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Air pollution is killing the smell of flowers, possibly eliminating the “scent trail” that helps guide those terribly important pollinators, like bees, to the plants that depend upon them for survival, scientists believe.

The discovery could be one of several factors in the “colony collapse disorder” that is wiping out honey bees around the world.

While it is still too soon to determine the full impact of air pollution on the symbiotic relationship between insects and the flowers they pollinate, researchers at the University of Virginia are confident they have shown that pollutants are killing the scent trail, and that could turn out to be extremely significant.

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Serenata’s online store has seen a remarkable increase in first Christmas orders this time, which might be taken as a sign that customers look a bit more optimistic than last year.

Peter Ahl, Managing Director of award-winning merchant Serenata Flowers, says: “Orders for our Christmas Flowers by Post are expected to improve by 30% this year signifying that people have more disposable income than this time last year. Our reading of these signs is that it may reflect a turnaround of the UK economy out of recession.”

Peter added: “We see evidence of a strong Christmas across the board and there is a lot of pre-planning, which seems to show that the recession has had a constructive effect on people’s spending habits. Customers seem to be budgeting and organizing their expenses with care rather than panic-buying presents at the very last minute.”

Over half a million bouquets of Christmas flowers are expected to be sold in the UK this year and online trade sees a continuing strong growth. Serenata’s statistics show that more than half of Christmas blossom deliveries will be organized via the internet.

Its Christmas flowers UK delivery service is also common with international shoppers who want to send floral gifts to friends and relatives in Britain. More British ex-pats than ever are shopping from online florists, Serenata speculates that it could be an indication of tighter travel budgets.

Peter said: “With the online development of sending flowers it has become one of the finest ways to show friends and family how much you love them, even if you can’t be with them.

“You certainly cannot go wrong with bouquets and the beauty of buying them from an online florist is that it is fast and simple and you can shop wherever you are in the world.”

London-based Serenata is a private online florist delivery retailer, sending flowers across the capital and the rest of the UK six days a week. The online florist also has two sister sites specializing in online wine and chocolate delivery – SerenataWines.com and SerenataChocolates.com

Source: www.transworldnews.com

Kalanchoe is the most popular and also one of the prettiest representatives of the Crasulaceae family. You cand download for free this kalanchoe wallpaper and put it on your desktop.

Tags: kalanchoe, growing kalanchoe, flowers and plants database

GAINESVILLE, Fla – Some new treats are available for the holidays, but don’t look for them in the candy aisle or bakery – try the florist instead.

These indulgences are eye candy, with names like Christmas Cookie, Santa Claus Candy, Peppermint, Champagne and Plum Pudding. The food-themed names belong to several new varieties of poinsettia developed this year.

University of Florida environmental horticulturist James Barrett said companies in California and Germany that developed the roughly two dozen new strains of poinsettias for this year are responsible for naming the new varieties.

All the Christmas names related to food are fairly interesting and new for poinsettias because we haven’t had those types of names before,  said Barrett, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. [ read more ]

Source: http://news.ufl.edu

A truly blue rose has been the Holy Grail of rose breeders since 1840, when the horticultural societies of Britain and Belgium offered a prize of 500,000 francs to the first person to produce a blue rose.

Molecular geneticists with Florigene and Suntory achieved the prize that had long eluded conventional rose breeders by combining something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. [ read more ]

Source: www.biologynews.net

Whether you’re a budding native flower grower or your flower business is in full bloom, there will be something for you at The University of Queensland’s Centre for Native Floriculture (CNF) Open Day.

The Open Day, to be held at UQ Gatton campus on August 20, will give commercial native flower growers an inside view of the latest research being conducted by the CNF on native plants – including plant breeding, plant production and postproduction issues.  [ read more  ]

Source: www.uq.edu.au

The sixth China International Garden & Flower Exposition will open on the Zhongzhou Island of Jimei, Xiamen from September 23, 2007 to March 2008. The sixth China International Garden & Flower Exposition will open on the Zhongzhou Island of Jimei, Xiamen from September 23, 2007 to March 2008.

