Wednesday 28 November 2012

Poinsettia - The Origin



The Poinsettia, known internationally as the flower of Christmas, originated in Mexico, with the Aztecs first calling it a “cuetlaxochitl,” which means "mortal flower that perishes and withers like all that is pure.” A Mexican legend states that, long ago, the people liked to bring flowers to fill up Christ’s manger. However there was a poor, young boy who was unable to afford flowers.  An angel appeared to him and instructed him to pick some weeds from the side of the road. When he put them in the manger, they turned into gorgeous red flowers, which became known as “Flor de Noche Buena”- the flower of Christmas Eve.

The name poinsettia comes from Dr Joel Robert Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico in 1825. When his duties were complete four years later, Dr Poinsett brought the flower back to the United States, where he began to grow them in his greenhouse. By 1836 they had become widely popular across the south, where they then became known as Poinsettias, in his honour.

Dec. 12 is celebrated in the United States as National Poinsettia Day.


Poinsettias are members of the Euphorbiaceae Family. There are over 7,500 different plants that make up this large plant family, from the low-growing garden weeds known as spurges to the Candelabra Tree (Euphorbia ingens), of South Africa. The poinsettia was given the name Euphorbia pulcherrima by the German botanist, Karl Ludwig, literally being translated as “the most beautiful euphorbia.” In their natural wild setting, poinsettias are perennial flowering shrubs that can grow between 10 and 15 feet tall, becoming troublesome weeds. The actual flowers of the poinsettia are fairly small. What most people see and call the flower are actually colourful modified leaves known as bracts. The colourful bracts begin their annual show from late October – January.

Red is the original and most common colour; however there are over 100 variants. Ranging from white, to “Ice Punch” the newly developed colour that was created in 2006 by Ecke Ranch, as pictured on the bottom left.
         

Friday 19 October 2012

The Wintery Wonders of Amaryllis


Amaryllis
The genus name Amaryllis comes from the Greek word "amarysso," which means "to sparkle." In Vergil's Eclogues, Amaryllis was the name of a shepherdess who shed her own blood to prove her true love and, in doing so, inspired the naming of this bright red flower.

  There are two species of Amaryllis; however, the better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna. The botanical name for this flower, which is Hippeastrum spp, is a native of South America.  These flowers are typically large and trumpet shaped, with stems ranging from 18-30 inches long. Their colours vary from bold reds and oranges to white and pale pinks.  Modern hybrids of Amaryllis flowers are called Giant Amaryllis flowers or the Royal Dutch amaryllis flowers. The flowers size and ease with which it can be grown has increased the popularity of the flower worldwide.

Amaryllis performs best when grown under warm (70 to 75 F) temperatures for 9 to 10 months to promote flowering and vegetative growth, followed by 2 to 3 months of either cool dry storage or cool growing conditions. Of all flowering bulbs, amaryllis are the easiest to bring to bloom. They tend to have a vase life of approximately 10 days depending on the temperature.  Generally they are available from September to May.


Elizabeth Marsh’s Amaryllis tips
Fortunately, Amaryllis are typically very easy to look after; however to keep them looking their best follow the below tips!
·         Trim the ends half an inch from the end
·         Place them in a vase that will support the stem as this can go soft as the flowers mature and open
·         Be aware that the warmer the temperature they are kept in, the faster they will open
·         Remove the sepals as the tend to go brown and look quite ugly
·         They look very nice on their own with grass, as you can see from one of our own designs – the red amaryllis pictured at the top
·         For a more traditional look, you can team them with roses

Monday 24 September 2012

Phlox Flower - it's meaning, growing conditions and source


                                   Phlox Flowers


 Gardeners have always enjoyed  phlox. The colours are wonderful, the evening scent is captivating, they are easy to grow .
      Here is an old fashioned annual flower, that deserves more recognition than it gets. The large clusters of flowers are very showy on compact plants. Compact is an understatement, as these plants grow only 6-18 inches tall. The most common Phlox is annual. There are also perennial varieties.
Despite their small size, Phlox make good cut flowers, and are great in containers or window boxes. A native of North America, the jewel-like flowers grow in clusters at the top of the stems. These bright colored blossoms include shades of red, purple, scarlet, yellow, and white, some with a flirty eye.
         
The meaning and source of the name: The word ‘phlox’ derives from the Greek for ‘flame’, the meaning of phlox is ‘Sweet dreams’, ‘harmony’.

Propagation:
      Phlox are grown from seeds. Phlox seeds can be directly seeded into your flower garden or seeded indoors for transplanting later. For spring blooms, start indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost. Young seedlings will transplant well into their permanent home.
Sow Phlox seeds early in the season and cover lightly with 1/8" of fine garden or potting soil. Water thoroughly once.
Transplant Phlox into your garden after the last frost date for your area. Space them 8-10" apart. They will tolerate a little crowding. They will look great filling in a flowerbed, or as a border edging.

