Every spring, the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is transformed into a dazzling showcase for one of the world’s most beautiful and exotic flowers: the orchid. This year, for the 11th straight year in a row, the biggest orchid show in the United States celebrates this bewitching flower by displaying tens of thousands of its blooms in every shape, size and color imaginable, from deep purple Vandas to electric green Cymbidiums.
The Orchid Show was first created as a colorful kickoff to the spring season, during which NYBG visitors could escape their urban surroundings and learn more about the exciting research and many breathtaking exhibits being hosted at the garden.
“We were looking for a display that could help brighten up the gray days of winter and be a perfect prelude to our spectacular outdoor spring displays,” says Marc Hachadourian, orchid curator and manager of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections at NYBG. “Orchids seemed a natural choice. They have come to symbolize many things: Most people associate them with the exotic and unusual, and some consider certain orchids to be an aphrodisiac. During the last few days of winter—when people are really craving warmth, color and flowers—it is the perfect place to visit and immerse yourself. Being surrounded by thousands of colorful and fragrant blooms in one of the greatest glasshouses in the world is the best way to spend a day.”
This year, designer and horticultural expert Francisca Coelho fashioned the NYBG’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory into a lush rainforest with towering palm trees and exotic foliage. The 2013 show was inspired by Coelho’s upbringing in the tropics of Trinidad, and it took more than a year to plan and about two weeks to set up. The tropical paradise overflowed with the rarest and most exquisite orchids from every corner of the globe.
“Two of the most unusual might be the Butterfly orchid, or Psychopsis—with blooms that look exactly like a butterfly in flight, even down to the antennae—or the Darwin’s Star orchid from Madagascar, with its white flowers and 12-inch nectar spur,” says Hachadourian. “Phalaenopsis orchids are also wonderful because their flowers can last several months under ideal conditions, outlasting any flowering plant or certainly cut flowers. I love to give them as gifts for that reason alone.”
Aside from being surrounded by these stunning blossoms, NYBG Orchid Show visitors were also able to learn how to care for orchids at home, enjoy soothing music from all over the world, and unwind with an evening of delicious cocktails.
Of course, with its magical collection of one of our most beloved flowers, this show was one we simply had to experience in person. Here are the photos from our blissful stroll through orchid heaven!
Pink, purple, red, and orange bougainvillea on Maho Beach in St. Maarten.
Once upon a time, the hibiscus was my favorite tropical flower. But on a recent cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, an even more exotic bloom caught my eye and stole my heart: bougainvillea. Whether I was strolling along the turquoise shorelines of St. Maarten or hiking through the deep, lush jungles of St. Lucia, this colorful flower brought a bright burst of excitement to every breathtaking landscape I encountered. After I got home, I just had to learn more about the gorgeous bougainvillea flower and, of course, share some vacation photos with my readers.
History of bougainvillea flowers
Bougainvilleas are scattered throughout the warmest parts of the world — the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, India, Mexico, Australia, the southern United States — but the flowers are actually native to Rio de Janeiro. They were first found there in 1768 by Philibert Commerçon, a French explorer and naturalist. Commerçon named the flowers after his good friend Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, the French admiral with whom Commerçon sailed around the world from 1766 to 1769.
A pink bougainvillea blossom on Maho Beach in St. Maarten.
An orange bougainvillea vine in Soufriere, St. Lucia.
It wasn’t until the early 19th century that the bougainvillea was brought to Europe. Soon, France and England became thriving producers of the flower and eventually began trading it to Australia and other countries around the world.
About bougainvillea flowers
A purple bougainvillea vine in Soufriere, St. Lucia.
The bougainvillea plant is a thorny vine that can reach anywhere from 3 to 39 feet in height. In areas that lie closer to the equator, bougainvilleas bloom all year long, but in non-tropical locations, their bloom cycles last only four to six weeks. They produce tiny white flowers that are surrounded by waxy, brightly colored leaves called bracts. So, believe it or not, those breathtaking shades of pink, purple, red, orange, and yellow that you typically see on the bougainvillea aren’t actually flowers — they’re leaves!
If you’re looking to grow bougainvilleas at home, keep in mind they need dry soil, lots of sun, and regular fertilization. Other than that, these flowers are a gardener’s dream: They don’t need a lot of water (they actually spoil when they’re watered too much), and they’re naturally resistant to pests and disease. They’re even available in bonsai form!
