June is Rose Month

 

June is National Rose Month, but don’t you think this beautiful flower deserves our praise all year round? We’re almost positive that most rose enthusiasts will agree with Emma Goldman - roses are a priceless commodity that make gardens more colorful, anniversaries more special, and the world more fragrant.

For centuries, roses have been a symbol for love, beauty, war and even politics. In fact, in 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared the rose as the National Floral Emblem of the United States, saying “Americans who would speak the language of the heart do so with a rose.” What a testament to the blooming beauty we all know and love!

To honor the rose this June, here are some facts about the flower that most people probably don’t know. Impress your friends and fellow gardeners with an abundance of rose knowledge!

· A fossil of a rose was located in Colorado from nearly 35 million years ago

· About 150 species of the genus Rosa exist throughout the Northern Hemisphere

· There is actually no such thing as a black rose - the color is an illusion! What you’re really seeing is a very dark red

· The country of Zambia, located in Southern Africa, is lucky enough to have more than 80 percent of its land covered with roses

· The Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany has had a large rose bush growing on one of its walls for over 1,000 years, proving how long roses can survive

· In the middle ages, rose petals and rose oils were used in the baths of the rich and famous

· Different colors of roses symbolize different feelings of passion and emotion

· “War of the Roses” comes from the different factions fighting to control England in the 15thcentury. The white rose symbolized Yorkshire and the red rose symbolized Lancaster.

· George Washington was the first U.S. rose breeder

· There are more than 4,000 songs dedicated to roses






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Grand Floral Staircase

The Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is a 142-step monumental staircase from 1608 in the old part of the town of Caltagirone, located on the island of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. This breathtaking staircase that connects the high part of the city to the low part, is the center of many cultural events in Caltagirone.

http://sudestsicilia.it/en/places/caltagirone/staircase-santa-maria-del-monte

The peculiarity of the staircase is each step is decorated with different hand-decorated ceramic tile, using styles and figures derived from the millennial tradition of pottery making. Twice a year this staircase is used a backdrop for which images of patron saints and other local themes are illustrated using thousands of flowers or candles.

Photos: Andrea Annaloro/Municipality of Caltagirone

Between the month of May and June, the town celebrates La Scala Infiorata, the flower festival of Caltagirone. During this period the Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is decorated with hundreds of potted plants artfully arranged to create beautiful geometric patterns that climb up the staircase. Then later in July, the Luminaria Festival is held in honor of the town's patron saint, San Giacomo, and the steps undergo yet another transformation. The staircase is illuminated with thousands of candles of different colors arranged in order to reconstruct an artistic drawing of several tens of meters.

The represented themes divide ideally the staircase in a dozen of sectors, in which figurative, geometric and floral elements representing different styles and different eras alternate: from the Arab-Norman to the Angevin-Aragonese one, from the Swabian to the Spanish one until chiara montana, passing through the inevitable baroque, the eighteenth and the contemporary nineteenth-century one.

Paper Cutting

The art of paper-cutting in China may date back to the second century C.E., since paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China.
As paper became more affordable, paper-cutting became one of the most important types of Chinese folk art. Later, this art form spread to other parts of the world, with different regions adopting their own cultural styles. Because the cut-outs are often used to decorate doors and windows, they are sometimes referred to as  window flowers or window paper-cuts. People glued the paper cuts to the exterior of windows, so the light from the inside would shine through the negative space of the cutout.

There are two methods of manufacture: one uses scissors, the other uses knives. In the scissor method, several pieces of paper — up to eight — are fastened together. The motif is then cut with sharp, pointed scissors.

Knife cuttings are fashioned by putting several layers of paper on a relatively soft foundation consisting of a mixture of tallow and ashes. Following a pattern, the artist cuts the motif into the paper with a sharp knife which is usually held vertically. Skilled crafters can even cut out different drawings freely without stopping.

