Negin Flowers Blog

If you have the time this season, why not try your hand at making your own holiday centerpiece? I have done this the last few years, and it’s great fun!

You and your Market Florist should have all the materials you need:

• Lined basket, dish, or bowl, slightly smaller than your finished centerpiece size
• Block of floral foam, trimmed with knife to fit your container, if necessary
• Large, clean basin or sink filled with 8” of cool water
• Firm-stemmed greens and flowers of your choice, stems trimmed to 3” to 4”
• Fruit, seed pods, cones, branches – choose your favorites!

Step 1: Set floral foam, writing side up on top of water, and allow it to soak and submerge until completely wet. Don’t forcibly submerge or place under running water.

Step 2: Place foam into container and drain sideways into sink to remove excess water.

Step 3: Add greens.

Step 4: Add flowers. Once stems are inserted, don’t pull back out, or sustaining moisture will not contact the stem end.

Step 5: Add any other embellishments, such as branches and fruit, as desired.

Step 6: Set on your holiday table and enjoy

Step 7: Pat yourself on the back; you did it!

Be sure to give the centerpiece a drink using a watering can or a clean baster every couple of days, and remove dying flowers and greens as they expire. If you need advice, your Market Florist is happy to help.

Happy Holidays!

These simple care tips will help extend the life of your holiday poinsettias and wreaths, so that they last throughout the season.

Poinsettia Care Tips:
• DON’T place plants near cold drafts or excessive heat, such as appliances, fireplaces or ventilating ducts.
• DON’T expose plants to temperatures below 50° F. Poinsettias are sensitive to cold, so avoid placing them outside during the winter months.
• DON’T over-water your plant, or allow it to sit in standing water. Always remove a plant from any decorative container before watering, and allow the water to drain completely.
• DON’T expose your plant to chilling winds when transporting it.
• DON’T fertilize your plant when it’s in bloom.
• DO place your plant in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day. If direct sun can’t be avoided, diffuse the light with a shade or sheer curtain.
• DO provide room temperatures between 68 – 70° F. Generally speaking, if you are comfortable, so is your poinsettia.
• DO fertilize your plant AFTER THE BLOOMING SEASON with a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer.
• DO use a large, roomy shopping bag to protect your plant when transporting it.
• DO water your plant when the soil feels dry to the touch.

Wreath Care Tips:
• DO keep the wreath away from heaters, fireplaces, dry air vents, or other heat sources.
• DO mist with simple water daily.
• DO all misting outside, or in a place where water will not cause any damage.
• DO be sure to get water on the stems as well as the needles.
• DON’T mist while the wreath is exposed to direct sunlight if possible.

Some may consider flowers a luxury, but with a little know-how you can make your special purchase worth every penny! Here are some simple suggestions to keep your flowers gorgeous:

• Make sure you buy flowers when you’ll have time to process them. Their stems will dry out if they’re left out of water too long.
• When you get them home, trim the stems before placing them in a vase. This removes the portion of the stem that has dried in transit, and reactivates the drinking passages for the flower. Remove all greenery that will be below the water line.
• For lasting power, remove the flowers from the vase every day or so and do the following: wash the vase if the water is cloudy, place fresh water in the vase and trim at least half an inch off the bottom of the stems, and remove any flowers that are past their prime. You may want to have a second dry vase on hand to preserve the arrangement’s design while you freshen up your flowers.
• Display your flowers in an area free of heat sources or direct sunlight. Avoid your kitchen if you have any produce out in the open. Gases released by produce can shorten the life of your flowers.

If you have questions about keeping your flowers fresh, chat with your Market Florist. We love to share our tricks to maximize your floral dollar!

What does the approach of autumn mean to you? I have two grade-school-age children, so autumn means all the typical school checklist items: new school supplies, backpack, bigger clothes, and reviewing what they forgot over the summer! Does this sound familiar? This time of year, there’s plenty to do on the home front!

