Clare Florist Blog

Be it a bouquet from your special somebody, or indeed even a particularly striking flower from a bouquet you have acquired for yourself, the usual 7 days lifespan of cut flowers are sure to feel a little too short for admiring. The solution? Capture its beauty before it fades! No, I don't quite mean cameras and tripods (although you can find some great tips on photographing your bouquet in all its glorious beauty here)..I'm talking about drying them to their original forms even before the flower is in full bloom, so you would be able to hold onto the pretty flower souvenir piece for months to come either as an arrangement or used as a gift.

Complicated as that sounds, in fact there are few ways in which drying flowers can be done at home with relative ease - here are a few of them:

Air drying - This is perhaps the easiest of all - only an empty wardrobe or something similar that is warm, dry and out of the sun is required! Simply bundle up the flowers you wish to dry, preferably those with long stems with lower leaves stripped, and hang upside down from the clothing rod. After 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the progress, they should be thoroughly dried and can be preserved using hair spray.

Waxing - If you have access to some parafin wax, another easy way would be to just dip the flowers into wax and leave them to set in the fridge. Don't forget to shake off the excess beforehand though or else you might end up with a very messy fridge...

Sand drying - You can try this method on longer lasting flowers such as roses or tulips, although some flowers such as chrysanthemums and poppies are definitely not recommended for this method. This method should be used when the flowers are blooming in perfection. Use glue to secure the petals and wires to support the stems after cutting it short (depending on variety of flower). Use a box deep enough to hold sand that can keep the flower in upright position and take care not to destroy the shape of it. Again this method can take 1-3 weeks, but the results are often great, where the colours can be determined through how humid the storage condition is. Remember to remove the sand with care too or else all the efforts would be wasted!

Microwave drying - For a quick drying, and if the flowers are not fully blooming yet, you may wish to consider using the microwave and some silica gel. Tuilips and Chrysanthemums are two examples of cut flowers which can be dried successfully in this way. In a similar way to sand drying, cover the flowers in silica gel. Then, using the low settings on a microwave oven, heat flowers in silica gel till the gel reaches about 160 F, and after about 2-3 minutes it's done! Let it sit with an airy lid for a day or so before taking it out.

Have fun experimenting!

I mentioned previously in this blog that Chrysanthemums get the royal treatment in Japan. In fact, the annual celebration of the famous Chrysanthemum Festival in Japan falls in September, traditionally on the 9th. But the most mesmerising part, however, may not be so well known outside of Japan.

The little gem I'm referring to is the "Chrysanthemum dolls" exhibition - yes, an invigorating show of life-size dolls in costumes made of fresh and blooming Chrysanthemums! The first of these shows was way back in 1910, an event that was since regularly held at Hirakata. At each show, 50 dolls are constructed to display characters in various famous Japanese historical scenes as well as Japanese drama (kabuki).

Link to a picture of a Chrysanthemum Dolls exhibit.

These enchanting dolls require the utmost expertise and care from the craftsmen, not to mention meticulous planning and co-ordination - with different masters dealing with different parts, from the design of the scenario layout down to the bamboo body frames and painted faces. Each doll would take at least a day to be constructed by an expert, using up at least 100 plants. Over the duration of the show, flowers have to be continually kept fresh and they are changed every 7 days or show, using up to 40000 plants altogether!

A shame that they seem to have stopped doing these shows, as far I know, due to a mixture of declining number of visitors and a lack of successors to the old masters of this craft. That's not to say some Chrysanthemum dolls that are left around certain Japanese botanical gardens won’t greet you.
Until then, why not send "Just Chrysanths" or even try developing some Chrysanthemum figures of your own?

With all the excitements of the summer months, it's easy to forget that we're already into September and autumn is approaching faster than a blink. The shining flower of September, Aster, symbolising elegance and afterthought, is the ideal calming influence after those months of summer madness!

Myths and Legend

This little star of the flower world (their name literally means star in Latin) is the herb of Venus, as perfume from burning their leaves were believed to have magical powers of warding off evil serpents in the ancient times.

Like their starry origin, Asters come in a variety of colours such as blue, white and purple, just like the glow of starlight. The most common flower used by florists in China, one of the popular myths about Aster is that one can hear the slightest whisper if you listen to them closely enough.

According to legends, Asters grew from the tears of the goddess Virgo (also known as Asterea). It is believed that she was saddened by Jupiter's decision to flood the entire race during the Iron Age that she requested to be turned into a star, and when she sees the muddy aftermath, her tears fell as stardust and became delightful Asters.

Yet another legend on the origins of Asters is that once upon a time the surviving sisters of a tribal war begged the Herb Woman for help. Seeing that they would be hunted down in the future, the Herb Woman used some magic and gave them leaves using a potion. One of the sisters became the golden rod, while the other became the Aster as she was wearing a fancy looking lavender-blue dress.

Other Random Facts

• Asters are also known as the queens of the daisy family.
• In the Hungarian language of colours, Asters represent autumn.

Long gone are the days of associating Chrysanthemums with funerals and crummy old rooms. Vibrant with exhilarating colours and varieties, and durable beyond most cut flowers, they are the current hippest favourites in town!

In fact, I've always wondered about the name. As it turns out, the flower was named by Mr. Linnaeus (mentioned a couple of entries ago), the funky long name coming from a combination of the Greek 'krus' meaning gold and 'anthemum' meaning flower. 

In Japan, the gold flower has always been viewed as symbol of the sun. There, Chrysanthemums have a long history of being used to represent divine authority, where the throne is referred as the Chrysanthemum throne. The Japanese even have a special festival dedicated to it!

For the Chinese also, the flower is of a special value - East Asian species of these golden beauties are often boiled with rock sugar to make the powerful throat healing, fever cooling remedial herbal tea. There's also a city named after Chrysanthemums in China!

Unfortunately the Chrysanthemums in your lovely bouquet won't be edible! Just as well..according to Feng Shui, they will bring endless amount of laughter and happiness to your home - so leave them on display! Other symbolism of the flower include longevity and nobility, they are great for adding that royal touch to any rooms.

And of course, these colourful delights are perfect for making eye-catching arrangements, you can get some inspirations for possibilities of what to do with them here.

We will soon have some of these enchanting chrysanthemum bouquets in stock - look out for them!!

P.S. Another piece of trivia - there's a type of firework that's named Chrysanthemum for its resemblence to the flower!