News

Chelsea Flower Show: 19 – 23 May 2009

The colour trends for Chelsea 2009 focused on pink, lilac and purple, while the shapes for the year were round and poker. Flower trends for 2009 included allium and iris, and there was a theme of water for the garden exhibits to use as well.

Chelsea gardens were made with a decrease in budget for many, but there was still a very high standard of exhibits. Pink, lilac and purple was a very strong colour theme, and iris and allium were featured in most gardens – modern or country-style, masculine or whimsy, real – or plastic.

Flower Fusion
Poker-shaped flowers break up the softer, rounder shapes of allium and iris. You can achieve this look with your summer indoor flower displays using eremurus, kniphofia or delphinium with round flowers like peonies and allium.

Country Garden
A country garden setting suits deep-coloured iris perfectly. In your local flower retailer, you can buy blue, purple and white iris, and some will stock bearded iris in pastel shades, too.

Pink Allium
There were hundreds of retailers in the main pavilion selling bulbs and plants for the garden – this retailer was very trend-savvy and stocked a range of iris and allium.

Peaceful Pink
This garden showed a very creative way of using impatiens bedding plants, by planting them as a huge bed, with the garden path protruding as raised platforms to the seated area. Once again, pinks and purples were the most popular theme.

Minimalist
Even a modern minimalist design adopted the popular colour-scheme and the ever-popular alliums. This is a great way of showing how the same flower can be used in both a modern and traditional way.

Pond Life
Water features were a huge theme at Chelsea this year. There was even a garden whose water level rose over the footpath to the door intermittently – perfect for banishing unwanted visitors! Here, a pretty pond is framed with the fashionable flowers of Chelsea, allium and iris.

Time Out
Comfortable seats and pretty flowers – allium and iris set the scene for a comfortable garden setting.

Ace of Spades
Macho motorbikes and irresistible iris – these fashionable flowers are even fitting for the most masculine occasion. Need ideas for that special man in your life for Father’s Day next month?

Playful Plasticine
Even a garden made entirely of plasticine was on-trend with its inclusion of iris amongst its plastic haven. This garden is amazingly creative, but remember that plastic flowers and plants are never as good as the real thing in your home.

Demonstrations
Just like the Chelsea gardens, there are trends in indoor plants and cut flowers, too. The Flowers & Plants Association promotes four flower fashion trends a year to the UK consumer, which are created in line with trends in interior design and on the catwalk. Andrea Caldecourt, Chief Executive of the Flowers & Plants Association, gave a presentation on fashion, style and personality and how trends are created at the Gardening Matters marquee on Tuesday 19th May.

Cleaner air with plants

Plants all over the world are working non-stop to remove pollutants from the air and create cleaner, fresher air in its place. This is why preserving our natural forests and green spaces is so important for the future of our planet. It is also the reason why having a house plant in your home is a step towards better health for you and your family.

Formaldehyde from tissues, carpets and furniture can cause asthma and other respiratory problems and houseplants can remove formaldehyde from the air. Carbon monoxide is the toxic gas found in car exhaust fumes and a spider plant placed in a small enclosed space can remove 96% of the carbon monoxide from the air.

NASA space research, conducted inside airtight space habitats, showed ordinary houseplants had amazing capabilities in fighting air pollution. In its test, in addition to formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, houseplants absorbed benzene (found in car exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke) and trichloroethylene (TCE) or dry-cleaning fluid.

The most effective types of house plant, aside from spider plants, are palms, including lady palm (Raphis excelsa) and parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans), ficus, peace lily (Spathiphyllum), dragon tree (Dracaena), Boston fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata), chrysanthemum and gerbera.

Dracaena Rikki is named UK Office Plant of the Year 2009

Dracaena Rikki has been named the inaugural UK’s Office Plant of the Year 2009.

Like all green plants, Dracaena Rikki is good for our health, cleaning the air indoors of toxins and refreshing it with oxygen, whilst helping to keep us calmer.

A body of scientific and academic research has shown that houseplants are not only good for our health and well-being, but that they are good for employers too.  Why?  Because they help to keep staff motivated, aid focused concentration, enhance creativity and so improve productivity and the bottom line… anything that helps in these financial times can’t be bad!

Interior landscapers were invited during the year to name their top plants and Dracaena Rikki was in the top six, which also included Spathiphyllum and Sansevieria.

Alongside its many health giving benefits, Dracaena Rikki also proved a good choice for office planting because of its toughness, light tolerance and general ease of maintenance.

These attributes coupled with its good growth – up to one foot a year – and its attractive leaf structure ensured it got the winning votes from the judges: Adam Pasco of Gardeners World Magazine, Matthew Appleby from Horticulture Week and Ian Drummond representing eFIG and Indoor Garden Design.

“It’s adaptable and easy to maintain and offers a modern feeling with its pleasant textured, flexible leaf and architectural appearance.  It’s tolerance of low light levels and its toughness together with its interesting leaf variation and fast growth make Dracaena Rikki a winner,” commented Matthew Appleby.

Plant short list
Six plants were shortlisted for UK Office Plant of the Year:

• Chlorophytum ‘Mandarin’
• Sansevieria
• Spathiphyllum
• Chamaedorea seifrizi
• Dracaena Rikki
• Dracaena steudneri

Floral Themes to Show Your Mum You Care on Mother’s Day

Whether you’re five or fifty-five, your mum is always your mum – and you’re always the person she loves no matter what.

Over the years, it can be difficult to know what to get for the number one lady in your life on her special day, Mother’s Day – but you can never go wrong with gorgeous cut flowers and potted plants. Add a personalised touch, and you have an even more thoughtful, memorable gift.

