Flower News: Octobers’s Articles and Blogs of Interest from Around the World

October Tree of the Month: Fire-Wheel Tree

“Fire-wheel Tree” may seem like a strange name for a tree, until you see its fiery-red, circular-shaped, flower clusters (called umbels), which look like flaming bicycle wheels!

3-inch long flowers are the “spokes” of each wheel (6 to 20 flowers per umbel); these radiate out from the umbel’s central “hub” and bear at their ends (at the “rim”) globular yellow tips where the floral organs are located. The flowering time is usually in autumn but can occur sporadically at other times of the year. The nectar is wonderfully sweet - attracting hungry moths for pollination.

Read more here.
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Cal Poly students begin harvesting flowers
to decorate school’s 2019 Rose Parade float

Construction on the Cal Poly Rose Parade float is well underway. But this past week, work got started on another — perhaps more subtle — aspect of the float: harvesting the flowers that will decorate this year’s entry.

Students grow and harvest a portion of the plants from the on-campus Rose Float flower fields. These include marigolds, strawflower and statice, which will be used as colorful decorations.

Read more here.
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7 Must-Try Floral Techniques to add Beauty
with Branches

Autumn is awesome with possibilities for adding seasonal materials to your floral arrangements.

But there’s more to creating captivating fall flower designs than just incorporating the colors and textures of the season.

Adding a linear element like branches allows you to expand the space of a floral composition. You’re adding dimension while creating a visual connection to the outdoors.

Here are seven techniques (plus a twig-tree project from Smithers-Oasis Floral Design Director Kevin Ylvisaker AIFD, PFCI you can try) that will enable you to turn twigs and branches into seasonal beauty your customers will want to bring indoors.

Read more here.
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Rose Parade efforts in full swing

Plans for the first two Certified CA Grown entries at the 2019 Tournament of Roses Parade are already underway, and the ramp up to the New Year’s Day tradition has begun.

The entries from Cal Poly Universities and FTD Companies Inc. – the first to announce so far – will both feature CA Grown flowers and foliage. Additional CA Grown entries will be announced in coming weeks, including a number of equine entries.

Read more here.

Fall Inspiration: Pumpkins and Protea Pair Perfectly

The vibes your autumn decor gives off depends entirely on what you pair them with. While we typically associate pumpkins with Halloween they're suitable for so much more. Left whole, they can sit at many angles to give everyone at the table a beautiful view. Cut open, they make excellent containers for flowers when hollowed out. While most popular in hues of orange, white and green, pumpkins offer wonderful new options for color schemes, especially when they are paired with protea. Use these pumpkin centerpiece ideas as your inspiration this fall.

Petal it Forward 2018

The floral industry hit the streets once again on October 24th to Petal It Forward, and Temecula was among 410 cities in all the 50 states, plus Washington D.C. where florists, wholesalers and farmers brightened the days of random merchants, passersby and even firefighters. It was part of the nationwide ‘Petal it Forward’ program, sponsored by the Society of American Florists which calls attention to the variety of flowers and foliage grown in the U.S. and the positive, instant impact of giving and receiving flowers. This feel-good campaign helps farmers, wholesalers and retailers connect with their local communities and generates positive PR, for their businesses and the industry at large.

Petal It Forward teams from 410 cities not only spread happiness to lucky people who received the flowers but arms the recipients with the tools they needed to Petal It Forward and spread happiness to others: An extra flower bouquet to share with a friend, co-worker or someone they don't know. The idea: That it's not only fun to receive flowers and kindness, but it feels good to give. We joined in on the fun and headed to Old Town Temecula to help revel in the power of flowers and spread some happiness too!

This was a win-win for all the happiness ambassadors but, more importantly, it was a win for creating positive buzz around flowers in the communities that were reached.

UCR Botanic Gardens Fall Plant Sale

Fall is a very popular time of the year for outdoor markets and fairs of all kinds. And when garden opportunities arise we always try to participate in the local favorites. Autumn also happens to be the best time to plant perennials like proteas, shrubs, bulbs and even wildflower seeds. Did you know that plants established in the fall and winter grow faster in the spring and require less water when summer comes?

This month we returned to the UCR Botanic Gardens nestled in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountains on the east side of the University of California, Riverside Campus for their 36th annual plant sale. This spectacular event features an vast collection of plants including drought tolerant California Natives as well as plants that attract hummingbirds or butterflies and plants that are suitable for vegetable or flower gardens.

It’s also a fabulous time of year to visit the UCR Botanic Gardens - not only to enjoy this living plant museum with more than 3,500 plant species from around the world, but to wander through the four miles of scenic trails or just relax on a bench and enjoy the beauty.

San Diego Grown Dinner

The San Diego County Farm Bureau hosted their biannual San Diego Grown Dinner at Orfila Winery and Be Wise Ranch on the most perfect fall day - sunny skies, a slight breeze, and mild temps welcomed over 200 guests as they enjoyed savory appetizers, sipped on cider, beer and wine, listened to live mariachi music, sampled tasty olive oil, visited the boutonniere bar and finally settled in for a feast among the veggies!

Once again, we partnered with the Farm Bureau and created protea décor for the event. We flowered the Orfila Winery entrance with wreaths and garlands, decorated the cocktail tables with posies, garnished the bar and buffets with handtied bouquets. In addition, we hosted a boutonniere bar where guests could take a floral accessory of their choice to go or make their own.

Chef Michael Ground of the Patio Group and his talented team prepared a three-course farm-to-table feast with a bounty from the county. Guests enjoyed a selection of fresh, fall fruits and vegetables along with grilled and smoked beef, barbeque chicken, sausage and a host of sweet treats! Each course was paired with fine wines from Rancho Guejito, Edwards and Orfila Vineyards.

Here’s a peek at the menu:

Dinner entertainment not only included a colorful mariachi group, the Farm Bureau ‘conveniently’ arranged the launching of the SpaceX satellite which lit up the night sky like an explosion of fireworks radiating beams of light.