Freesia

Refined, not too overpowering and available throughout the year in a range of different colours, it’s easy to see why the freesia constantly appears in the top ten lists of our favourite flowers. With a relatively long vase life, long strong stems that make it usable in designs of all sizes and good availability, freesia is a florist’s favourite too.

Native to South Africa, freesias are named after Dr Freese, a German physician involved in the discovery and development of them as a plant. For the summer season, strong red, orange and yellow varieties abound, with paler pinks and whites popular in the cooler months.

When looking after freesias, keep them away from fruit and vegetables as they are very sensitive to the ethylene gas they give off. Also avoid excess heat and ensure the stems never dry out. Do this and you’ll enjoy the lovely fragranced freesia for a good period of time.

Mid May is a great time to rid borders of weeds before they take too strong a foothold. A good tip here is to tackle weeds on a dry day so that the victims dry up, making doubly sure of death. If you haven’t got the time to destroy dandelions, at the very least lop the heads off before they set to seed.

Weeds aren’t the only things to eradicate this month – now is the time to wage war on slugs and snails. They love tulips and the tasty young shoots of delphiniums and the like, so use pet-friendly slug pellets, and drench the ground around hostas (a slug’s idea of a Michelin starred meal) with liquid slug killer. Pick off any snails and dispose of them as you wish.

Lily beetles (bright red critters with black heads or their yellow larvae) and the black-spotted green caterpillars of the gooseberry sawfly head to be squashed or squirted with a suitable spray.

Lily Beetle

Now the soil is warming up and prompting growth, add general purpose fertiliser before covering with mulch, especially in borders, the fruit and vegetable patch and containers.

Carry on removing moss and weeds from paths, terraces and drives and keep an eye out for pests around the garden. Try to keep the use of chemical controls to a minimum – they may kill off pests, but they also kill off the beneficial insects that prey on them such as ladybirds and hoverfly larvae

Now in its eight year, Chelsea in Bloom sees shops in the locality of the show compete for the coveted awards with a display of breathtaking floral designs. Supported by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Chelsea in Bloom runs from 20th to 25th May.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Decades’, tying in with the centenary year of the main attraction – the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. As a result, the floral displays will reflect iconic periods of British design, whilst taking inspiration from participating retailers’ archives from the past 100 years.

Last year’s winning retailer was Liz Earle, with 2012’s highly awarded stores, namely Ted Baker, The White Company and Hackett, all once again competing. The RHS judging team will view, deliberate and then award the winner and runner up for the Best Floral Display. One display will also receive the Highly Commended award. The team also has the tough task of deciding which display deserves the coveted Cadogan’s Award for Creative Recognition.

Whichever company or companies scoop the honours, the true winners are those who head along to view this floral spectacular.

International Mothers Day Sunday 12 May

Our global network of skilled professional florists is ready and waiting to create a bespoke, handmade floral gift, guaranteed to put a big smile on your mum’s face, wherever around the world she is.

With a huge selection of design ideas to choose from, finding something to match your tastes and budgets won’t be a problem. What’s more, a full range of extras are available, allowing you to add chocolates, champagne, balloons or even a cuddly toy to make your present even more special.

Go on… you know your mum’s worth it. Click here to find out how Direct2Florist can help you this International Mother’s Day.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan, St Austell, Cornwall

It’s name could come straight from the pages of a Daphne du Maurier novel and there is indeed quite a story attached to these gardens in south Cornwall. The Tremayne family lived here for 400 years, but their splendid gardens went into decline in the 20th century, after most of Heligan’s 22 gardeners perished in the First World War. The gardens were gradually claimed by bramble and ivy until, in the mid-Nineties, a group of enthusiastic gardeners decided to restore them. Heligan is now in its second decade of restoration, and is famous for its huge rhododendrons and camellias, as well as pretty lakes, and an area called The Jungle filled with ancient ferns.

www.heligan.com

Stowe Landscape Gardens, Buckinghamshire

Stowe

Garden-lovers say that everyone should visit Stowe at least once in their life, as for many, this sprawling estate represents the ultimate in classic garden design. Laid out by legendary 18th-century landscaper Capability Brown, Stowe has more than 40 monuments, temples and little nooks, as well as ornamental lakes, wooded valleys and world-class views. One famous edifice is the Temple of Concord and Victory, a huge classical-style construction. The house, once a stately pile, is now home to posh Stowe School and guided tours run at 11am and 12pm on most days.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-stowegardens

Howick Hall, Alnwick, Northumberland

Howick Hall, Alnwick

The one-time home of 19th-century prime minister and speciality tea inventor Earl Grey, Howick Hall sits in splendid isolation near the rocky Northumberland coast. There are different areas in the extensive grounds, such as a rockery, a beautiful woodland garden called Silverwood, and a bog garden with lots of Chinese plants. From snowdrops in March to hydrangeas in September the gardens are great at any time of the year. During the visit, you can’t not have a cup of that famous bergamot-infused brew in the Earl Grey Tea House.

www.howickhallgardens.org.uk

Bodnant Garden, Clwyd, Wales

Bodnant

Looking down over the River Conwy, and across the valley to the mountains of Snowdonia, this 80-acre garden in North Wales certainly has stunning views. Bodnant is divided into an upper and lower garden, its big selling point is that it has plants and trees from all over the world, particularly from China, North America, Europe and Japan, as these are most suited to the Welsh weather and soil. Spring comes alive with daffodils and magnolia, and the Japanese azaleas are at their peak in late May.