There are several great paper cutters such as Maude White.
New York-based artist Maude Whites comes from a family of visual storytellers> She was fascinated by the various stories and ways of telling them that she experienced in her youth. The discovery of paper as a medium for her own visual stories came next.

Incredibly enough, White works by hand, using a craft knife to cut tiny lines and draw images with the paper’s empty negative space. “I have great respect for paper. When I cut, the thin membranous material reveals its strength to me,” the artist explains on her website. “Paper is everywhere and it has been telling stories for centuries.“

To check out more of her work, visit White’s online portfolio and keep up with her latest creations, including fascinating process photos, via her Instagram account. She also offers some of her creations for purchase via Etsy at Brave Bird Paperwork

Breathtaking Floral Art Hangings.

Meet Rebecca Law

In the past five years, she's designed dozens of breathtaking pieces: a whimsical rose-garden-turned-wall-hanging for an upscale restaurant, pink peony garlands and chandeliers for a Jo Malone London fragrance launch and a grand suspended curtain at La Monnaie opera house in Brussels, where Law and a team of 50 strung nearly 5,000 blue and green hydrangeas (carefully tying each one to copper wire) above the stage. The work is painstaking, and it happens fast: "When you're using fresh-cut flowers," says Law, who handles an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 every year, "they typically need to go up within 24 hours. It gets intense."

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/rebecca-louise-law-floral-art#ixzz4TxxWkglL

The daughter of a gardener, Law is finding a different outlet for her love of nature. A classically trained artist, she started off painting flowers, abstract works inspired by the bold colors of Kandinsky and Rothko.

Some installations are permanent, such as 150,000 flower work "The Canopy" (2016) at the Eastland Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Others are dismantled, with some flowers encased in glass and kept by patrons.

Floral Sculptures

Flowers are often the subject of artist such as the wonderful examples below.

Hitomi Hosono
The japanese ceramic artist’s subject and theme and influenced by various botanicals — blooming foliage, leaves and flowers studied in the garden, as well as collected memories of nature from her own childhood in japan, where her family runs a small rice farm.

‘I find myself drawn to the intricacy of plants, examining the veins of a leaf, how its edges are shaped, the layering of a flower’s petals. I look, I touch, I draw.’

The artist’s technique draws initial reference from the 18th century potter josiah wedgwood, who used thin ceramic reliefs or ‘sprigs’ applied as surface decoration to a piece. through extensive experimentation with different methods and clay bodies, two new sculptural ways to use approach emerged: one is to cover the entire surface of a shape with sprigs while the other is to construct the art object solely out of many layers of the relief, carving each with modified dental tools to add incredibly fine details.colossal.com/

 
 
 
 

 
 

Working from a tiny table in the nook of her living room, California-based artist Angela Schwer crafts explosive dahlias, gardenias, poppies, fungi, and sea creatures all from a custom blend of polymer clays. Meant primarily as decorative objects, the dense handmade pieces are surprisingly detailed, assembled from hundreds of perfectly formed clay pieces and formed into large tiles that can be hung from a wall or set on a table. You can see more in her online shop, Dilly Pad.
 colossal.com/






London-based artist Rachel Dein of Tactile Studio has spent the last few years perfecting the art of plaster casting, an admittedly straightforward process of pressing objects into clay and then filling the voids with combinations of plaster and concrete. However Dein’s time spent as a prop making apprentice for the English National Opera, The Globe Theatre, and The Royal Opera House, has greatly influenced her techniques, elevating a simple craft process into something else entirely.
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/10/plaster-cast-plant-fossils-rachel-dein/

The New 2017 Trends

Flower Trends Forecast 2017 identified five emerging trends in consumer preferences for their cut flower purchases:

