Clare Florist Blog

Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the USA. However in Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday of the month due to the earlier harvest further North.

It is a time for family feasts of turkey with cranberry sauce and fabulous pumpkin pies. Often friends and family bring along a dish each and share in the social aspect of the preparation.

The Thanksgiving holiday was established as a national day of giving thanks and praise to God. the Plymouth settlers called the Pilgrims set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the USA where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Many people have this as a holiday and spend a long weekend with family and friends.

So to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving this year - have a fantastic time.

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!

The Clare Florist prize draw winner for August was Miss Blair of Birmingham.
Miss Blair wins a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers worth £50 which will be delivered free to her with our compliments.

Send lovely fresh flowers throughout the UK, next day and without any fuss - Clare Florist.

When trying to pick the perfect bouquet, besides choosing the variety that will send the right message, the biggest headache must be choosing the best colour or combination of colours! As Oscar Wilde once wrote, "Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways."

Meanings associated with different colours, and his/her favourite colour aside, each colour is said to have subtle effects on our mental states caused by the neurological effects from the different frequencies of colour lightwaves. So, whether you want to create a particular mood for your room, or seek some flowery therapy for the soul, some knowledge of the powers of each colour will go a long way!

Red - Ahhh..the colour of warmth. With the longest wavelength, it is also the colour associated with blood and energy - perfect if your room is in need of an energy boost, or stir up some warm feelings in that special someone!

Suggestion - Roses or the Clare Florist Tropical Red Anthuriums

or for a slightly darker shade of red:  Black Cala (which are in reality not black but more a dark maroon - still lovely though)

Yellow - Wake up to some sunny yellow flowers for an injection of optimism and alertness. Eye catching and memory stimulating, yellow flowers not only look delicious and brighten up any gloomy rooms, they also do wonders for those who would rather be more decisive.

Suggestions: Sunflowers, Mango Cala, Yellow lilies

Orange - For those with hay fever or dust allergies, befriend the Orange flowers! Orange is said to improve immune and digestive systems, with the psychological effect of making us cheerful and more warm-hearted. 

Suggestion: orange roses and gerbera

Blue - Calming and non threatening, blue flowers are particularly good for those in need of some relaxation and a good night sleep. It's said to suppress appetites though..so perhaps not the best flowers to put in the kitchen!

Suggestion: blue collection

Green - Another relaxing colour..green flowers are not only great for getting rid of stress, they also aid concentration - making them ideal for study rooms or offices.

Suggestions: anthurium, lime bouquet

For all the colours why not have a look at our Colour Collections range of flowers.

Have you ever wondered where all those lovely fancy double worded latin names for plants and creatures come from? This year marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus, the man who originally came up with the system for taxonomy. In the famous Swede's own words "If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost”. Today, biologists, botanists and taxonomists still describe and order plants, animals and people with names like bellis perennis (lawn daisy), or homo sapiens (human).

The Linnean Classification System

The life of Carl Linnaeus was full of illustrious achievements. The most notable and exciting one, must be his innovative classification system for plants! - 23 classes of flowering plants (plus one for those that don't flower) was used to classify all plants based on the number, size and arrangement of their stamens.

The classification system in fact was rather sexy, as Linnaeus would use the male and female organs of each plant to classify them into groups, offering an easy way for even the most amateur of us to identify what a plant is. To give an idea of the scandalous nature of some of these names - a plant of the Monogynia order within the Tetrandria class can be thought of one wife with four husbands! Despite being disapproved by some of his contemporaries, the classification system quickly became popular throughout Europe and was widely used by all.

Flower Clock

Another interesting idea of Linnaeus, described in Philosophia Botanica (1751) was that of a floral clock. Since some flowers (those in the group of Aequinoctales) have fixed times for opening and closing regardless of the weather, by arranging plants in their order of flowering, this can be used to tell the time accurately to within half an hour! Although it is thought that Linnaeus never managed to plant one of his own, the idea became popular in the 19th century where flower beds can be planted in a circle and segmented into 12 parts. For more information on which flowers should be used to mark the different hours, take a look at:

this bbc page or for an example javascript floral clock.

