Flower Talk Issue #23
In This Issue:
- Readying your Flowers Prior to Arranging Them
- A Lesson on Arranging a
Gift Bouquet of Flowers
- Neat Facts About New
Year's
- Become an Affiliate - earn 50% Commission
- Let Us Know What You Think
Readying your Flowers Prior to Arranging Them
 How long an arrangement will
last depends on the manner in which the flowers are conditioned. This is
very important because a floral arrangement will last days longer when
the flowers are properly taken care of. Here are ten tips to prepare
your flowers for your floral arranging needs:
- Strip thorns from rose
stems. This provides more area for water to enter the stem.
- Crush the ends of woody plants
such a lilac with a hammer.
- If you flowers begin to
wilt before time, recut the stems under water. The possible culprit
could be a bubble of air keeping the water from entering the stem.
- Remove the pollen from lily
plants.
- Immerse violets in water.
- When readying plants with
hollow stems, if you see that a bead of moisture has formed on the
bottom, cut the stem above the bead and put the plant immediately into
water.
- Wrap tulips for the length
of the stem in a tube of newspaper and let them stand in water
overnight to keep the stems straight.
- Keep camellias and gardenias
in an airtight bag until ready to use them in your floral arrangement.
- For flowers that have a
milky sap, such as poppies, poinsettias and dahlias, char the stems
with a match to seal the stem and keep the sap from draining out.
- Flowers can be kept for future
flower arrangements by drying the flowers with a paper towel so that
they are free from moisture. Place them in a plastic bag and put them in
the refrigerator. When you are ready to use them, recut the stems and
leave them in deep water overnight. Flowers will usually last about a
week and possible longer with this method.
A Lesson on Arranging a Gift Bouquet of Flowers
To make this arrangement go here.
Neat Facts about New Year's
Every year, millions of people flock to Times Square in New York or tune
in on their televisions to watch the ball drop and ring in the new year.
People gather with friends and family. They make resolutions, they sing
songs, they eat foods. Many of them don't understand why they do it, but
it still happens.
Many of the New Year's Traditions we have today started a long time ago.
Those that started more recently also have some interesting stories
attached to them, though. So, let's look at some neat facts about New
Year's and try to remember them, as we watch the ball drop this year.
Resolutions:
Celebrating New Year's is a tradition that goes way back to the
Babylonian times of 4000 years ago. The Babylonians did things a bit
differently, though. They celebrated the new year for 11 whole days,
first of all. They also celebrated the new year after the first day of
spring, not on January first.
The Babylonians did start at least one New Year's tradition that still
continues to this day, though. They began the tradition of making New
Year's resolution. Resolutions, as you probably know, are made by many
people as they ring in the New Year.
What are the most popular resolutions? Well, they aren't all that
surprising. There's the personal improvements, like quit smoking, stop
drinking, lose weight, meet someone special and spend more time with
family. Then there are the financial improvements, like finding a better
job, getting out of debt and creating a better budget. Then there are
the more general resolutions, like getting better organized, helping
others, learning new things or being more open to new possibilities.
Whatever New Year's resolution a person has, though, it generally
doesn't last long. Unfortunately, unlike the Babylonians, whose most
common resolutions were to return farm equipment that they borrowed,
people today don't really follow through on such resolutions. So, when
you make one this year,
remember that it takes a lot of willpower to
create change.
The Tournament of Roses:
On a lighter note, another New Year's tradition is to watch the
Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl. Most people think of the
two together, but the parade actually started long before the Rose Bowl
football game.
The parade itself is a flower-filled extravaganza that was originally
meant to celebrate the start of orange season in Pasadena, California.
It started in 1890 and, over the years, has grown a huge following. It
wasn't until 1902 that an even bigger draw was added to the festivities,
the annual Rose Bowl football game. The football game was meant as a
means of funding the parade. Since them, both events have grown by leaps
and bounds and, with the addition of TV coverage, they can now be seen
each New Year's Day all over the world.
Traditions Around the World and Through the Years:
In the US, as mentioned earlier, resolutions, parades and football games
help to ring in the new year. There are many world traditions that go
along with ringing in the new year too, though. For example, there's a
tradition of a dark haired man visiting and bringing a gift. That's said
to bring good luck for the new year. In Scotland it's called “first
footing” but it's also part of the celebration in other parts of the
world under other names.
Another Scottish tradition is to light barrels of tar on fire. Then,
those barrels are rolled through the village until all of the tar is
burned up. The idea is that the old year is burned away to make room for
the new.
In Vancouver, Canada, they have a completely different New Year's
tradition.
People come from all over for their annual “polar bear” swim.
Everyone jumps in the frigid waters to celebrate the end of the old year
and the beginning of what will hopefully be an even better one.
Lucky Foods:
Another New Year's tradition is eating various foods to bring luck. Most
cultures have lucky foods, though which foods are lucky varies from
place to place. In some parts of the US, eating black-eyed peas on New
Year's is considered lucky, for instance. Polish and Danish traditions,
on the other hand, involve eating pickled herring and boiled cod,
respectively.
In many parts of the world, though, it's the round foods that are
considered lucky on New Year's. In Holland, for example, they eat round
fritters called Olie Bollen on New Years. The idea is that round foods
symbolize completing the cycle and starting the new year off fresh.
Everyone around the world loves New Year's. They just celebrate it in
their own unique ways. Whatever way you choose to celebrate the holiday,
be safe and Happy New Year!
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Tell Us What You Think
 I recently received this lovely photo from Maureen L. She used
my free lesson on creating a floral arrangement in six easy steps.
Well done Maureen, keep up the good work.
Judy
We'd love to hear what you think of this issue!
Your feedback matters to us!
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