Kangaroo Paws

For those who are following our Design Contest, We Have A Winner! We will show her to you next week when she is ready for her photo op!

With so many flowers to choose from to feature, this week i thought i would go out on a limb and choose the Kangaroo Paw.  (Anigozanthos manglesii), (Anigozanthos flavidus), (Macropidia fuliginosa) or Mangle's 

The flowers are native to Australia and their strong stems make a perfect perch for birds. The blossoms come in a few colors and are fuzzy to the touch. In a vase of clean water, they will last up to 2 weeks. I like to use them in more structured designs. Their unique shapes compliment basket and tray designs. Remember to follow the flow of the stem.

Featured this week at the store. Come in for a few stems, your kids will love the unique texture and shape. Besides, how often do you have Kangaroo Paws on your table!

The Design Challenge

So, over the weekend i delivered a flower arrangement to a woman who loved flowers. it was easy to conclude based on the fact that her husband was sending the bouquet i was delivering and when i approached their home, blooms filled her garden and there were several bouquets in her home. She was excited as ever to receiver her delivery and as she took the bouquet from my hands, i could see a self designed vase of flowers behind her in the foyer.

The actual vase was pretty traditional. i am sure most everyone has gotten a similar one from any florist including Chantilly. towering out of the top were several stems of flowers from a grocer's bouquet. the design was such that if a cross breeze came by, it would easily topple over. the few stems of baker fern that was included in the bunch was huge and gave the impression of wings! i laughed to myself thinking of the seminar i gave at Gardner's Day for Zwingly Church a few months ago. This avid lover of flowers needed a much needed flower design intervention!

This week, instead of the secret answer to the question of the week, how about a design challenge! i will give you a few tips and then you can submit a photo of your design and i will choose a winner. The prize awarded will be a $50 bouquet of Fresh Flowers!

To begin, there are seven PRINCIPLES OF FLORAL DESIGN. (composition, unity, proportion, accent, balance, harmony and rhythm) These principles are a constant, underlying ingredient in every floral design. The interpretative components used by designers to create distinctive floral designs are call ELEMENTS OF DESIGN. (line, form, space, texture and color) We will visit each of these in the upcoming weeks. For now, we will focus on proportion.

For creating a proportioned design, measure the vessel by its widest part; height or width. If your vase is taller than wide, use the height as the measure and your design (in traditional standards) should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the height of the container. A wider or horizontal design employs this same guideline using the container's length as a measurement.

Using this tip, choose your flower, container and get to work! This week, Chantilly is featuring local sunflowers, 5 stems for $5.99. this would be perfect for your challenge because sunflowers are easy to design with. you can use foam or just a clean vase as your vessel.

you can email me at charles.chantilly@verizon.net if you have any questions!  I will pick the winner next week so you have a little time.  Good luck!

Since this post, i have had several questions so we will continue the challenge until August 31! a few of you, no names, needed a little more time! 

Choose your container, select your flowers, and follow my instructions for proportion. when you are finished, take a picture and send it over to charles.chantilly@verizon.net.

See You At The Shop!

Charles

Coxcomb - Hungry Anyone?

As we move towards the end of summer (my favorite time of year) a variety of local crops become available to us. Some farms are not far from the store, some are in Jersey, and many can be found up and down the coastline. Regardless, local product becomes more available and one of my favorites is Coxcomb or Celosia (Celosia cristata). If you venture to the farmers market, you will see an array of colors and textures. As we move into September, dried coxcomb enters the market for wreath decorations and wall hangings. It is easy to dry Coxcomb by simply hanging it upside down in a well ventilated area. Once dried, you can minimize dropping with a little hair spray.

What i find interesting about Coxcomb is that in many places, Celosia is a grown as a nutritious leafy green vegetable served as traditional fare for countries such as Central and West Africa. In Nigeria, they call it "soko yokoto" which means "makes husbands fat and happy".

Since i am already there, i am not compelled to try it! i think i'll just stick with design. Anyway, we are featuring Celsoia this week starting Wednesday. i hope you get a chance to stop in!

See you at the Shop!