      
How to Grow Phlox Plants:
    Phlox like full sun. They prefer rich, loose soil that drains well. Add a general purpose fertilizer when planting them, then once a month after that.
Once your Phlox plants are established, they should grow well with few problems. Keep the soil moist to slightly dry. Water them during dry periods, once or twice per week. Keep them well weeded, or apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch for a tidy appearance. Pinch back tall stems to promote a bushier appearance.
Tip: Remove spent blooms to promote additional blooms and extend the blooming period all summer long, and right up to the first killing frost. This will also keep the appearance neat and beautiful.
Phlox are hardy annuals. They will often survive the first few light frosts. They will not survive a hard frost or freeze.



   
 

Thursday 30 August 2012

Top Wedding Tips

When choosing your wedding dress and flowers you might like to think about the colours that will suit your complexion.  Those with a sallow complexion suit stronger, blue –based colours and pure white rather than ivory, whilst red heads should avoid white and choose ivory or cream instead.  Red is a colour that suits every complexion so it is always  suitable and really warms up a Winter wedding.  
this bride will certainly stand out but for the right reasons!

Tuesday 14 August 2012

The Sunflower

Helen Keller - "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do."

    Sunflowers are annual plants that are native to the Americas. Their stems can grow to more than 10 feet high, and their flower heads can reach nearly 12 inches in diameter. The scientific name for sunflowers is Helianthus annus. More than sixty different varieties of sunflowers can be found around the world. Out of these, the most common one is bright yellow in colour, with a dark brown centre filled with seeds. The others include those in shades of orange, red, maroon and tan. Some varieties also have striped petals.
The head of the sunflower is not one flower; it is a head that contains many small flowers that are packed together tightly. The outer florets on the head, called ray florets, can be orange, maroon, yellow, or other colours. The florets inside the head are called disc florets. Many people call the disc florets sunflower seeds, though they are truly not seeds but the plant's fruit.
The first evidence of domestication of the sunflower as a crop comes from the region called Mesoamerica, as early as 2600 B.C. It has been found that the natives of this region consumed the seeds of the sunflower plant as they were rich in calcium. The first European recorded to encounter the sunflower is Francisco Pizarro when he travelled to Peru. The Incas, the Otomi and Aztecs used the flower as the symbol of their sun god. By the 16th century, sunflower seeds were being shipped into Europe, as well as gold figurines of the flower. Sunflower oil became popular during the 18th century, especially among the Russian Orthodox Church, because it was a type of oil that was not prohibited from being used during Lent.                                                                
Commercial planters plant the seeds 1.5 feet apart and to a depth of one inch. Sunflowers grow best in full sun in well-drained soil rich with organic matter such as mulch. Home growers can plant them as they wish, either as individual plants or in groups.
    Sunflowers have always fascinated the creative minds throughout the world. We have all sorts of poetry, prose, paintings, and the like, which depict and describe the sunflower in numerous different ways. The famous Dutch painter Van Gogh was so amazed by its beauty that he created two series of paintings depicting sunflowers in various contexts. Such is the magic of this wonderful creation of God, that whoever sees it once, simply falls in love with it.

                                                                             

Saturday 31 March 2012

Rhizanthella Gardneri- The Underground Orchid


There are over 25 thousands species of orchids in the world; however Rhizanthella gardneri is especially unusual. This critically endangered orchid found only in Western Australia, spends its entire growth cycle underground. Even when it flowers the blooms are several centimetres below the soil's surface.



Interestingly the orchid has only been discovered in 1928 in Western Australia by Jack Trott while he was examining a strange crack in the garden's soil and noticed a sweet smell coming from the gap in the ground. He found a small white flower which happened to be a completely new type of orchid. 


At the beginning of the rain season in autumn, the plant blooms producing a flower structure similar to a tulip. This flower head measures 2.5 to 3 cm and never emerges above ground, it only revolves the soil above it as it grows. The flower head contains up to 90 small dark red flowers. As the soil cracks appear a scent is released and spread nearby attracting flies and other small insects. Strangely, it is the first only known case of a plant that uses termites as pollinator agents.


Growing completely underneath the surface means that Rhizanthella gardneri doesn’t need sunlight and instead the orchid has evolved a parasitic relationship with the fungus and the Australian broom bush. The Fungus named "Thanatephorus gardneri" provides the orchid with mineral nutrients and sugars, while water comes from the bush named "Melaleuca uncinata"; with these ingredients the orchid creates its own food. However it is still unknown to many scientists why the orchid still has chloroplasts, cells used in photosynthesis. It has the fewest chloroplast genes found in any plant, and they are genes that are not involved in photosynthesis.


 T
he Rhizanthella gardneri is extremely rare; there are only fifty known plants in the wild, in five secret locations in Western Australia. The orchids are even difficult for informed scientists to find. It often takes hours of searching under shrubs to find just one underground bloom. It is widely agreed that rapid development of agriculture and droughts are the main causes if the reduced population of Rhizanthella gardneri. 










Tuesday 7 February 2012