Tiger Lily is a species of true lily native to the eastern and central regions of North America.
Other names the Tiger lily goes by are, Turk’s Cap Lily, Turban Lily, Swamp lily or American Tiger Lily.
Tiger Lily grows from feet 3-7 high, typically 3-7 blooms, but exceptional specimens have been observed with up to 40 flowers on each stem. It is capable of growing in wet conditions. It is fairly variable in size, form, and color. The color is known to range from a deep yellow to orange to a reddish-orange “flame” coloring, with reddish petal tips. The flowers have a green star at their center than can be used to distinguish Lilium superbum from the Asiatic “Tigerlilies” that frequently escape from cultivation.The species ranges from New Hampshire south to Florida, and west to Missouri and Arkansas.
Lifespan, Durability and Preservation of your Wedding Flowers
Something else to consider with artificial wedding flowers is their lifespan and durability. As previously mentioned, artificial flowers last forever. They wonâ??t wilt and they wont die. You can take delivery well in advance of your wedding and you can keep them forever after as a keepsake. If stored properly, they can be kept indefinitely. This is a clear advantage for the sentimental bride who wishes to forever preserve her bridal bouquets.
Choosing artificial wedding flowers means you have a lasting reminder of your wedding day without the additional cost of wedding bouquet preservation companies who charge over the odds for this service. Floral preservation is a costly business, so why add this to your budget when artificial flowers can be kept forever as souvenir to remind you of the day?
Even when real flowers are preserved, they eventually result in brittle, dried flowers. This is a major drawback for romantic brides who wish to preserve their bouquets. Artificial flowers can be kept for years and years and they’ll still look as beautiful come your daughter’s wedding day as they looked on your own wedding day.
Moreover, they they are much more sturdy than fresh flowers and will take more abuse, for example when being carried by a young child. Thereâ??s no worry about your flower girl mishandling her bouquet or dropping your flowers. Unlike real flower bouquets, artificial bouquets are extremely durable.
To store your artificial wedding flowers before or after your big day, just wrap them in acid free tissue paper or clear florist rolls and keep them in the box they arrived in. Keep them out of direct sunlight.
Seasonal Advantages of Artificial Wedding Flowers
Artificial flowers arenâ??t seasonal, you can have your favourite flowers all year round. Available in a vast array of colours and always in season you can have virtually any flower in any colour at anytime of year. Unlike fresh flowers, they are always in season. Out-of-season flowers are no longer an issue, you can be guaranteed your favourite flowers and a perfect match to your colour scheme, from January to December.
Lightweight Artificial Flowers for Weddings Abroad
Artificial flowers are really, really light so carrying them is completely effortless. You won’t feel burdened by them on your wedding day! Unlike fresh flowers, with a heavy water content, artificial flowers weight practically nothing.
This makes them perfect for weddings abroad. Lightweight and durable, they’re so easy to pack and so easy to transport. Just pop them in your hand luggage and take them with you. A clear advantage when you consider cross border controls. The UK will not allow you to bring your bouquet into the country if you’ve taken it home from a wedding abroad!
If you opt for a quality florist then you are guaranteed the best artificial wedding flowers. You may hear the general term, ‘silk flowers’ used to describe artificial flowers, but in reality today’s flowers are not made of silk. To create the most life like replicas of real looking flowers, manufacturers have started to use foam as the fabric of choice. Foam is more rigid and far more durable than fabric, so it doesn’t shrivel and it’s waterproof nature makes it easy to wipe clean. Foam is simple to shape and cut so it doesn’t fray at the edges and looks sharp and crisp like the real McCoy. Foam is used these days to create the most realistic roses we have ever seen. Truly life like imitations are easy to achieve using the clean crisp lines of foam fabrics and the range of floral designs and colours is truly limitless.
Artificial table arrangements at a wedding ceremony are the centrepiece of your table and rest assured, they will be scrutinised by your guests. Some of the more quality artificial flowers will have them fooled, even if they reach out and touch them.The only thing that gives them away is the fragrance, but you can purchase perfume for artificial flowers, which makes it extremely difficult to tell.
Price is just one small advantage of artificial versus real. The cost of artificial flowers is generally less than fresh flowers, but beware of sellers who are still using older silk fabric flowers of inferior quality. The newest ranges of artificial flowers use cutting edge foam and they are almost impossible to tell apart from real flowers. As a result, the price of artificial wedding bouquets are rising. Still marginally cheaper, but comparable to fresh flowers.
The quality and realism of artificial flowers does vary, but the best quality, more modern and most realistic flowers are the ones you should use. An artificial bouquet takes a florist the same amount of time to prepare as a real bouquet, so the difference in price between real and artificial flowers is an advantage, but it’s not always a huge difference.
The type of flowers you choose can have a big effect on the cost of your wedding flowers. Ask your florist if your choice can be substituted with cheaper alternatives. You should also try to order in bulk as this will save you costs on multiple delivery charges and you will often find that the florist will give a better price for bulk purchases. If you order all your buttonholes, corsages, bouquets and table arrangements for the entire bridal party at the same time then you’re sure to get a better deal!