When it comes to landscape design, bougainvillea is also one of the most versatile flowers: Depending on your preference, you can either prune it into a small topiary, shape it into a medium-sized bush, or train it to sprawl over fences, walls, trellises, and more. No matter how you decorate your yard with it, the bougainvillea and its explosive color will turn your home into a tropical paradise.
Whether you’re buying a seedling as a present for yourself or a loved one, there are plenty of reasons why you should celebrate your next big occasion with a ready-to-plant tree. Trees aren’t only great for the environment — they can also help you commemorate life’s most precious moments, from births to marriages. Read on to learn why trees make the perfect gift for every celebration.
1. Trees are the gift that keeps on giving
Our plant and tree experts handpick only the healthiest, sturdiest, most beautiful trees that you can enjoy year after year. Their beauty also changes with the seasons, so it’s like having a brand new tree with each month that passes.
2. Trees are perfect for celebrating important occasions and holidays
Whether you’re toasting to a new beginning, marking a milestone anniversary, or honoring a loved one, no gift commemorates life’s most important moments quite like a tree. If you have a baby on the way, or are celebrating a birthday or housewarming, trees are the perfect symbolic gift for long life, strength, and happiness.
Have you lost someone close to your heart? Honor their memory and spirit with the everlasting beauty of a newly planted tree. No matter what the occasion, a tree makes for a truly meaningful, memorable, and enduring tribute.
3. Everyone LOVES trees
No matter how old we get, we’re always amazed by watching a tiny seed grow into a giant tree. Plant a tree today, and it’s sure to spread smiles for many generations to come.
4. Trees are easy to care for
Each of our trees comes with detailed care instructions and is specially grown to start flourishing as soon as it’s planted. Plus, our pros will help you pick the best tree for its recipient by suggesting which species will grow best in their hardiness zone. Because long-lasting trees require very little maintenance, they make a beautiful gift the recipient can enjoy with minimal effort.
5. Trees are awesome for the environment
In addition to providing us with the oxygen we breathe, trees also provide shelter and food for birds and animals. They also absorb rainwater, which may contain pollutants that could contaminate our waterways.
It’s a blast from the past! Terrariums, which were hugely popular back in the ’70s and ’80s, are resurfacing again as one of today’s hottest indoor gardening trends. And it’s easy to see why: These self-enclosed, self-sustaining miniature ecosystems are virtually maintenance-free. To jump on the bandwagon, you can pick from plenty of beautiful ready made terrariums, or you can take the DIY route and create your own.
If you decide to take the time to make one for yourself but don’t know how to make a DIY terrarium, what materials you need to fill your terrarium depends on what kind of plants you want to grow. So, if you want to grow a small dessert terrarium, it should be filled with rocks and sand. But if you want to create a rainforest terrarium, it should be filled with soil, moss and other woodsy materials. To make your own basic terrarium with plants that require soil, all you have to do is fill it with the following layers, starting at the bottom and working to the top:
1 inch of gravel or pebbles
1/2 inch of charcoal
Thin layer of sphagnum moss
2 inches of potting soil
Once your layers are set, place your selected plants into the soil and add some decorative elements to give your terrarium some personality. Spray the plants with some water (10 sprays should be enough), and then tightly seal the terrarium lid. Place them in a source of natural light and keep track of the internal temperature with a thermometer. (Make sure it’s ideal for the type of plant you’re growing.) Then just sit back and watch your plants grow!
What kind of terrarium will you make for your home?
There’s only one word to describe the 184th Philadelphia Flower Show: “Brilliant!” This year, the world’s biggest indoor flower show tipped its hat to our favorite neighbor across the pond: Great Britain. From the royal crown jewels to the quaint country cottages, the Pennsylvania Horticultural society gives visitors a flower-studded tour through centuries of British history and culture.
And with new features like the Make & Take Room, where you can get crafty with flowers and create your own fascinator, we knew this year’s show simply couldn’t be missed. For those of you who couldn’t make it there, don’t worry. It runs through March 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, so grab your mates and catch it before it’s over.
Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at the show’s biggest displays. Get ready for the British invasion!
Big Ben and the Entrance to the Philadelphia Flower Show
Here at Petal Talk, we live and breathe flowers in their every form. Whether we’re discovering new ways to decorate with fresh blossoms, creating our own DIY flowers or spotting our favorite blooms in works of art, flowers are what make us smile. So you can imagine the excitement we felt when we came across the newly released book Flowerby filmmaker and photographer Andrew Zuckerman. His mesmerizing high-definition images capture flowers in all their glory, creating a vibrant bouquet of photographs that will take your breath away. We were so fascinated by Zuckerman’s flower photography that we just had to reach out to him personally and learn more about his inspiration. Here, Zuckerman himself gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how he brought his latest project to full bloom.
