Mums are brilliant – so to celebrate, we’re giving away four £25 Marks & Spencer gift vouchers in our very special Mother’s Day competition.
To be in with a chance of winning one of these fabulous prizes, we’re asking you to nominate a mum – she can be yours or someone else’s, we don’t mind – who has gone the extra mile in the last year to help someone or something. It could be that she’s looked after a person in need, helped raise money for charity whilst battling illness or whatever. All we ask is that you tell us about a mum who deserves a special treat.
To enter, email webteam@direct2florist.com telling us, in no more than 100 words, how the very special mum has gone the extra mile. Please title the email ‘I know a special mum’ and don’ forget to include your contact details so that we can contact you if you win. The winning entries will be chosen by the mums of staff here at Direct2Florist and, if the winners agree, will be published on the Direct2Florist website. Good luck with your entry!
They’re bold, bright and beautiful, massively popular and much loved by mums – you really can’t go wrong with primroses when sending plants at Mother’s Day.
What’s more, this Mother’s Day, a whole host of new varieties are available, some with colours never seen before – check out the interesting ‘Zebrea Blue’ variety shown here – some with longer lasting characteristics and some that are bigger than ever!
Primroses are beautifully vibrant and are great value for money – pocket money prices in many cases – making them the ideal Mothering Sunday gift.
Direct2florist’s network of professional florists are offering some beautiful Mother’s Day primrose designs – paired with colourful containers, fun bags and stunning packaging.
Throughout the year, not to mention during the big occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mothering Sunday, weddings and birthdays, we know that flowers will be there to help us express our emotions and show we care.
But how does a perishable product such as a fresh flower get into a florist shop in such a healthy state? Here we reveal the journey a flower makes from field inHollandto florist here in the UK.
6pm: The nursery
The process begins at the grower. When a flower is ready to be cut it’s whipped off and given a drink filled with flower food.
8pm: Transport begins
Each grower delivers his flowers to one of the Dutch auctions, which process a staggering 12 billion stems a year!
10pm: Arrival at the auctions
As soon as the paperwork is completed, the flowers go into a refrigerated area. There are various refrigerated areas with different temperatures, so that the best climate for each type of product is achieved.
4am: Quality inspection
During the night, the auction quality inspectors perform random quality controls on the flowers and plants supplied. Once this stage is complete, the flowers and plants are ready for the auction clock.
5am onwards: The clock
Every day, thousands of buyers purchase items off the clock – both in person and via ‘virtual’ clocks on their computer screen. Buying takes place on a reverse clock system, where buyers hold their nerve until the price goes down, before they press the button and buy.
7am: distribution begins
Directly after the flowers and plants are sold, they move to the distribution area – sometime on a flower carrying train. With most ‘Flying Dutchman’ exporters basing their logistics depots at the auctions, the flowers purchased 10 minutes earlier can be dropped at the correct site.
11am: Delivery to florists begins
Once the buyer has his purchases, it’s then prepared for dispatch on the same day and trucked to florists via the Channel tunnel orDoverferries. All the way along the line, the flowers are refrigerated to ensure maximum longevity for consumers.
5pm onwards: Arrival at florist shops
The florist shop is the last link in a remarkable chain. Less than 24 hours after they’re cut, the flowers start arriving in the florist shops closest to the ferry ports. Meanwhile, the growers are busy starting the cycle all over again!
Hot on the heels of one big day in the floristry calendar – Valentine’s Day – comes the next in the form of Mothering Sunday, which this year in the UK takes place on March 18th.
Mother’s Day is actually the busiest event in the floristry calendar, with Direct2florist’s professional florists swimming in a sea of pink – with everything from cellophane to the flowers themselves in just about every shade of the colour you could imagine.
However, whilst pink might be the automatic colour of choice when it comes to sending flowers at Mother’s Day, just as red is at Valentine’s Day, why has the colour developed into the number one trend for mums everywhere?
Well, pink is without doubt a feminine colour – it’s a quiet colour (unless you opt for powerful cerise hues of course), is associated with universal love and a pink carnation is supposed to symbolise ‘I will never forget you’, whilst a pink rose stands for friendship.
However, this hasn’t always been the case. Back at the turn of the 20th Century, pink was considered to be more fitting for boys, probably because it stems from masculine red. Apparently, it wasn’t until the 1940’s that pink finally became a colour for girls.
But what if you don’t want to opt for pink for your mum? All of the florists in the Direct2Florist network will be happy to offer you a choice of whatever colour you would like and probably the best way to see what’s on offer is to enter where you would like to your flowers to be delivered and have a look through the products offered by the florists who deliver to that location – you’ll be surprised at what’s available. Visit www.direct2florist.co.uk to find out more.
To be honest though, there aren’t too many mums who will be disappointed with pink flowers this Mother’s Day.
While Valentine’s Day might be behind us for another 12 months, romance is still very much in the air because, of course, 2012 is a leap year.
According to tradition, on the last day in February in a leap year, the ‘normal’ order of proposals is reversed and woman can pop the question to men. What’s more, according to a survey in British Heart Foundation shops, a whopping third of British women are thinking about popping the question this year! The report also revealed thatLondonladies are the most in control of their relationships, with almost half of them thinking about proposing.
