Unexpected Holidays Perfect for Flowers!

There are all sorts of excuses coming up in the next few weeks and months that you can use to brighten up your day with fresh flowers. After Valentine's Day, you can take advantage of all sorts of opportunities...

March 1 - Share a Smile Day

It's programmed into our genes … we feel good when people smile at us, and we even feel better when we smile ourselves. If you can’t be there in person with someone you have plenty of smiles for, send them in petal form, with a bunch of fresh flowers!

March 21 - Single Parent's Day

If you are a parent (even if you aren’t single), you can imagine how tough these guys do it. All the school pick-ups and drop-offs, all the conversation, all the cleaning and the washing, all that time … and no help, apart from a couple of days holiday once a fortnight! The least you can do if you know one of these brave souls is send a bunch of flowers.

March 26 - Make Your Own Holiday day

You know, you could transport this to whatever day of the year you like. Feel like sending flowers today? Make up your own holiday and just go for it! Feel like buying them for yourself? Why not -- flowers bring happiness into our lives, and that's what makes the world go round.

April 10 - National Sibling Day

In many cases, we are closer to our siblings than even to our parents. Our siblings understood exactly how we felt about things, and what we were going through. They were our idols and constant companions. Show them how much you love them for it!

April 17 - Husband Appreciation Day

A bunch of flowers, a foot massage, breakfast in bed, dinner and dancing … all great ways to show the man in your life how much he means to you. Men pretend to be all Rambo-ish … but underneath they are big softies, every single one. Indulge them … and remember that what goes around, comes around.

5 Wonderful Winter Flower Bouquets with Seasonal Blooms

Winter is not traditionally known as a time of flowers in full bloom -- which is why winter flowers, with their sturdy nature and novelty, are so highly prized! When it is bitterly cold outside, there are snowflakes next to the front door, and when you simply cannot go outside because it seems too much like a fight to survive, winter flowers help bring the outdoors to you. Today we are checking out some gorgeous bouquets that use in-season flowers over the winter period and capture the spirit of the season.

This flower bouquet is called Very Vogue, and is a great way to visually warm up the house over the winter holidays. It is specially designed for Christmas, as you can tell with both sprays of holly itself, and Christmas colors all through the bouquet. It includes amaryllis and holly, which both bloom in winter.

Not quite so much of a traditional holiday look -- a great all-around winter flower bouquet, either for yourself or a friend. Ranunculus and waxflower feature in this bouquet along with the standards roses and lisianthus; the ranunculus and waxflower are available throughout winter.

The colors in this Citrus Sunshine bouquet are made from winter flowers, but anticipate the arrival of spring with every frond and furl! The Bells of Ireland are a major feature -- they are a traditional winter flower. The pompom button chrysanthemums are gorgeous also!

Poinsettia is a traditional winter flower and also the birth flower for December. The legend says that a small girl picked a bunch of pretty weeds on Christmas day, for lack of any money to make a more substantial offering -- and sat them on the doorstep of her grandparent's home. They were transformed in a Christmas miracle into beautiful red blooming flowers -- poinsettias. You can see the red bouquet below - white blooms are rarer, but red can sometimes seem more festive.

Keep the Memories: How to Preserve Your Wedding Flower Bouquets

While your bride's bouquet may be gracing one of your friend's or relative's mantelpieces right now, there are often piles gorgeous flowers left over from a wedding. You can take the figurines from the top of the cake, bring home your namecards from the table, and take as many photos as you like … but there's nothing quite like having something living from the day of your wedding to keep that spirit of love, commitment, hope and togetherness. Preserving your wedding flowers is a beautiful way to do this -- we show you how to achieve it at home!

Drying your wedding flowers

You can do this to your wedding flowers in bulk -- as long as you have enough wardrobe space, there is usually no limit on the number of flowers you can preserve by drying them. Just remember that you might want some vase space for fresh flower bouquets at some stage in the future! Dry your flowers by:

• Pegging them individually upside down from clothes hangers
• Alternatively, lay them in a drying agent like silica or borax
• Carefully put them back together as a bouquet when they are completely dry

Pressing your wedding flowers

You probably have some experience with this method of preserving flowers -- almost every little girl in the world has done it at some stage! It's simple:

• Collect your flowers and place between two sheets of paper, preferably not printed
• Place the two sheets of paper inside a large, heavy book
• Leave for a few days, depending on how humid the weather is
• Once your flowers are pressed, framing them is a lovely way to keep them

Freeze Drying Your Wedding Flowers

This generally has to be done by professionals, and has quite a charge associated. It does help preserve your wedding flowers with most of their original color and shape, however, and the more flowers you want to freeze dry the more cost effective the process is.

Five Cool New Floral Trends

As times change, so do all of our preferences … television shows fall in and out of favor, flared pants become fashionable, then disgusting, then fashionable again, and people in general think about life differently. Floral trends are one of the expressions of social change -- today we are looking at five of the top trends in fresh flowers.

1. Green flowers

Green flowers look different, fresh, and very individual. People want something that expresses their individuality, especially as the forces of globalization make us feel even more than we are one among billions. Green flowers like orchids, cybidiums, green ranunculus and super green roses have become especially popular for all sorts of occasions.

2. Boutonnieres for men

Once upon a time, roses were all that it was acceptable for men to wear as boutonnieres. Anything else would have been seen as being overly fascinated with flowers, a feminine trait … sort of like wearing a dress! Nowadays men can do whatever they like with their boutonniere decorations without fear of judgement. After all, men happily wear pink shirts, get facials, and buy guyliner by the bucketload. Perhaps male dresses aren’t so far away!

3. Floating flowers

Camellias are popular for this effect, because they don't tip over and float bottoms-up in the bowl! However there are other flowers that can achieve the same beautiful effect, floating in a bowl of water alongside tealight candles in similar bowls. Ask your florist which are suitable.

