Romeo and Juliet, true love?
Are Romeo and Juliet really the most romantic of all lovers? Or is their love more folly, infatuation and teenage angst?
Saying it with flowers today
In the 1930's and 40's Constance Spry brought flower arranging to the masses. In her Mayfair flower shop she catered for the wealthy in London, but she also wrote books and demonstrated the art of flower arranging around the country. By placing more emphasis on nature she revolutionized floral art with her use of bar boughs, branches, foliage and fruits. Where once flower arrangements were stiff and solid now everyone wanted this free style. Every housewife could copy and make flower arrangements in their homes for little cost and this opened up a whole new world of flower giving. After World War II flower production started once again. At this time supplies were mainly from British growers who would take their produce to Covent Garden or other wholesale markets around the country. Today there are very few British flower growers. An explosion of flower giving and high costs of energy mean that flower production has moved to countries where the climate keeps production costs low. Kenya, Columbia, Ecuador have all become major players and of course The Netherlands which is the centre of flower distribution for Europe and beyond. Flowers are given to express feelings and are generally an emotional purchase. Telling someone you love them - then flowers are ideal, as gifts of sympathy and respect nothing says it better than flowers, to mark an anniversary or birthday flowers are the obvious choice.
Styles in floristry today are governed by trends and fashion both in home décor and couture. Floral designs today are eclectic from minimalism with one exotic flower and a leaf that paints the picture to country style open blowsy bouquets the choice is yours. Whether it's a simple bunch of Daffodils or an armful of hothouse blooms nothing says it better than flowers. Now flower varieties are available all year around, but here I agree with Shakespeare that flowers are most beautiful in their own season.
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