Two Teleflora florists won major awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show, theflowershow.com, the world's largest and most prestigious indoor flower show.
Robertson's Flowers, robertsonsflowers.com, won:
• Best Use of Flowering and/or Foliage Pot Plants in the florist category;
• Best Achievement in Distinctive Floral Design; and
• Most Accomplished Display of Forced Plants and/or Cut Flowers.
And David and Robin Heller (in picture below) who jointly run Flowers by David, flowersbydavid.com, won Best Achievement in Floral Design.
Both floral businesses are in Philly.
"We're thrilled, said Robin Heller of the honor, "it's what we do."
(Robertson's creative staff weren't on site, but I'll be sharing their reaction and more about their work in an upcoming post. Their impressive display commanded attention from everyone who passed by.)
David Heller was a featured speaker at the show and he shared ideas for jazzing up flowers at home. A bud vase with a Red Intuition rose and heather got a perk-up by adding some lily grass, strung with a shiny bead or two. Very New Orleans!
Next up was filling a square vase with a chunk of damp foam surrounded by small stones, commonly found in fish tanks and easily bought at a pet-supply store. Placed in the foam: A coral-colored Movie Star rose as well as heather and wheat grass. Yep, that same wheat grass that's often an ingredient in health-food drinks.
Other ideas included using tea leaves, peacock feathers, ribbons and Spanish moss as color and texture accents in floral arrangements.
He also pointed out a little-known fact. Roses grown for retail florists have a higher petal count than roses you find at supermarkets. Good to know.
The theme of this year's flower show is "Jazz it Up" and seeing the work of floral artists at the top of their game is every bit as exhilarating as those moments when a jazz song just swings.
I'll have more tips from David and Robin, and from Robertson's, in a future post.