Mistletoe, or Phoradendrum Seritonum, has been a symbol of love and fertility for thousands of years, having once been used in Druid ceremonies and then evolving into “kissing balls” in 18th century England - under the mistletoe kissing ball, it was bad luck for a lady to refuse a gentleman’s kiss.* While we don’t advocate forcing your object of affection to kiss you under the threat of a years’ worth of bad luck, hanging mistletoe in doorways is a long-standing tradition. Tack sprigs of it outside your front door on New Years’ Eve to welcome the new year and guard against evil spirits like the Celts, or hang it above a newborn baby’s crib to prevent fairies from snatching him and putting a changeling in his place – new holiday mamas take note!
Thank you to member Ovando for this delightful Thanksgiving greeting!
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Me oh my, Thanksgiving is but a week away. We certainly appreciate longstanding traditions just as much as the next designer, but who’s to say that you can’t dress up your décor with a more modern spin?
Less really can be more: Warm colors will never go out of style for the fall season. You can easily offer more modernist appeal by working with fashioned, multi-stem arrangements. Succulent Beauty Mark, featuring swooping callas and our signature succulents, is the quintessential contemporary design for Thanksgiving. Delicately bold, endlessly elegant, and sure to be admired by all of your dinner guests.
Trick or Treat!! As Halloween approaches, beware the goblins lurking … in some of the more unique flowering plants out there!
The Titan Arum, which grows in the rainforests of Sumatra, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
Due to its odor, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the “corpse flower”, or “corpse plant”.
A native to Northern California and Oregon, the Cobra Lily was discovered in 1841 by the botanist William D. Brackenridge at Mount Shasta.
This plant is designated as uncommon due to its rarity in the field. A carnivorous plant, it is also called the California Pitcher plant, or Cobra Plant, and it is the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae.
The name Cobra Lily stems from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra, complete with a forked leaf—ranging from yellow to purplish-green—that resemble fangs or a serpent’s tongue.
The genus Tacca, which includes Bat flowers and Arrowroot, consists of ten species of flowering plants in the order Dioscoreales, native to tropical regions of Africa, Australia, and south-eastern Asia.
Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants for their bold foliage and large flowers. The well-known T. chantrieri goes by the names of Black Bat Flower, Bat-head Lily, Devil Flower or Cat’s Whiskers. Tacca integrifolia is known as the Purple or White Bat Flower.
References include Wikipedia and the Daily Mail Reporter-UK
100 customers who spent $100 on flowers (exclusive of delivery & fees) received our fall season customer appreciation package :
a one year subscription to flowermagazine. Learn techniques from top designers, be inspired by floral decor, and infuse your lifestyle with chic floral fashion.
one year of insider access to Global Black Bookfor selected travel, lifestyle and connection partnerships worldwide. Where to stay, how to get there, and what to do there.
Keep an eye out for future offers! We appreciate our customers!
Thank you for a wonderful Mother’s Day week. Please note this offer expired on Monday, May 2nd.
For a limited time, we are excited to offer customers who place a Mother’s Day order with a value over $150, a complimentary annual subscription to flower, the nation’s only floral lifestyle magazine.
If you do not wish to receive the magazine, or prefer it to go to your recipient, please mention this in the ‘Order Description’ section of your order form.
Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons).
In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, inclusively. The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.
Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian Calendar. Due to the 13 day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, March 21 corresponds, during the 21st century, to the 3rd of April in the Gregorian Calendar. Easter therefore varies between April 4 and May 8 on the Gregorian calendar (The Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate). Among the Oriental Orthodox some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter as for other fixed and moveable feasts is the same as in the Western church.
But, this year, Sunday, April 24th is Easter for Protestants, Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians alike!
For information on how the Easter Bunny got involved….! Please see : wikipedia.org.
Every year, the fourteenth day of the month of February has millions across the world presenting their loved ones with candy, flowers, chocolates and other lovely gifts. The reason behind all of this is a kindly cleric named Valentine who died more than a thousand years ago.
The modern St. Valentine’s Day celebrations are said to have been derived from both ancient Christian and Roman tradition. As per one legend, the holiday has originated from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalis/Lupercalia, a fertility celebration that used to be observed annually on February 15. But in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius turned Lupercalia into a Christian feast day and set its observance a day earlier, on February 14. He proclaimed February 14 to be the feast day in honor of Saint Valentine, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century. It is this St. Valentine whom the modern Valentine’s Day honors.
Most scholars believe that this St. Valentine was a priest who lived around 270 AD in Rome and attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II who ruled during this time.
The story of St. Valentine has two different versions – the Protestant and the Catholic one. Both versions agree upon Saint Valentine being a bishop who held secret marriage ceremonies of soldiers in opposition to Claudius II who had prohibited marriage for young men and was executed by the latter.
During the lifetime of Valentine, the golden era of Roman Empire had almost come to an end. The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. He believed that marriage made the men weak. So he issued an edict forbidding marriage to assure quality soldiers.
The kindly bishop Valentine realized the injustice of the decree. He saw the trauma of young lovers who gave up all hopes of being united in marriage. He planned to counter the monarch’s orders in secrecy. Whenever lovers thought of marrying, they went to Valentine who met them afterwards in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. And thus he secretly performed many marriages for young lovers. But such things cannot remain hidden for long. It was only a matter of time before Claudius came to know of this “friend of lovers,” and had Valentine arrested.
When Claudius II met Valentine, he was said to have been impressed by the dignity and conviction of the latter. However, Valentine refused to agree with the emperor regarding the ban on marriage. It is also said that the emperor tried to convert Valentine to the Roman gods but was unsuccessful in his efforts. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. This angered Claudius II who gave the order of execution of Valentine.
Meanwhile, a deep friendship had been formed between Valentine and his jailor Asterius’ daughter. It caused great grief to the young girl to hear of her friend’s imminent death. It is said that just before his execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that lived ever after. The most plausible story surrounding St. Valentine is one not centered on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion. Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270 AD.
Thus 14th February became a day for all lovers and Valentine became its Patron Saint. It began to be annually observed by young Romans who offered handwritten greetings of affection, known as Valentines, on this day to the women they admired. With the coming of Christianity, the day came to be known as St. Valentine’s Day.
Member Compositions shared some lovely pictures of downtown Portland. Seems the locals have definitely gotten into the Holiday mood with beautiful trees and hanging lights. Scroll down a little further in their blog for festive Holiday beverage recipes. Yum!!
