Fresh Flower Care ~ Freesia

This is one of our favorite flowers to have around for the spring!  Freesia is one of the most fragrant and widely grown flower in the world.  Here are some facts and care tips about Freesia.

~ Freesia is native to South Africa, mainly found around the Cape province.  It takes it's name from a German physician Friedrich Freese, he was a student of South African plants.  

~ They are a member of the Iridaceae family.  Most of the hybrids are close relatives to: Watsonia, Iris, Gladiolus, Crocus, and Ixia.

~ Today over 300 hybrids of Freesia are grown.  The majority of those are greenhouse cultivated.

~ They are grown from corms - bulb like structures that look a lot like small onions.

~ The slender stems are home to six or seven trumpet shaped florets that bloom in a row on a "comb". 

~ The single and double flowered cultivars are mostly seen in, white, cream, pink, red, orange, yellow, bronze, violet, lavender, mauve, and bicolor.

~ Freesia is available year around.  The best supplies are from March to May and again from October to December.

~ The best time to purchase Freesia is when the first floret on each stem has started to open and at least a few others show color.  More florets will open but it is very rare to see all of them open.  

~ Avoid buying any that are brown or shriveled.  This is the sign that they are on the way out of this world.

~ Place your Freesia arrangements in cool locations out of direct sunlight and away from air vents.  Add warm preservative water daily or as needed to prolong vase life.  Re-cut stems at an angle and under water every few days.  Put Freesia in the coldest room of the house at night.  Mist them daily with cool water for longer enjoyment.

This is our first "Facts & Care" segment and we hope you learned something new today.  We are going to share our knowledge about fresh, potted, and silk plants with you.  Please let us know what plants or flowers you would like to learn about.  We love to hear from you.  You can post here or go to our facebook page and leave us a message by clicking here. 

Thanks for stopping in today and we hope to see you again soon!


For more fresh flower care visit our Care & Handling Blog.

Happy Valentine's Day

Well our busiest season came to a close today.  I will be sad to see the hustle and bustle go!  It was a fun and frantic time and we enjoyed every minute of it.  The store looks a bit empty and the cooler is waiting to be filled in the morning.  Customers were shopping up until 2'oclock today and it was such a treat to help those last minute shoppers!  If I had it to do over again... I would!  I am already thinking and planning in my head for next year.... getting it all written down.  Now it's time for SPRING!!  This is my all time favorite season.  Fall is nice with the changing of the colors but it does not hold a candle to spring!


Spring is trees budding, flowers blooming, birds chirping, Easter, Mother's Day, planting in the flower beds, and soooo much more.  It is a time for new growth, rebirths, and new beginnings.  That is what I have decided this spring will be at the store.  A little bit of all of that.  We are already looking for new merchandise and have some new items arriving now.  We are going to make up fresh silk wreaths and arrangements to go on eBay for all the world to see.  The colors and the flowers this season will just bring that little store to life.  I am looking forward to all of that and more.  The ladies at the shop are so creative, I can't wait to see what they come up with for the spring season.  As a new owner each day is an adventure and I am loving the ride! 

Forever Young ~ how to keep and care for your roses

 

Forever Young

The brand of red rose we have in our shop is called Forever Young.  After many years in the floral business, our designers have found this red rose to be one of the most beautiful and longest lasting of the roses.

Petal Number: About 75

Color: Red

Vase Life- 7 - 15 days.

Wow that is a lot of days!  Now remember some of those days may be in the cooler at the local flower shop.  We have had customers report that the roses they received lasted a little over 2 weeks.  So how do you get your rose to do that?  Good question, here are some tips.

1. Always keep your roses out of direct sunlight, heat, and cold drafts.  Sitting your vase of flowers on your TV or stereo is not a good idea.  The heat that is put out will actually heat the water and damage your flowers.  Also direct sunlight can also effect the life of your rose.   Watch out for those pesky winter drafts as well, they can chill your roses and shorten the life of your flower.

2.  Roses love to drink so make sure that they have plenty of clean fresh water.  If your florist provided flower food with the roses follow the directions on the package.  Most florists and even super markets sell flower food by packets that you can add to your vase to make your roses last days longer then water alone. 

3. It is best to re-cut your roses every other day.  As a florist we realize this may not always be the case so this is what we do suggest.  When you re-cut your roses do so in warm water.  Keep the stems under water and cut at a 45 degree angle.  This way when you place the rose back in the vase it has a nice wide mouth to drink in the fresh water.  Remove all leaves that will sit under the water level, these green leaves can bread bacteria in your water.  Rinse and clean your vase with a mild detergent and fill with tepid water (room temperature) and your flower food.  

If you follow these steps the roses you receive this Valentine's Day will provide you with days and days of enjoyment.  

For more on fresh flower care visit us here.

Too Good To Be True Part 2

Hello again.  I am sorry for the delay in the posts it has been a good kind of crazy around our little shop! 


When we last left off I had promised to tell you how to spot a true local florist when searching for one online.  Well here are a couple of good ways to do just that!


Why do you want local?  Well that is an easy one.  When you call an order taker they will ask you when you would like it delivered, who it is going to, how much you would like to spend, and what you want on the card.  They will then get your payment info and thank you for the order.  Next they will take a percent of the total amount given to them as a fee and call a local florist to fill your order.  Now that florist must deduct labor, delivery, and the cost of the container from the amount given to them by the order taker.  What does this mean to you?  If you allowed 60.00 for your floral arrangement by the time it arrives at the door you will be lucky to receive 30.00 worth of flowers.  If you want to learn all about the way this works visit one of our favorite sites: Florist Detectives.  This is one of the best places we have found to learn about scams, drop shippers, and how to get the most for your floral dollar.


