John, Paul, George and Ringo arenshyt the only Beatles with a reputation for mind-altering experiences, it seems. According to Science News (via The Free Library), Japanese Beetles are prone to tripping out, too: on geraniums.

Popillia japonica, a.k.a. the scourge of rose lovers the world over, have been shown to have a particular predilection for the narcotic properties of geranium petals. Apparently, the beetles shynever learnshy and keep returning to get pickled on pelargoniums. This ainshyt no summer of love, though: bugged out bugs tend to lay only half as many eggs as their buddies who werenshyt given narcotic nourishment. Good news, then, for rose gardeners who believe that prevention is better than cure.

Unstoned roses: plant some geraniums nearby and your rose garden might stand a better chance against Japanese beetles

Holidays? Yoga? A glass of wine? Oh, youshyre so passé! When it comes to beating stress, flowers are the answer. No, really - itshys been proven by clinical researchers at Harvard Medical School:

shy : people feel less stressed and more compassionate toward others when they spend time in a floral environment.shy

Colour Study bouquet from SerenataFlowers.com

Via Florist News

Petals proven to ease the pressure

It has been a trend nowadays to shop online. Gone are the days of exclusively doing traditional shopping due to the invention of the internet. Consumers all around the world are flocking to use this new trend in shopping since there are many benefits in using this online experience. One of the many benefits is the added convenience of shopping within the four walls of your home. In just a few clicks of a button, one can place an order and have the product delivered to your doorstep. With no sweat involved and at a  lesser expense, you can get your order in a snap.

Consequently, the joy of gift-giving becomes a fun shopping experience. It can never be a chore as you browse numerous web vendors that off almost anything imaginable. However, along with the good, come the bad sides of internet shopping. Many customers have complained of being scammed and victimized with hacked credit card systems. Unreliable vendors also make for bad service and products that are not guaranteed refunds or replacements. In these horrific situations, the typical customer will be turned off with an order gone wrong. Fortunately, there are sites that really do offer reliable and efficient service. One of these brilliant sites is serenata.

At present, serenata caters to addressing your gift-giving woes. Specifically, serenata flowers is a website that places orders of the freshest blooms and most artistic floral arrangements. They guarantee that you will get 100% full satisfaction or else they will give a replacement or a full refund. This kind of service makes any consumer feel special and safe when purchasing. Furthermore, Serenata flowers is no stranger to flower deliveries. They have experience sending your placed orders to recipients, especially for UK clients. Many customers have left testimonials on the site to let new customers know about their fantastic experience with their service. What is more, Serenata Flowers has garnered awards for the value you get for your money, the convenience of using the site, and the wide variety of flowers Serenata offers.

True enough, the site is an online catalogue of flowers. It is systematically categorized so shopping becomes a breeze. Browse through type, price, occasion, or event and flower variety to plan the perfect flower delivery. There will definitely be a perfect floral arrangement for any type of budget. Moreover, Serenata Flowers boasts a well-trained staff who can answer your queries and attend your orders. Since it is an online shop, you can always order flower deliveries any time, any day, and anywhere, at your utmost convenience.

Indeed, special events and occasions usually call for the finest flowers to make the recipient feel happy and special. Aside from having Serenata cater to flower deliveries, it also has sister sites: Serenata Wines and Serenata Chocolates. Like serenata flowers, these other sites showcase exquisite chocolate goodies and fine wines suitable for gift-giving and/or personal shopping. Like flower deliveries, these separate sites are experienced at doing deliveries. Aside from high-quality products and guaranteed shopping, these sites are also equipped with secure payment systems and have partnered with reliable online payment vendors. Serenata accepts all major brands of credit cards, and your privacy in shopping is assured.

Gift-giving need not be a hassle with Serenata. This online shop strives to offer the best services and products for the best value. Flower deliveries, chocolate sets, and wine selections are easy because of the user-friendliness of the site. Their experience in flower deliveries, artistic displays, and one-of-a-kind gift sets has already been noticed by loyal customers and some award-winning organizations in online shopping.
 