Charles

Gladiolas

Every day we have flower related discussions with our customers at the shop. Many times our conversations are held in front of our flower cooler. Our customers graze their visual senses at the many varieties and colors on display and then stop at the tall bucket of Gladiola blooms and confess their feelings about how these majestic blossoms remind them of funerals. Although it is true that Gladiolas are generally present at memorials, they have so much more to offer than just condolences.

Gladiolas have their origions from Africa. Gladiolus, comes from the Latin word gladius meaning "a sword". Although many people think they are related to the lily family, they are not. Surprisingly, Gladiolas are related to the Iris family. One look comparing Iris and Gladiola foliage and you too will be convinced on the relationship. Some of the best Gladiolas we get in, come from Florida. They are shipped to us overnight barely showing any petals or colors. Gladiolas are sensitive to fluoride in the water.  If you ever noticed a brown or "burn" tip of the leaf, that is the effect of the fluoride. The fluoride will not shorten their life but eventually you wont even notice once the blossoms begin to unfold. Gladiolas are also geotropic in that they bend away from gravity. Thus, they are best used in a vertical vase design to prevent the spike tips from curling up. Make sure the vessel you choose holds plenty of water because Gladiolas consume volumes of water. Using a clean knife, angle your cut and carefully place them in your vase. (go to care and handling for more instructions)

For those of you who have tall ceilings at home or office, try a vase of just Gladiolas. They have a vase life of 7-14 days (depending on the temperature of the environment) and the volume of color they give is just magnificent. We generally snap off the very tip to encourage the other blooms to open. They offer a warm grand display for you and your guests at entrance ways, half walls and kitchen islands. It is a different style you may be used to but i guarantee you will love it as much as we do.


See you at the shop, the view is great!

Charles
Chantilly Floral

Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Nature never ceases to amaze me. This week we are featuring sunflowers. Sunflowers are native to the Americas.  Thus, our Sunflowers are brought in from local farmers, crops in California and even some farms in South America. It all depends on availability. However, what I find most interesting about Sunflowers is that they can be used in phytoremediation to naturally extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. Sunflowers were used to remove contaminates from a nearby pond after the Chernobyl disaster and are also being used in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

It is funny how many commercial farmers growing commodity crops, discard the Sunflower as just a weed and yet it can be so important to help in environmental recovery efforts.

Look for our special this week....... Sunflowers

Charles
Chantilly Floral

Alstroemeria- did you know?

Alstroemeria or Peruvian Lily, are probably one of the most popular flowers for our customers. The customers at Chantilly Floral seem to like ther lasting capabilities, colors and textures.  But did you know, perhaps the most fascinating- and telltale- morphological trait of Alstroemeria and its relatives is the fact that the leaves are resupinate, that is, they twist from the base so that what appears to be the upper leaf surface is in fact the lower leaf surface. This very unusual botanical feature is easily observed in the leaves on cut flowers. Stop in and we will show this very unique distiction.

Wednesday we are featuring Alstroemeria as a special in the floral department at Chantilly. We have chosen a very specific farm in South America to send us the supply for our feature this week and we hope you will stop in and try a bunch or two. When I bring them home, I generally choose a lower vase. That way, as the flowers open, they slowly fill the vessel upon bloom expansion. Follow our guidlines for flower care and do not be surprised if your alstroemeria last more than two weeks! Maybe, they will become your favorites too!


See you at the store!

Charles

Featured This Week...Chrysanthemum

This week we are featuring Green Spider Chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums originated in China and migrated early in the 8th century AD to Japan. There is a national "festival of happiness" in Japan dedicated to the flower. Today, the Chrysanthemum is cultivated year-round in Holland and South America. The Green Spider Chrysanthemums we are featuring this week are imported from Columbia. We enjoy them because they are a strong cut flower which travels extremely well and has superb keeping qualities. As with many flowers, the best care is using a sharp knife to cut the stems after you prepare a clean vase of warm water with preservative.

Try mixing these in a vase with some clippings from your garden. I know my wife likes to use foliage from our peony bush to a vase of flowers from the store. Enjoy the week with a buch of Green Spider Chrysanthemums!

Charles
Chantilly Floral Boutique