Amaryllis - Houseplant of the Month

Every month The Flower Council of Holland choose a Houseplant of the Month and for December 2017 it's the Amaryllis.

All these colourful and seasonal images are from The Joy of Plants.

Here is also a link to The Flower Council of Holland with lots of information about how to use and how to take care of Amaryllis.

Have a happy floral day!

Houseplant of the Month - Pure Green Plants

Every month The Flower Council of Holland feature a different houseplant with details about the plant such as origin, different species and cultivars. You'll also find lots of advice on how to look after the plants.

Its October and time for another interesting Houseplant of the Month and this month it's all about pure Green Plants.

The interior shop West Elm,Tottenham Court Road, London branch is continuing to feature The Flower Council of Holland monthly houseplants. Here is a link if you want to have a look at what they have created using all green plants.
    







[Images from The Joy of Plants and The Flower Council of Holland.]

Houseplant of the Month - Alocasia - A Tropical Superstar

Houseplants and botanicals are very trendy and has become more and more important to a lot of people. Creating space for green plants in in your home is beneficial in several ways. 

How do you start building a collection of houseplants? What should you buy if you don't know anything about the plants or how to look after them?

Read on and I will pass on some inspirational tips. 

I grew up with a grandmother, mother, aunts and other relatives and friends who had houseplants on window sills, tables and on little plant stands in the corners. 

One relative would proudly tell anybody who wanted to listen that she had 100 houseplants. That was not very popular with the person that was asked to look after her plants when she went on holiday! 

Obviously over the years I learned a lot about how to look after houseplants and had a few myself. 

Later on when I started traveling and lived in different countries - having houseplants was out of the question. When we started having children - houseplants was not really on the agenda.

Very few houseplants from then on found their way into our house. A few plants given as gifts quickly died but others did survive. I have one that is still going after 25 years!

If you follow me on Instagram you'll might have noticed that more and more of my images has been of houseplants. Well, I will admit that quite a few new plants has found their way into our home lately..........! 

The houseplants you can buy today, many are quite different, compared with those early days back in Sweden. But even back then we all had big Monstera and rubber plants. 

Every month The Flower Council of Holland feature a different houseplant with details about the plant such as origin, different species and cultivars. You'll also find lots of advice on how to look after the plants.



They also feature lots of images showing how to display the plants in your home.

From this month, September 2017 till December, West Elm London store in Tottenham Court Road will display a different houseplant in their windows. 

This month it's Alocasia, in October it will be a selection of Green Plants, in November it will be Cyclamen and in December the plant will be Amaryllis.

Start with one or two plants and see how you get on. Before buying any figure out where you are going to put them. Plants need light, water, air and the right temperature as well as feeding during the growing season.

The trick is to find the perfect place with the perfect light level and temperature for each plant. Then the next trick is to give it the right amount of water - more houseplants are killed by overwatering than underwatering.

Embrace the green trend and above all enjoy! 

Images: The Flower Council of Holland  
  

Floral Media - Flower Agenda - week 9-12 - Freesia

I'm back this month with another 'Flower Agenda' - where the Flower Council of Holland feature a special cut flower every month. This month it's all about the Freesia.

Freesia was first found in South Africa where the flower is called 'Cape-lily-of-the-valley'. It was given it's name by the South African botanist Ecklon in 1830. He named it after his friend Dr Friedrich Freese. 

The freesia are grown from tubers and they come as single or double flowers. It also comes in a wide variety of colours - white, yellow, orange, red, blue, pink and purple - as well as bi-coloured and multi-coloured. Many varieties have a beautiful sweet scent and they carry on growing in the vase. 

Here are some care tips: 

- Use a clean vase and fill it with water at room temperature.

- Add flower food for a longer vase life.

- Trim the stems diagonally with a pair of sharp and clean flower scissors.

- Don't place freesias in a draught, in full sun or near central heating.   

- Also don't place freesias near fruit or vegetables that emits  ethylene gas which will cause the flowers to age more rapidly.

- Remove wilted flower heads to encourage further flowering and change the water in the vase every two days. 

Traditionally a spring flower but is now available all year around and its one of the world's most popular cut flowers. 

It can be used in many different ways - in bud vases with just one or a few stems in each vase. Mixed with other flower in larger bouquets where it will provide fabulous colour and texture to the whole arrangement.

The freesia has wonderful long arching stems that gives interesting long, lovely lines and the flower buds keep opening along the stem ending at the tip in little green buds. 

I hope you have enjoyed my little feature on freesias and why not try some this season yourself. 

Have fun with your arranging and I will be back with another Flower Agenda next month - when I will be featuring Gerberas.

[All images are provided by the Flower Council of Holland.]

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous floral day!

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

For more floral inspiration follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Floral Media - Flower Agenda - week 5-8 - Rose

For the second year in a row I'll be doing the Flower Council of Holland's monthly information about cut flowers. Its called The Flower Agenda. I'll be covering 15 different flowers during 2016. Last month it was the Tulip and this month it's the Rose.

The rose goes back to Roman, Greek and Egyptian times - but was not introduced to Europe until the 16th century. 

The rose is often called the Queen of Flowers - it is available to buy twelve months of the year and is bought for all occasions from weddings, birthdays, Valentine's to funerals. 

The rose comes in many different colours and shapes - red, white, yellow, pink, purple, orange and green as well as multicoloured.  

Red roses are often associated with love - other colours have their own symbolism.

White: purity, dignity, true love.

Pink: happiness, gratitude, virtue.

Orange: longing , sympathy, longing.

Yellow: intimate friendship, solidarity  

• Look after your roses and they will last longer. 
• Remove any leaves that will end up below the water line in the vase. 
• Use a clean vase and fresh water. 
• Trim the stems with a diagonal cut. 
• Change water and re-cut stems every 2-3 days.
• Don't put roses in direct sunlight, in a drought or near any source of heat.
• Don't place roses near a bowl of fruit. 

Roses are perfect for making classic bouquets - but they can also be combined with lots of other flowers to make something less traditional.

Add lilacs, stock flowers or gerberas or like in the next two images a whole host of flowers mixed with roses to make stunning and unusual bouquets.

Have a Lovely Floral Monday!

I'll be back later in the week with more floral delights from 

Of Spring and Summer.

Ingrid

~ xoxo ~

[All images provided by The Flower Council of Holland.]

You can also find me on:

Instagram - https://instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Tulip Week - Day 2 - More Inspirational Tulips

Here are some very colourful images of tulips provided by The Flower Council of Holland as part of their promotion of cut flowers called Flower Agenda - week 1-4 it's all about tulips.

A riot of colour showing different ways of combining colourful tulips with ribbons, fabrics, wallpaper, bags and a multitude of vases and containers.

Why not be inspired by some of these new and trendy ways of displaying the flowers.

Enjoy!!

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous floral Tuesday!

I'll see you again tomorrow with Day 3 of Tulip Week. I will tell you a bit about tulips and how to look after them to make sure they last as long as possible.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Images provided by The Flower Council of Holland.]

You can also find me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson