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Houseplants For Earth Day: Reminders To Use The 3 R’s!

Earth Day is a special holiday which we celebrate our wonderful Mother Earth. Everything we are, we owe to the earth and it’s resources. The wood that’s in our houses, the metal in our cars, the glass in our windows, even the plastic in our water bottles are made from resources we’ve mastered here on earth. This is why Earth Day is such an important celebration; to remind us to be thankful of what we have and to practice the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle!) to ensure our resources for future generations.

*~ REDUCE | REUSE | RECYCLE ~*

English Ivy HouseplantA great way to celebrate Earth Day is to bring the wonderful creations of earth indoors. A houseplant is a great way to remind yourself to practice the 3 R’s daily around the house! Getting into a habit of earth friendliness is always a good thing. In addition to their eco-goodness, houseplants are a beautiful addition to any indoor space. By the use of color and texture you can instantly change the look and mood of a room!

How To Select The Perfect Houseplant

When selecting your houseplant, consider the conditions of the room or area they will be growing. What type of lighting does it have? How is the humidity? All are factors needed for your plant to be comfortable and thrive. You should also consider how much care and time you have available to give to your houseplant. Some plants are happy as they are and require very little supervision, but some require much more care. When buying a houseplant from a quality source, such as your local florist, explain to them what you can offer your houseplant and they will suggest the perfect new plant just for you!

FSN also offers a great resource when it comes to houseplants. Our Houseplant Care & Information page has many of the common houseplants listed with their care and information explained by our experts.

Houseplant Toxicity – Be sure to consider your pets when buying a houseplant. Many common houseplants are toxic and harmful to pets. Check out our houseplant toxicity list before buying your new plant.

Here Are 3 Main Types Of Houseplants
Green Houseplants
| Tropical Houseplants |
Flowering Houseplants

Green Houseplants Tropical Houseplant Flowering Houseplant

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This post is brought to you Allentown PA florists.
Not in Pennsylvania? No worries, Flower Shop Network connects you to a real local florist!

Entertain Your Guests With Beautiful Floral Decorations

A beautiful arrangement placed on your kitchen table is simply stunning for your everyday life, but what if you’re hosting a dinner party? There is a variety of unique ideas that you can use flowers to compliment your party. Here are a few tips and ideas to make your dinner party absolutely amazing with flowers!

Use Flowers For Fabulous Table Decor

Beautiful Floral Centerpiece

Beautiful Floral Centerpiece

First thing’s first, what is the style of your party? Are you planning a themed party? Is it more casual, elegant or a true, fine dining affair? Once you’ve figured that out, go to your local florist and they will help you with what flowers are in season. Then, you can get creative by mixing and matching the flowers and creating a beautiful color palette.

Beautiful Centerpiece: Of course, you can do the traditional floral centerpiece in the middle of your table. A more elegant feel can be created with a larger centerpiece, while a more casual dinner party would have a smaller centerpiece.When thinking about your table centerpiece, keep your dinner style in mind. Plus, a centerpiece is something you’ll be able to enjoy for days to come and keep you reminded of what a great night you shared with close friends and family.

Party Place Card Holder

Party Place Card Holder

Place Settings: Think of individual place settings using flowers. A simple flower in a small vase, glass or teacup would be ideal. Just attach a tag with your guest’s name on it and they’ll know exactly where to sit. A bonus is that you can send beautiful flowers home with your guests as a thank you for coming gift. They’ll have something to take home and continue to enjoy your fabulous party. Floral place settings are a great personal touch that lets your guests know you’re thinking of them.

Table Runner: Want to create something unique? Instead of a floral centerpiece that can sometimes block conversation, focus on a floral table runner. Your expert florist will have tons of ideas for this arrangement. Picture beautiful flowers running across your table. They’ll make for a great conversation starter as well as be a visual treat. Think garland or branches, and then place your flowers along them with beautiful ribbon as an accent. You can also place small tea light candles around the floral table runner for a more elegant feel. Your table setting will set the style and theme of your great dinner party!

Tying It All Together

Easy Floral Design For Parties

Easy Floral Design For Parties

A beautiful table scape is the ideal place to set your flowers, but don’t forget to place them around the house in other rooms. This helps tie your style and theme altogether. Plus, it adds nice fragrances and creates beautiful focal points. Welcome your guests at your front door with a beautiful flower arrangement as soon as they walk in. It’s a great personal touch and helps your friends feel welcomed.

Set a smaller vase out in your living room or create an arrangement for your fireplace. This may seem like a lot, but remember it ties it altogether and can be used to create a beautiful home decor setting, especially around the holidays. One place, you may not think to place a small bud vase is the restroom. Again, powder room arrangements add that personal touch and ties your dinner party altogether. Simple floral arrangements also add a sense of style.

These are just helpful tips on how you can use basic floral arrangements to create an elegant setting for your next dinner party. Table arrangements, place settings and beautiful flowers around the house are great personal touches that will provide a beautiful setting and make it feel more personable for your guests. Remember, using these floral decoration ideas for your next dinner party is great, but using these all year round will have your house looking simply stunning.

Contact your local florist and ask about flowers for entertaining. Decorating your home is their specialty and they might have even more great ideas not mentioned here! Even if you are a DIYer, your florist will have a great selection of fresh flowers to work with.

This post is brought to you by local St. Louis MO florists.
No where near St. Louis? Not a problem, use Flower Shop Network’s handy directory of florists to find a local florist near you!

Floral Environments For Your Flower Shop

Floral Environments

Are you a local florist with big ideas but never feel you get to do anything ‘creative’? The hum drum of daily floral work can get a little tedious.. Now is the time to change all of that! Creating floral environments in your shop is a great way to show off your talents and well as what is available through your store. Plus when your customers or Facebook friends see them, it’s a great incentive to have a fun-themed party with fantastic floral decor!

First, divide your shop into sections or environments. Depending on space you may just want one or two environments.

Creating a backdrop for your environment is key. You could set up a table with floral designs and the works.. OR, and probably the easiest way, set up intricately created backdrops to really make your theme POP! Check out the backdrop above from the 2010 AIFD Southern Chapter conference back in March. This would be a great floral backdrop to an environment for all things garden! If your shop does more work with ‘go green’ causes, this would be a great accent to your recyclables.

Creating a frame that is reusable and restockable is a way to make sure your floral environment will last. The display above is made with sturdy elements that will last. The fresh flowers are resting in tubes that are attached to the frame.. this way when your flowers get a little droopy, they are easily replaced.

The photo to the left is from the 2010 AIFD National Symposium from just a few weeks ago. This is a great backdrop by European designer Emilio Oliveria. The frame of this is simple wire grids from any hardware store. (think small fencing) The wire frame makes it a breeze to attach things to. Here she has used wool strands, rolled leaves, cork squares and lots of small accents. (This is it hanging in the hall, it’s not supposed to be touching the ground.. just imagine it’s straight, haha)

These are so easy to make, they last forever, and with the addition of fresh flowers and foliage you can change the looks of them in a flash! This is a quick and easy, yet dramatic way to decorate for a party, corporate event, or even a wedding.

These floral backdrops are a great way to accent your environments. By advertising themes in your shop with environments and photos posted to Facebook, it encourages new ideas in your customers. Setting up these great party environments you can show many different ways of decorating with floral design. Whenever you think of a new party theme, change your environment.. This really shows you’re creativity and puts people in the party mood!