Mornings with Mayesh: June 25

Yvonne and Atlanta Florist Shean Strong Design, answer your questions in our latest Mornings with Mayesh. Some of the topics that were covered include working with vines, summer wedding flowers, installations, lilacs, design trends, and so much more. Join the conversation!

Mark your calendars for July 16th for our next show featuring Ryan O'Neil from @Curate. I hope you can join us and keep on sending in your floral questions!

Here are the podcast replay, video, and show notes:

SHOW NOTES

FLOWER QUESTIONS

• From Lynn (email): Seems like every time I try to work with vines of some sort, they end up wilting before the end of the event -unless I tube them.  I don’t use ivy but jasmine, similax, honeysuckle etc. Tricks, tips?
• Shean: There is no substitute for long tendrils of common jasmine to add movement, space, and romance to home flower arrangements- we love them because they are beautiful- When you bring them home, place them immediately into a bucket of water, in a cool, dark place. Ideally, you’ll leave them overnight, but if you can’t, you may start working with them after a few hours. Hydration is key with any flowers ya know-
• Remove the lower leaves and blossoms and To keep your arrangement staying fresh continue removing the flowers as they fade or turn brown. Replenish the water every few days as well! With smilax especially texas vine- keep in a cool place and you should be good. I tend to keep mine packed in the box until im using it- but especially hot time- ill open the box and mist it. 

• 2 questions from Johanna (email): 
  • Which flowers are good to use for weddings in the summer months? I live in California and it gets very hot.
    • Shean: Hot weather can severely minimize your wedding flower choices, especially if your ceremony and reception will be held outdoors. To make the most of the situation use flowers that will withstand heat--
      • Chrysanthemums
      • Daisies
      • Carnations
      • Peruvian lilies or alstroemeria
      • Succulents
      • Billy balls
      • Dried flowers
      • Roses (not garden)
      • Anthurium
      • Cymbidium orchids
      • Protea
      • Bird of paradise  

• How do you prevent lavender roses from browning on their petals? 
• Shean: You might be referring to the guard petals as well… those can be removed but if they are looking soggy and brown= most  likely moisture in the petals/ bacteria or they are old Try buying as fresh as possible. if it's not the guard petals. make sure they are new roses- petals should be pretty firm and turgid and not soft. 

• From Joyce: I have an outdoor event in early June. We are in Houston which means we are already hitting the temperatures in the 90’s. Event is at 6:30 pm and by that time the area will be mostly shaded but still some sun hitting a few of the tables. What flowers will hold up best in our wonderfully humid hot weather?
• Shean: Same as above- also honeysuckle, smilax, salal  (sp?) eucalyptus - as greens-
  
  
• Jane: Any tips for making lilacs last in arrangements ??
• Shean: Cut the woody stems up vertical and sharp angle cut off all the foliage
  
  
• Kelsea: my Astilbe always dries up with in a day or two! What am I doing wrong? I have a really hard time with the lighter colors.  
• Shean: False Spirea, False Goat’s Beard, or Feather Flower
• Under running water, cut each stem diagonally with sharp scissors or shears and remove any extra foliage that would fall below the water line (if you let foliage fall into the water it will cause bacteria to start growing, and we don’t want that!). Immediately after cutting, place the stems in the prepared buckets. Let your flowers hydrate overnight in a cool, dark room. Change your water every 24 hours to keep flowers fresh, and make sure your flowers have sufficient water as they will drink an exceptionally large amount of water upon arrival.

• Dawn: What should we do to keep our spray roses from blowing so fast?? Why do white roses blow so fast?
• Shean: petal proof on the bottom of the roses- keep them in the shade and in a cool place  and hydrate them- not cutting the thorns off!

• Faith: I love the Lilacs that are in bloom but when I pick them for arrangements they expire over-night. I try to shave down the woody stems and put them in warm water... what am I missing! Can I immediately put them into a floral arrangement with other spring blooms... daffodils, tulips, lily of the valley, etc?  
• Shean: Yeah you're able to incorporate them into your arrangements with other flowers- are you using oasis? particular plants and flowers don't like that- i find a water pick ( for when I need them to last like 1-2 days - that's great but in an arrangement that might be done 3 days a head of time- just good ole fashion waster.  

• Maria: After receiving Iron Cross Begonia dry packed and processing it with quick dip and placing it in water with preservative the leaves wilt and never recoup. Can you please let me know how to process them correctly?
• Dave: We use very shallow water with standard food making sure not to drip water on the leaves. We hold then in our tropical cooler at a slightly warmer temp around 55° f instead of the regular flower cooler which runs around 35 ° f. If you have high salt or chlorine content in your water consider using distilled water instead so that the edges don't burn or yellow. Change water every couple days so bacteria doesn't clog stems. 

FLOWER DESIGN

• Roxanne: Would love to talk more about trends, design and color theory. Installations and the how-to could be a topic for many shows. 
• Shean: Unusual or old school flowers - YOU BE THE TREND SETTER- dried flowers - dyed flowers sprayed flowers, and shapes of arrangement. mums, carns, lilies, allium, ill talk about the color wheel and finding colors.  installs- depends on what we want- I can go into hanging installs and arches? 

• Sophie: How do you store your boutonnieres before a wedding? I’ve heard you can wrap them up in tissue paper and spray them with water. Also any ideas of how to present boutonnières on the day? 
• Shean: I put mine in a vase and will sometimes spray with crown and glory- depending on the flowers I use. I will also wrap bouquets on site.  bouts -in a thing of oasis or small medicine vase. ill have an example

• Camilo: I am interested in knowing their techniques to make their beautiful floral arrangements.
• Shean: SHEAN STRONG youtube videos. :)  books, follow accounts So many different shapes and color palettes and designs- I encourage you to get books and look online and mimic those shapes et…. 

• Shawna: As an aspiring floral designer who is just getting started with limited funds, how do you suggest one build their portfolio when access to purchase flowers on a small budget seems difficult? And by small budget, I mean $50.  
• All you need is one great photo- invest in a good bouquet shot and some flowers - will have to use personal money - or don’t profit off a bouquet and invest the whole $50 into a great design.  I will dive into the importance of just show what you want to represent your brand etc.. 

FLOWER BUSINESS

• Juliana: I see so many options for workshops but they are hosted primarily by event focused floral designers. Are there any workshops or resources that you know of that focus on the business aspects of a retail florist? I’m especially interested in ideas, processes & Technology than can help our business run more efficiently. 
• Yvonne: Real Flower Business https://realflowerbusiness.com/  and Fleur Society https://fleursociety.com/
  
  
• Regina: It seems recently, there are a lot of options when choosing your florist. I feel like couples are just shooting texts and emails for pricing and then never respond back. Frustrating and little opportunity to promote your business. I feel couples are shopping to much, getting overloaded and stressed. It hard to truly compare information. We after planning and design of the whole occasion, hard to put that in an email or text response. Help!
• Yvonne: Pulling from past shows, I recall Christina Barragon on of Fleur Society spoke to this topic and you can see her response at around 33:25 on this video replay where she talks about offering promotional items that the client will receive only if they book withing the next 72 hours. 
• https://fleursociety.com/