Celebrating the anniversary of Carl Linnaeus with floral art

Finally, in relation to the 300th anniversary, the Linnean Society of London will be holding the LAPADA Autumn Antiques and Fine Art Fair from 11-14th October 2007, where the theme will be "The Glory of the Flower - floral motifs in art and antiques". Perfect for those of us who appreciate seeing the vast varieties of flowers being expressed in different ways within works of art!

Prepared by Tracy, posted by Bob.

Every time we receive an order, it becomes a kind of mission for us to deliver the bouquet successfully and make someone's day extra great. Just recently we had a heartwarming little tale of 'Lost and Found' here at Clare Florist.

The story goes..that one day, we were rather excited to receive an international order from Australia (always feel extra special to send/receive flowers from abroad!). But then, lo and behold..although the delivery address was in Manchester, the post codes and street names were found to be non-existent. A wrong address! Our hearts sank.. We then tried to see if the recipient was listed in that area of Manchester and called them..still no luck! We kept our fingers crossed and hoped that some Google magic will point us in the right direction..and failing that..surely a call to Australia should point us somewhere?

Well, despite making sure that it wasn't silly hours in the morning when we called, all we got was an answering machine message. By this point it's turned into a bit of a detective game for us and we were unwilling to give up. As a last resort, we checked through all the people with the same surname and telephone area code within the phonebook. The few possibilities were our only hope left for reuniting the flowers with their owners..so we dialled...

What a relief to finally hearing one of them say 'That is my daughter-in-law!". A happy ending. We got the correct details and she ended up with the correct flowers. For us, the extra effort was definitely worth it when the mission is finally accomplished - the whole thing made our day (and hopefully theirs too!)

Clare Florist - the florist you can trust for flowers without the fuss.

I just came across a rather interesting exibition which is currently on at the British Museum - seven different Japanese flower arrangements are to be displayed over seven weeks, a perfect chance to have a taste of the fascinating art of Ikebana!

For those who have never heard of Ikebana, literally meaning living flowers, it refers to the the Japanese art of flower arrangement. In contrast to Western flower arrangement styles, Ikebana puts emphasis on assymetries, and makes use of empty space and elegant lines to accentuate the beauty of their floral design.

With a Buddhist origin, Ikebana aims to represent the beauty and harmony of nature, while capturing its transience through the arrangement of flower blossoms and other materials such as branches and leaves. The entire structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on three main points that symbolize heaven, earth, and man.

Currently there are 3 main schools of Ikebana - Ikenobo, Sogetsu  and Ohara. Ikenobo was said to be the founder of Ikebana, introducing the form of standing flower, which was developed as the Buddhist expression for nature's beauty. Sogetsu teaches Ikebana in a disciplined manner using patterns, where there are 3 main branches arranged to precise angles and shapes. Ohara later introduced the use of shallow, flat containers. This style is described as 'piled up flowers', which allows more freedom into the arrangements following influences from the West.

Another fascinating point - this art form is enjoyed in Japan by men and women alike! In fact, currently, the leading flower arrangers are for the most part, men.

Do go and take a look at this exquisite form of floral art at the exhibition if you happen to be in or around London before the 19th August 2007. For more information on the exhibition, take a look at:

British Museum- future exhibitions - ikebana

You can find out more about Ikebana and its background history at:

http://www.ikebanahq.org/whatis.html

Prepared by Tracy, posted by Bob

Maybe I have been thinking too much about flowers recently, the other day I had the most bizarre dream of a gorilla giving me a gigantic carnation! Feeling curious, I searched around for the meaning of seeing carnation in a dream, which in fact turns out to symbolise light-heartedness, vitality and joy. Inspired by this, I decided to also look up the meanings of the appearances of various other flowers in dreams and share my findings here:

• Certain flowers are seen as being good omens when appearing in dreams. These include jasmine, chrysanthemum, marigold, myrtle, laurel, violets and daisies field. In particular, marigold is associated with wealth, violet symbolises prosperity, while laurel is associated with success in love. Dreaming of currently blooming flowers is also seen as good luck.
• There are more flowers that are associated with love and marriage. Rose is another flower which signify success in love, while honeysuckle represent a happy marriage when appearing in a dream.
• Unfortunately, there are also some flowers which denote misfortunes. Dandelions, wilted bouquets and withered roses are the most common unlucky flower symbols in dreams. Boohoo.
• Of course it is in the nature of dreams that there would also be an element of personal significance in what you dream of. Colours, environment and events are all common factors which can affect the dream interpretation - ultimately it is your own interpretation which reflect the most about what your dreams might mean!