4. Color therapy through flowers

There has been much ado about color therapy in recent times -- the idea (however tenuous scientifically) is that the vibrations of different colors help create a certain mood. Even if nothing physically happens, the placebo effect of believing that your fresh flowers are improving your life can be significant -- why not try?

5. Using petals

Petals make a gorgeous decoration, with a little more earthiness and innocence than a full flower bouquet provides. It's a very hot trend right now.

Just for Fun: Hidden Messages in Flowers!

The idea of coding messages in flowers is such a fun one! Victorians originally started doing this as a way to send secret love notes, before email and the delete button were invented. It can be such a delight to arrange a bouquet of flowers that not only looks good, but means something in a secret language for your loved ones. We are looking at the meanings of flowers and their suitability for different holidays throughout the year. Remember that this isn’t a hard and fast guide -- only a fun way of seeing the beautiful flower through new eyes!

For Mother's Day

• Heather and lavender indicate admiration, something you are sure to feel for your Mom
• Holly represents domestic happiness, and is a defence and protection also.
• Moss represents maternal love and charity
• Nasturtium represents maternal love also; its secondary meanings are conquest, victory in battle, charity and patriotism … all qualities necessary for the running of a household!
• Orchid flower bouquets represent love, beauty, refinement and are the symbol of a beautiful lady
• Peach is for longevity
• Strawberries represent perfect goodness … and are a tasty edible addition to a flower bouquet!

For birthdays

• The bells of Ireland represent good luck -- a nice way to start another year of life!
• Baby's breath represents everlasting love -- as much for friends as for lovers
• Cattails are supposed to represent peace and prosperity
• Chrysanthemums are one of the ultimate friendship flowers -- they simply say "You're a wonderful friend!"
• Forget-me-not flower bouquets are a symbol of memories -- remember the past on the eve of the future
• Forsythia is a symbol of anticipation -- of good things to come, hopefully!
• Sunflowers represent loyalty and good wishes

Valentines

• Pink roses mean perfect happiness
• Stephanotis represents marital bliss!
• A single, full bloom rose is a symbol of mature love, no matter what the ages of the couple
• Magenta zinnia also represents lasting affection
• Giving primrose flower bouquets tells a person that you can't live without them

Six Sweet New Baby Flower Bouquets

Aside from trying to make up to your wife after you forgot an anniversary, the arrival of a new baby is one of the most common excuses to send gorgeous fresh flowers! The little bundle's skin is rose-petal-soft … their toes furl like green tendrils, and some of the time they have the same gorgeous perfume. Yes, only some of the time! Today we are celebrating new babies through flowers, and looking at our favorite online flowerbaskets for new arrivals.

We love this Blue Horizons online flower bouquet because of the strong colors -- flowers can be seen as a feminine gift, so if you want to celebrate the little boy and treat his Mom at the same time, this is the way to do it! It's a mid-range bouquet, and while the greenery is quite long lasting the lilies and irises are a little softer -- order it when you know they'll be arriving home!

This flower bouquet is presented in a sweet glass baby block, which makes for a handy way to keep hospital keepsakes together, like birth tags, cord clips and first photos. It is made up of delphiniums, tulips and carnations, and you can get both the block and the flowers in a pink selection as well as blue.

The flowers won’t last forever, but the bear will be an adorable reminder of their beauty! This online flower bouquet includes chrysanthemums, roses and asters, arranged in a gorgeous, flowing way. It is big on looks, but little in the price department -- one of the most affordable new baby bouquets available.

Another way to keep the memory of the flowers long after they have gone from the vase, the cute, sturdy and lovable wooden elephant doubles as a toy for the baby later on. The bouquet utilizes white roses, white button spray chrysanthemums and assorted greenery. You can get the elephant in blue also.

Are you ordering flowers before you know the gender of the baby? The Sunny Smiles bouquet is a great alternative to the usual pink and blue. The bright yellow tones in this online flower bouquet provide inspiration, energy and notes of sunshine when it is needed most … on first sleepless nights and in a hospital bed.

After the Flowers Have Gone: How to Make a Rose Facial Mask

Fresh flowers are such a treat -- but while there are a few things you can do to extend the life of your cut flowers, they always seem to come and go so quickly! If you've recently received a bunch of roses, or roses among your fresh flowers, look at ways to keep enjoying their heavenly perfume and gorgeous softness beyond when they start withering. Here's how to make and enjoy different formulations of rose petal facial masks for different skin types.

Rose petal, oatmeal and honey facial mask

Blend 1/8 cup of rose petals with 1/3 cup of oatmeal, 4 tablespoons of honey and a teaspoon of rose water. Clean your face before applying the mask -- spread it over your face and neck, and relax for half an hour. It will wash off with warm water. This will make enough for several masks, and you'll need to store the rest of the mixture in the fridge and use it within a couple of weeks. Not only have your fresh flowersbeautified your home, but they've beautified you also!

Rose petal, strawberry and yogurt mask

Rose petals make for a soothing addition to this quite astringent mask. Add 1/8 cup of rose petals to 1/4 cup of strawberries and 1/4 cup of either natural yogurt or sour cream. Use fresh strawberries -- they have many more active compounds than frozen ones do. Wash this off after fifteen minutes.

Banana, rose, honey and lemon mask

Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? Fresh flowers like rose petals have also been added to food for centuries. This facial mask uses 1 banana, a tablespoon of honey, a few drops of orange or lemon juice and 1/8 cup of rose petals.

You'll notice that most of the facial mask recipes call for only 1/8 cup of petals. This means that one flower delivery bunch can make quite a few different masks! Mix up the recipes and share them out among your friends -- spread the love, just like your fresh flowers did in the first place.