Clare Florist Blog

The Clare Florist Flower Quiz

I thought that this week I'd set a little quiz to see how knowledgeable you all are on all things flowery.  All of the questions  are flower related,  so lets see how many you can answer. 

As they say in all good pub quizzes - please no mobile phones and no google.  I hope you enjoy this and good luck...  Oh and I've left some clues in some of the links in the questions.

Question 1)  What were the series of civil wars (1455 - 1485),  that were fought for the throne of England between the The House of York and The House of Lancaster called?  

Question 2)   The monarch of which nation sits on the 'Chrysanthemum Throne?

Question 3)  The spice saffron comes from which type of flower? 

Question 4)  What is the 'art' of Japanese floristry called? 

Question 5)  Name the 3 artists who painted these famous floral still life paintings?

1. Sunflowers - by...... 
2. Iris - by..... 
3. Le Lit Dans La Glace - by..... 

Question 6)  What are the best selling cut flowers around the world? 

Question 7) What part of the world do the flowers in th picture below originate from?

Question 8)  What flower am I?

"Display me on your table;  expensive and exotic.  I have a sophisticated colour scheme,  my spots and streaks can be really quite hypnotic!"

Question 9)  What  flower changes colour from blue to pink according to the amount of acid in the soil?  

 Question 10)  What is Clare Florist's best selling bouquet?

Well that's the end of the quiz,  I hope you enjoyed it.  I shall post the answers up on next weeks blog.  Why don't you go to our facebook page and leave us your answers? 

You never know there might even be a prize for the correct or most amusing answers!

 

          

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Halloween and All Saint's Day:

Next week  -  October 31st sees the annual 'Holiday' festival of Halloween and then on the 1st November the Christian holiday;  All Saint's Day. 

Halloween traditions include;  dressing up as ghosts,  ghouls and witches,  apple bobbing,  trick or treating,  making pumpkin Jack-o-lanterns and having bonfires to scare away evil spirits.  It is one of the oldest celebrations in the world - dating back over 2000 years. 

The link between Halloween and All Saint's Day is in that when Christianity came to Britain and Europe,  the 1st of November became a dedicated day for saints who did not have their own celebrated day - They performed a mass called 'All Hallows mass' the night before,  this was known as 'All Hallows E'en' and this subsequently became Halloween or Hallowe'en (correct spelling.)  it is believed that the colours of orange and black are linked to Halloween due to orange having association with harvests and black being associated to death. 

All Saint's Day traditions include;  the taking of flowers to the graves of dead relatives,  lighting candles and visiting the graves of deceased relatives and the offering of prayers and flowers to those passed away. 

The Feast of All Saints is a holy day of the Church honoring all saints, known and unknown. 

On All Saints Day,  we celebrate these saints of the Lord and ask for their prayers and intercessions.

The whole concept of All Saints Day is tied in with the concept of the Communion of Saints.  Christians have been honoring their saints and martyrs since at least the second century AD. 

 

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October Flowers and Prizewinners

 October Prizewinner:

Firstly congratulations to our October,  second Tuesday of the month twitter #randomfollower prizewinner:  Jackie from Lancs.  Who very kindly had her winning bespoke bouquet sent to her mum.   Here she is with her prize (and a very cute dog).   Well done Jackie - and your Mum too! 

 

 

 October Flowers:   

The Birth flower for October is the marigold (or Calendula).   

The flower meaning of the October birth flower - the marigold;   is sorrow or sympathy and the colours for the October birth month flowers should be Yellow or white.   

Birth month flowers are usually the specific flowers that are traditionally given to a person the month that person is born. 

The Marigold's flower meaning is "winning grace."   Once considered the most sacred of flowers,   in India it was placed around the necks of holy statues.  

The Marigold is found through Europe, the United States, and western Asia.  Marigolds are good cleansers and can be used as remedies for bee stings and can be used by cooks as a spicy seasoning or colouring for food.

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Some are red, none are blue, look at the Roses we can deliver to you!

I thought that this week I would pick a particular flower variety and give you wonderful readers some (hopefully interesting) facts and information about it.

So on with The Rose...    

A rose is a perennial flower shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species and comes in a multitude of colours.  The rose is one of the most popular and comonly sold florists' flowers.  Around 150 million rose plants are purchased by gardeners worldwide every year.  The largest rose garden in the world is found in Cavriglia,  Tuscany, Italy.   It is the home to over 7500 different species of roses.

Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. A bouquet of red roses is often used to show love and affection - especially as a Valentine's Day gift.

The rose is the national flower of England and the USA and is the symbol of the England Rugby team (and Union).

It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England.

  

A wonderful Photographic study of Rose flower translucence.

 The 'White Rose' was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.

 And finally...  A famous rose quotation:

"What is in a name? That which we call a rose.  By any other name would smell as sweet".  - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet; act II scene ii.

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Autumn is well and truly here:

I'd like to firstly say a big thank you to all our dear friends, clients and followers who sent us birthday wishes. Things are now back to normal at the Clare Florist HQ after our 32nd Birthday celebrations.

The transition from summer to winter has begun.  Autumn is well and truly here, nights are getting longer;  October (like most of the year in the UK) is changeable and unpredictable.  It's noticeably cooler and wetter at this time of year, with the first real chance of frost occuring.  If the weather is dry, hope to expect lovely crisp days, occasionally heated up by a surprisingly warm sun. Nights and mornings can be chilly and leaves on the trees turn golden - with the most spectacular autumn colour being observed in Scotland.  It is the time of year for apple bobbing, harvest festivals and ghosts. Halloween will be our next celebration - When we become 'Scare Florist', before Guy Fawkes or Bonfire night and then it's Christmas!

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