As a florist, it’s also an exciting time, because for most people, the turn in the weather means a return to routine and spending more time indoors. And that means more chances for me to create designs that folks will share and enjoy in their homes and workplaces.

Summer is lovely, with its abundant gardens and wildflowers everywhere. But I love the warm colors of fall best, as well as the joy and challenge of finding interesting combinations taken from nature’s color palette.

As I continue to work with flowers, I’ve grown to appreciate the beauty of late season seed pods, just as much as the flower’s lush, more recognizable form in high season. And I am always amazed how many hardy flowers persist until the frosts come.

In Oregon, we are fortunate to have a mild transition into fall, easing us beautifully into the colder months. So get those checklist items done, but remember to look around and take part in the visual feast! And visit your Market Florist for floral designs that celebrate the beauty that comes from local farms as we welcome autumn.

August is just around the bend, and that means sunflower season! Bold and cheerful, sunflowers are a staple of the American flower repertoire, and it doesn’t appear that will change any time soon.

Far from trendy, the sunflower has been a cultural constant in the Americas since 1,000 B.C., when it was first cultivated as a food source. Few flowers have enjoyed such consistent popularity as a source of both food and beauty for so many centuries.

Sunflower seeds, oil, butter and shoots all make healthy additions to one’s diet. Our Market Produce department recently began carrying sunflower shoots, which add a tasty touch to salads.

I love the sunflower for its range of sizes and colors. From petite, one-inch heads to ones so giant they need heavy-duty staking, the sunflower is always full of surprises. Its many shades include: red, black, orange and many variations of yellow.

My children have always enjoyed sunflowers for the almost instant gratification of growing a huge plant without all the stress and constant care that other flowers demand. From time to time, we’ll even get a surprise sunflower that has sprouted from a fallen squirrel-feeder. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Have you ever heard of phototropism? It refers to the sunflower’s ability to turn its face to follow the sun’s movement across the sky. Throughout history, this trait has been the inspiration of myths and stories about loyalty, dependability and adoration.

Want to show someone you are a forever-faithful companion? Give a gift of fresh, local sunflowers, and watch the recipient’s face light up with warmth and happiness, just like the flower itself.

Sunflowers are at their peak right now. So visit your Market Floral, and pick up a bunch!

As the days grow shorter and the air becomes crisp, you may find that an additional layer of warmth and texture sounds good around you as you head out the door to greet the day. Likewise, floral arrangements benefit from an added layer of texture as the cooler weather sets in!

This September, and on through to Thanksgiving, you will start to see some surprises in the available floral arrangements at your Market of Choice Florist. One exciting addition is the use of grains such as millet, broom corn, wheat, rye, or barley. All of these grains we normally associate with edibles also have a growth stage that is beautiful for use in floral arranging! They are wonderful in both dried and live floral displays, and add a neutral contrast for the deep, rich hues of autumn.

Another twist you will see is the use of ornamental grasses, many of them the same ones you might see in landscape displays around your city. These can provide a fun structure as loops and swirls, or can be used straight to add height and strong lines to an arrangement. Even vegetables like peppers and kale will make a showing in the season’s array.

I am so thrilled to embrace the changes that fall brings to the floral department! Look for cut flowers, bouquets and potted blooms at your Market Florist to add that extra touch of welcome and comfort to your home as you plan the coming season’s entertaining.

Three cheers for mom! Mother’s Day is almost here, and although Valentine’s Day gets a lot of attention in the floral industry, Mother’s Day is actually the biggest floral holiday for many florists. I love this fact, because there are few people who deserve a show of thanks as much as mom.

Although the roots of Mother’s Day go all the way back to ancient Greece, Miss Anna Jarvis was the force behind our modern version of Mother’s Day. By 1911, every state in the nation observed Mother’s Day. In May 1913, The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President, his Cabinet, members of Congress, and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on Mother’s Day, as it was the favorite flower of Miss Anna Jarvis’s mother. This flower was chosen to represent the sweetness, purity and endurance of each mother’s love. The red carnation, however, has since become more popular as the official flower of Mother’s Day.