Prepared by Tracy, posted by Bob.

Have you ever thought about how flowers come to be symbolic of various themes, and how these themes came to be in existence in the first place?

This is going to be the first in a series of blog entries looking into the myths and legends behind some of the most well-known flowers.

As the flower most artists and poets agreed upon as having a soul, we will begin with the lily.

According to Greek mythology, the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus was nursing her son Hercules when excess milk fell from the sky. Not only did this created the Milky Way, but a few drops also made their way to earth, from which sprang the first lilies. This may be the inspiration for the Greek poets choice of lily as a symbolism for tenderness.

Roman legends also suggested that Venus became jealous of the whiteness and beauty of a lily and thus caused the appearance of the hideous looking pistil in the middle of the flower's pure white center.

Moreover the recognition of lilies as a symbol for purity and chastity originated in Christianity, where white lilies were said to have be found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Christ's crucifixion from where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground from the cross.

Another legend said that lilies grew from tears of repentence which were shed by Eve when she left the Garden of Eden. Lilies were also commonly associated with the Virgin Mary and the Annunciation, commonly illustrated in scenes of the angel's visit to Mary. The lily represents the Annunciation, emblematising her body as the white petals, and the soul as the anther.

Inspired to decorate your home or send your love with some beautiful white lilies? I think these would be my personal favourites!

• Calming Callas
• Simply Lilies
• Longi Lilies

Prepared by Tracy, posted by Bob

Following on from my last post on edible flowers (thank you for the correction), here is some information  on the specific medicinal uses of various flowers.

Some of these are consumed in the form of flower tea or in essence form, whilst others are applied externally.

More information on flower and plants as skin treatment (including some recipes) can be found here or for more detail on the medicinal uses of wild flowers - here.

This entry and the Clareflorist page prepared by Tracy,  posted by Bob

Prepared by Viki, posted by Bob

Some trivia facts about Father's Day:

• Majority of countries around the world celebrate Father's Day on the 3rd Sunday of June.

• The first June Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. This was inspired by the establishment of Mother's Day in 1908.

• Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd was believed to have originated the June Father's Day, which she had set up in order to commemorate her father who reared his six children as a single parent.

• Father's Day is the fifth most popular card-sending holiday, with an estimated $100 million in card sales!

• Father's Day has evolved into something much more than just for honouring fathers - it has become the day for showing our appreciation for grandfathers, uncles, godfathers, father-in-laws, son-in-laws etc also! 

It would be so easy to opt for default choice Father's Day presents such as ties and gadgets, but if it's time for a change how about sending a delicately designed botanical arrangement? While perhaps not all men appreciate receiving a bouquet of flowers as gift, this arrangement seems like a perfect choice for an unconventional Father's Day present, combining masculinity with sentiments. (Also comes with complimentary bar of Thornton's chocolate with fudge pieces for dads with a sweet tooth!)

See our Fathers Day Basket

Ordering this is a great option particularly for those who live some distance away from their parents or even just as a surprise delivery for those who will be spending the day with them!

Prepared by Tracy, posted by Dave.

For a touch of exoticism in your daily meals, why not try adding some flowers to brighten up the dish, or petals to add some interesting flavours?

