All tagged Southampton

It's Black and White!

This week my Advanced students were challenged to create a design in Black and White.

While this sounds simple it is actually really hard to create a really strong design because of the green that creeps into the design from stems.

There were some creative solutions including spraying stems and using black or white stem tape.

Our inspiration pictures included Yin and Yang, zebra stripes, refections in black and white photographs, concertina paper decorations, washi tape and many more.

The students really stretched themselves and the range of designs was superb.

Top Ten Tips for Long-lasting Flowers

Have you ever had flowers sent to you and been disappointed when they didn't last well. These are some simple ideas to get the best from your next bouquet.

on arrival

When your flowers arrive resist the temptation to leave any wrapping on them. Get them into a vase as quickly as possible otherwise the wrapping stops the air circulating round the flowers and makes them more susceptible to bacteria. This shows as brown spots on the petals that eventually spreads and the whole flower collapses.

Check as you put them in your vase that no leaves will be under the water. If they will then remove them otherwise they will rot and spoil the water.

Make sure you use water with flower food added to it to keep the water clear and make the flowers develop to their full size and best colour.

An extra thing to note with roses is that they hate the water from aerated taps. For roses run the water into the vase but then leave it 30 minutes before putting the roses into the water.

20 Years On

20 Years On

Today I am heading back to London to Kensington Palace to mark 20 years since Princess Diana died. I am going because I feel the memory of her is being hijacked by "royal attention seekers" draped in union jacks and conspiracy theorists hanging posters touting frankly nonsensical theories to an eager press.

I will be leaving flowers away from the main hue and cry to remember and exceptional woman who made a real change to our society simply through her innate humanity. She wasn't perfect by any means but that is exactly the point, her faults and her understanding of them made her open to people who we all as a society shied away from.