Barossa Rose and Flower Show 6 - 7 November

Did you know that the Barossa Rose and Flower Show is being held in Angaston, South Australia at the weekend? This annual event is designed to showcase the best of what the region’s gardeners have to offer and gives flowers enthusiasts from near and far the opportunity to meet over a Devonshire tea.

Join the garden party. Feed your senses with the fragrances and colours of a diverse range of roses and other cut flowers. There will be something for everyone. For the young there will be balloons and face painting available. The Angaston town hall will be transformed with floral arrangements as judges from the Rose Society of South Australia select the winners.

Flowers make a colourful and refreshing impression and give rise to enjoyable feelings. If you do not have the opportunity to visit the Barossa Rose and Flower Show on Saturday or Sunday, Ready flowers has nature on display every day. Create your very own Flower Show at home with an artistically designed flower bouquet or arrangement, made to please the senses.

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Flora – the Roman goddess of flowers and spring

Spring is definitely sprung in Australia. In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers, and flowering plants, both the fruit bearing ones and the ornamental ones. She also came to represent the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime.

Her festival, the Floralia, was held in April or early May and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, fertility, and blossoming. During the Floralia festival the Romans would wear brightly coloured clothes and wear wreaths of flowers, especially roses. Chariot races were held in her honour. Her Greek equivalent was Chloris. Flora was married to Favonius, the wind god, and her companion was Hercules.

Flora’s name derives from the Latin word "flos" which means "flower." The word “flora” is still used as a general name for the plants of a region. Other related words are "flourishing" meaning prosperous or abundant and “floral”, meaning flowery.

Celebrate springtime with Ready Flowers!

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The Floriade in Canberra

Did you know that the annual Floriade Festival in Canberra is on at present? Try, if you can, to visit Canberra. This year’s Floriade features more than one million blooms as a backdrop for fantastic entertainment, displays and a whole program celebrating the theme of imagination. The festival runs from:
Saturday 11 September - Sunday 10 October, 2010.

If you do not have the opportunity to visit Canberra, Ready flower’s creativity and imagination is on offer every day. Create your very own Floriade at home. Brighten your rooms with a display of nature and surround yourself with colour and scent. Flowers make a vibrant and revitalizing impact and raise the spirits, to give pleasant thoughts and actions.

Order a lovely, creative flower bouquet or arrangement online to be sent home to a loved one or for home delivery or call and one of our friendly floral consultants will help you choose something perfect.

Flowers Canberra

Helping you keep your flowers longer...

These are a few handy hints on how to make sure your flowers stay alive much longer:

Hot Weather
Do not expose flowers strong heat. The cooler the room or location where they are displayed, the longer they will last.

Cold conditions below 4 degrees Celsius
Do not subject your flowers to very low temperatures either. Flowers grown in tropical areas, such as Orchids and Anthuriums, are particularly susceptible to low temperature damage. Never put your flowers in a freezer or anywhere that is below 4 degrees Celsius.

Draughty positions
Draughty positions are also unfavourable spots to place your flowers. The petals tend to dry out more quickly in these areas. A corner position is preferable to a hallway or near open doors.

Direct sunlight
Flowers which are subjected to direct sunlight can easily become overheated, resulting in the drying out of petals and reduced vase life.

Air conditioning
Fresh flowers tend to dry out very quickly in air conditioned rooms. This is particularly the case with flowers that have large, exposed petals.

Ripening fruit and vegetables
Perhaps one of the biggest enemies of cut flowers is ethylene gas which is given off by ripening fruit and vegetables. It speeds up the dying process of many flowers. Some of the more sensitive varieties to ethylene gas are Carnations, Roses, Orchids, Lilies, Sweet Williams and Gypsophila.

Crushing or splitting of flower stems
Many people have been led to believe that the crushing or splitting of flower stems is a good way of extending their vase life. Recent tests have shown that this method generally does not work. It actually does damage to the tiny tube-like vessels in the stems, blocking the flow of water up to the flower heads, and leads to a faster discoloration of the vase water.

Other dead flowers
When flowers are arranged in a vase, some of the flower heads will naturally die before others. It is a good idea to remove these heads quickly, because if left on the stems, they not only look unsightly, but will often give off small amounts of ethylene gas, which will diminish the life of any remaining flowers.

Dirty water
Dirty water provides a perfect breeding ground for microscopic bacteria to breed rapidly. These bacteria attach themselves to the stem ends and block the flow of water up to the flower heads. You should always change the vase water regularly or use a good cut flower food which will decrease the rate at which these bacteria breed.

Metal containers
Metal containers can cause reactions with many flower preservatives. This can lead to the preservative being far less effective in solution.

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