• The French Connection. The French Connection trend is luxurious and sophisticated. The color palette features soft red hues, hints of orange and chocolate brown, as well as other muted earth tones. Small botanical prints come together with lace overlays decorated with adoring delicate blooms. Romantic blossoms of roses and orchids complement viburnum berries within pedestal vases and refined metallic vessels.
• Force of Nature. The Force of Nature style invokes casual nautical themes overflowing with garden wonders. Serene shades of blue and green calmly mingle with bright white. Bundles of hydrangea and corn flower come together with nigella and scabiosa and are housed in frosted and clear glass vases. Subdued patterns harmoniously connect with aged metallic finishes.
• Modern Wonders. The Modern Wonders look unites the young with the old as it morphs modern sophistication with cultural antiquities. Picturesque chic lines combine with aged Asian style through beaded accents, irregular geometric patterns, and crafted textures. Graphic oranges and reds are offset by hints of gold and muted purple. Anthurium come to life alongside ginger, cymbidiums, and astilbe.
• Into the Jungle. The Into the Jungle theme is rich in exotic prints showcased in brilliant muted tones of tropical hues. Sun-kissed shades of orange, yellow, and red glisten alongside earth-tinged gold. Calla lilies and bird of paradise cluster together in hand-woven baskets and cork covered vases. Heliconia, pincushion protea, and bromeliads are accented by moss, vine, and bamboo.
• UrbanLux. The Urban Lux design is big bold flowers making single statements in a repetitive design.

A new video summarizing the emerging preferences found in Flower Trends Forecast 2017 is now available. Visit http://www.flowertrendsforecast.com/video or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdJH2cXddT8 to see the newest Flower Trends Forecast video.

Want a Pick-Me-Up? These Flower and Animal Photos will Do the Trick!

Want a Pick-Me-Up? These Flower and Animal Photos will Do the Trick!

Did you know?

• Flowers and animals are #1 in evoking true feelings of bliss.
• Looking at flower and animal images help you do better at work or complete a project.
• Taking time to meditate on an image helps you outperform your peers.
• Giving and looking at flowers gives the receiver a feeling of euphoria.
• Both men and women scored higher in their social behavior when they were given flowers.
  
  
  
  Gerbera Daisies – give off a warm fuzzy feeling.
  
  
  

  
  

  Roses – gives you a sense of love and security.
  
  

  

  Lilies – evoke romance with its fragrance.

• 
  Gladioli – makes you motivated.
  
  

  

  Tulips – helps lighten you up, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Know the conditions you’ve given your plant to thrive in. Plants can be grown in almost any container, but some containers are better suited for plant life than others.

Clay pots are porous and tend to draw moisture from the soil, so plants in clay pots will more easily dehydrate. But if the container is enameled, or if it is metal, glass, plastic, or other non-porous material, the container will not leach moisture. Because these pots conserve water, you must be careful not to overwater.

If your planter does not have drainage holes in the bottom, be sure to provide for a drainage layer of stones or other non-degradable material in which excess water can collect away from the root zone and can be gradually reabsorbed. Plants grown in closed containers may not need watering as frequently.

Peat, a natural product of bogs, is generally an ingredient of potting mixtures. A word of caution about peat-based potting mixes: peat is added for its water-retention ability.

However, once allowed to dry, peat is very difficult to rehydrate.

Learn to spot check a plant’s moisture level. If your plant is small, make a habit of picking up the plant before and after watering noting its weight change after watering. With practice, this method of checking soil moisture, together with other signs of plant vigor/weakness may help you assess a plant’s watering needs.

Similarly, a finger submerged an inch or so into the container soil should reveal a general sense of soil moisture. Or better yet, use a moisture meter. This is a foolproof, inexpensive device available at most nurseries. It will measure the soil as "wet", "moist" or "dry". For large container plants, a meter is almost essential.

Signs of dehydration and overwatering
Stem and leaf wilt signal dehydration, but you should avoid waiting for this sign. In addition, the soil mixture may pull away from the side of the pot. At this stage a plant is stressed, and repeated treatment of this sort is ill advised.


