Clare Florist Blog

Hot Summer Days!

Thankfully the weather is hotting up again!
It's so great to come to work and everyone be in such a good mood because they have been out in the sunshine in the evening.
Endorphins are natures free feel good drug!.
The number one way to release endorphins is exercise which we have all being doing as we are all avid cyclists.
Certain foods can release endorphins, these are usually stimulating foods such as hot peppers and wasabi.
Sending or receiving flowers makes both people feel great, it's nice to give but its great to receive. Why not send some Summer Cheer to make you both feel happy.

It goes without saying that life is what we make of it. Endorphins are natures way of letting us know how life is supposed to feel.
By choosing lifestyles and attitudes that carry opportunity for positive endorphins release we can bring more good feelings into daily lives.
Feel good, get out, be active, eat well, have fun but most of all be HAPPY !!!!

Greeting Cards

At Clare Florist we are always trying to give you what you want on our website. One of the things you keep asking us for is an easy way to send a greeting card without flowers.
So we now have a great range of floral cards that you can select and have your own personal message handwritten inside.
Great for all those times you suddenly remember an anniversary or birthday and don't have time to pop out of the office.
You can place your order up till 5pm and your card will be sent out that evening by Royal Mail first class post, so it should arrive the next day along with your regular post.
Here are a couple of designs, if there are anymore your think we need please don't hesitate to let the team know.
Just drop us an email at queries@clareflorist.co.uk

Birthday Greetings - blank inside for your own message.

Lavender Fields - blank inside for your own message.

Wild Flowers - blank inside for your own message.

Beautiful British Flowers

Last week we successfully launched our new Beautiful British Bouquet. We have spent a lot of time early on this year speaking to small growers throughout England that we can source some pretty garden blooms.
We have created a bouquet that will change throughout the summer season as different flowers come into season.

This week the bouquet will include delphiniums, sweet scented stocks and chrysanthemums.
This weekend is Midsummers day - already I know! So we will be attending the annual late night opening at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh where you can enjoy the gardens late in the evening whilst listening to music and some magical storytelling!

Twins Galore

As you can imagine we always have a steady flow of flower orders for new babies. But what has amazed us recently is the volume of special request bouquets we have had for twin babies!
One of my own friends has also had baby twin boys last month. Amazingly Arran (the little one) and Dylan were born either side of midnight so even have different birthdays!
So we had to send two bouquets of blue flowers and two perfect little teddies for them both to cuddle into.

New baby boy flower bouquet

Along with two perfectly soft cuddly teddy bears!

Prize Winners

We have had another two lucky winners that entered our free prize draw who were delighted to receive a fabulous bouquet worth £50.00
The lucky winner in April was June Bird from Cullompton in Devon and in May Ellen Sparkes from Exmouth.
Both ladies received bouquets similar to our new Cottage Garden bouquet from our recently launched Summer Flowers.

Taste of Edible flowers

The annual Taste festival is doing it's rounds around the country. We went at the weekend and had a fabulous day out in the glorious sunshine.
There were loads of mouth watering dishes to choose from and I noticed lots of the chefs were using edible flowers as garnish.
Here we have compiled a list of flowers that are available just now either in the garden, forrest or even amongst our own bouquets.
So once you have looked at the flowers you can eat them!
Aliums - The flowers are stronger flavoured than the leaves, great in egg dishes such as omelette's.

Carnations - sweetish spice flavour suitable for desserts and salads.

Chervil - Anise flavour, suitable for fish dishes.

Chrysanthemums - slightly bitter, peppery flavour. Suitable for salads and infusions. Blanch petals before use.

Gladiolus - Very bland flavour. Suitable for sweet and savoury stuffing's and petals in salads.

Honeysuckle - Sweet honey flavour suitable as a garnish for desserts.

Lavender - Sweet flavour as a garnish with custards and cakes.

Lilac - Highly floral, slightly bitter lemony flavour suitable for salads.

Nasturtiums - Sweet, peppery flavour great for salads.

Roses - The flavour depends on the type and colour, but generally fruity. All roses are edible. Suitable for garnishing desserts and salads, excellent in syrups and jellies.
 
Sunflower - Bitter-sweet flavour. Use like chrysanthemums. Can also be picked before the flower bud opens and steamed when they are reminiscent of artichokes.