Flowers Unlimited Blog

Before this blog, we offered up tidbits of information about flower care, flower trends and what is what about flowers here and elsewhere in the world. A finger on the pulse,so to speak.

Blue Phalenopsis Orchid

At Last, there's something different inside the phalenopsis market. In tribute to the late Etta James who died yesterday, and in my search for something different for Valentine's this year, I found this blue orchid, which is pretty spectacular considering that Click for more info

Flowers are a Necessity

Snow storms have passed through and Vancouverites,like many, are in the middle of the winter blahs. We send flowers to chase away the blues.But I'm so lucky to breathe their essence every day and to receive something super natural.

So today, it was exhilerating to find a refreshingly positive outlook on life and beauty and the necessity of flowers from war-torn Iran. The Tehran newspaper article features a local florist, so in love with his work and philosophical about his product;"When you have beauty you will never be hungry," he said.

So have a cup of tea and pull up this article to see the importance of flowers to Persian poetry and art and daily existence. As the writer says, "I need to write about flowers in a time of weeds."

The 50-Mile Bouquet

The north shore mountains are white today as we get our first crisp days of the year here in Vancouver. Tucked into our special place here on Hornby Street, I indulge myself sufficient to cruise about and see what other florists elsewhere are up to. And what a great find it was to stumble into the making of a new The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers book that promotes the "Slow Flower Movement" heading to the publishers in April, but available in presell from Amazon. Sustainability and food has been forefront for more than three years now since a BC The 100-Mile Diet:A Year of Local Eating book demonstrating that foraging within 100 miles is preferable to importing food.

Thailand Hosts World Flower Show

Flower lovers will flock to northern Thailand for the three-month flower show held in Chiang Mai from December 14, 2011 to March 14, 2012. Canada is a newcomer this year, with installations depicting Niagara Falls and Indian totems. These and some 2,000 types of flowers and more than two million trees can be viewed from the 14-storey ferris wheel A FloraWheel, they're calling it.

Orchids in the News

While Elton John was being honoured at the World Orchid Show in Singapore in November 2011, by having an orchid named for him, a Dutch researcher found the first night-flowering orchid on an island near Papua New Guinea.

Wedding flower trends useful in wedding planning

Wedding flower trends come and go over the years, but flowers remain necessary and central to celebration.

Orchid Imports in Jeopardy for Holidays

With some two million acres under water in the extensive monsoon rains in Thailand, the dendrobium orchid business is under water as well.

It is estimated that two million stems of dendrobium orchids are shipped from Bangkok daily, but now many of those orchid farms are experiencing loss of their stock in October 2011, as plants are submerged.

World Floristry Design Competition

London, England was the site of this year's worldwide competition in early October to celebrate vocational training.

Some 950 competitors in six major skill categories were there, with floristry being one of the sub-categories inside 'creative and fashion.' The fun for the floristry entrants ranged from bouquets, wreaths to hats and necklaces, and armatures were everywhere.

After 20 years in this industry, I'm still amazed at the fantastic experiences available to anyone choosing this artform for their life's work and creative expression. No doubt some of these young students will be in future WAFA competitions and I salute them.Worldskills is an organization established in Spain in 1950, with competitions held throughout the world every two years.

Vancouver Growers Shift Crops

When I picked up the immaculately identical hydrangeas today, the wholesaler told me three area greenhouses are now growing this garden flower under glass. We used to get them from landscaper-peddlars, but with imported roses ousting three area rose growers over the last year and a half, and two alstromeria growers switching to orchids, it's difficult to determine what is a local crop anymore. Few want to gro red hot pokers or allium and dahlias cost more per stem than flying an orchid all the way from Thailand!

Largest Flower Blooms for Three Days

It's referred to as the world's largest flower and universities and conservatories are excited to have this specimen, from Sumatra, bloom in their presence. As it typically blooms every couple of years, the one at UC Davis started blooming June 23rd and will die over this weekend. About three days of glory.

Flower Care Changes

In the '90s the word was out that to slow the growth of cut tulips, we should put a little slit in the neck, thus letting some air in, reducing the grow-time. Nada.Research 10 years later said this did nothing for stem-stretch. Saved us a lot of time!Now the news here is that pounding woody stems harms the flower rather than allow good water uptake as we believed."Research shows that pounding stems damages cells so badly that advantages are lost." Also,cold water in vases rather than warm "travels faster through the stem cells," according to research out of the Netherlands and USA. "It has to do with the amount of gases in the water." A great tip when buying cut hyacinths is to buy bunches that "have the basal plate intact on the stems, which is necessary fo water uptake and vase life."

WAFA Flower Show In Boston

Boston will host thousands of floral artists and suppliers for the 30th World Association of Floral Arrangers(WAFA) from June 14 to 19, to "celebrate creativity, nature and fellowship." The best of the best are descending on the city to demonstrate what their floral passion is all about. Take a look at their Facebook page. Its only competition would be the Chelsea Flower Show from June 15-19, perhaps a possibility to combine the two when WAFA holds the next one in ireland in 2014.