It's just not natural - literally. False eyelashes are one thing, but fake flowers? If you don't have Betty Boopers, by all means resort to a bit of artificial help, but there's simply no way you're going to get better bloomers than those provided by mother nature.

First to agree are the inhabitants of Bourton-on-the-Water, who've been voicing their objections to the counterfeit carnations that are filling the street-side hanging baskets in their village. Martin Macklin, chairman of the chamber of commerce, claimed people would find it tricky to tell the difference, but was unable to say what variety of flowers the silk simulacra were mimicking.

Perhaps, next time, the powers-that-be in the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' should try the improved artificial blossoms that are making headlines in China. Or maybe they should just stick to the real thing.

Another slagging off for the silkies

Replica cars, comic boxers, laminate tie-hangers - one can't help thinking that dads have pulled the short straw when it comes to impromptu gifts. Of course it's the thought that counts, but do fathers derive the same pleasure from tatty trinkets received in June as mothers do from the bouquets they get sent in May?

It seems unlikely, yet, year after year, we refuse to take a cue from the delight experienced by the distaff side. Is it because we're victims of social stereotypes, or do men really not get the same frisson from flowers?

Carnival of Healing #46

Water, lemonade, vodka... and Viagra. You can probably guess most people's order of preference - but what about the preference of flowers? Some budding scientists have decided to find out for themselves.

Disbelievers can always revert to more traditional methods for keeping flowers fresher for longer.

Image from www.myscienceproject.org

She may be Miss Congeniality these days, but there was a time when the guys didn't look twice at Sandra Bullock. Although they did look twice at the flowers she had in her home.

Desperate to capture the attention of a certain gentleman friend, the Speed star ordered five-dozen long-stemmed roses, complete with romantic cards, to be delivered at her home when she knew the object of her affections would be popping around.

The fellow, who'd previously paid no romantic heed to the brunette thespian, called her up for a date straight after leaving.

Devious means or legitimate groundwork? We'd be curious to know what you think.

Bullock takes the buds by the horns

Does your dream date suffer from bromhidrosis (that's stinky sweat to you and me)?

If your answer is yes, you'll be pleased to hear that, from next Monday, you can smell your sweetheart through rose-tinted nostrils.

Mainichi Daily News reports that the Japanese cosmetics company Kanebo has developed a gum that leaves the chewer's body smelling flowery fresh. Interestingly, the product has been named 'Otoko Kaoru', which means male scent - further evidence that flowers aren't just for the ladies.

It's usually the cops who pick up the scent of criminals, but the tables will soon be turned in India when Gujarati police get new uniforms impregnated with the fragrance of flowers.

Wind turbines need no longer be blots on the landscape, as proved by the florally-inspired Dutch designers who conceived of these energy-generating bouquets.

Photo and story from www.bright.nl

How gardeny is your green policy?

Chris Ayres was a little perplexed the first time a man sent him flowers. Had the gift-giving gentleman overstepped the line of social acceptability, or did Chris just have a few issues? Unable to resolve the dilemma, Chris consulted the famed LA florist Eric Buterbaugh:

'For a man, I usually recommend an orchid,' he declared. 'But a cactus is the same thing. It's a plant, not a flower. And that's important, because a plant is masculine. Men send plants to men every day in Hollywood. It's just business.'

But is it just movie-star men from America who fancy flowers? Tell us your men and flowers tales:

Man prickled by flowering cactus gift from another guy

A disgruntled property developer whose building work was interrupted after a species of endangered flower was found on site is crying foul play.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, clumps of protected Sebastopol meadowfoam were planted on the San Fransisco site by environmentally conscious objectors, although residents are denying any wrongdoing.

'It looked like a bad toupee,' said one botanist, who observed the small, white flowers - latin name Limnanthes vinculans - growing through clods of 'alien' soil.

