Sunday, April 17, 2011

Great Flower Garden Design - Choosing Wildflowers Over The Regular Kind of Flowers



Does the image of a garden that's completely overrun with beautiful flowers gaily springing up from every corner strike you as some version of paradise on earth? If only you could learn to create a flower garden design that could answer to that description. You can now, learning with these tips on creating flower garden design with wildflowers.

Where do you find wildflowers normally? They are usually flowers that resiliently grow by the side of roads, in cracks and spaces on sidewalks, in open spaces - taking up whatever space they can. Planting wildflowers in your own garden, they'll normally look best if you use them the way they normally turn up in the wild. If you could use a line of wildflowers in your garden to form a natural looking border right next to the perimeter of your property, you would create a pretty happy-looking effect. Most garden parimeters are lined with bare earth or utility boxes. With flowers that grow into every little nook on the borders of your garden, you can create a heavenly effect.

One of the best ways to go about wild flower garden design is to re-create in your space, the very way that wildflowers are out on an open meadow. And there is one unexpected incidental benefit to it too. You don't have to maintain a wildflower garden the way you would a grassy lawn and other garden designs. Wildflower gardens are supposed to look beautiful just the way they naturally are. Since there are flowers everywhere in such a flower garden design, the bare spots are usually well hidden, and there is little maintenance to always weigh on you.

So how and when do you plant to your wildflower garden? Wildflowers take about two months to take root and grow properly. In areas that suffer through really cold winters, planting early in the spring, say in April, you should have great bunches of flowers and splashes of color in your garden before summer starts. You could also seed your garden shortly before winter, around autumn. The seeds will lie in the soil all winter and sprout first thing in spring all by themselves. In a garden that receives lots of sunshine, go for black-eyed susans . In the shade, forget-me-nots work best. You'll find all the seeds you'll ever need for your wildflower garden at any garden center. Remember to buy seeds that are local to the area. They are likely to take better.


Saturday, April 2, 2011

Scented Geraniums for Your Flower Shop

Scented geraniums can be a wonderful addition to your shop inventory. They are fragrant, unusual, and a good conversation starter with which you can talk to your customers. If you have something different in your store, it will cause a word of mouth reaction and bring in new and repeat patrons.

It is interesting to know that most geraniums came from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Geraniums remained unknown until the English were given savvy to them by Africa in about the 1600’s. They did not come into vogue until the 1800’s when the French took interest in the scented geraniums as possibilities for their perfumes. French perfumeries saw the value of scented geraniums for their aromatic potential; especially the rose-scented geranium. This plant was distilled for the delightful light rose scent. A charming note is the Victorians, whether the potted plants were placed indoors or out, were positioned so that when the ladies walked by with their long dresses, and as they walked passed the scented geraniums, they would brush against the geraniums and thus release the tantalizing fragrance into the air.

Scented geraniums are easy to grow in indoors in pots in the winter. They also grow splendidly in the outdoor garden during the summer months. They will freeze if left out doors during the winter. It is a great joy to have geraniums of all kinds on the windowsill during the dark, chilly winter months. They will bloom abundantly all winter. The scented geraniums do like a light fertilizing from time to time. You will see a difference in the color of the leaves and in the abundance of blooms. Just be careful and do not over do with fertilizer. Keep the fertilizer a diluted mixture. The leaves of the plants offer fragrant material for potpourri. Nosegays, which were once popular during the Victorian era, are making a comeback today. Geranium leaves are a nice addition to nosegays.

Geraniums propagate quite easily. Take cuttings of about 6’ from healthy plants. Place the cuttings in very moist sand. They root nicely in sand. You can root in water as well, but moist sand is the preferred method. You might put a plastic bag over the cuttings to add extra moisture, emulating a greenhouse effect. Once the cuttings have substantial roots, plant the cutting in their own pot. Clay pots are trendy, as well as classic for geraniums. Fertilize, once again very lightly, and place in a bright sunny place, but not too hot.

When shopping for scented geranium plants rub the leaves lightly between your fingers to release and test the aroma of the plant. Make sure the plants are a healthy dark green and the plants are not leggy and spindly. Scented geraniums are used for aromatherapy, cosmetic uses, culinary uses, and medicinal purposes, especially with the skin. 

Diseases and pests do sometimes plague scented geraniums. To control, lightly wash with warm, mild detergent solution to wash off common pests such as white flies, spider mites, and mealy bugs. Inspect plants often to catch problems early on so the pests can be quickly fixed before infestation becomes too badly. If plants become too infested I usually just toss them as to not jeopardize my whole collection.






Saturday, March 19, 2011

You May Have to Swim the Moat to Get Your Flower Shop Opened

I heard someone say the other day, "That if you want to get to the castle, you have to swim the moat." That has stuck with me ever since I heard it, and I have been pondering the statement according to my own life.  Think about it. "You have to swim the moat to get to the castle." I can paraphrase it by saying several different things. One, get out there and fight the fight, fake it 'till you make it, etc. 

So you have decided to open your flower shop. Great!! Now you must get busy. Tasks that will come up may seem hard, but take it one activity at a time. Do not overwhelm yourself. I know you are excited and probably wish everything was all completed and it was opening day. Well, that day will come soon enough. I remember fondly of planning and starting my flower shop. It was some of the most exciting and most happy times. The possibilities were all before me.

So get out there and swim the moat and get your flower shop. Start by making some lists. Examples would be a how to get financed list and an inventory to purchase list. Make a wholesaler list and begin to contact them. Get to know your wholesalers. You may want to make a gift show list and plan to start attending the gift shows so you can see what products are hot; learn the newest trends.

If you want to get to the castle, you have to swim the moat. Begin now. Take a piece of paper. At the top of the paper draw a "castle" on it, or a flower shop or fields of flowers or anything you want to metaphorically speak for "the castle". Under it draw a fairly big circle, big enough in which to write. Embellish this basic form any way you want, or not at all. If you are a creative person you may want to decorate it or draw on it. Make 20 or so photocopies to begin. 

Each day, take one of these sheets. Ask yourself questions such as, what is it I have to do today to get my flower shop opened? What is it I have to do today that is difficult?" Is there a phone call I do not want to make, but I should get it out of the way first thing so the rest of the day is easier? Do you have a difficult meeting, maybe with a banker that you would prefer you did not have to attend? Do you have to spend money that you wish you did not to achieve your outcome and that is making you nervous? Whatever it is, write it in "the moat", the circle. Be sure to cross it off as you finish the task. 

You are swimming the moat. You are fighting the fight, step by step. You are step by step getting your dream flower shop opened. Eventually, you will achieve your goal, get your castle. Just take it day by day, step by step. As they say, inch by inch, anything is a cinch. Save these papers. It can serve as a sort of diary for you to look back upon. Be sure and date each page. It can show you how you got to where you wanted to be; designing flowers all day and making people smile for a living. And I just have to add from “Little Nemo”, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. I could not resist!!