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It’s time for a rant now! I’m fed up seeing Chrysanthemums being abused by flower arrangers. They are used as fillers in bouquets and then arrangements or they are horrifically misused, tightly packed together in ‘pictures’ or to spell out words.
I was reminded of this misuse today when walking past queued traffic and specifically a hearse which had a tribute spelling out ‘DAD’ in chrysanthemums. As a tribute, they might as well have painted the words on a piece of card for all you could tell they were flowers and backing up the disaster was a 3D rabbit-like creature made out of pink and white chrysanthemums tightly packed together around a frame.
Chrysanthemums can be such beautiful flowers and make stunning displays without resorting to dyeing them and packing them into such arrangements. My father used to grow specimen chrysanthemums in a range of colours picking them in early winter or at Christmas and the arrangements my mother did with the feathery ball shape flowers were stunning.
So, look at these pictures now of specimen chrysanthemums and show their true beauty and usefulness to the world! In season, these beautiful flowers are available from Cosmea Gardens.
  
 
Thought I was in trouble today! My wife was in hospital for a small operation and I dropped her off at the hospital but then couldn’t stay as I had agreed to fit a new kitchen in my parents’ home and I’d left them with no water and no cooking facilities. So I asked Cathy’s mum to wait for her and bring her home. The warning signs came from her mum when she asked me if I was going to collect her. Suddenly I got the message and dropped what I was doing to go and collect Cathy. On the way I thought about how I could repair any damage and of course the best way is flowers. Now here comes the million euro question….. How much do you spend? You could spend the same large amount each time but I think that you should match the cost to the occasion. If you spend the same amount each time then there’s no specialness in each occasion. So when it’s just a weekly ‘I love you’ then go for small but vary the bouquet each week. When it’s birthdays or other occasions then spend a bit more and avoid the everyday bouquets. When you’re in trouble weigh up the cost with how much damage there is to limit.
I learnt long ago that women pick up the messages that flowers give, not just the type of flower but how much it costs.
Have you ever been in the situation where a woman in a shop comments on the flowers you’ve bought by saying ‘What have you done wrong?’ This is a key indicator that women realise the value and reasons behind the gifts of flowers. Choose wisely and spend wisely! And if you can’t decide what to get or how much to spend ask the people in the know at Cosmea Gardens.
 From my youth I can remember my mother loving the deep blue Agapanthus lilies that used to grow in the hotel grounds where my uncle and grandfather worked. When the hotel closed down the site was due to be levelled and a leisure centre built there. My uncle asked the builder if he could take a clump of the lilies for my mother to grow and they soon flourished in our garden.
They are also known as the Lily of the Nile although they are not known to grow that far north in Africa.
The colours range from bright blue to purple to white and can be sturdy or delicate. The plants are easy to grow in Cyprus and the UK and can be propagated from bulbs and from seed. My recommendation for using them in an arrangement is to pair them with deep red alliums and use a mix of white and blue or white and purple set off with bear grass or phormium leaves. Stunning, yet simple. Agapanthus and Allium can be obtained from florists or nurseries such as Cosmea Gardens. Next time you’re there, check the flowers out for yourself!
I hope you all missed me! I went on a trip last week with some children from school and it meant that all week I didn’t have access to a computer.
What I did have access to was the most wonderful plant experience I’ve ever encountered. We took the children to the Eden Project in Cornwall UK and explored everything to do with plants.
We saw the world’s largest flower, the world’s most repulsively perfumed flower and some really unusual flowers that caught the eye with the way they didn’t seem to follow the way flowers normally look. All in all a great experience.
Anyway, now I’m back and I wanted to tell you that if you’re ever in Cornwall then the Eden Project is a must see. We all do flower arranging and think we know lots about them but what struck me most was when I could see them growing in a replication of their natural surroundings. From time to time I like to tell you a little about flowers you might use in arrangements and hopefully it will help you to understand the flowers a little more. The first one I’ll tell you about in my next post is Agapanthus.
It’s only eight weeks until I make the move I’ve wanted for the last twenty years or more. I’m moving to Cyprus!! I can remember being on holiday with my parents at 18 years old and enquiring at a bank in Ayia Napa if I could borrow to buy an apartment. It’s taken this long but I’ve got there.
