To Share Our Passion and Commitment for the Education and Designing of Fresh Flowers.
 A broken stem of blooms left outside in 22-degree temperatures!! It is very important to keep fresh flowers from extreme freezing temperatures. When processing flowers for Christmas arrangements this week, I put the flowers outside with the temperature around 40 degrees. This was the temperature of our coolers in the shop. I cut the stems of flowers underwater with warm water. I then allow them to drink in a warm place for about 24 hours. After 24 hours, I place them in an area with temperatures around 40 degrees. This stem of alstroemeria broke just below the blooms and fell to the ground. The next morning, I found them covered with ice. Many people do not realize how often flowers encounter ice. Lots do not see the effect of ice on floral blooms. Flowers are delivered in refrigerated containers. The delivery may be by trucks or airplanes. I have seen flowers being delivered from areas where the refrigeration malfunctioned. While often the cargo will get hot there is also the occasion when the cargo will freeze. When the flowers begin to thaw, it may take days for the effects to become visible.  Flowers that have been properly processed and conditioned can last over a week before beginning to wilt. But flowers that have been frozen, not only will wilt but also lose all coloring and turn brown quickly. This example of the broken stem of alstroemeria took 2 days to turn brown!
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 Green florist foil can change the look of a poinsettia plant! Wrapping a pot with Florist’s foil is really very quick. This is a special decorative foil fused with plastic. This makes the foil waterproof and adds strength. It can be completed in basically six steps. First step, measure the amount of foil needed. I do this is placing the pot in the center of the foil, holding the foil up to cover the pot and bottom of the plant. I usually place the end of the foil halfway between the top of the pot and the top of the plant. Foil on larger pots just need to cover the pot and bottom of the plant. Second step, cut and turn the edges of the foil. This gives control and clean edges to the foil. I wrap a pot by pleating the foil. To me, this gives a finished look to the plant. I begin at the front of the pot. I also pull the pot slightly toward the front of the foil, so the back pleats are taller than the front pleats. Take the foil to the center of the pot and fold over the edge of the pot. Place the pointed edge of the foil to the right side of the pot. Make a pleat by folding the foil. Complete the pleats all the way around pot.
Finally, finish wrapping the plant by adding a stream of ribbon around the pot and tie a knot in the ribbon at the top of the pot. Trim the streamers close to the knot. Add a premade bow to a 6” wood pick. Wrap with floral wrap tape. Place the wood pick in the soil of the plant, between the knot and the rim of the pot. Fluff the bow and the pleats.  Trimmings from the Christmas tree can be used to create a table centerpiece. When our children were in elementary school, I fixed the same arrangements for all their teachers. Christmas tree trimmings can be saved and cut up to be used for small centerpieces for gifts. Simple bowls, such as cereal bowls, are excellent containers for these centerpieces.  It is amazing to me the amount of greenery I can get from just a few Christmas Tree branches! The trick is to cut the limbs into smaller pieces. Look at each branch. Look for the thickest stem of the branch. Look for small clusters of limbs. Cut close to the thick stem of the branch to create these clusters.  As I cut each piece of greenery, I cut it at an angle. Cutting a stem on an angle gives a finished look. Remember, make the cuts close to the thick stem or at the base of clusters. I use a rose stripper to remove the needles and bark from the base of each cutting. This allows the greenery to drink water and simpler to place the stem into wet floral foam.
I make a bow effect in the arrangement by placing loops of ribbon throughout the arrangement. Place the loops on wood picks and secure with floral wrap tape. Place the picks in the floral foam. Add streamers to wood picks and place at the ends of the tray. I used miniature carnations as the focal flowers for this arrangement. I used Snowflake Pom-poms as the filler flowers. Place these blooms lower than the miniature carnations. Remember to place the blooms at various heights, with no blooms touching each other. Be sure to place blooms of the pom-poms close to the floral foam. This gives the arrangement depth.  These are bricks of dry and wet foam. In the shop, we used floral foam. The light green foam is dry foam. This is a harder brick and is used for artificial and dried flowers. The darker brick is wet foam. When I was learning floral design over 50 years ago, nearly 85% of fresh flower arrangements were created using wet floral foam. We bought the wet foam by the case. Each case held 48 bricks. I could pick up the box with two fingers when the bricks were dry. Dad warned us - “You can pick that up with two fingers, dry, but you get that box totally wet, and a forklift can’t lift it!”. We did not try that experiment. Wet foam was a by-product from another industry in the early 1900’s. The wet floral foam, the spongy phenolic foam used for real flower arranging was developed by V.L. Smithers. It soaks up water like a sponge and acts both as a preservative to prolong the life of the flowers and a support to hold them in place. The foam's structure is similar to that of plants and has capillary action to move water to the surface and up the stem. But environmentalists are calling for wet foam to be banned. It is non-biodegradable. Wet foam does not dissolve, it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. A 2019 study showed that floral foam harms aquatic organisms. Wet foam has been called magical, remarkable and a great product of convenience. It can be cut and molded to desired shapes. It can hold up to 50 times its weight in water. Wet foam holds a flower stem in a stable position and allows water to be carried through the stem. Plus, it is inexpensive.
 Celebrate the Holiday Season with the aromas of Christmas Trees!! As fresh Christmas trees are becoming available for the season, look for the trimmings that are removed from the base of the tree at the tree lot. At the tree lot, there should be numerous varieties of trees available. Look for branches of different sizes. Look for long branches as well as the short branches. Be bold and mix the different types.  It is amazing to me the amount of greenery I can get from just a few Christmas Tree branches! The trick is to cut the limbs into smaller pieces. Look at each branch. Look for the thickest stem of the branch. Look for small clusters of limbs. Cut close to the thick stem of the branch to create these clusters.  As I cut each piece of greenery, I cut it at an angle. Cutting a stem on an angle gives a finished look. Remember, make the cuts close to the thick stem or at the base of clusters. I use a rose stripper to remove the needles and bark from the base of each cutting. This allows the greenery to drink water and simpler to place the stem into wet floral foam. I use floral foam for arrangements. This allows a lot of water to remain in the container. It also firmly stabilizes the stems of the arrangement.
I keep Christmas greenery throughout the Holidays. Not only does it add a festive touch, but the aroma also just lifts my spirits. The aromas are released when the branches and needles are changed. Sometimes all you have to do to refresh the aroma is to pinch the end of a branch of the Christmas greenery! Enjoy! |
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