The Positive Effect Of Plants And Flowers To Your Lifestyle

Living with plants and flowers in close proximity can have very positive impact on you and change your lifestyle. When you have plants and flowers in your room and offices, you will see that it produces a sense of peace, calmness, and freshness and also makes us relaxed. This further impacts our health by reducing blood pressure, anxiety as well as pulse rate. Flowers are a thing of beauty that brings an instantaneous happiness and joyful feeling in our hearts.

Flowers are beautiful and delicate. Never the less they touch our hearts and evoke a warm response and also bring out the goodness in us. This is the reason why flowers are used in most of the joyous occasions and homes are decorated with flowers to give a vibrant and positive atmosphere. Their fragrance as well as pleasing colors is a treat to our senses while they touch our hearts and make us blissful too. All these have been proven by careful study and analysis by Rutgers.

People when surrounded by plants and flowers tend to be more relaxed and better communicators and listeners. They also eat slowly and enjoy the food they are consuming. This has been proved by the study undertaken by Diane Relf of Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Studies have also been conducted on senior citizens by surrounding them with flowers and plants to see if their memory improves.

If you are not able to maintain flowers and plants in your room or in your office for some reason, try getting few plastic flowers and plants and keep them around, for they will give you the same effect though not as good. You can also try painting the walls or using wallpaper with flower design to surround yourself with brightness and cheer that will enhance your mood.

Just look around the shops and you will find hundreds of varieties of flower pictures, paintings, wallpaper designs, stickers and many more options. Choose the one you like best and the one that suits your need.

Use floral paintings to surround your entire home including the entrance, hallway, bedroom, study, living room, kitchen, bathroom etc. They fit everywhere well and liven up your entire home.

While flower paintings go with any decor and fit everywhere, the kind of painting and the size of painting will depend upon the location be it your home or office, upon the space available on the wall, the ideal spot etc. Usually in an office you can have a large painting in the reception and in the waiting area. At home too you can have large painting in the living room whereas in places like bathroom, hallway and kitchen etc, you will need a smaller one.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Matthews

Ice Cream Romance at Ardington House

 We loved Simon and Francesca's wedding at Ardington House near Wantage last year mainly for their vintage ice cream colour scheme of pink, lilac, peach, and chocolate.

 Francesca carried a hand tied bridal bouquet of roses, calla lilies, lisianthus
, wax flowers, and herbs.

The wedding took place in Ardington village church followed by a reception close by in the gardens of  Ardington House.

We have lots of experience of designing and installing wedding flowers at Ardington House and if you look further though the blog you will see lots more of our  Ardington House weddings.

All Photography By

BARKER EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY

Flowers For The Chinese And Lunar New Years

New Years are always associated with new beginnings, fresh start, and time to welcome good times and have fun! Many traditional flowers are seen as part of the celebration and each flower holds a different meaning.

New Years throughout the east are celebrated based on lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar as opposed to the Gregorian calendar followed in the west. The first new moon in the month of late January or February marks the beginning of Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year is celebrated as Chinese New Year, Japanese New Year, Thai New Year, Cambodian New Year and Lao New Year.

Traditional Chinese New Year Flowers

1. Water fairy - Shiu Sin Fa - Narcissus

This flower is the most common New Year flowers seen in Chinese New Year festival and it is adored for its pure snow white petals and heavenly fragrance. The contrast between the beautiful flower and the narrow leaf growing out from the brown bulbs signifies beginning of new year.

2. Chinabells - Tiu Chung Fa - Enkianthus

This bell-shaped mountain flower, identifiable by its clusters of rose, white and pale pink flowers, makes a fine New Year flower. Each cluster has 4-15 flowers. Buyers often go for purchasing branches consisting of the most number of flowers as larger clusters are believed to bring in more luck.

3. Peach blossoms - To - Prunus

Peach tree is a symbol of wisdom. The peach blossoms come in pale pink, pink to coral red colors. The larger branches are pretty costly and are affordable only by the well to do.

4. Peony - Mau Tan - Paeonia

It is a pale pink flower, 4-5 inches in diameter. Peony flower is similar to the forget me not of America. They are given to friends and loved ones while departing. It is a symbol of remembrance. Peony flowers are not bought by customers if the buds have not opened.

5. Azalea - To Kuen - Rhododendron

Azalea, the lovely sparkling flower grows in mountainous terrains. Traditionally this flower used to come in two shades - brick red and lavender tinged. But in recent years other colors of azalea too have come up in the New Year flower market. The color red is a very auspicious color of the Chinese and it is a symbol of prosperity.

6. Camellia - Shan Ch'a - Camellia japonica

This is a shrub with dark green and shiny leaves adorned with delicate pink colored flowers. They are sold as potted shrubs in the market during the New Year sale. The other types are red and white, which sometime are not available during the holiday season. This is a very special flower and is offered to God at temples with special prayers and requests.

7. Waxflower/Wintersweet - Lap Mooi/La Mei Hua - Chimonanthus

These are delicate waxy yellow flowers with striped brown sepals and are very fragrant. They are eagerly sort because of its rarity.