Over the years I’ve gained and kept many friends on the island and I’m really looking forward to spending more time with them. I’d like them to become like an old cardigan, well used but loved, rather than the clothes I find in the bottom of the drawer and had forgotten about. My wife is having to stay in the UK to begin with to finish her work contract so I’m expecting to have to spend out a lot on flowers to tell her just how much she means to me. I’n not looking forward to the day of departure because I will miss her so much. I think my first job on getting to Cyprus will be to order flowers for her as it’ll be her birthday six days after I leave. I really need a quality florist with trustworthy partners in the UK so I’ll be choosing Cosmea Gardens to tell her how much she means to me. If you’re going to be parted from a loved one soon, I do sympathise but make them feel better with a delivered arrangement. It may not replace time you spend together but at least it shows they’re in your thoughts.
Hot weather’s arrived in the UK and in Cyprus and my arrangements are suffering here in the UK. It’s fine doing an arrangement and making it look stunning, placing it in the perfect position but it’s disheartening seeing your hard work wilting within a day of its creation.
So what can you do about it?
- Use the freshest flowers, anything else and they’ll be dying before you begin. Buy them from a good florist such as Cosmea Gardens.
- Think about where you’re going to display the flowers, a cool room out of direct sunlight.
- Change the water regularly to keep it cool
- Mist the arragement regularly to reduce moisture loss through the petals and leaves.
Follow these simple rules and you’ll enjoy your beautiful arrangement for much longer.
 Well we did do Mother’s Day so it’s only fair dads get a look in too!
Though mum may not agree, our fathers have played a priceless part in our growing up too. Whilst mum’s been there to dab the tears and kiss it better, dad’s been there with the stoic advice and protection.
So, do men want flowers or has it always got to be chocolates, wine or something for the car? Contrary to gender stereotyping, a recent survey indicated that 70% of men say they’d like to receive flowers and I’d count myself amongst that 70%. The trick is to go for bold, manly colours such as reds, yellows and oranges, backed up by strong dark green foliage and presented in a modern or contemporary design.
I’m going to try it out on my dad this Father’s Day and I think he’ll be chuffed to receive them. Go on, do something different this Father’s Day and surprise him with flowers from Cosmea Gardens!
 OK, whilst I can give you tips and ideas on what to do, there’s nothing like the real thing and I was reminded of that this week when a friend invited me to the flower arranging club she runs at our local church. She’s been arranging flowers as an amateur for years and has become a bit of an expert in my mind. She went through arranging stocks and cinerarias to make a ‘cottage garden’ arrangement which she augmented with some warm antirrhinums to balance out the coolness of the stocks. The final arrangement was beautiful and fragrant and really looked at home in her thatched house on the edge of the New Forest. I watched her friends try to emulate her and was pleasantly surprised at their efforts. Just goes to show that with someone to guide you, anyone can produce an, at the very least, satisfactory arrangement. Now I was thinking, whilst there may not be many flower arranging classes near you, why not start up a group, a little like the ‘sell at home parties’. Buy in enough flowers for everyone to take part, invite your friends and over a glass or two of wine, arrange together. You’ll have something beautiful to take home at the end of the evening of fun and friendship. You can buy your flowers in bulk at Cosmea Gardens where the staff will be pleased to order all you need. Happy Arranging!!
Rarely a day passes when I don’t see a use of a flower as a gesture of thanks, kindness, love or consolation and many of these pass me by in the great scheme of things. However today I was privy as an observer in the right places at the right times to see just what the gift of a simple flower can do.
I got into work at 6.45 this morning and the cleaners were still hard at work. As I came back downstairs from my classroom I noticed an empty vase at the top of the stairs. Thinking it was destined for the vase box under the staffroom sink I took it down. Minutes later the cleaner called in at the staffroom and asked if I’d seen the vase. After explaining my actions he called me back upstairs with him. There on the table in the music teacher’s room was a single wild gladiolus stem. He’d found it, damaged, as he cycled into school. Carefully he filled the vase with water, placed the stem in the vase and carried it to the piano practice room, placing it on the windowsill. An hour later I was in my room next to the practice room when I heard the music teacher’s voice call out ‘How beautiful!’ She asked me if I knew how it had got there so I explained the story. Shortly after, I watched as they crossed on the stairs. She was so grateful for this tiniest of gifts and he was mildly embarrassed that his small thought had caused such a reaction. Later in the staffroom, after the cleaner had left, she was still enthusing about her gift and saying what a wonderfully kind and thoughtful man he was. I smiled as I considered how a gift that cost nothing but thought and a little time, could have such a wonderful effect. Why not find a flower of your own, perhaps buy a single stem from Cosmea Gardens think carefully about what you can do with it and cause a little ripple of happiness in someone else’s life.
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