Watch for these signs of dehydration:

• Leaf growth is slow.
• Leaves become translucent.
• Leaves or flowers drop prematurely.
• Leaf edges become brown and dried.
• Lower leaves curl and yellow.

Frequent watering with small amounts of water can lead to waterlogging. This forces air from the soil and provides ideal conditions for the growth of fungi and bacteria. These organisms attack the plant’s roots causing rot and plant death.
Certain plants thrive in wet conditions--cypress or umbrella plants, for example. Many tropical plants with thin, delicate leaves--hibiscus, for example-- will not thrive in dry soil. Other plants will fail under wet conditions. A late and obvious sign of overwatering is growth of fungi or mold on the soil surface.

Early signs of overwatering signs include:

• Young and old leaves fall at the same time.
• Root rot--mushy, brown possibly odorous roots--are seen in pot bottom.
• Standing water noted in container underliner.
• Flowers become moldy.
• Leaves develop brown soft rotten patches and fail to grow

Where would we be today without all those pearls of mothering wisdom, passed down through the ages from mothers to their children, and from our moms to us? Just in time for Mother's Day, in honor of all the times our moms have shared their advice and tried to help us be better people, we've recollected, collected and collated all their motherly sayings into a gigantic list o' momisms...

Enjoy some of these fun sayings.........

From the predicable Mom

  Eat your vegetables, they're good for you.
- I can always tell when you're lying.
- If God had wanted you to have holes in your ears (… tongue, eyebrows...) He would have put them there!
- If you could stay out last night, you can get up this morning.
- If you're too full to finish your dinner, you're too full for dessert.
- If you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick to play outside.
- When you have kids of your own you'll understand.
- When you have your own house then you can make the rules!
- It's no use crying over spilt milk.
- You won't be happy until you break that, will you?
- Beds are NOT made for jumping on.
- Cupcakes are NOT a breakfast food!
- Go play outside! It's a beautiful day!
- Always wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident.
- If you don't learn how to cook, no one is going to want to marry you.
- You're the oldest. You should know better.
- You can't find it? Well, where did you leave it last?
- Someone is going to end up crying.
- Go to your room and think about what you did!
- The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
- When I was a little girl...

-When mom seems confused   Who do you think you are? - Who do you think you're talking to? - Do you think I'm made of money? - Who said life was going to be easy? - Am I talking to a brick wall? - All I do is follow you around, picking up after you like some maid. - A little "birdy" told me! - I'm not your cleaning lady! - I'm not your maid! - I'm not your waitress! - No child of MINE would do something like that. - Stop acting like your father! - What did I say the FIRST time? - At work my mind's on the children, at home I think of the office. - You’re just like your father. - Are you deaf or something? - What part of NO don't you understand?     Surely you ( mom ) must be exaggerating! Eat everything on your plate. There are starving children all over the world who would be glad to trade places with you. - How can you have nothing to wear? Your closet is FULL of clothes! - Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back. - If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. - Life isn't fair. - Look at this room! It looks like a pigsty! - There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do. - There's enough dirt in those ears to grow potatoes! - This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it. - Turn off that light. Do you think we own the electric company? - Well, people in Hell want ice water too! - When I was young we had respect for our elders, now look at the world! - When I was your age, I had to walk ten miles through the snow, uphill, by myself, to go to school. - You kids are trying to drive me crazy! - You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your shoulders! - A little soap and water never killed anybody. - Bored! How can you be bored? I was never bored at your age. - Close the door! You don't live in a barn. - You should have that phone surgically implanted in your ear. - Do you live to annoy me? - If wishes were horses... - Well, I haven't figured out how to cook "cold" yet.

I think Mom is being a little picky.