Today’s society doesn’t frown on women who propose but this wasn’t always the case. There are several theories surrounding the advent of leap year proposals but, back in the days when the rules of courtship were a lot stricter, women were simply not allowed to pop the question.
At that time, February 29 wasn’t a recognised date, so the day itself was simply ‘leapt over’ – hence the name. Since it had no legal standing, legend has it that people assumed tradition had no official status on this day, either. Therefore, women had an opportunity to change the custom that only men could propose. What’s more, if a man rejected a women’s proposal, he had to buy her 12 pairs of gloves, to hide the embarrassment of the lady in question not having an engagement ring. Sending flowers would have been much simpler!
Carrying on the theme of the staggering numbers involved with sending Valentine’s Day flowers, we read today that Iberia Cargo and British Airways World Cargo, between them carried approximately 700 hundred tonnes of flowers across the globe for Valentine’s Day.
Iberia Cargo has transported more than 356 tonnes of Valentine’s flowers this year from key producers and exporters in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala to stock up florists across Europe. Meanwhile, British Airways World Cargo carried over 335 tonnes of flowers for Valentine’s Day last year and is set to see similar numbers in 2012.
The group’s figures also show there is no break from tradition. The most popular flower for Valentine’s, and indeed all year round, remains the Rose, followed by Carnations.
To ensure flowers are delivered to shops and their customers in a fresh condition, a robust temperature controlled process is deployed. The Perishables Handling Centres at both Madrid and London Heathrow airports, the main hubs of Iberia Cargo and British Airways World Cargo, are key parts of this. Flowers are kept there in refrigerated storage at the correct temperature and humidity and at no time is the ‘cold chain’ broken.
With Mother’s Day 2012 forecast to be bigger than Valentine’s Day when it comes to sending flowers, we wonder just what the stats will look like for that big day!
To showcase the sheer volume of flowers sent at Valentine’s Day, bear in mind this incredible statistic – if all the flowers grown in Colombia just for this one day were placed end to end, they would stretch around the world a staggering 8 times!
More than 500,000,000 Colombian flowers are being shipped to countries around the world to meet the February 14th deadline including over 5 million roses into the UK. That’s enough flowers to go round the world at least 8 times!!
If love makes the world go round then Colombian flowers are on track to make it spin this Valentine’s Day!
Add in flowers from all of the other flower producing countries around the globe and the mind boggles at how far the stems would stretch!
If red roses aren’t your thing for Valentine’s Day, bulb flowers make the perfect alternative. Perfectly in season, packed full of charm and decidedly different, they make wonderful gifts.
Be sure to pick the correct bouquet of cut bulb flowers this year and send the perfect message to your Valentine… whoever they may be…
Red Tulip: Synonymous with love, this beautiful red cut bulb flower symbolises passion, romance and is the ultimate bouquet for a loved one. Try varieties such as ‘Amor’ or ‘Passionale’ for a truly meaningful gift.
Purple Iris: For an ethereal, earth mother, try purple iris. A brave and unusual choice for Valentine’s Day, the strong colour is a good match for independent women who are at one with Mother Nature.
Yellow Narcissi: Valentine’s Day is for all so treat mothers, aunts or grandmothers to a fresh bouquet of yellow narcissi. Loved ones will be delighted with the novel idea of narcissi, and in a glass vase will look beautiful next to a handmade card.
Pink and White Hyacinths: Send daughters a fragrant bouquet of pink and white hyacinths to symbolise the love between parent and child. As one of the most fragrant bulbs, hyacinths work beautifully to fill rooms with a sweet scent, reminding the recipient how much they are cared for.
Calla Lily: The ultimate wedding cut bulb flower, the calla lily is also perfect for Valentine’s Day in a bouquet or as a single stem. It symbolises purity, longevity and devotion and sends the ultimate message of love.
Back in 2009, website Buyagift revealed that a kitchen bin was the least romantic gift ever sent to a loved on Valentine’s Day.
The rubbish present topped a list of bad gifts ahead of a screwdriver set and cleaning cloths. Since then, numerous surveys have revealed other ‘dodgy gifts’ actually presented as a gift, include an oil change, a plastic necklace, socks and even a chainsaw!
Rest assured though, as one gift constantly tops the charts – the gift of Valentine’s Day flowers, which simply can’t be beaten. So, use Direct2florist to send flowers to the special person in your life and you can rest easy that it’s a job well done.
According to legend, the history of Valentine’s Day dates back to the third century in Rome, when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers, in the process outlawing marriage for young men.
As a result, Valentine – a young priest – so enraged by the decision, decided to risk punishment by continuing to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Claudius eventually discovered Valentine’s actions and sentenced him to death. Whilst imprisoned awaiting his fate, Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and sent a note to her, signing it “From Your Valentine” – an expression we still use today.
Valentine was executed on February 14th, 270 AD, with the date later (sometime around 496 AD) declared a day to honour Valentine’s actions by Pope Gelasius. By this time, Valentine had also been declared a Saint.
The history of sending flowers to a loved one on Valentine’s Day flowers comes from the old-fashioned custom of sending floral bouquets to pass on non-verbal messages. Introduced in the 18th century by Charles II ofSweden, each flower had a specific meaning attached to it, making it possible to have an entire conversation using only flowers. That’s why today, the red rose is still the most popular way to share an expression of love.
