Flowers Blog

When you think of flowers, winter does not really come to mind. However, the Phipps' Winter Flower Show is trying to change this.

When it is cold and dark outside, people really need the sight of beautiful and cheery flowers. The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden is offering a warm atmosphere for admiring these works of nature. The Winter Flower Show, opened today is full of Christmas cheer, the trees are decorated, there are multi-coloured poinsettias, thousands of bright lights and even Santa comes to visit.

Michele Frey McCann, Phipps' exhibit manager and designer says, "I think this time of year, you need a break from a lot of the activities that are going on. Bring your family and friends to enjoy the flowers."

[Via: Pittsburgh Tribune Review]

The first holiday flower to come to mind is usually the Poinsetta, it is the best-selling holiday plant, but there are some other winter-blooming flowers that you can use as an alternative.

Amaryllis is a bulbous plant that has one flower on a single stem and it looks a lot like the lily. There are many different sizes and colours to choose from. They make a wonderful holiday bouquet, and they last for a long time with little maintenance.

Christmas cactus loves sun and makes a good plant when it is not flowering. This flower also requires minimal care. The blooms of this cactus are pink, violet, red and white, and they look great in hanging baskets or containers.

Christmas topiaries are usually used as tabletop displays, they usually include English ivy, rosemary, juniper and a mini conifers. The conifers are trimmed into holiday shapes, reindeer, ornamental balls and Christmas trees. They are then draped with ribbons and Christmas lights.

[Via: IndyStar.com]

Many have given up on the hope of seeing colour in the winter landscape. However, camellias are now blooming and they have beautiful blossoms to offer in pink, red and white.

Camellia starts to bloom in October. Hybrids are also available, they are usually single flowered and not recommended as cut flowers, because they shatter if they are handled too much. They can be placed on sunny patios or in windows.

There is a japonica variety that blooms later after the first blooms begin to fade. The blooms of this variety are latge and they have single and double flowers. Gardeners will either float them in water or use them in arrangements.

Now is the time to pick out your camellias, giving you the chance to find exactly the right kind and colour.

[Via: OrlandoSentinel.com]

The holidays are coming up and you are probably going to have a lot of guests around. There are a couple of things you can do to add colour to your home to make it more inviting.

Pansies are the first on the list. They are small plants but unstoppable bloomers. There are two kinds of blooms: clear-faced and monkey-faced. Clear-faced pansies have petals that are only one colour, while monkey-faced pansies have a black interior surrounded by colored petals. Both types come in a huge selection of colour. Pansies are excellent as container plants — they just need to be kept in a place that gets lots of sun.

Johnny jump-ups and violas are another great option, and they are closely related to the pansy. They can be grown just like pansies, they just have smaller flowers.

If you want to add deeper shades to your home, then primulas and cyclamen are the best option for you. They have intensely coloured flowers in red, blue, white, pink, yellow, and bi-coloured bloom. Plus, they do not need as much sunlight as pansies.

[Via: my SA life]

Most gardeners would not believe their ears if they were told that there as sunny yellow flower that is easy to grow and blooms all winter long. Well if you have a conservatory, light porch or spacious window, the Abutilon or the "Canary Bird" is the flower of your dreams.

Abutilons are very rewarding as conservatory plants as they flower constantly. The name of the "Canary Bird" is obviously from its bright yellow colour, that we all associate with the little birds.

This flower was first bread in 1980 during the Victorian era along with other hybrids from Central and South America. In their native landscape they grow as shrubs on the edges of forests.

Victorian gardeners were experimented with their flower avidly — if it were not for their breeding techniques many flowers would have died out. Flowers from this era are known for their toughness, longevity and overall quality. Proof of this fact is that the "Canary Bird" won the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

[Via: Telegraph.co.uk]