Throughout your career, you’ve photographed a variety of subjects: legendary artists, politicians, business and religious leaders, as well as birds and other wild animals. Why did you choose flowers as your most recent subject?
My interest in flowers was twofold, really. For one thing, since I began exploring the natural world with Creature, I found myself wanting to create a kind of collection of two-dimensional taxonomy, which I equate most immediately with turn of the century naturalist drawings. Flower was the next step in this process. In addition, I like to work with self-imposed constraints and I tend to be inspired by subjects that have been exhausted. Since flowers are one of the oldest subjects in art (their appearance dates back to ancient Egypt), they presented a unique challenge. I was really interested in divorcing the flowers from all their symbolic and metaphorical associations, as well as their ecological contexts, in order to reveal their essential qualities.
In your book Flower,you show intimate close-ups of 150 flower species. How many flower species did you shoot in total while working on the book? How did you select the final 150 images?
I shot around 250 species in total, all of which are included on the project’s microsite, FlowerTheBook.com. I like to be pretty comprehensive once I start investigating a subject, and I work across a few platforms to create more points of entry into the work. So the projects will include films, a website, taxonomical index, and of course the book, which I consider as an object, so how all the images work together and flow from page to page is important. I usually start with my favorite images and go from there, making sure every image makes sense as part of the larger whole.
Photo courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman
The bright colors of your flowers set against a sharp white background give your photos a surreal effect, putting an intense focus on the flowers themselves and nothing else. Why do you shoot your photos this way?
I find this reductive approach suits both my taxonomical impulses and my desire to reveal the essence of a subject.
Many of the exotic flower species you shot for your book aren’t the kinds of flowers you see every day. How did you collect them for your photo shoots?
We were very fortunate to have the support of amazing institutions like the New York Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian Institute, and Fairchild Tropical Garden. But I wanted the project to be a broad survey of the botanical world, so you’ll find a lot of New York City deli flowers mixed in with the incredibly rare orchids and tropicals.
Working at 1-800-Flowers, we know how delicate flowers are and how carefully they need to be handled. What would you say was the most difficult thing about working with such a perishable item?
I was actually surprised by how resilient they were! We work with very hot lights at the studio (and on location), and I expected the process to be much more delicate than it was. But we also handled them with care. We had coolers and water on hand, and we benefitted from working closely with the horticulturalists at many of the institutions.
What was your favorite flower to shoot for this project?
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman
Even though it’s not the most visually striking, I found the Darwin’s Star orchid, named for its role in the formulation of Darwin’s theory of evolution, the most fascinating. The bloom has an 11-inch spur, which Darwin posited meant there had to be an insect that existed with an appendage long enough to pollinate it. At the time, none had been discovered and Darwin’s hypothesis was ridiculed. But 40 years later, entomologists discovered a moth with a furled tongue that was four times longer than its body.
What was the most important thing you learned about flowers during this project?
While compiling the taxonomical index for the project, we learned that botanical classifications are in a state of flux since advances in technology have revolutionized the science of classification. So a lot of plants that were grouped according to visual cues are now being re-identified in terms of their biology. I don’t know that it’s the most important thing I learned about flowers, but it was definitely one of the most interesting. I just think about the custodians of the vast botanical world (endless, really; new species are discovered all the time) collecting and reclassifying all the data. That really blew my mind.
Your work is known for being accessible to its audience through multiple points of entry, such as photographs, films, and interactive apps. How did you interlace photography and videography to get up close and personal with flowers?
The reason I do films, as well as make photographs, books and websites is because I believe no one medium is best suited to conveying a concept. In the case of Flower, I knew that I wanted to capture the peak, heroic moment in the photographs, but I also wanted to explore the life cycles and rhythms of the flowers, which is so inherent to our emotional response to them. The films allowed me to do that.
In this film, you show the life and death of flowers, along with music that is synchronized with their life cycle. Stunning! How did you go about making this film, and what was the artistic goal you wanted to achieve with it?
The goal, which is always one of the goals, was to render the subject in the most precise way possible. So instead of using video footage, the films were created from thousands of high-definition stills, which were taken every minute or so on a time delay setting. I was very lucky to collaborate with Jesse Carmichael of Maroon 5, who composed the scores, and I love that the music seems like such a natural extension of the visual aims.
