Friday, October 23, 2009

Ask and you shall receive

After I complained about the difficulty of editing this blog and not being able to move photographs around I have found the answer, actually two answers. One was to update the layout and the other was to sign up for mobile blogging. This one I love because now I can blog from the street. When I am in the market at 5am I can send photographs directly as I pick the flowers. Not sure how that will work in the depths of the dark winter mornings but for now it will do.


Pink "Dinner Plate" Dahlias from 28th September. This is the height of the Dahlia season. At the beginning of the season in early September the stems are very fat and the flower head tends to be smaller. Not the ideal combo for flower designing. As the season move along the reverse happens, larger blossoms and slimmer stems. This allows you to get better control of the flowers and does not take up to much stem space in the vase. It does also mean that the heavier head will have a tendency to easily break off if you are not gentle with your flowers. That is really annoying...

These are incredible large Dutch hydrangea. This photo was taken on the 5th October. Dutch "Hortensia" come in two groups: 'Fresh' and 'Classic' . The Fresh group is generally available from April to June. They tend to be brighter colours, strong pinks, great pale summer blues and wonderful bright green as well as incredible whites. In the past few years we are seeing new varieties that have multiple petal counts on each little branch. They almost look hand made.   The Classic group starts to show up in the auction houses from June until November. These colours, depending on the season tend to be more muted and a little muddier to reflect the cooler temperature of the changing seasons. Deeper pinks turning into pale burgundies and touches of mossy greens. The green varieties, such as "Magical Opal" have a depth of colour that makes you want to lay down in the them and fall into dream land. The Blues turn dusty shades and are great for drying.

The one thing to remember is that The Dutch Hortensia tend to be more expensive than the Ecuadorian varieties. This is due to a combination of market availability, the exchange rate and the demand. The Dutch varieties also are longer and so are heavier and cost more to ship. However, they are truly incredible and if taken care of properly will last from seven to fourteen days.

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