About Me

I am a very close friend of Donn Flipse, Jen Stabile and other associates of Field of Flowers, based in Davie Florida. I share with them a love of flowers and plants, the business of selling them, and a desire to learn more about them. Via my blog I hope to find other people of similar interests and provide them with interesting and entertaining information.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Try branches!

Field of Flowers offers a number of interesting flowering and fruited branches at this time of year. These can make for beautiful additions to the home! Try the crab apple branches with bright red fruits. Use heavy pruning shears to cut about an inch off the branch before placing it in our flower food solution. Change the water after about 5 days or when it begins to be cloudy. This really works! I have some that lasted 12 days and have just begun to drop some of their fruit. Warning: One thing not to do is smash the ends of the branches with a hammer or similar tool. You can still find old florists who swear by this technique. They think that it opens up the tiny tubes (the "xylem") that carry water up through the stem, but that claim has been discredited by researches. Believe Dr. Dendron! What it really does is to create a lot of damaged organic material which will soon rot and provide a medium for the growth of microbes in the water. The microbes in turn block the xylem tubes and cause premature wilting. Would you want THAT???

Quick Thought...

As the heat of summer passes, we welcome fall, which is the time for such season favorites as chrysanthemums and interesting branches. The long‐lasting "mums" have arrived in all their fabulous variety, as cut flowers and potted plants. Aren’t they beautiful?