What advice would you give to budding flower photographers?
It’s not flower photographer-specific, but I would pass on the advice Chuck Close gave me when I was interviewing him for the Wisdom project: “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” I think this is one of the most important things for anyone pursuing a creative life to bear in mind.
When you really want to make a loved one smile ear to ear, nothing does the trick quite like fresh flowers. But what if your gift could last forever? That’s exactly what Jen Bristow, creative director and co-founder of Fresh Jewelry Company, dreamed of accomplishing when she created her line of real flower jewelry. Her truly original pieces capture the natural beauty of fresh buds and freeze it in time, allowing her customers to carry it wherever they go. And since we here at 1-800-Flowers.com share Fresh Jewelry Company’s mission to deliver smiles through flowers, we were thrilled to team up with them!
We spoke one-on-one with Bristow about her one-of-a-kind pieces and how she and her husband took their love of serving smiles at their family-owned coffeehouse and transformed it into a passion for creating lush, gorgeous flower jewelry that lets you express yourself perfectly for every occasion.
How did Fresh Jewelry Company get its start?
My husband, Troy, and I set out with our three school-age children in 2003 to open a coffeehouse named Ragamuffin Coffee House in the western suburbs of Chicago. We created a beautiful environment where everyone had a friendly welcome, and we served made-to-order coffees and lattes with our hearts for serving the community and for each of the people that came in. In many ways, we became the heart of the town, and we loved our thousands of customers—ragamuffins and all.
Our coffeehouse was voted the most popular coffeehouse in the western suburbs in the big Chicago magazine, and we became known as the coffee man and the coffee lady. About 1.5 years into our zealous endeavor, we realized that we needed to add to coffee sales to make our family business financially healthy. We started by bringing in books and greeting cards, along with other miscellaneous items, and we discovered that retail was a good idea and we had a good everyday market.
Earlier in his life, my husband lived in the country of Mexico for two years, learned the language and found a great love for the people of Mexico. So on our first opportunity to vacation after 20 months of the daily grind at the coffeehouse, we went to Mexico with our children. We were on the beach swimming and lounging, and we saw a young man with a huge wooden box full of sterling silver jewelry. I had a brilliant epiphany that we should sell jewelry over the coffeehouse counter, and so we struck a deal on the beach and selected approximately 30 pieces of silver jewelry at a discounted rate. When we returned to work and plopped the jewelry on the counter, it sold within just a few hours. Wow! Maybe we’ve got something here!
Several weeks later, we traveled back to Mexico to one of the towns with a silver mine and we purchased 300 pieces of jewelry. In one week at the Ragamuffin it was gone. So we set out to learn importing and jewelry merchandising, as we were our own first retail customer. Surrounding stores asked to carry our jewelry and we learned the wholesale business. One or two years into our jewelry business, we chose to shift focus and to create and specialize in fresh flower jewelry. Now we distribute lightly to 35 states and Canada. The coffee house is closed due to construction throughout the downtown corridor, but out of the ashes has risen the truly beautiful business of Fresh Jewelry Company.
What’s the story behind your jewelry? What inspired you to create pieces with fresh flowers?
As the creative director, I get the honor of choosing what we manufacture. I’m grateful for that. I have a passion for conveying beauty, and I find flowers and plants to be among the most beautiful things in the world. I love the colors and the textures, and they make me happy. When I was a young girl, we lived on a large piece of property full of woods and wildflowers. I would spend my days exploring the property, enjoying the fresh, warm breeze and the feel of the long grass and the wild flowers rustling against my legs. To me, the flowers were beauty and freedom and comfort. They were everything alive and nothing stale. They were happiness and they were the feeling of fresh.
So you can imagine what pleasure it gives me to work with flowers all day, every day, and also how fun it is for me to give the feeling of fresh to hundreds of people around me as they choose to wear our jewelry. Running Fresh is like being in those fields all over again!
What makes your jewelry line truly original?
Design and quality. We have very little competition—perhaps two or three companies that do anything similar. So, first of all, we’re very unique to the market in general. Within our little circle, I respect every other manufacturer of jewelry that contains flowers. It is difficult! However, our flowers are especially beautiful in color and in their fullness, and my designs are each specifically designed to create the feeling of freshnessand lushness.
The beautiful flowers in your jewelry are perfectly preserved. How do you do that?