Here are some tips on finding a local florist:

• When you search online for a florist always look for a street address on the website.  Most of the 1-800 order taking sites will just have a toll free number to call and you will not be able to find a physical address on the website.   
• The next thing you can do is call the phone number and ask for directions to the shop.  If they can not give you the directions then they are not an actual florist.   
• Also the top 3 or 4 ads on google or yahoo are just that, paid ads.  People pay more for those locations and we have found this is normally where you will find the majority of the order taking services.  

We know that not everyone will order from us this holiday but we do ask that you keep your floral dollars local and help the florists in your area.  We help the community in many ways, providing jobs, buying from our suppliers, and giving donations to local charities.  We hope that you will support your local florist.


Thanks for your time!  We will talk again soon!

Valentine's Day 2010 Pre-View

Every year the designers at The Secret Garden come up with a handful of Unique designs for our customers!  We are unveiling those designs to you today.  We hope you enjoy our sampling!  Remember Valentine's Day is on Sunday this year so you will want to surprise your love at work on Friday!  Don't delay call us today!  875-9038

Too Good to be True?

This Valentine's Day don't be fooled by the "too good to be true" ads on the radio and TV.  Promises of a dozen roses for less then the cost of a pizza, are tempting, but don't always live up to what you expect.  When you order flowers you picture a perfect arrangement all done up with greens, maybe a little baby's breath, possibly a bow, and of course the flowers you love.  A lot of the 1-800 numbers who are giving those low rates will either A.) deliver your flowers in a box or B.) Take a cut of your flower money and pass your order off onto a florist to fill.


Now box flowers are not all bad.  If the love of your life LOVES to arrange flowers and has dreamed of working in a flower store all her life but never had a chance..... boxed flowers may just be the way to go.


But if the love of your life does not know a daisy from a button mum then this may not be the best way to go.  Flowers ordered from a local florist are all hand arranged by people who love flowers and are lucky enough to work in a flower shop.  They know the right amounts of not only flowers and greens but flower food and water.


That brings me to the containers... what kind of vases do you have laying around for a rainy day?  Do you have a vase big enough to hold 2 dozen roses???  A florist will make sure that the vase your flowers come in are arranged so that they are not to crowded and not flopping around wildly.


Okay so she loves to arrange flowers and she has all sizes of vases and containers just waiting for the boxed flowers to arrive.  So here comes the delivery van down the road, that's perfect just in time for the big day, and there is the little delivery man with the box of flowers.  What's this?  Nobody home?  Oh well here are your flowers, as the little delivery man lays the box by the door.  No problem right?  WRONG.  Most of these flowers are without a water supply.  What happens to flowers when they are thirsty class?  If you said they wilt you would be correct.  Better yet our coolers are kept at a nice temperature that helps keep our flowers healthy and happy.  What is the temp in say New York today?  If it's colder then 40 degrees then those flowers are in for a long day.  If it's colder then 30 degrees then say goodbye to those pretty blooms because once they freeze they are gone for good.  What about Arizona?  How about some nice dessert heat for those roses?  No water and hot temps are not a good combination for the heartiest of flowers.  


We will discuss Brokers and Order Taking florists in our next blog.   Be on the look out!  It will have some good information.  But first here is a great commercial about those box flowers.  This one Teleflora ran last Mother's Day.  We are also a big fan of the Christmas one if you have time to surf You Tube later.  Watch for their latest ad during the Super Bowl this year.

The race is on!!!

Hello!  Well here we are in the final 35 days before Valentine's Day.  We are busy ordering, designing, and of course thinking of the perfect way for you to say I Love You this Valentine's Day.  This is a very busy time of year for the floral industry and we LOVE every minute of it!  The expressions of joy that we get to see on our deliveries make it all worth it.  This year Valentine's Day is on a Sunday so we thought we would give some ideas on how to surprise that special someone.


For Her~
~ A great idea is to have a bouquet of flowers delivered to her early in the week before Valentine's Day.  This way she can display them on her desk for all to see.  Your card can say something like : "I just could not wait till Valentine's Day to say how much I love you."


~A special breakfast in bed on Valentine's.  Stop in and get her favorite flowers wrapped up and a balloon or two.  Make up her favorite breakfast, or run out and pick it up for her, on her tray lay the fresh flowers and tie the balloons to the tray.  This way she gets a fresh bunch of her favorite flowers first thing in the morning!


~A relaxing evening.  We have a variety of bath baskets on hand that would guarantee her a relaxed evening.  Grab one of the baskets and beautiful arrangement of fresh roses.  While she is in the bath you can sprinkle rose petals down the hall and into the bedroom.  Rose petals are sold in convenient bags at our store, no need for you to pluck those pretty petals off of the roses in the vase.


~Follow up your weekend with a reminder.  Send a bouquet to her on Monday after Valentine's Day with a card that reads something like - "I love you more today then yesterday.... All my Love,"


For Him~
~Ladies, the guys love the flowers as well but just not the feminine displays us ladies are used to receiving.  We can design rock gardens with plants, simple masculine displays, or just about anything you can think of for your special someone.  Have this delivered to him at work and all of the guys will see just how lucky he is! 


~Snacks?  Did someone say snacks???  Guys love our snack baskets and we have a wide variety of sizes and styles.  One of the baskets and a few balloons is sure to brighten his day at work.    Not to mention giving him something to snack on while he figures out how to surprise you this Valentine's Day.


~Rose petals on the bed are always a way to invite romance.  We have petals pre-bagged and ready to sprinkle.  Grab one of those while you pick up our Sparkling Cider with glasses gift set.  This will set the mood and brighten his evening. 


Well we hope this gets you started in your Valentine's Day planning!  Watch our blog and facebook page for more updates and ideas!  Come become a fan of ours on Facebook: Secret Garden Decatur and never miss a moment of the fun.