Flowers Blog

A phalaenopsis orchid developed in Taiwan won the prize at the international flower show in the Netherlands last months, giving its growers the confidence they needed to expand the cut flower market in Japan, according to the flower company executive.

Vice general manager of the Taipei-based Royal Base Corp., Lin Hou-Chih, who took part in developing the flower, the flower had a quality which was named "Join Angel" was what helped it win the prize. The "Horti Fair 2008" took place in Amsterdam and the flower won first prize in the category of phalaenopsis cut flower.

Flowers from this company also won second and third prize as well, in this category.

Lin says, the awards these flowers have won will help expand the companies market shares, especially in Japan for white cut flowers. They will be selling these flowers for funerals as the traditional mourning colour of Japan is white.

[Via: Taiwan News]

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]

Winter is here and daisies have faded away. But for flower lovers there is a new mobile phone out on the market that can help you keep flowers in your pocket all year round.

Sony Ericsson has a new phone out on the market, the T303 Daisy Edition which has been created especially for T-mobile. Though this is a newer version of an already existing phone, it has stylish design on the back, with daisies. There is a pendant and a black bag sold with the phone, all featuring daisies. In the UK it is already on sale in stores.

This phone does not have all that many features, and there was not too much hype about it when it was announced in March 2008. Other than its flower design what makes it special is that it is extremely lightweight (only 93 grams) and just generally small.

The daisy design was added to this phone in order to get people interested, but the daisies on the back make for an eye-catching feature. This is an excellent Christmas gift for those who love simple good-looking phones, and especially for those who love flowers.

[Via: SEMC blog]

Though Nikki Tibbles is a florist, her London home is not hot-pink and drowning in flowers as would be expected. Her back garden is rather bare, with flowers missing from the picture.

There actually isn't a single flower in her home or around it, and she has lived there for 18 years. She is known for creating bouquets of velvety roses, peonies and hydrangeas. She only has loads of empty vases in their place.

Tibbles, the owner of Wild at Heart flower shop in London laughs about this and says, "It is a bit bizarre, I suppose, but I'm surrounded by them at work. And I'd want them to be perfect if I had them here, not just to throw something into a vase."

As a child, the now 50-year-old woman, was told that she was flighty, often reducing her to tears. But now she says he was right, "My concentration span is very limited, which is why flowers are perfect for me - you do them, they die, then you do them again. That's how it is with my house; I find new things and change it. I like the creativity of it all. Arranging flowers and rearranging my house is how I express who I am."

She has opened three shops in London and so her life is fairly busy at the moment, so she does not have much to revamp her house. Her flower arrangements are high end, and she has some of the best trained florists in the city working for her. Some of the bills for her flower arrangements add up to £350,000, so she is never worried about running out of money for her creative endeavors.

[Via: TimesOnline]

The Dutch amaryllis is one of the most spectacular flowers that can be grown indoors. It usually grows to a height of about two feet, with a bright green leaves. The bloom of this flower is trumpet-shaped, grows to six-inches, and grows in brilliantly coloured clusters. This flower also grows twice in a season, and is usually found in tropical places — hence, December is its natural growing season.

Amaryllis comes in pink, white, salmon, striped red on white. There is also a variety called "Red Lion" that has a deep, rich, velvet red, which is a classic for the holiday season. "Vera" has a warm salmon-pink colour with a white base. "Apple blossom" is a white flower with a pink blush, "Minerva" is red with a star in its center, and the pure white variety is called "White Christmas."

The Dutch Amaryllis bloom from December to April, and the best time to plant them is between November and February. This Amaryllis grows best in soil. They often come with planting kits. The top of this plant often becomes heavy, so if you plant it in a light plastic pot then you will most-likely have to move it to a heavier pot. Once the flowers have bloomed, the remains of the Amaryllis can be treated like a house plant, and it will grow for many years.

[Via: The Willits News]