This Mother’s Day, take the hassle out of spoiling mum, with these four great money-saving, inspiring and creative themes;

• Do It Yourself: creative (and money-saving) ideas for artistic types
• High Tea: make a simple meal memorable and magic
• Colourful Creative: big bold gestures and personal touches
• Boudoir Luxury: For mothers who deserve some glamour in their life

1. Do-it-yourself
Home-made gifts are such precious gifts for mums. You can make a personalised and special gift very easily with cut flowers and plants.

• Lisianthus posy
  • Although they are available all year round, delicate pastel lisianthus are a perfect Mother’s Day gift for a small gesture (or small person to give). The blooms come in so many colours or you can make a grand gesture with a big bunch instead.
  • Lisianthus have several flowers per stem, which you can cut off and turn into a miniature posy. Take a stalk or two, and snip off the shorter side stems with their fat, coloured flowers. You can cut off a few of the buds, too, for variation.
  • Bunch these side stems together and tie with coloured string. You can even add a twist of coloured grass or foliage (snip one from a houseplant if you like) and fix with a pin.
  • Place this in a home-made frame and cover with cellophane, for a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift or card.

• Heavenly hydrangea
  • Houseplants make the perfect gift for something that’s fresh, natural, long lasting and beautiful.
  • Hydrangea are a great gift for Mother’s Day – they come in pastel shades of pink, blue, lavender and white, have a blowsy mop head for the fashionable vintage look, and can even be placed on the patio in the summer months.
  • You can add your own creative flair with colourful and personalised wrapping, a pretty pot, ribbons and decoration.

2. High tea
There’s nothing like lazy afternoon tea on a spring afternoon, to make you feel relaxed and glamorous.

Set the table with a feast of cakes, sandwiches and tea in pots with cute cups – and of course, beautiful blooms to set the scene, especially for mum to enjoy afterwards!

• Hyacinth heaven
  • There’s nothing like the scent of hyacinth to accompany a cup of fragrant jasmine or Darjeeling tea and make mum feel like a million dollars.
  • The scent is captured in famous perfumes such as Anais Anais, Giorgio, Paris, Safari, Envy and Chloe. Why not treat your mother to the real thing to accompany your home-made high tea – who needs the Ritz when you can have hyacinths? With flowers in a huge range of colours there will be one to match your mother’s eyes (bright blue), her hair (golden yellow, white), her rosy cheeks (blush pink) or even her sofa.

• Kalanchoe Queen
  • Make mum feel like the Queen Bee with a longer-lasting memento to remind her for months to come of that lovely afternoon you spent together.
  • Kalanchoes have thick, fleshy leaves and pretty, starry flowers – and are really easy to care for. All your mother needs to do is water them every two weeks, because the water gets stored in their leaves.
  • Pop the plant in a feminine bag that coordinates with the blooms, for the perfect plant wrapping, decoration and transportation, all in one!

3. Colourful creative
If mum is bold and bright, then you can make something really special for her with brightly coloured blooms.

• Calla and gerbera surprise
  • Callas have a large fleshy petal wrapped in a cone form around a central ‘spathe’. Pop in a sunny coloured gerbera flower into the centre of the cone.
  • The green stem of the gerbera can then be tied to the calla stem with vivid string for a hand-made look.
  • Tip: Lots of these colourful creations look fabulous all tied together in a bunch; or make just one to decorate a parcel or tie onto a greetings card.

• Rocking roses
  • Roses have long been seen as the emblem of love and appreciation, with pink roses being a favourite choice for special mothers.
  • Roses are a very popular gift for Mother’s Day, with dainty rose plants giving your mum a longer-lasting surprise.
  • Make a colourful creation by placing three differently coloured rose plants in a pot or vase, with decorative stones or shells on top to hide the soil.
  • These make a great centrepiece for a table, or to add cheer to a special place where your mum likes to sit.

4. Boudoir luxury
Maybe mum is very glamorous, gorgeous and elegant, and you’d like something extra-special to show her how much you care.

• Amazing amaryllis
  • These blooms are the ultimate in luxury and elegance – tall, long legged and a pretty face – just like a yummy mummy!
  • They come in all kinds of colours that your mum will love, and some have patterned faces, as if they’ve got blusher and make-up on.
  • You can tie them together with green hydrangea flowers and a satin bow for an extra-special treat – and leave on a chair for her to discover and enjoy!

• Jasmine delight
  • Jasmine plants remind mum of sweet-scented evenings abroad, eating al fresco in sunnier climes.
  • Bring hints of a warmer, more luxurious place to her home, with this perfumed plant.
  • The tiny, white or pink flowers of jasmine open up into small stars, and the scent is divine, heady, sweet, and exotic. Tuck in ceramic rose ornaments, for an extra touch of boudoir luxury.
  • Like every supermodel beauty, these jasmine plants like regular drinks of water to keep themselves looking fresh and perky.
  • Surprise your mum by placing her new plant on a bedside table near a window, where the sweet scent of her gift will wake her before she even gets out of bed.

Top Five best-selling houseplants in UK

Based on sales figures for 2007 from Flowers and Plants Association/TNS (Omnimas), these were the top five best-selling plants last year and are now thriving in homes across the country. Bright, beautiful and visually appealing, these house plants have become firm favourites with gardeners and plant-lovers alike.

• Orchid
• Chrysanthemum
• Poinsettia
• Cyclamen
• Spring bulbs

It is impossible to be completely accurate about the top ten best-selling indoor plants. These are constantly changing because production can be affected by poor or favourable weather conditions in many parts of the world; and because market forces control which products are imported from where, and in what quantities. So this is considered a rough guide, based on consumer purchase figures.