delivery. Successive plantings greatly extend the flowering season, since gladioluses of a single variety that are planted in series will bloom in the order in which they were planted. But some called "early blooming" take less time to flower than do those designated "mid season" or "late", so three different varieties planted the same day may bloom weeks apart. By planting in sequence and using different varieties, the shrewd gardener can keep a supply of gladioluses available for cutting all summer long.

Need more?
This information is brought to you by the Flower Baron. Another great resource for flower and florist information is The Florist Chronicles.