Company Flowers

What's Meant by "Upscale" flowers?

	Most of the flowers used by Company Flowers designers come from Holland and/or California. Some roses come from South American countries, thanks to the frequent afternoon clouds protecting roses from the too-hot direct sun. The wholesale marketplace at Allsmeer, next to the airport at Amsterdam, processes more than a third of all the world's flowers each day. Our wholesale buyer bids for and packs up flowers from everywhere -- Israel, South Africa, Holland of course, and even New Zealand! Shipped by air (with the clock)to our local wholesaler who processes them through customs and delivers our flowers often only 40-48 hours after they've been harvested from the mechanized growers. Here's a sample of the flowers we use:

IRIS -While available

year-round,iris doesn't like to be in designs for very long.

TULIPS -Friend of all florists, tulips are not available except in Spring.

GERBERA -The boldest flower, the gerbera daisy now

comes in all colors.

ANTHERIUM - A

tropical, there are now boldly different

varieties available.

FUGI MUM - The

feathery big blossom lasts a long time but is visually dominant.

ROSES-Wide-open "field" roses, like red topped white body

ones above, are grown to present maximum color and last often longer (if not cooked!) than the tight-bud rose.

MARIGOLD-For gardeners, mari-golds are as much a joy as for florists, except the stems aren't usually long enough for better designs. Their buds

are dramatic, too!

PINKS-When massed together, above, the colorful dianthus (or car-nation) create an interesting texture of color often to frame one or two "stellar" blossoms.

PROTEA- Grown in humid zones like Hawaii, the broad class of pro-tea provide excellent fare for florists. This variety has broad vivid leaves; others display their remarkable centers with hairy gold stamen.

A ROSE-Romantically a tight-bud rose tricks people into believing it'll open, like a field rose. Actually, many tight buds are just the center part of a rose where the outer bracts have been removed!

These pictures,and more, come from

www.flowercouncil.org/uk/plantscope/

A note about lilies -- Many customers ask for 'lilies" without realizing there are three classes -- Asiatic, Oriental, and Longiflorum -- with many variations of colors, shapes, seasons, scarcity, etc. Specifing one variety is helpful to convey what's preferred, but the variety may not be available, so using a "glossary" has limited helpfulness. The recommended source is www.bulb.com/glossaries/lily/longiflorum.asp