Father's Day - 19th June 2011
With Father's Day just around the corner, we've been discussing gift ideas to let our amazing Dads know just how amazing we think they are! Chocolates and gadgets are high on the list for most of us, but what about flowers?
When thinking of gifts to send to our loved ones, flowers spring immediately to mind for the ladies in our lives, but tend to be less obvious a thought for the men. And yet, flowers are a loving, thoughtful gift and surely something that can appeal to everyone, so what better way to show your appreciation for your Dad this Father's Day than with a special arrangement that shows him how wonderful he is?
Some Father's Day Facts:
- The celebration of Father's Day began in America in 1910, spreading worldwide after 1924 when the US President declared it a yearly national event.
- In most countries, it is celebrated on the third Sunday in June, but the dates and months vary for other countries across the globe. It's September for Australia and New Zealand; March for Spain and Belgium; December for Thailand; and November for Sweden, to name just a few.
- The official flower for Father's Day is the rose: people traditionally wear a red rose for their living father, or a white rose in honour of their deceased father.
- Ties are the most common gifts (A surprise to me as that's not something any of us had thought of!), but other popular gifts include slippers, chocolate, tools and socks.
What will you be getting your Dad this year?
Spring Flowers - Daffodils vs Tulips - You decide...
The most popular and familiar spring flowers are daffodils and tulips. As seen all over the country in many varied locations. Both very different in appearance from each other, they are the sign to us that spring has sprung and finer weather is on it's way. Both are well recognised and very popular, but is one more celebrated than the other?
Narcissus is the botanical name for a daffodil; a mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amarylis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The flower meaning of daffodil is; You're the only one, regard, unrequited love and the sun shines when I'm with you. The daffodil is an emblem of Wales.
The tulip is a bulbus plant with showy flowers from the family Tulipa and belongs to the family Liliaceae which is native to North Africa and Iran to the Northwest of China. The flower meaning of tulip is; Perfect lover, fame, love and passion. The tulip is the national flower of Turkey.
Here is our interpritation of Spring Delight; an arrangement of 100 stems of glorious golden daffodils and tantalising tulips, encompassed in luxury florists gift wrap. Hand-tied in house by our expert florists, ready to place in a vase and situate where ever you want the essance of spring to be experienced.
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Happy Mother's Day to all you Magnificent Mum's
This Sunday, 3rd April is Mother's Day in the UK. It is the celebrated annual occasion when children pay respect to their mother's. Often by bestowing them with a gift and a card, and as Mothering Sunday occurs during spring, a present of spring flowers is often a popular choice - presented as an expression of gratitude for all their kindness, love, affection and attention that they have exhibited throughout the past year.
In the UK, Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day (as it is widely known) has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday of lent - 40 days before Easter. This is why the date of Mother's Day changes each year. Originally a day to honour Mary, the mother of Christ and then becoming more traditional during the time when the wealthy employed the poor (specifically poor children) as servants, who lived in quarters in their employee’s homes - it was a day dedicated to celebrating Mother's by their children especially those who returned to their families from working away. Since these times it has become the special day to celebrate and to show gratitude and acknowledgment to our Mother's.
Mother's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world and at different times of the year, but when and wherever it occurs, the meaning is the same...
To commemorate our marvelous mum's!
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Our March twitter winner, Saint Patrick's Day and Mother's Day
Congratulations to our Twitter; #randomfollower March competition winner - Vicki, who has won a bespoke Clare Florist hand-tied bouquet. Here is what she had to say upon recieving her flowers:
'These are the BEAUTIFUL flowers that I won from ClareFlorist! Aren't they gorgeous, guys?! They asked me what colours I like and my favourite flowers so they could personalise it for me. I was so speechless though that I just said 'UHHH, I like purples, pinks, yellows and iris'! Not very helpful but they came up trumps! Thanks you so much! xxxx'
Thank's Vicki, the team here are so pleased that you like them!
Irish eyes will be smiling today - Thursday 17th March is St. Patrick's Day!
We'd like to send our best wishes to all of our friends from Ireland on their special day. Click on the green shamrock to see Saint Patrick's Day on our Special Dates page.