I said CLOSE the door, I did not say SLAM it.
- I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like one.
- Don't pick your nose in public.
- Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been.
- Don't use that tone with me!
- Don't walk away when I'm talking to you!
- Don't you have anything better to do?
- Are you going out dressed like that?
- Don't run with a lollipop in your mouth.
- I don't know is NOT an answer.
- If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
- Look at me when I'm talking to you.
- Now, come back downstairs and go back up WITHOUT stomping your feet!
- Now, say you're sorry...and MEAN it!
- Say please.
- Turn that racket down!
- Watch your mouth!
- What kind of a grade is that? You could do much better!
- You can go out to play...after you brush your teeth and comb your hair.
- You can go out to play...after you pick up your room.
- You can go out to play...after you've done your homework.
- You just ate an hour ago!
- I don't care what

Do Mom's make threats?

Do not make that face or it will freeze in that position.
- Don't eat that, you'll get worms!
- Don't go out with a wet head, you'll catch cold.
- Don't EVER let me catch you doing that again!
- Don't pick that scab, it'll get infected.
- Be careful or you will put your eye out.
- I brought you into this world, and I can take you right back out!
- If I catch you doing that one more time, I'll...
- If it were a snake, it would have bitten you.
- If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.
- Don't sit too close to the television, it'll ruin your eyes.
- If you don't clean your plate, you won't get any dessert.
- If you stick your tongue out again it will fall off.
- If you don't stop crying, I'm going to give you something to cry about!

What did we miss???
   Remember a momisms? Tell us

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Prom Season

In Egypt, private schools have proms similar to ones held in the USA but with slight differences. The prom is held for a maximum of 3 hours, where teachers attend and enjoy some time with their students. Then there is the "after-prom", where no teachers or parents are allowed, during that time, the real party begins with all the students dancing and enjoying their time. The after prom can continue to 4 am and 5 am.

In South Africa, the equivalent of the American prom is the Matric Dance, taking place during the matriculation year of high school . It takes place towards the end of the third quarter, shortly before the spring break, after which the matriculation examinations commence. It usually takes the form of a formal dinner and dance. In most schools, the 11th grade class is responsible for arranging the event. Sometimes teachers and parents also attend.

In Hong Kong, prom culture is inherited from the western countries and is generally called ball, such as Christmas Ball. This usually takes place during Christmas and Summer Break. This is more popular in the secondary education stage rather than in universities. Schools, apart from international schools, holding proms are usually single-sex school where normally the Student Unions in the schools will cooperate each other in organizing the event. In recent years, more and more individual unions got united and formed different student unions associations so as to organize large-scale events including large joint-school proms. Except those proms within the academic field, there are also adult proms for charity yearly where celebrities and government officers always go to these functions.
In India and Nepal, the equivalent to some extent is a farewell party or farewell gathering. The outgoing students are given a warm send-off by the junior students and staff. All the seniors are felicitated with souvenirs and superlatives are given awards.

In Israel, high school graduation parties usually combine a play and a humble ceremony, followed by a dance party. In the past years, influenced by American culture, more and more graduates decide to hold a private graduation party similar to the American prom, with dress code, prom dates, limousines, and prom kings or queens, although usually not supported by the school.

In Lebanon, proms are held after the graduation ceremony at night. They are usually held at hotels with a formal dress code, prom dates, rented cars and, occasionally, prom kings and queens.

In Singapore, proms are held at the near end of a senior year for secondary schools. Proms are normally held after the final examinations of all senior students before graduating.

In Malaysia, proms are gaining in popularity, especially in the bigger cities. However, these gatherings are usually organized by students, and the school administration is not involved.

In Pakistan, the equivalent to the American prom is a farewell dinner or farewell function that takes place at the end of the college academic year. In a farewell function, one girl is appointed “Lady of the Evening”, and one boy is appointed “Gentleman of the Evening”.

The Swiss equivalent of a prom is the bal de printemps. Literally translated, this is a "Spring Ball." At some schools in the German speaking part, it is called "Maturaball." This is not always organized by the schools, but sometimes by a student's committee. It takes mostly part before the final exams.