Flowers: the new weapon of choice for saboteurs

Further to the debate on artificial and GM flowers, it seems that fresh flora is up one point - in Tennessee. Administrators at the Chattanooga National Cemetery have placed a seasonal ban on fake flowers because they're making too much mess.


 

Possibly  the most unromantic valentine flower story ever... or, perhaps pretty cute if you consider that policemen donshyt usually drop around to peopleshys houses dressed as delivery men with bow-tied flower boxes.

Thatshys what a group of Colorado coppers did on Valentineshys day -- not because they fancied the homeowner, but because that was the only way they could get the alleged drunken driver to open his door to them. 

Have a hotter tale to tell? Spill the blooms in our real-life romance competition and you could win a Serenata Flowers bouquet of your choice.

Forget about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the hand-built gardens of Saudi Arabia are about to become the newest floral wonder of the modern world.

An impressive 24 acres of land in the desert - five times the size of the Eden Project - is going to be transformed into an antediluvian botanical paradise, documenting the development of the plant world from over 400 million years ago to the modern day.

A fresh conundrum for art historians who have tired of debating whether Marcel Duchamp's ready-made urinal 'Fountain' qualifies as art: do Clark Sorensen's floral artworks qualify as urinals?

Following on from his alcohol-fuelled anti-Semitic tirade and sexist invective, Mel Gibson is reported to found a way to win over the cops - he's said sorry in the time-honoured tradition of misbehaving men by sending the police officer he offended a bunch of flowers.

Perfect Pink - A small price to pay for a ticket out of the dog box and into the good books

We were unable to track down the details of the bouquet, although it's rumoured to have cost $500. We reckon the Maverick actor could have faired equally well for less than half that price with our best-selling apology bouquet, Perfect Pink. Although, whose to say a little Tequila Sunrise wouldn't also have done the trick?

No matter how fast Old Time is a-flying, a new device from Japan makes it possible for you to gather rosebuds - or at least the scent of them - indefinitely.

'The new device, developed by scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, analyzes smells through 15 sensors, records the odour's recipe in digital format and then reproduces the scent by mixing 96 chemicals and vaporizing the result.'

They help reduce workplace stress and have been known to induce giant grins, if not quite uproarious laughter.

As such, the humble flower has earned itself celebrity status in the promotional materials for this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Although, perhaps the joke's on them after all - as you have to blast as many blossoms as possible in this highly addictive Crazy Flower game.

One shudders to think of the rhymes our grandchildren will be writing in their Valentine's cards if Peter van de Werken, owner of River Flowers', becomes a full fathom force in the floristry world. Gone will be the days when it's just violets that are blue:

By placing the stems of white flowers in a concoction of 'natural substances' that are 'absorbed in a natural way', van de Werken has transformed monochrome celosia, gerberas and roses into rainbow-hued blossoms. Happy Colors indeed, but we're sure the floriographers would be turning in their graves - how to come up with connotations for all these new hues?

Roses are red, but sometimes they�re blue

With Mother’s Day now less than a week away, many people are trying to find the best florists to delivery the highest quality flowers to their mums on Sunday.

However, with many florists to choose from, finding one that’s going to deliver a floral bouquet on time that your mother would love to receive can be difficult. 

Fortunately, Which? Magazine has made that choice far easier. In the comparative review of 6 major online florists, researchers compared six similar looking pink bouquets costing between £30 and £35 for attractiveness, similarity to online pictures, longevity and quality. Serenata Flowers came joint top with John Lewis.

In the survey, Interflora received the lowest score of 48% due to a majority of the blooms in the bouquet dying within 7 days. One of the judges stated ‘the bouquet looked sparse and scrappy, not line the online picture. Some of the online flowers and foliage had been substituted. After seven days, most of the bunch had died’.

Marks & Spencer didn’t fare much better with a score of 55% as they failed to deliver the flowers on time (the flowers arrived a day late).