Mother's Day in the UK is on Sunday 3rd April this year. Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday is the time when children pay respect to their Mothers – often by presenting them with a card and a gift and as the day falls during spring, a gift of Spring Flowers is often given; by way of a thank you for all their love, attention, kindness and affection that they have shown throughout the year.
So there is still plenty of time for you to order your magnificent Mum some fabulous fresh flowers from our gorgeous Mother's Day Flowers collection.
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Are Flowers Relevant?
I like to browse through flower related compositions, blogs and web sites, searching for articles of interest to digest and comment on. There is so much information available to us, that at times it can be a bit overwhelming. Whether looking for information on floristry, flower meanings, flower delivery, the latest designs of flower bouquets or flower trends, there is sure to be plenty of articles of interest to satisfy the keenest of flower enthusiasts.
Here is a short list of some of the best informative blogs and sites I have come across that I would like to share with you:
Recommended Blogs to follow, read, peruse and enjoy:
- Planet Flowers Blog
- Simply Flowers Blog
- Gardeners World Blog
- Frary's Fresh Flowers Blog
- Only Flora Blog
Wonderful Websites for you to look at:
- About Flowers
- Garden Guides
- Flower Experts
- The BBC - Nature - Flowers
- Floral Craft Resource
And so, Are flowers still relevant?
Of course they are! We all love flowers and the feelings that they evoke, their shapes, colours and scents, the way that flowers are used for so many occasions and celebrations, to say thank you and sorry. To commiserate and show sympathy and to congratulate. Flowers today are as popular as they ever have been and these wonderfully inspirational blogs, articles and web sites just go to show that the spirit and the powers of flowers is blooming.
I hope you find them as interesting and enjoyable to read as I have.
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Hip, hip hooray - Spring is on it's way!
So Valentine's Day is a week behind us and based on the amount of beautiful bouquets that we sent out love was and is truly in the air.
So a week on, it is still possible to display your affections to that special someone with fabulous fresh
Spring Flowers. Be it as a display of affection or to say thank you, that you care or just because you can, one thing is for certain, here at Clare Florist we have the perfect bouquet for you whatever the occasion.
With spring having sprung or at least beginning to spring, as early as it may be – Snow drops are awakening from their winter slumber showing their pretty white delicate flowers, crocus’s are showing signs of life, shooting their dainty colourful flower heads up on green wintered ground and even the glorious yellow daffodils are showing signs of emerging life; getting ready to welcome us to the vibrancy of spring.
That is why we are proud to have in store the most amazing array of quality fresh flowers, ready to be hand-tied by our expert florists and fashioned into stunning next day delivery bouquets.
All of our bouquets are lovingly individually prepared and hand-tied in house by our expert flower technicians.
The Burst of Spring is a customer favourite; it evokes feelings of the colourful bright times ahead of us.
Blue Dew is a cool contemporary bouquet comprising of handsome blue hyacinths and cool crisp white tulips forming a sensational spring colour display.
50 Lemon Tulips is a simply stunning spring time arrangement, composed of the finest Dutch Tulips in subtle yellowy lemon hues embraced in lush green foliage.
And don’t forget the Maggie’s Flowers bouquet – our special charity bouquet made up of sweet pink germini, fresh lemon chrysanths, lime zest santini and alstromeria lilies among other pastel toned flowers. With 10% of the sale price (that's £3.50) of every Maggie's Flowers Bouquet ordered going to the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres Charity, it is the gift that gives.
For more information on the wonderful fresh flower bouquets that we have on offer this spring time, simply visit our website; www.clareflorist.co.uk
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The Valentine's Quiz Answers
A BIG Thank you and congratulations to all of you who have taken part in our special Valentine's Quiz. I must say that I am very pleased with the response. I have posted the answers to the twelve questions below and the winner will be notified at midday today and everyone who entered will receive a little thank you gift. All will be notified by facebook message.
Right then, here are the answers:
1) Love - 20 Red Roses.
2) Valentine's Tulips.
3) Bob Marley.
4) Two dozen (24).
5) Single Best-Grade Red Rose.