Salisbury Flower Show

The medieval Cathedral in Salisbury,UK will host a five-day floral show with internationally-inspired designers. Arrangements will be inspired by quotations from the King James Bible, honouring its 400th anniversary. Interpretative designs created by the Cathedral’s own team of flower arrangers explore the themes of splendour, power, glory and majesty, according to the Cathedral's newsletter. Some 18,000 people attended the last demonstrantion in 2008.

War Can't Deter Flower Show

Pakistan's 60th flower show just completed its three-day run with 200 varieties and large turn-outs. It was a message that "healthy activities will continue in Pakistan."

Quake May Impact Famous Flower Show

The severe quake that has left dead in Christchurch, NZ, and damaged the namesake cathedral, may well stand in the way of the largest flower show in the southern hemisphere scheduled to begin in just two weeks. Held in Auckland for many years, the show was moved to Christchurch three years ago and I was ecstatic to be in the region in 2009 to see the entire city promote the event.Local florists donate their time and design talent to design entries to a theme, for display in the Christchurch Cathedral.A garden show component is also a big complement of the Ellerslie show.

Tulips: Currency from 17th Century to Worldwide Enterprise

Tulips are one sign of spring. And from their obscurity in the 1600s, today they are for everyone.

The Hummingbird Color for 2011

Pick-me-ups are great during stressful times, and this is a reason for Pantone choosing honeysuckle--as uplifting, with verve-- as the color of the year. Pantone has been considered the color-authority for 50 years and their choices have influenced product development in multiple industries.

How a Patent Can Impact Costs

One of the largest national suppliers of fresh flowers and hard goods to the floral industry advises that an expired patent for pot covers has opened up the competition inside North america and China, reducing costs for manufacturing in 2010 and beyond. Not only will premiums be removed for metallic containers,according to Florists Supply, but the 35 per cent decrease will be passed on to retailers. Yeah.

Check Out Your Florascope for 2011

I missed having my favourite flower, the peony, as my birth-month flower, by only one day.So perhaps the year I was born, Libra and Sagittarius were closer together?But then I love hydrangea...and most every other flower!

Elegance Returns to Weddings in 2011

This is a great wedding-specific blog with up to the minute info about the wedding business. From trends to locations to ballgowns, it's all about elegance this year. Good sidebar list of other wedding blogs to connect with.

Fairtrade Roses Good Enough to Eat

Late 2010 saw fancy New York restaurants stretch culinary expression to include Ecuador roses. These roses are being grown specifically for the food trade, using a garlic solution spray to keep pests away.

Reaching out to one another in emotional response to a need puts flowers at the

We're a small, small business but we reach out with flowers to help charitable causes to connect to our community.

Baby's Breath is a Killer

Clinical trials will proceed to substantiate UK scientists' findings that gypsophilia paniculata--baby's breath-- reduces the membrane of cancer cells.

Tulip Guerilla Gardening Annual Event

Unlike the tulip frenzy of the early 1600s that saw the market collapse, on October 9, 2010 there will be a "bit of public-spirited criminality in Glasgow, London, Paris, Toulouse, Brussels, Turin, Iowa. People have all signed up to take part in International Tulip Guerrilla Gardening Day, the first of what will be an annual global event." Find out more about International Tulip Guerrilla Gardening Day.

Win $250 to Celebrate our 25th Anniversary

Enter to win $250 in flowers to celebrate our 25th anniversary year, ending November 25,2010. The winner can choose flowers from our storefront locally, or if the winner is an international participant, we will send gift within the 165 countries we serve. We're new to social media, so this will be the best-odds in a chance event! Join up and pay it forward to your friends as we'd like 250 fans for our 25th!

Flower questions about care and handling of cut flowers are answered here.

Have flower questions? This FAQ page allows you to ask questions about flowers, their season, origins, care and handling or whateer crosses your mind.

Laws to Prevent FLoral Fraud

Used to be that our local Yellow Pages were infiltrated by 1-800 numbers for supposed local florists. When I did a quick check today in response to this item, I was glad to see there are only four or five that seem questionable. But that's not the same on the internet. Google for florists anywhere and thousands of entries will appear, many inside of specific area searches that are not identifiable with that area, and many with toll-free numbers clicking into someplace else. It's a form of fraud, for sure. So great for the industry that the USA is legislating this problem. Let's hope it will reach to virtual listings as well.

Flower Gardens Praise Flowers

Volcanic Ash Delays Flower Shipments

Worldwide flower shipments are being rerouted or delayed since Iceland's volcanic eruption. Not only impacting businesses worldwide as people scramble for alternate flights, the flower growers of Kenya are in big difficulty.