www.bodnantgarden.co.uk

Mount Stewart House, Garden and Temple of the Winds, County Down, Northern Ireland

Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart House graces the shore of the brooding Strangford Lough, outside Newtownards. The gardens, which were originally just boring old lawns, were lavishly re-imagined by the Marchioness of Londonderry, who created a shamrock garden and sunken garden, as well as expanding the lake and adding Spanish and Italian gardens. By the time she’d finished, there was talk of it becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mountstewart

Logan Botanic Garden, Stranraer, Scotland

logan-botanic-garden

At Scotland’s southwest tip, warmed by weather currents from the Gulf Stream, you’ll find the country’s most exotic garden, full of weird and wonderful plants from far afield. Some of the very un-Scottish trees to be admired in the woodland garden include eucalyptus and some unusual conifers from New Zealand. There’s also a bog with gunnera, which looks a bit like giant rhubarb. In summer, with the cabbage palms going strong and ferns waving in the breeze, you’ll find it hard to believe you’re in Scotland. In autumn there are winter-flowering shrubs from Australia.

www.rbge.org.uk/logan

The three-year project by PhD student Niramon Suntipabvivattana aims to find a way of making flowers last longer by pinpointing the exact date they will wilt. Funded by a £16,000 grant from the Royal Thai Government, the project has already seen 350 roses flown in from Kenya.

PhD student Niramon Suntipabvivattana

Niramon will first test roses, then lilies, then mixed bouquets. Pictures of nine different varieties of rose will be taken over a ten-day period to document the bud opening, the flower quality and the leaf quality. Levels of sugar, anthocyanin and starch in the petals will then be measured to see how these change as the flowers begin to wilt.

These same tests will then be carried out in different seasons next year to see if the season has an impact on how long the flowers last.

Niramon, herself from Thailand, said: “One of the problems with cut flower research is that there has been a relatively small amount of work on mixed bouquets, even though a lot of the flowers bought in shops are mixed.

This year Green Office Week research found that despite many of us prioritising the environment at home, it seems some of us forget about it in the workplace. Currently 55% of people say they work with colleagues who either disregard green working practices, or worse, are deliberately wasteful.  Forgetting to recycle, needlessly throwing away paper and leaving computers switched on overnight are just some of the top environmental issues identified.

If you’d like to make a green difference in your workplace, now is a great time to get colleagues thinking about their environmental impact. Visit the Green Office Week website for a range of practical tips and simple ideas to try in the workplace. From choosing recycled stationery, to turning the heating down by a degree, donating old office equipment to charity and even adding some office plants and flowers to refresh the air – Green Office Week is packed full of inspiration for your office!

The Royal Horticultural Society has drawn up a list of 10 plants launched at the Chelsea Flower Show since 1913, with one flower taken from each decade of the world famous gardening exhibition. They range from the Streptocarpus ”Harlequin Blue” to varieties of lupin, geranium and rhododendron.

Candidates include the Saxifraga ”Tumbling Waters”, which has silvery foliage topped with spikes of frothy white flowers from 1913-1922;

Pieris formosa, variety forrestii, an evergreen shrub which was introduced by Victorian plant hunter George Forrest and made its debut at Chelsea in 1924; Lupinus Russell hybrids, a rainbow palette of lupins unveiled by George Russell in 1938;

Rhododendron yakushimanum, an evergreen with bell-shaped white flowers, discovered on the Japanese island of Yakushima, which was instrumental in developing rhododendrons for smaller gardeners.

People can cast their vote for show plant of the centenary at the Chelsea Flower Show next month or online at www.rhs.org.uk

The day, which has been observed since the 1950s, celebrates the work of secretaries, receptionists, administrative assistants and all those involved in administrative support. Businesses in the US mark the occasion by treating relevant staff to lunch, by offering an early finish to the working day and the presentation of gifts.

Simon Stirling, Managing Director of Direct2Florist, says: “Administrative Professionals Day has long been one of the biggest workplace observances in the US and I’m a firm believer that we should make more of the occasion here in the UK. Office professionals play such a massively important role in the smooth running of businesses of all sizes, often without recognition. That’s why Direct2Florist is encouraging all of its customers, suppliers and local florists to publicly thank their admin staff and spread the word of the celebration.”

Administrative Professionals Day is part of a week-long celebration that has been observed for 61 years. The event was originally called National Secretaries Day until 2000, when the name was changed to Administrative Professionals Week in recognition of the growing responsibilities of admin professionals.

Simon adds: “Let’s give these unsung heroes of the business world the recognition they deserve here in the UK and recognise the difference they make to business success.”

Three bouquets, each worth £30, are up for grabs to three prize winners, with delivery to the address of each winner’s choice, in the UK or anywhere in Direct2Florist’s global network.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is email us with the answer to the following question: On what date does International Mother’s Day take place this year? Email your answer, along with your name and contact phone number (we promise not to pass on your details) to webteam@direct2florist.com

Closing date for the competition is midnight on Tuesday 30th April, 2013 and winners will be drawn at random after then and notified shortly after. Good luck!

Full terms and conditions are available on request.