Flowers Blog

All too often gardens are left to slumber through the cold winter months, but it is not necessary to put your garden to bed after the last flowers have faded away. This is the time to start looking at ways to keep your garden colourful even through the dark days of winter.

• Edgeworthia chrysantha is great flower to try; it flowers for quite a long time during the winter and into spring. The bare branches of this plant hold pale yellow blooms and they have silky hairs that give off a wonderful fragrance. It is important to position them correctly. They need a sheltered place — a warm wall is a good place to try planting them.
• The Sarcococca confusa is another great winter option, it is otherwise known as the Christmas box. This flower grows in sun or shade and is beautiful throughout the year.
• The Chimonanthus praecox enjoys winter the most; it blushes with fragrant crimson and yellow flowers. However, once the blooming period is over it can be rather dull.

These flowers will appreciate the shelter of a wall and if they are closer to your home you can admire them more closely.

[Via: Telegraph.co.uk]

According to flower marketing network Mavuno Group, the next fad to hit the UK is scented flowers.

Mavuno is one large company made up of many smaller companies like Bloom BV, which supplies customers with ready-cut flowers from Kenya and sells them in Europe.

Bloom representative Tom Vermeer says, "Scented flowers are making a comeback in the marketplace. In the past, a scented rose has meant that other attributes tend to fall down, like size and colour, but we have found that this does not apply to our new variety. World Flowers will be looking to supply its customers with some more scented flowers soon."

Supply chain director Tom Willings from World Flowers went on to say, "Innovation is high on our list of demands. We are at the forefront, as most of the early trials on roses and carnations were carried out on our farms in Africa. Supermarkets always want the same thing and that is value. They want the right product from the right place at the right time of year."

[Via: freshinfo.com]

When Barbara Gibson first moved to Bradford Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clinton, she really missed her garden at her home in District Heights. But ever since Britni Hodges, a senior highschool student at Bishop McNamara High planted a new garden on her patio she misses her old home a little less.

Britni planted the garden with the help of local businesses, "I like plants. I like being around plants," she says.

Britni is 17-years-old and she has been volunteering at the retirement home since she started highschool. Her volunteer work started as a part of her school's requirement. She first started working on the garden in 2005, which includes two statues and flowers.

But residents of the home say that Britni's service was not only part of letting her graduate.

She says, "If I could make at least one person smile by the end of the day, I was happy. You could say the residents have become like family."

[Via: Gazette.net]

Walking through the parks of London is great at this time of year. The Woodland Trust shop has put out a pocket-size reference book to help nature-lovers identify the trees and flowers of British parks.

The Leaf Identification Swatch Book helps identify leaves and twigs from about 32 species of trees in the UK. A photo of these leaves and twigs includes a description of the tree or shrub on the reverse side. Interesting facts and where it is likely to be found are also included.

The Wild Flower Identification Swatch book is the most interesting for flower lovers. There are photos close-up of 28 flowers found in the woodlands of the UK. Many species can be found, anywhere from the common bluebell and snowdrop to rarities like greater stitchwort, bugle and yellow archangel.

As an aid to identifying the flowers, they are grouped according to the time of year in which they bloom. Information is also included on the reverse side of the photos, like where it can be found and when it is in bloom.

These pocket books are only about a 6 inches in diameter which makes them really handy for carrying around.

[Via: about.com]

Veterans that have served in wars or have become disabled as a result of their service are hoping that people will reach out to them this November to say, "thank you for your support."

For nearly nine decades now veterans have collected poppies in their hospital beds, and distribute them during a month that is set aside to remember soldiers.

According to Jim Mitchell of the Sandy Post, by assembling the poppies veterans have something to do to pass the time spent in hospital beds.

"Disabled and needy veterans make the poppies. They are paid for their time. These are people that are typically in veterans hospitals on a long term basis," says Mitchell.

[Via: Sandy Post]