The Advantages of Artificial Wedding Flowers.
How do Artificial Wedding Flowers Compare to Real Wedding Flowers?
This is just one question in the myriad of decisions facing today’s modern bride. There are just so many things to take into account when planning a wedding. Choosing the right flowers is just one decision, but it’s a very important decision that could make or break your entire wedding theme. This blog will go some way in helping you make the right choices for your wedding flowers. Whether to have real or artificial wedding flowers is a decision that’s best made informed. So, let’s look at some of the obvious advantages and disadvantages to help you decide.
The Pros and Cons of Real Flowers
Traditionally, brides have tended towards real flowers as their first choice. Real flowers have a natural scent and a true beauty that no one can deny. For people who love flowers, it is sometimes hard to consider artificial flowers. However, real flowers have some serious limitations that you need to consider. Below we look at each consideration by comparing and contrasting the choice of real or artificial wedding flowers.
Timing the Delivery of Real Wedding Flowers
Some of the main disadvantages with real flowers come from the fact that they can wilt in hot weather, or worse still, they can die in transit if they’ve not been stored or shipped under the right conditions. To minimise the risk of your flowers wilting or dying on your wedding day, timing becomes absolutely essential. You need to put a lot of trust in your florist to deliver on time and to take great care that your bouquets and arrangements are cared for and treated properly. If you choose real flowers, then they must be prepared a day or two before the wedding itself, kept in perfect conditions and delivered with impeccable timing. A lot of people would consider wilted or dying flowers as a sign of bad luck, but worse still, we’ve heard some real horror stories with real flowers not arriving on time for the wedding at all! Can you imagine, no flowers?
Consider the difference with artificial flowers, which clearly take these risks completely out of the equation. Artificial flowers can be prepared well in advance, so there’s no last minute rush or panic and they don’t wilt or die. You can take delivery of artificial flowers weeks or even months in advance.
Allergies and Hay Fever, Should you Use Real Wedding Flowers?
Not everyone suffers from hay fever or flower allergies, but with real flowers it can really ruin your day. Especially with the more pollen rich species like lilies, anthurium’s, roses and anemone’s. Artificial flowers are definitely the best choice if you don’t want a red nose and watering eyes in your wedding photos. Pollen can be a real annoyance for you and your wedding guests, but it can also cause bad stains on fabrics. So, keep real flowers well away from your wedding dress!
Creating a flower arrangement based on only one shade can be tricky but, if done correctly, can also be capable of leading to a beautiful and memorable design. White is a great choice for late autumn arrangements and is suitable for ushering in the winter and the beginning of the holiday season.
There are many options when creating a white floral design and plenty of choices to pick from when making a stunning, memorable arrangement. Fantastic scents and striking visuals can be found in white blooms like lily of the valley, gardenia, jasmine, stephanotis, sweet pea, freesia and tuberose. Although these are great choices for winter holiday arrangements (and can be found throughout the entire year), they are better known for their use in weddings.
The best winter flowers benefit from more pronounced shapes and textures that can differentiate them from the more subdued look of the ones mentioned above. Try using anthuriums, roses, anemones, carnations, amaryllis, disbud mums, Oriental lillies, parrot tulips or hydrangea to make for a more rustic design that is better suited to the various events and celebrations of the early winter.
Coupling these white flowers with a darker vase or basket and gold, silver or bronze accent pieces highlights the beautiful simplicity of a pure white arrangement. It’s difficult to make an all-white design turn out poorly so pick your favourite blooms and scents to begin with and finish off by creating contrast with a darker container.
White arrangements can represent purity or hope and offer a refreshing embrace of winter as fall ends and the holiday season approaches. Many florists prefer to make their holiday arrangements with reds and greens with white only added to add contrast but it’s also a fantastic idea to work from white alone. Use these tips this holiday season to enjoy a wonderful floral arrangement that is unique, stunning and truly evocative of this special time of the year.
We’re always interested in learning about flower celebrations from across the world and continue to seek out the best events for you to read about. In this post we’ll look at the Philadelphia International Flower Show, an event that is generally regarded as one of the most successful annual horticultural celebrations in the United States.
The Philadelphia International Flower Show
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a growing reputation for its annual flower festival — a celebration that continues to gain acclaim. This year the city plans to outdo itself with an inspired Parisian theme and a better-than-ever series of spectacles.
Organizers have already begun to detail preliminary aspects of the upcoming event. The Philadelphia International Flower Show has confirmed that it has been hard at work in constructing a replica of the Eiffel Tower base to fit with its Paris-inspired aesthetic. Visitors will enter the show by passing under the base, setting the tone for what is sure to be an awe-inspiring celebration. The Eiffel Tower base replica is 75 feet wide and 33 feet tall and, just beyond it, the French visuals continue with a plethora of Parisian floral exhibits, live performers and more. Design director, Sam Lemheney, has said that visitors can expect to see a wide range of flowers that range from simple and clean looks to more artistic and abstract works.