Construction on the venue, the Xiamen International Garden & Flower Expo Park, is close to completion. With an area of 6.76 square kilometers, it is expected to become the world’s largest park on the sea. Altogether 24 cities from abroad and 44 Chinese cities will show their gardens and flowers. [ read more ]

Source: http://www.flowerweb.com

Unique in its way, the botanical garden situated in Bucharest opened its gates in 1860 on the initiative of Doctor Carol Davila, near by the faculty of medicine.
Situated in the west part of the city, on the right bank of Dambovitza river the garden of 7 ha was arranged by Ulrich Hoffman – the botanist that later on, would also become the first director of the institution. Six years later the leadership of the botanical garden was taken by the well known botanist Dimitrie Grecescu which developed the plants collections and increased the exchanges with the European gardens. Under his lead was published the first catalogue containing 3700 indoor and outdoor species of plants. In 1870 the development of the botanical garden was interrupted, the location serving now as a park for the royal family. In 1874 the botanical garden was moved in the center of the town, near Sutu Palace, close to the University. Read the rest of this entry »

The Siam Tulip Festival of Chaiyaphum
The unique geographical landscape of Chaiyaphum Province in the northeast of Thailand gives rise to a range of natural attractions of exceptional beauty. Of these, the fields of pinkish-purple Siam Tulip, or “Dok Krachiao”, come in to full bloom in the early part of the rainy season from June to August.

Also commonly called ‘patumma’, ‘bua sawan’ (heaven lotus), or ‘bua bok’ (the land lotus), the Siam Tulip is a member of the ginger genera – Curcuma or Zingiberaceae.

The unusual form, bright colour and long-lasting quality of the Siam Tulip has made it an increasingly popular choice for floral decorations. It is in high demand and is currently being cultivated in the form of cuttings or ornamental plants for local consumption as well as for export overseas, predominantly to Japan and the Netherlands. read more

The custom of enhancing the wedding ceremony with flowers dates from ancient times, but the wide selection of bridal bouquets now available has only been a relatively recent development. The popularity of each has waxed and waned through the past few decades, each evolving special variations over time.
Bridal Bouquets Bouquets framed with large turkey feathers fashionable in the 1920’s, were the inspiration for this contemporary bridesmaid’s posy. Read the rest of this entry »

June 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the South Carolina Festival of Flowers held annually in Greenwood, S.C. The Festival’s Steering Committee, Event Chairmen and countless volunteers are working hard planning for the program of events occurring the month of June.
Park Seed Company, famous for its Trial Gardens, will be open to the public and featured along with a number of private home garden tours during this year’s main festival weekend, June 22-24. Read the rest of this entry »

On the southeastern coast of Sicily, the scenic city of Noto holds a unique festival at the end of May called the Infiorata. Artists work with a special organic soil to outline a scene on the sidewalk which is filled in with specially prepared flower petals, along with other organic seeds and dried legumes. The process is much like making a stained glass window, with the leading being the small earthen dam and the glass represented by the flowers. [read more]

Source:  goeurope.about.com

The Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden is an eight-acre public garden, built between 1997 and 2001 as a project of Stephen F. Austin State University and the SFA Mast Arboretum. It is also an example of public/private cooperation to develop a garden for future generations. Private donors, the City of Nacogdoches, area nurserymen, volunteers, and the Azalea Society of America also joined in the effort to make the garden you see today. Each year the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden is featured during Nacogdoches Azalea Trail events and tours each March and April.The garden design was a joint effort of Dr. David Creech and faculty members of SFA Horticulture and Barbara Stump (M.S. Agriculture, SFA, 2001).

Situated in a 50-year-old Loblolly Pine forest, the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden is a delightful and restful azalea garden, which showcases collections of other new plants being introduced by growers in Texas and across the South. The sandy loam soil of the LaNana Creek floodplain makes this a prime location for display gardens of plants that thrive in acid soils: [read more]

Source: www.azalea.sfasu.edu

If you’re looking for the perfect nosegay to carry on your wedding day, gather a bouquet of ideas from the floral finery held in the hands of top celebrities from yesterday and today.Taking hold of her father’s arm, “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston clutched a bouquet comprised of pale Dutch Vendela roses accented with sprigs of green hydrangea as she walked down the aisle toward Brad Pitt. In all, the Hollywood couple was surrounded by 50,000 blossoms on their wedding day, the arrangements created by L.A. Premiere Flowers. [ read more ]

Source: www.lovetripper.com

Shanghai Botanic Garden reports that Sakuras and gardenias have bloomed 15 to 20 days ahead of their normal flowering season. This is the second time that such a report has come out the garden. “It’s very rare for such flowers to blossom in February,” said Zhao Yingying, an official spokesman for the garden. [ read more ]

Source : www.bgci.org