We preserve the flowers, without pressing or crushing them, in a special blend of elements that stabilize the color and also keep the flower from disintegrating. It’s a bit of a secret. You will notice that we capture the flowers; we do not press them. That’s why there is some depth to the frame of the jewelry. It’s easiest to understand this when you examine the rosebud, which is dimensional.
What’s your favorite flower to work with?
Well, the people we create this jewelry for seem to love forget-me-nots the most. I believe it’s because of the sentiment and, frankly, because we all wear blue jeans! I love them now because I see the emotion that people have about them: tender and sweet. I personally prefer the purple pansy because I love the deep richness of the color purple.
What is the most difficult flower to work with?
We currently harvest a flower that we call in Mexico the “Crown of Christ.” Most often in the U.S. it is referred to as the “Crown of Thorns.” We harvest the flower from a plant that has mean thorns, and getting the flower out is a delicate challenge. Its color is blood red, and it is a beautiful blossom. Well worth the challenge.
Our goal here at 1-800-Flowers is to deliver smiles to our customers on every occasion of their lives. How does your jewelry make people smile?
Our jewelry makes people smile because it is a fun, unusual and meaningful gift that says the same things flowers do, but it says, “Flowers forever, and you can wear them too!” It’s such a lovely idea to have flowers in your jewelry. They’re artful, playful, tender and natural, and they show that anyone who receives them as a gift is loved.
Crazy about Bristow’s stunning fresh flower jewelry? You can buy her exclusive necklaces, earrings and bracelets on 1-800-Flowers.com, or you can browse through her entire line at FreshJewelryCompany.com.
Think you know everything about matters of the heart? Guess again! There’s a lot more to that weak-in-the-knees feeling you get every time you lay your eyes on that someone special. To honor the arrival of Valentine’s Day, here are some little-known fun love facts, excerpted from the exclusive 1-800-Flowers book, Celebrating Love: Share, Remember, Cherish from founder Jim McCann. You’ll never look at your love the same way again!
Fun Love Facts
Being in love produces the same physiological responses as fear: pupil dilation, sweaty palms, and increased heart rate.
Men who kiss their wives each morning live five years longer than those who don’t.
Medical experts suggest you are more likely to catch a common cold by shaking hands than by kissing.
Love and marriage are boosts for your health, so much so that one doctor admitted that if a new drug had the same impact, virtually every doctor in the country would be recommending it.
According to research, love at first sight is not just a fairy tale. If a person is in the right emotional frame of mind, it can take as little as 30 seconds to fall in love. Physical appearance tops the list for attraction, but a desire to know more about the person is another factor. Interestingly, men fall first but are usually the most fickle, a sign that it is possible to fall in love with more than one person at a time.
One of the toughest things to do on Valentine’s Day is to put pen to paper and tell your sweetheart how much you love them. Why? Because, sometimes, words just aren’t enough. But even though capturing your most passionate emotions by stringing a few letters together can be a daunting task, it’s not an impossible one. All you have to do is be genuine and maybe even look around for some inspiration.
To help you bring your inner Shakespeare to the surface, we’ve gathered a few love quotes that make the perfect Valentine’s Day card messages for all of the loved ones in your life. Use these famous quotes as a starting point, and then sprinkle in some of your most favorite memories to create a truly personal and heartfelt love note for your Valentine.
Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss
“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.” – Author unknown
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” – Mother Teresa
“If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.” – Claudia Ghandi
“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.” – Paulo Coelho
Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Fiancé
“For you see, each day I love you more; today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.” – Rosemonde Gérard
“I don’t pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me. Love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person. Love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of. Love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak in the knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.” – Author unknown
“Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me.” – Sarah Bernhardt
“When I say, ‘I love you,’ it’s not because I want you or because I can’t have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I have seen your kindness and your strength. I have seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are.” – Joss Whedon
“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Jalal ad-Din Rumi
Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Spouse
“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” – Judy Garland
“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” – Henry Drummond
“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert Heinlein
“There are four questions of value in life … What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.” – Johnny Depp
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Bronte
Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Best Friend
“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.” – Jean de La Fontaine
“Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself—and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to—letting a person be what he really is.” – Jim Morrison
“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” – Elbert Hubbard
“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.” – Hubert H. Humphrey
“Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.” – Virginia Woolf
Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Parents
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu
“Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.” – Alan Cohen
“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” – Henry Ward Beecher
“There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.” – Henry Ward Beecher
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.” – Anthony Brandt
What are some other Valentine’s Day card messages that make your heart go pit-a-pat?
