Floristry

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The Flower Council of Holland launched their My Favourite Flower campaign with the biggest bouquet in Britain.  The enormous bouquet was made at Potters Fields in front of London’s Tower Bridge.  The Flower council tweeted that people could come and take a bunch of their favourite flowers away.

Passers-by were encouraged to give the flowers to give away to loved ones.  As research carried out by the Flower Council revealed that half of British adults have never been given flowers,  64% of men have never received flowers and 31% of women only receive their favourite flowers once a year.

The colossal bouquet stood 6 metres high and 5 metres wide, it took a team of 6 florists, 18 hours to construct.  It contained 12,000 stems of cut flowers, highlighting the UK’s top ten favourite flowers, rose, tulip, lily, orchid, freesia, calla, carnation, sunflower, delphinium and amaryllis.

My Favourite Flower camaign has a rather clever website where you can pick your favourite flowers and have the chance to win a bouquet of them.  It’s presented by more lovely boys like the ones here, who whizz round selecting the flowers you choose.   The campaign has been extended until the end of the month, so you still have some time to take part and win some flowers.

 

Images:

funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk – FlowerCouncil of Holland

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Top florist Björn Kroner created these impressive floral skulls using thousands of chrysanthemums.  The skulls were designed by fashion designer Michael Michalsky for his Style Nite at Berlin Fashion Week 2012.

Björn and his talented team used over 5600 chrysanthemums to make the skulls.  The heads were individually pinned onto the base.

The team used several types of chrysanthemum to make the skulls including single and double varieties.

Michalsky said “I think chrysanthemum is one of the most interesting flowers.  It’s not so traditional and not as burdened by meaning as other flowers are, so it’s really capable of surprising you.  I was stunned to see how many varieties are available.”

Images:

michalsky.com

FlowerCouncil of Holland

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The Leprosy Mission’s Festival of Flowers was held at Southwark Cathedral last week.  A team of 85 designers worked tirelessly, to transform tens of thousands of flowers into contemporary works of art.  Hampton Court Gold medal winner Mig Kimpton led the team of florists, the designs were based on the theme ‘transformation’.  He said “My dream and aspiration was to create something totally unique, flowers are an important part of our life – they turn a house into a home and bring a smile to the face.”

The breath-taking designs were inspired by William Shakespeare, the Olympic Stadium and the blossoming of the earth.  The innovative displays were tucked into alcoves, suspended from nave ceilings and woven into pastoral scene to take visitors on a journey of colour, perfume and imagination.

Celebrities including Sir Ian McKellen, Su Pollard and Wendy Craig were among special guests at the preview evening last Thursday.

The Leprosy Mission’s National Director Peter Walker, said he hoped the beauty of the cathedral enhanced by the magnificent floral design, would reflect The Leprosy Mission’s passion for transforming lives around the world.

For more information about the Festival of Flowers or to donate visit The Leprosy Mission website.

Images:

The Leprosy Mission

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This amazing flower carpet was on display in Brussels last week.  Grand-Place in Brussels houses a flower carpet every two years, the theme this year was The African Continent.

The carpet is made using over 600,000 begonia flowers.  Begonias are used because they are robust and resistant to bad weather and strong sunshine, which means they stay last well.  They are also available in vast range of colours from pale pastel shades to vibrant colours.

The carpet was an incredible 1800 metres square, 120 volunteers spent 48 hours making the floral tapestry.  The flowers are tightly packed, 300 per square metre, this creates a microclimate that helps keep them fresh.  The carpet was on display for five days.

The carpet was inspired by Africa’s landscapes, cultures and colours.  The flowers were combined with soil, bark, sand and pigments.  Visitors were able to view the carpet up close or enjoy a panoramic view from the Town Hall balcony.  The balcony was dressed with thousands of anthuriums, which grow in Africa.

Images:

Flower Carpet

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jane-packer-victory-bouquet-london-2012

The Olympic organisers required the Victory bouquet flowers to be grown as sustainably as possible to reduce environmental impact.  Their brief asked that the flowers and foliage used in the bouquets were all British grown, which is easier said than done.  Sadly the British cut rose industry has virtually disappeared over the years, so roses had to been specially grown for the Olympics.  The challenge was grow 20,000 best quality roses, in specific colours for a tight time scale.  As well as adhering to all the rules regarding sustainability.

longbarn-lavender-growers-hampshire

The flowers had to be grown without artificial heat, pesticide and fertilizer use were kept to a bare minimum, the flowers were to be transported from growers without energy consuming chilled units and made into bouquets locally.  This is no mean feat with the haphazard British summer we’ve been having.

wheat-from-shropshire-petals

Paul Chessum Roses grew the roses at their high tech nursery in Chichester. The target for the bouquets was 3 days ‘from plant to athlete’. Other suppliers included Langard UK who provided mint, rosemary and roses, Shropshire Petals provided the wheat, and Longbarn grew the lavender.  The flowers were made into the bouquets by florists from Jane Packer and floristry students.

paul-chessum-nursery-chichester

To complete the sustainability loop, the rose bushes need a home after completing their Olympic job.  If you’d like to own a piece of living sport history, the rose plants are available to buy and will be delivered from September onwards via yougarden.com.

I wrote about the bouquet design and the students who made the bouquets yesterday.

Images from top:

Jane Packer

Longbarn Growers & Distillers

Shropshire Petals

Chessum Roses

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