Flower News: May’s Stories of Interest from Around the World

South Africa wins gold
at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

South Africa just won gold at the Chelsea Flower Show for the 37th time. This is reportedly the 37th time in 43 years that SA has been awarded Gold at the international flower show.

Kirstenbosch – who is representing South Africa on the show’s world stage – was awarded their 37th gold for their stunning floral kingdom display – ‘Mountains of Abundance’, reports Traveller24. Kirstenbosch received the award at the 2019 RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Chelsea Flower Show in the UK today.

Read more here.
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A Luncheon With CA Grown & Husbands That Cook

Celebrating the fresh seasonal produce grown in California!

This spring, #TeamFeedfeed traveled to sunny Los Angeles where we hosted an amazing luncheon to highlight vibrant seasonal produce from CA Grown and to celebrate Husbands That Cook's newly launched book.

The setting was Adam and Ryan’s very own breathtaking backyard overlooking the city, filled with beautiful flowers and plants. They have many trails with fruit trees, herb bushes, huge succulents and monumental blue agave plants (I was so tempted to take some succulents back to New York with me!). It was a perfect day filled with lots of sunshine, birds chirping happily and great company. The wonderful and gracious co-host Rebecca Firth, who is a long time friend of Feedfeed and Husbands That Cook, arrived early to welcome the guests and share a few appetizers and salads.

Read more here.
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June: California Grown Flowers Month

For the fifth year in a row, the California Legislature will honor the state’s flower farmers and recognize their contributions to the state’s economy and workforce by declaring June California Grown Flowers Month.

State Sen. Mike McGuire is again putting forth the resolution to “honor the men and women of the California grown flower industry for their dedication and productivity.”

Read more here.
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Research Says Having Fresh Flowers in Your Home
Can Actually Reduce Levels of Pain

Sending flowers to your sick or sad friend might be a universal go-to gift, but the heartwarming gesture is actually more helpful than you think. I know it may be surprising, but there are more to flowers than just a sweet smell and a pretty face—they can have some seriously positive effects on our health, too.

The American Society for Horticulture Science performed a study evaluating if plants have therapeutic influences on surgical patients, and the results are honestly kind of shocking. 90 patients were split into rooms either with plants or without plants, and those with some kind of foliage had wildly different results than those who had not.

Read more here.

Protea News: May’s Articles and Blogs of Interest from Around the World

Changing the landscape

He bet the farm on an unfamiliar flower—now protea is a breakout star

On a patchwork of some 15 parcels of hilly land with rocky, dry soil in northern San Diego County, Ismael "Mel" Resendiz has carved out a floral paradise. His farm, clinging to steep, remote hillsides and linked to civilization with narrow dirt roads, many of which Resendiz himself built, defies convention. So does its signature product, the otherworldly but undeniably lovely protea. Read more here.
                                                                                                                                                             

SA wins gold at Chelsea Flower Show

London - South Africa won gold at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in London on Tuesday. SA has won gold 36 times in the 43 years it has exhibited at the international flower show.

Designer and gardener Leon Kluge of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden an his team presented a culturally oriented display featuring not only SA’s unique flora, but also the Cape Flats. Read more here. 
                                                                                                                                                         

Although they may just recently have been swarming social media in shots of floral designs, proteas have been around for a very long time. The large and extremely diverse family is known to have originated at a time when much of the Earth’s landmass had amalgamated into one supercontinent. Later, sections of the supercontinent drifted apart and formed the continents we know today—which is why we find members of the wide-ranging protea family native to regions as far apart as Australia, South America and South Africa. Read more here.
                                                                                                                                                                  

Colourful Native Wedding at the Palais Theatre, Franklin

For a February wedding, the brief was "colourful" and "native" with the bride's dress in a dark bottle green. What fun! A beautiful White King Protea formed the centrepiece of the bride's bouquet, making sure there was a real contrast with the dark green of the dress. The King Protea was surrounded by lots of colour and fabulous foliage. Read more here.

Instagram: Photos We Dig

This month’s Instagram Inspiration is all about Kings! 10 fabulous photos showcasing these awesome flowers - the perfect styling for dinner, curation of the week, obsession with these pretties, absolute fave, drooling over this protea, FLOWER :: BOMB, beautiful in bridal bouquets and with diamonds too. Finally, a trip to the Kirstenbosch display at Chelsea Flower Show where the protea, especially the white Kings are simply stunning – Enjoy!