Wiper Fluid to Manage Stem-length

In Bulb, a tome of a book by Anna Pavord at 544 pages, all things relative to tulips and lilies and some 600 other bulbs arediscussed. An amazing tidbit offered a way to reduce the length of paperwhite narcissus stems. You know how gangly they can get when you're forcing them at Christmas? Get this: water them with a solution of one part windshield-wiper fluid to seven parts water.

Presidential Flowers in Lime and Purple

With a new florist in the White House, the industry is trying to be a fly on the wall. And for tonight's state affair--November 24,2009--"The linens will be apple green and will contrast with the deep purple floral arrangements. The flowers will be garden roses, sweet peas in deep plum, purple and fuschia, and hydrangeas" according to this link. We're so pleased that our colour preferences are on the edge as our logo and brand colors are lime and purple.

Flowers Top Thank You Gifts

Choosing flowers as a thank you gift will put you among those who are viewed to be "Successful, caring and emotionally intelligent" according to Rutgers University research. Psychologist, Jeanette Haviland-Jones, PhD, said the findings show flowers have evolved to activate positive responses from people and that each bloom has the potential to put a smile on our faces.

According to M.J. Ryan, author Random Acts of Kindness and Attitudes of Gratitude and her most recent, Adaptability, "the exchange of gifts widens our network of friends and builds stronger interpersonal connections, which we inherently desire, particularly in times of stress and uncertainty....When it comes to expressing gratitude, she believes flowers are one of the most meaningful gifts to share with important people in your life when simply saying 'thank you' isn't enough. "There is something special about giving a gift of beauty that shows truly how much you care," says Ryan. "Flowers are attractive, cheerful and are visibly displayed as a constant reminder of your appreciation."

Design Experts at Toronto Floral Show

The Toronto Congress Center is the site for floral demonstrations by expert industry professionals, October 20 - 21. Their website says to be "intrigued and amazed as you watch spectacular floral creations emerge...." In addition to presentations by Master Florists, also discover how you can create and deliver arrangements using fair trade containers and reusable or compostable cellophane. Tickets are$35 dollars for non-members and $25 for students who register by October 5th. Tickets are $50 foranyone registering at the door on Tuesday, October 20th.

Canadian Academy of Floral Art Hosts Gala

The Canadian Academy of Floral Art is holding an inaugral gala event,For the Love of the Bloom in Ottawa October 17, 2009. To be held at the Canada Governement Conference Centre , the event celebrates Haute Floral Couture in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

The master floral artists from the Canadian Academy of Floral Art have prepared a floral fashion show.

Begonias in Brussels

Every two years since 1971, the square is covered with some 700,000 begonias put into place by 100 volunteers to create the design of a floral architect.

Vancouver to Host Rose Festival

The World Rose Festival,is being hosted by Vancouver June 19 to 21, 2009 with some 15,000 flower enthusiasts expected from throughout the world.Following the event at the Convention Center, the World Rose Convention will be held at the Bayshore, June 18-24,2009, bringing together some 800 rosarians from 40 countries.

In the Heart of a Flower, Everything

Pure poetry is this Vancouver educator's interaction with flowers and the sensuousness of the experience. Was pleased to find this site.

"The Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh (1995), calls our interconnectedness with all things "interbeing" (tiep hien). He writes:

"When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. Without time, the flower could not bloom. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence. It "inter-is" with everything else in the universe. (p. 11)"

Singapore Orchids on Coins

Singapore's Vanda Mimi Palmer and Dendrobium Singa Mas orchids will grace the face of a new $5 coin in June 2007.

These exotic flowers are serious business in Singapore as the island supplies 15% of the world's market for cut orchids "valued at $19.7 million in 2005." The white orchids on tables at Charles and Diana’s 1981 wedding banquet were donated by the Singapore government. With ever-mounting competition from India, Thailand, and China, Singapore's orchid growers circled the wagons and formed a business cluster in May 2003. Their goals were to spot threats to their market position, improve sales, investigate expansion overseas, and develop new "products." The PR team seems to have been doing a crack job: in 2011 Singapore will host the World Orchid Conference for a second time.

APEC is Flower-Strewn Event

When world leaders gathered in Vietnam over the weekend, November 17-19th, workers had already installed thousands of plastic flowers in roadside displays. Apparently the Hanoi Public Works Department spent some US $400,000 to brighten the streets for the event.

New Orchid Found in New Guinea

With over 3,000 orchid species in New Guinea--the most species of any country--finding a new one still causes quite a stir.

The World Wildlife Federation(WWF)found the orchid and seven other new species from some 300 collected during three expeditions.Some 20 more are still awaiting verification as new varieties.

"The island of New Guinea is an incredible gold mine of orchids," Wayne Harris, a WWF researcher and botanist with Australia's Queensland Herbarium said.

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