Which’s editor, Ceri Thomas, said of Serenata Flowers’ bouquet Pink Purity £29.99 including FREE delivery - which scored an impressive 80%:  ‘Serenata’s bouquet was the most stylish, thanks to its well-balanced mix of flowers and foliage.’ 

Ms Thomas added ‘Mother’s Day is a good excuse to spoil our mums and thank them for everything they do. So it’s really disappointing to find some online florists delivering scrappy bouquets that don’t last a week’.

We are very pleased to have been recognised in the Which? Survey for online florists with such a high score. We offer customers a wide range of bouquets costing from £9.99 to recipients across the UK. Serenata Flowers have focused on delivering a high quality product and service whilst offering customers an affordable alternative to traditional relay organisations..

Visit Which? for more information.

For more details about Pink Purity, please visit our site www.serenataflowers.com

Necessity is deemed to be the mother of invention, but it was Mother Nature who inspired Jonathan Punter, creator of Deadalus, a design that won The Royal College of Art's Best Overall Concept Car award.

Daedelus concept car by Jonathan Punter.
Photo from Automotoportal.

On the RCA Summer Show 2006 website, Punter explains:

'Exploring biomimetric design principles, I aspire to create a socially responsive interior that functions in the way plants are environmentally responsive... intuitive, and positive.'

Via Automotoportal.

Flower powers car design

An everlasting garden where optimistic messages blossom into virtual flowers: or is it the other way around?

Made by flash maestro Paul Mayne, Hope Garden is not only beautiful, but useful:

'BSD Medical firmly believes people have the power to positively influence others. They've provided the garden as a way for those struggling with cancer, and their loved ones, to plant hope in others.'

A Rutgers study has already proved that flowers have an immediate positive impact on happiness, so combined with an encouraging message, the effects can only get better.

Plant a virtual flower of hope

Every second year since 1971, Brusselian flower lovers weave a magic carpet of begonias outside the city's Grand-Place. Spanning 77 m x 24 m, this year's floral floor covering was inspired by 'the alchemy of the Middle Ages'.

Floral carpet of flowers by William Helsen

Fourteenth magnificent floral carpet
Grand-Place of Brussels
12-15 August 2006

Unlikely to make it there? Reading Cicily Corbett's delightful first-hand account will more than make up for missing the spectacle.

The floral carpet of Brussels

Hello, this looks familiar. Is it a new product in Clark Sorensen's flower urinal range?

Amorphophallus by Jef Poskanzer

Amorphophallus titanum, a.k.a the corpse flower, certainly looks like a work of art, but it most certainly doesn't smell like one. In fact, its stench puts even the most rank of public ablution facilities to shame in the malodorous orders of merit.

Fortunately for those with sensitive noses, the blooming of the corpse flower is a rather infrequent occurrence - to the extent that such activities in Indonesia and the US have been making the headlines.

Corpse flowers kick up a stink

The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian company SemBioSys Genetics Inc has discovered a way of genetically modifying safflower plants to create commercial levels of human insulin.

''We believe that when we're successful, people in the developing world, who otherwise wouldn't get insulin because there isn't enough supply or they can't afford it, will get it,' said Andrew Baum, president and chief executive officer.'

There's a lot of grumbling about GM, but it does appear to generate some beneficial results: or does it? When exactly is it acceptable to tamper with flower genes?

Insulin growers victorious with Carthamus tinctorius

Art authorities have long considered the passion flower in Joos van Cleve's famous Madonna and Child painting to be of integral significance, reports Florida Wildflowers.

But flower enthusiast Michael E. Abrams discovered that drawings of the passion flower only appeared in Europe 70 years after van Cleve's death, so unless the artists had exclusive knowledge of the blossom, it was added by someone else...

A passion flower by tanakawho

Flower proves a vital clue in art forgery

Orchids - we always new they were incredibly attractive. We just didn't realise that they were so attractive to themselves.