6) Heartfelt sentiment.
7) The beautiful Dozen Valentine's Red Roses hand-tied bouquet, a chic glass vase, a sumptuous box of Thorntons Continental Chocolates and a handwritten Valentine's card.
8) 12 first grade red roses with gypsophila and hypericum berries.
9) A Dozen Orange Roses.
10) Yellow Roses.
11) The Freesia Fragrance Bouquet.
12) A Single Red Rose and Thorntons Continental Chocolates.
I hope you enjoyed the quiz, we shall be doing some more throughout the year so keep your eyes peeled!
I'd like to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day - All you need is Love!
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Valentine's Quiz: All you need is Love!
So with Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought another quiz would be in order...
The answers to the questions can be found by looking various product pages on the Clare Florist web site (Valentine's specific - nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) I'd like you to post your answers on our facebook page, in the discussions tab - Valentine's Quiz section. A winner will be chosen at random on Thursday 10th February 2011. To be in with a chance to win you must answer all of the questions correctly.
The winner will receive A single Red Rose and Chocolates - delivered on Valentine's Day - Monday February 14th 2011 - To the recipient of their choice. There will be small prize's to all that enter. We will contact the winners by facebook message. Please don't forget to leave your name and to like us while you are there, Good Luck :-)
The Questions:
1) What Bouquet is 'The perfect way to express your;' Love?
2) I am Dutch and consist of 10 Red and 10 Pink - What am I?
3) Who sung the original song that this bouquet was named after?
4) How many Roses are in the Promised Roses Bouquet?
5) 'Often the most romantic of gestures' - Send a ... What?... (Selected by our expert florists)
6) A Dozen Valentine's Red Roses is filled with... What?
7) What do you get in the Dozen Valentine's Red Rose Gift Set?
8) The Twelve Red Roses bouquet comprises of?
9) If Red is not your colour then you might Desire a Dozen of these?
10) For those sunny feelings of happiness, what colour roses are a symbol of friendship?
11) Add vibrant colour and an amazing scent to any setting - With what bouquet?
12) What could you win if you answer these 12 questions correctly? 
I will post the answers to the 12 Questions here on the blog, on the afternoon of Friday 11th February 2011. Once again, good luck and Enjoy!
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The Clare Florist 32nd Birthday Celebrations Continue...
In celebration of Clare Florist’s 32nd anniversary of serving the public with the highest quality fresh cut flower bouquets, we are pleased to announce that we will be handing out specially designed New Year bouquets to Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres Charity, in conjunction with FedEx UK, who will deliver the bouquets free of charge.
Clare Florist will be gifting 32 'Maggie’s' bespoke hand-tied bouquets to the Maggie's Cancer Caring Charity. The Charity will then decide who will recieve one of the 32 bouquets from the deserving people who have helped them in a variety of ways to make each of their centres the success they are today.
Our expert florist Kerry has also designed a special 'Maggie's Bouquet' - which is to go on sale with 10% of it's price going to the Maggie's Charity.
Maggie’s runs a number of Cancer Caring Centres around the country, designed as a place for people to turn for help with any of the problems, small or large, associated with cancer. Under one roof, people can access help with information, benefits advice, psychological support both individually and in groups, courses, and stress reducing strategies. Visitors do not need to have an appointment or be referred, and everything is offered free of charge.
We wanted to do something really special and positive to celebrate yet another year under our floral belts by making 32 years in total. What better way, than to donate a uniquely designed bouquets of flowers to chosen recipients of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and at the same time highlight all the excellent work that Maggie's carry out every day!
The 32 bespoke fresh flower bouquets all safely packed up and ready to be delivered by the good people at FedEx UK to 32 lucky recipients selected by Maggie's.
As part of our 32nd Year birthday celebrations, we are happy to be working with Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and FedEx UK.
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25th January - Burns Supper
Robert Burns, born on 25th January 1759. Rose from humble beginnings to become 'Scotlands favourite son'
His work is celebrated worldwide...
So pour yourself a wee dram and pipe in the haggis and celebrate a nations favourite...
Address to a Haggis
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout, 
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.
Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
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