New Year flowers, though many, represent just one thing - prosperity, wealth and good luck

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pavithra_Vinod_Kumaar

Sneak a Peek at the Fantastic Wedding at The Great Hall at Mains

The scene was set at The Great Hall at Mains for a superb Civil Ceremony, complete with exquisite designs of Orchids and Candles.

Kirsty and her Bridesmaids were so excited!

The room was transformed into a magnificent banquet hall.

We can't wait to share the full flower story of this stunning wedding with you, it will be right here next week!

Paradise in Plasticine

At the 2009 RHS Chelsea (England) Flower show, exhibiter James May created a stir when he constructed an entire garden out of Plasticene! Though this stalwart garden show is known for showcasing unusual exhibits, this particular one got more than a few noses out of joint, not least because there were no real flowers included at all-a clear violation of the rules!

Plasticine, a clay-like material, is available in 24 different colors, and designer May took full advantage of that fact by including them all in his fantasy garden, using 2.5 tons of it! Flowers, vegetables, garden ornaments, paths, artificial water-nothing was missing!
The garden was created with the help of hundreds of volunteers, including children and professional artists from the Aardman Animation Studios,
where the characters Wallace and Grommit were created (out of Plasticine, of course!).

Look closely at the photo above- and remember that nothing here is "real"!
Mr. May, while defending his creation, did acknowledge that he put the judges in a bind, as the rules of exhibiting clearly state that only natural materials be used.
But they in turn recognized the amount of work and creativity involved,
and awarded him a 'gold' medal, which was also made out of Plasticine!

Children clearly loved the whimsy and fun in this garden, and weren't bothered at all by the tiny sleeping gnome, another rule breaker that the judges overlooked.

Bloomers Floral Design
www.bloomerswilmington.com
910-815-8585

Ben & Claire Kinley's Heavenly Ashton Memorial & Hipping Hall Wedding Day

Ooh this really was a beautifully elegant wedding, a very intimate affair with every element so very carefully considered and chosen, Ben and Claire knew exactly the kind of relaxed and elegant atmosphere they wanted to create, I loved their unity in our meetings, they were definitely singing off the same hymn sheet which made designing their wedding flowers a very organic process.
~

The wedding was between Christmas and New Year when flowers are in short supply and very expensive, it was crucial to get the selection just right, exquisite desirable flowers but blooms that would be available; Crisp white Hyacinths, Hellebores, Muscari, Bridal Crown, Germinis Amaryllis, Million Stars, Fresh Olive Branches, Ranunculas, Lavender, Rosemary, Euclayptus, Ivy & Tulips, were all used to great effect.

The colour palette of really soft clotted creams, Crisp whites, ivories, glossy and mossy greens with just a hint of lavender would blend perfectly with the Ashton Memorial setting and would help to create that relaxed elegant vibe we wanted to achieve.

~

So the day began bright and early with breakfast on route up to Lancaster for Jason & I
and the delivery and presentation of Claire's wedding bouquet, we all got a bit emotional before Jas & I headed off to Williamson Park and The Ashton Memorial to set the scene for the ceremony...
Two Bay trees on either side of the front door

The interior of Ashton Memorial really does take your breath away, it's stunning!

I adore the symmetry of the space, the vast columns outside leading into such a splendid perfectly symmetrical room

The registrars table design with suspended candlelit glass spheres

The pedestals flanking the ceremony were 8ft tall column shaped designs we used in the lower half lots of woven Salix, Hazel and Olive, we intertwined fresh ivy and mossed in lots of fresh sprouting bulbs and then hung white Amaryllis filled with fresh water and suspended candlelit spheres, in the top half we arranged fresh Rosemary, Lavender, Million Stars and Eucalyptus

The brides parents were amongst the first to arrive so we pinned on their co-ordinating Corsage and Boutonniere in place I loved this deep blue Anemone corsage

The lovely Jennifer (you may recognise her as a very special FD Bride from earlier this year Link ) I love dress corsages they really look fabulous, the pink eppaulette Corsage of Cymbidium Orchids looks fabulous, it does help when the ladies wearing them are so gorgeous too!

The Groom's lovely parents again with complimentry Corsage and Boutonniere The musicians were brilliant and perfect for the occasion and setting

The Bride and Groom arrived together relaxed and happy...

Fresh Rose petal Confetti Cones

Ben & Claire looked so wonderful and it was the perfect entrance...

A perfect kiss before the ceremony!!!!

Lights camera action...

There was lots of love and laughter

Huge congratulations to Ben & Claire

Everyone enjoyed a champagne and cup cake reception

The celebrations then moved on to the fabulous surroundings of Hipping Hall

The rural setting of Hipping Hall was a huge consideration in the designs we created for the tables, I really wanted to reflect the landscape and the season; bring the outside in a bit...

The table in the dining room was set in a large open square format, dressed simply with crisp white linen, immaculate glassware and butter slates.

The table designs were created from twisted and contorted willow and salix interwoven with bulbs and mosses, Champagne glasses were then melded into the organic living sculpture and fresh spring Hyacinths, Jasmine, Hellebores, Lavender and fresh herbs were arranged in little pockets throughout.

The two column shaped pedestals sat on either side of the wine table

This was a fabulous wedding a real joy to be involved with, huge thanks to the wonderful Mr & Mrs Kinley for choosing Flower Design to provide their wedding flowers! xxxxx