In a tale of gravity-defying narcissism that has got scoptophilic scientists in as much of a twist as the Holcoglossum amesianum plant itself, the orchid coils the male part of its flower to fertilise the female part.

The auto-pollination is not such an oddity in itself, but according to the report on IOL, the fact that no floral fluids are produced to aid the process, and that each anther exclusively fertilises its own flower's stigma cavity, makes this an entirely new method of pollination.

Orchids doing it for themselves

Although we're by no means celebrity obsessed, we do get a certain thrill from coming across a pair of starry lovers tying the knot. And not because we're romantics at heart, but because their wedding flowers tend to be so utterly extravagant. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's nuptial florals proved no exception to the rule.

The couple are said to have jetted in 150, 000 pink and white roses from Europe (the serenata buyers will be nodding knowingly at the couple's impeccable taste) to decorate the walls of the Royal Motor Yacht Club where the reception was held. A thoughtful choice: pink roses in bud connote new love, and, once opened, perfect happiness. White roses (which were also the stars of Nicole's bridal posy and Keith's boutonniere), on the other hand, connote innocence when in bud, and declare 'I am worthy of you' when in bloom.

While most of the paparazzi press have fixated on the star-spangled guest list, we're pleased to see that the Herald Sun considered it just as important to list the floral celebrities in attendance: freesias, gardenias, gumnuts, green goddess lilies, hellebores and orchids - which were afterwards donated to the Sydney Children's Hospital. Certainly more than the human guests can say for themselves!

Kidman imports a cool mountain of roses

If you like flowers with everything, you probably won't say no to a floral coffee. But not every barista is as skilled as this one.

Skinny latte with one sugar and a rose, please

Yesterday we pooh-poohed people who tried to outdo Mother Nature; today we're wondering if we weren't a little hasty. KPUA.net reports that the whitecoats at Hawaii University have been pottering about with their pot plants in an attempt to create sturdier varieties of anthuriums and orchids.

But hold on, those are pretty sturdy varieties as it is. At first thought, flower lovers could hardly seem to object to longer-lasting flora, but what exactly does it entail?

Is it ethical to support genetically modified plants? We'd be interested to hear your thoughts. (For some interesting views, have a look at this article on biotechnology from The Flower Council and this one about some GM cress that can detect landmines.)

It makes them stronger, but does it harm them?

Have you been trying to woo a person of opposite sex to date with you this Valentine’s Day? Do you intend to get cosier with that person you have been dreaming about all these days, but haven’t got a way to express your inner feelings to them yet? If your answer to these questions is a, yes, sending flowers to them on this Valentine’s Day can possibly be the right thing for you.

According to a poll published on the popular social networking portal, Facebook, people who receive flowers sent by someone who likes them are likely to share a night full of passion with them. UK’s leading online florist, SerenataFlowers.com, who are an award-winning flower delivery company, have put this poll on Facebook that asks you if you are more likely to sleep with someone who sends you flowers for Valentine’s Day. This poll indirectly asks you about the feelings you develop when you receive a bunch of flowers from someone who spared a moment of loving thoughts about you.

Fresh flowers, especially a bunch of vibrant red roses, symbolize romance and passion, which are essentially very important to evoke your sensual feelings and are the foundation for a passionate bond of love. This has been also indicated by the results of this poll, and men and women both, have responded to it indicating that the possibilities of them getting laid with the person of opposite sex increase if they sent flowers to them. This can also be understood by the fact that everyone loves pleasant surprises, and when a surprise is as beautiful as flowers you receive on a Valentine’s Day, the chances that you will fall for him or her are really going to increase.

As per the results of this poll, nearly 37% men responded indicating that they would like to have sex with the women who sent them flowers on the Valentine’s Day. On the other hand, 34% women followed the same pattern by indicating that they were likely to sleep with the men who were considerate enough to send them flowers. You can also have your say by voting on this Facebook poll created by SerenataFlowers.com. Of course, inferring from the results of this poll, you can definitely choose flowers as your token of love sent to someone you adore.