Valentine's Day Roses

This article was excerpted from the
Society of American Florist's website (SAF)

A Rose Revolution
A rose is a rose is a rose - or is it? The 1990s spawned a virtual baby boom of rose varieties. Today, close to 120 rose varieties are commercially available.

Trend tracker and SAF floral consultant Denise Lee calls it “a rose revolution."

Roses are red, and pink and yellow and...
Red still reigns as the all-time favourite rose colour, especially among men. However, 62% of women prefer other hues, such as yellow, pink, peach and white. Lavender and orange are also emerging favourites.

Expanding families of colour
The new rose varieties also have enhanced characteristics like bloom size, shape, stem length and strength of fragrance. The SAF offers the following colour guide.

Red:
From bright raspberry to majestic scarlet, velvety-dark red to orange-kissed hues.

Pink:
Traditional bridal pinks and hip hot pinks, plus peaches, apricots, corals and lavenders.

Yellow:
Crisp lemon, buttery hues, golden yellows or trendy two-tones – yellow roses, men’s second favourite, cover a broad spectrum of color and appeal.

White:
Shades of white - ultra white, ivory, champagne - are lovely for weddings and romantic settings, and easy complements to elegant home decors.

"Roses are like fine wines, a delight to be savoured and cultivated," says Lee. "Like an expanding wine cellar, florists' coolers are now stocked with more choices worth learning about."

What type of Valentine are you and your partner?

Passionate?

You have dinner in a room at the Ritz.
You declare your love with a banner floating on Sherbrooke Street.
You go sight seeing by limo but miss the sight because you can’t stop kissing.

The Flower Pot suggests:

Let us deliver a one dozen lovers’ balloons and 100 assorted roses on Monday February 13. Then pick up your lover, unplug the phone, radio and TV – and start you Valentine celebration right then and there.

Romantic?

You take long walks under the stars.
You enjoy dinners with candles lighting up the whole room.
You stay in bed on Saturdays to listen to Puccini’s La Boheme.

The Flower Pot suggests:

Order the “Dinner for Two” Valentine's arrangement with extra candles plus a box of delicious, handmade Swiss chocolates.

Sensuous?

You like to give or get hot massages.
You enjoy breakfast in bed.
You can’t walk down the street without holding hands.

The Flower Pot suggests:

Order $50 worth of rose petals and a big box of Bangerter chocolates. Light a few candles, float the rose petals, share a bath with your lover and savor those chocolates.

Traditional?

You buy your chocolates at Laura Secord.
You send your Valentine card by email.
You pick up flowers on the way home.

The Flower Pot suggests:

Order one dozen roses in a box today and pick them up on the way home on February 13th.

Happy Valentine's Day

to lovers all over the world
from your favourite Montreal Florist

The Flower Pot

Poinsettias

To keep your poinsettia as a green plant:

In late April (or as soon as your poinsettia loses its colourful bracts), prune your poinsettia, cutting all the stems back by a third. Be sure to spray a mist of water on the plant to limit the seepage of latex and prevent it from drying out. Repot the plant in an aerated, well-drained pot.

Give it only enough water to prevent the soil from drying out completely. Apply a soluble fertilizer, such as one labelled 20-20-20,* once a month. After pruning, a temperature of 20°C is ideal.

Once growth resumes, give water as necessary, allowing the soil surface to dry out between waterings. During the growing period after that, indoor temperatures of 20-24°C are adequate. Once new leaves appear, increase the frequency of fertilizing (every two weeks) to promote vigorous growth.

Once all risk of frost has passed (and ideally once temperatures remain above 13°C), take the plant outside for the summer. If you cannot take your plant outside, give it as much light as possible, even direct sunlight. When outside, especially under full sun, be sure not to let it wilt!

Prune the plant again in late July or early August.

To make your poinsettia reflower:

Remove any weak stems, keeping only the most attractive ones. To get a poinsettia to bloom again in time for the holiday season, it needs a period of total darkness every day. From mid-September onwards, give the plant a minimum of 14 to 16 consecutive hours of complete darkness every single day of the week, for eight to ten weeks or until the bracts start showing colour.
If the plant isn't given total uninterrupted darkness, the bracts may be malformed or the flower buds may drop off.

Remember that the plant needs bright light in the daytime.

It is also important to keep the temperature at 20°C to encourage good-sized bracts to form. Once the bracts are fully coloured, you can lower the temperature to 15-18°C to intensify the colour. Fertilize with a 20-20-20 product every two weeks. Starting in November, fertilizer with more potassium, like 15-15-30, will help promote flower formation.

Useful link: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/info_verte/poinsettia/soins.htm