As long as the flowers are free of pesticides/chemicals, here are a handful of common flowers which can be used in food or cocktails:

• Borage - tiny blue flowers with slight cucumber flavour, eaten raw in salads.
• Chrysanthemum - for herbal tea or salads, Asian variety 'Shungiku' also used for stir fries.
• Fuscias - used for salads and as a garnish with fish, chicken or grilled vegetables.(This turns out to be incorrect - please do not use the petals of fuschia for eating - please see the attached comment for more details.)
• Lavender - can be used to flavour jelly, icecream, baked goods and grilled meat.
• Hibiscus - mild flavour, good for decorating and adding flavour to salads.
• Pot Marigolds - petals can be used for salad, citrus flavoured.
• Pansies - with sweet, tart flavour, can be candied or used straight for salads
• Roses - petals with slight fruity flavour, can be used for rosewater or in food preparation. Rose hips(below petals) are sour and can be used in infusions.

Be careful though..some are not to be eaten!

Some popular cut flowers are poisonous to eat and these include Calla Lilies, Delphinium, Hyacinth, Iris, Narcissus (Daffodils and Jonquils), Poppy and Tulips.

Edible flower storage

Long-stem edible flowers should be placed in water and stored in a cool place, whilst short-stem flowers can be layered between damp towels or stored loosely in a plastic bag and refrigerated.

Some inspiring flower recipes can be found here on the BBC website.

And for a more comprehensive listing of flower flavours.

First article by our new writer Tracy, posted by Bob

• The colour pink is named after the flower! Pinks are known as such not due to their colour but allegedly because of the pinks (ragged edges) on their petals.
 
• We do not see some colours in flowers – they actually are more vividly coloured than even we see them. For example, the daisy has a colourful central zone that we do not see – but that butterflies do, therefore aiding  them to be pollinated.
 
• The same chemicals that give cherries their colour may be a better pain relief agent than aspirin or ibuprofen.
 
• Life jackets used to be stuffed with the stems of sunflowers
 
• How much rent would you think Prince Charles would be paid in rent for his lands on the Island of Scilly? The answer is one daffodil!
 
• Honey bees must visit two million flowers to make just one pound of honey! Each worker bee makes 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!
 

That is just a first brief glimpse into the wonderful world of mother nature.

More to come - so watch this space!

Prepared by Viki.

The use of scents and such like by humans goes way way back in history. So far in fact, that it seems no one actually knows when we started to make them. To give you some idea, the Egyptians put down roots in the fourth millennium B.C. At this time, they already used plants and flowers to make scented oils and balms. The increased demand in needing these raw materials meant that inventive ways evolved of extracting the scents, such as pressing and pulverization, and so, the first steps were made into the production of essential oils by distillation.

Possibly even earlier civilizations offered flowers and herbs to their Gods. This is backed up by archaeological findings, oral tradition and very early writings.

Roman writings describe how fragrances were used lavishly – following the spread of the use of perfumes to the western world. The use of perfume changed from being for mainly religious purposes to being for “the person”. This caused a sway towards the perfume industry as we now know it – bringing employment and industrial advantage to the community.

After the Roman Empire fell (in the Middle Ages), so too did all the inroads that they had made into the perfume industry in Europe. It became again a mainly religious sanction. The beginning of the 13th century saw trade to the Orient being re-established and so the emergence of further exotic flowers, herbs and spices . The Arab races were knowledgeable in alchemy and distillation by this time. Venice emerged as the centre of the perfume trade and this rapidly spread to other countries throughout Europe.

For at least 4000 years the manufacture of perfumes and relating – aromas, cosmetics etc. came from natural sources (i.e. animal or vegetable). Despite the long tradition of making perfumes and scents, the first synthetic fragrance material was not made until the late 18th century. With the increase of synthetic ways of making the perfumes increasing, so too did the perfumes industry as a whole. Many still preferred the natural way of doing things (as we have recently seen a major trend towards returning to), and thought that the synthetic raw materials had a harsh and possibly distasteful aroma to them.

The mass-production of perfumes using synthetic materials continues to this day, although there has recently been an increase towards the natural and organic (not only in perfumes – but other cosmetics, food etc.) Many now choose to make their own perfume and skincare products – to name but 2 areas. I will show you ways of doing this in the coming weeks... so keep watching!

Prepared by Viki, posted by Bob