I’m a mother of two, and my daughter is almost 6, the age when every dandelion and daisy she encounters becomes a gift for me, or anyone nearby if I’m not around. I have often returned home to find my husband digging in the yard with a dandelion tucked good-naturedly behind his ear. It brings her so much pleasure to share the cheer and color of a simple flower. And I can never get enough of her heartfelt, wilted bouquets, held too tight in her little fist.

Now I have the joy of working with customers who have grown up, but share this same wonderful impulse: to brighten mom’s day with flowers. In fact, I have several customers who regularly visit their elderly mothers and stop by my department on their way to see her to pick up a fresh bunch of mixed flowers to light up her eyes.

As you get ready for Mother’s Day, you’ll find a variety of bouquets, locally grown tulips and potted blooming plants to choose from (including carnations!), so you can find just the right color and size to suit your mom, grandma, or wife.

One of spring and early summer’s most lush and lovely plants is the peony. Prized for its full, luxuriant blossoms and delicate leaves, it has been a favorite for floral displays for generations.

But would you have guessed that peonies were once widely valued for their medicinal properties? Peonies were said to cure gall stones and jaundice, control epileptic seizures, soothe teething pain, prevent bad dreams, relieve stomachaches, quiet a cough … in the middle ages there were not many ailments that peonies were not thought to soothe! What a treat it is to enjoy them today, with a past as colorful as its blooms.

Our tulip grower, Greengable Farms, supplies us with peonies. How lucky we are! Easy to arrange, peonies make the novice arranger look like a pro. Full heads mean you don’t have to spend a lot to get a full vase of blooms. Choose a simple vase – anything elaborate only detracts from their beauty.
Coral Colored Peony

The shape of the blooms varies, providing visual surprises as the heads open to reveal their gorgeous structure. The color variety, from the palest near-white pink to a deep purple-merlot shade, is truly stunning. Almost all shades look great on their own or mixed.

Try cutting stems to the length where the weighty blooms can rest their heads on the lip of the vase, and then add greens or branches, such as the curly willow pictured here, to give height to the composition.
Pale Pink Colored Peony

The greens you see peeking above the height of the blooms in these photos are actually portions of the bottom of the stem, cut off and inserted into the arrangement separately after the blooms were added. Many of the varieties have very long stems, making this technique a win-win: reducing waste and allowing you to use the plant’s own lacy greenery for harmony of design.

Enjoy a bunch of peonies from your Market Florist, and impress your family with a stunning addition to the dining table or entryway!

I can’t express how much I have enjoyed giving flowers and plants to people I know the last couple years. Before, I would have only thought to give them on big “occasions,” such as a new baby, a wedding, or a get-well. I have now begun to think outside the box and give them for all sorts of reasons.
There’s: “Thanks for keeping an eye on my pet” and “I know you’ve had a rough time lately,” as well as “Congratulations, how exciting!” and “It’s great to catch up with you again!” and everything else. Now, when I am on my way to see someone, I think of how I can brighten his or her day with flowers, even if it’s just a simply wrapped bedding plant or a single elegant lily stem with a ribbon.

One thing I love about this new way of thinking is that it’s a sustainable gift alternative compared to many other options. Your gift recipient can use the basket, vase or pot again, and the plant itself can be transplanted or composted when it has outgrown or outlived its container life. Since I have been trying to get away from disposable items and items with excess packaging when choosing gifts, flowers and plants are a gift that aligns well with this new focus in my life.

Another great aspect is that because we live in Oregon, where so many nurseries are right around the corner, we can support local business on two levels with our floral purchases: the growers who supplied the product, as well as your locally owned Market of Choice, where they are sold. Not every state can grow plants and flowers like we do. It’s something I appreciate about our state, especially as I get to know more of the vendors who supply my flowers and plants. I want to see them thrive, just as they have helped my Market and community thrive!

Dive into the sustainable loop this summer with a gift of flowers. You’ll leave a great impression with a friend or loved one and a smaller footprint on the Earth! It’s a win-win.