The Philadelphia International Flower Show has a distinguished pedigree that stems back to the early 19th century. Since 1829, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (one of the nation’s oldest groups of its type) has been sponsoring Philadelphia’s massive garden and floral shows. Current Society president, Drew Becher, has told press that he expects this year’s event to be bigger, better and more exciting than ever before.
The 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show is scheduled to run from March 6th to 13th at the Philadelphia Convention Center. In all, some 250,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event and roughly $35 million gained in city revenue — an approximation based on the success of previous years.
We want to help make it easier for anyone to express their sympathy at funerals by looking at various cultural traditions and how flowers play a part in them. Japan has a unique culture with a large emphasis on traditional practices. Sending flowers to a Japanese funeral can be confusing for those of us not well versed in the appropriate ettiquete but reading these tips can make giving a gift simpler.
Should You Send Flowers to a Japanese Funeral?
Japanese funerals often involve flowers but, unlike many other cultural ceremonies, they are not always the central aspect of the ceremony. The type of flowers that are appropriate for Japanese funeral events range greatly and can include nearly any type of bloom a mourner chooses to purchase. Flowers are often placed on top of the funeral site’s altar, put in the casket before sealing and are usually left upon the gravesite by friends and family.
It is common for the funeral party to donate money to a hanawa (funeral wreath) in place of individual flower arrangements. Another option to consider alongside your gift of sympathy flowers is koden, a condolence gift that consists of money for the bereaved.
What is Koden?
Koden is a Japanese term that refers to the traditional sympathy gift of money. It has been a cultural practice related to sympathy and funerals for centuries of Japanese history. Sending koden is often done by placing money in a small envelope sealed with white and black ribbon.
Combining koden with a tasteful flower arrangement is probably the best idea for those attending a Japanese funeral (or sending their condolences to a Japanese family). It is important to note, however, that only close friends and family should send flowers, koden or contribute to hanawa. Many Japanese traditionalists prefer to keep funerals within families so be sure to use personal discretion in all cases and keep the above tips in mind when creating your sympathy gift.
Nevada isn’t typically thought of as a great place to find flowers. Despite its arid deserts and unforgiving temperatures however, there are a lot of great and unique blooms that can only be found in this American state.
The Nevada Garden Club seeks to promote those flowers throughout the year but its efforts culminate in the annual Nevada Garden Club Annual Flower Festival, our choice for this installment of our ongoing look at international flower festivals.
The Nevada Garden Club Annual Flower Festival
The Nevada Garden Club works hard to change the popular perception of the state as a barren desert by promoting the myriad species of beautiful flowers native to the region. Every year the Garden Club’s members come together to show the rest of the nation the wonders of their home through a celebration of Nevada-grown floral arrangements, bouquets, innovative designs and other desert bloom-themed visuals.
This year’s edition of the Nevada Garden Club Annual Flower Festival took place at the end of October, featuring the theme of “at the movies”. Beautiful flower arrangements were created in honour of the cinematic theme and visitors took in sights that included floral set-ups evoking cartoons, musicals, Western films and much more.
The Nevada Garden Club made 2010 a truly special year by coming together with homegrown displays of desert roses, succulents, bonsai, various fruits and vegetables and, of course, plenty of one-of-a-kind arrangements using Nevada cacti at their hearts. As in prior installments of the Festival, members of the Garden Club sought to outdo one another with truly fantastic arrangements that captured the spirit and unique aesthetic of Nevada flowers.
Some of the more notable flowers native to Nevada (and appearing at the Nevada Garden Club Annual Flower Festival) include humingbird trumpet, Las Vegas buckwhat, white bursage, winterfat and turpentine bush. All of these blooms are evocative of the vivid colours that Nevada residents treasure amidst the subdued colour pallette of the desert landscape.
A visit to the Los Angeles Flower District located in downtown Los Angeles is a must for all flower lovers. Fresh cut flowers, fillers, greenery and supplies are sold to florists, floral designers, event planners, decorators and to the public. There are also live potted and exotic orchid plants.
The flower district is composed of the following markets: San Julian Flower Market, Los Angeles Flower Mall, California Flower Market, Southern California Flower Market, Los Angeles Flower Market, Market City Flowers. The flower district area is composed of Maple Street, Wall Street between 7th and 9th Streets. There are also independent florists located on San Pedro Street and large craft stores are within the district. Parking is very convenient with a parking structure on Maple Street, open air parking lots and street parking is available too. The hours of operation varies to the wholesalers versus the general public at the Los Angeles Flower District. Most markets open early and close early.
A walk along the surrounding streets, you will find smaller florists with a variety of arrangements on displays for weddings, funerals and just because for the special day or one in your life. Each of the florist’s carries a variety of flowers and fillers and some are more unique than others. There are a few larger stores that carry live and exotic plants and containers.
In the flower markets, there are many vendors that compete for your business. Most of the vendors just sell flowers whereas there are ones that just sell glass and ceramic containers. The best way to purchase flowers is to compare the quality and the price of flowers with a couple of vendors. There are some higher and lower prices for the same flowers. I averaged the price of the flowers and made offers. I feel the best price is the price you are willing pay for the flowers and do not forget to go early for the best selection.
