Bromeliads range from prickle-top pineapples to skeins of Spanish moss to yucca like, desert-loving dyckia.  Native largely to the South American tropics, where they swing from trees, cling to rocks and cliffs, and hug the rainforest floor.  Only one, the pineapple, is grown for food.

Many of the 3000  bromeliad species thrive both indoors and out and bloom for months at a time.  They often have splashy, eye-catching leaves, and quite a few are epiphytes that don’t need soil and instead use their roots more for grabbing somthing to grown on than for feeding.

The most familar bromeliads are aechmea and billbergia; both are “tank” types that store water in the cupped centers of their leaf rosettes.  Neoregelia and vriesea, also tank types, feature vividly colored and patterned foliage.  Tillandsia – called ” air plants” – can resemble curly legged sea creatures and contentedly live on a driftwood perch with occasional spritzes of water and food.

As seen in Garden Design magazine, January/February issue.  Written by Susan Heeger.  Photography by Jack Wolford.

Flowerlink, a  flower wholesale business specializing in Ecuadorian roses (garden, regular and sprays) and Colombian hydrangeas is located in Hawthorne, CA – 5 minutes away from Los Angeles International Airport.  They are directly related to family-owned farms in Ecuador (Florecal, Flores Verdes and Freya). The farms have been in business for over 20 years.
Their expertise is providing the most amazing roses in the world, at the best possible price, with the best possible shell life. Currently they bring in 4 direct shipments per week and cater to many high end florists in LA and other cities.

Flowerlink is very proud to have become Fair Trade certified. This has afforded them the opportunity to sell to the Southern Pacific Region for Wholefoods Markets.

Portland, Oregon bbrooks member Fieldwork features a bountiful arrangement of mixed Lupine in the Floral Prototype section of their website. Gorgeous colors and textures!

Lupins are popular as ornamental plants in gardens.  There are numerous hybrids and cultivars. Some species, such as Garden Lupin and hybrids like the Rainbow Lupin are common garden flowers.

Lupine seeds are also edible. The yellow legume seeds of lupins, commonly called lupin beans, appear after the flowering period.  Lupin beans are commonly sold in a salty solution in jars (like olvies and pickles) and can be eaten with or without the skin.

Lupini dishes are most commonly found in Mediterranean countries, especially in Portugal, Egypt, and Italy, and also in Brazil.

Edible lupins are referred to as sweet lupins because they contain smaller amounts of toxic alkaloids. The seeds are used for different foods from vegan sausages to lupin-tofu or baking-enhancing lupin flour.

Given that lupin seeds have the full range of essential amino acids and that they, contrary to soy, can be grown in more temperate to cool climates, lupins are becoming increasingly recognized as a cash crop alternative to soy.

Varietal information as found on Wikipedia.

The name Lily, currently ranked in the top 20 for most popular names, is enjoying a surge of popularity.  And why not?  With it’s elegant, nodding, bell-shaped bloom and heavenly scent, the lily is one of the world’s most beautiful and beloved flowers. And… the Lily’s existence has been noted for quite some time.

The first known representation of the lily, etchings found on a villa in Crete, date back to 1580 BC.  The ancient Egyptians celebrated the lily as a symbol of fertility and rebirth, drawing its image on their tombs.  In Chinese culture, the lily is a good-luck charm.

Ancient Hebrew culture valued the lily as well, and mentions of the flower as a metaphor for beauty and purity appear throughout the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church adopted the white lily (later known as the Madonna lily) as a symbol for The Virgin Mary.  Perhaps the most ubiquitous iteration of the lily comes in the form of the fleur-de-lis, which appears on numerous coat of arms throughout Europe.

Though the lily has long been associated with the ethereal realm, it has also been celbrated for its practical uses.  In the 8th century, Charlemagne mandated that his subjects grow lilies in their gardens for medicinal purposes.  During Elizabethan times, as well, lilies were thought to have healing properties.

Today, the lily remains a favorite choice for brides who love the soft, creamy white of its flower and its symbolissm of innocence, purity and new life.  But perhaps the most moving, modern use of the flower comes each year on Easter Sunday, when church altars around the world are awash in lilies – symbolizing the return of spring and the promise of new life.

Long time bbrooks member Green in San Diego, Ca shares some lovely hints to help your floral gift last longer.

Fresh Cut Flowers:

Three (3) easy tips will make your fresh flowers last and last.

To read more, please see http://greenfloralsd.com/about/flower-care-tips/

A bulb, when purchased, is an underground root structure in  its dormant state.  Made up of layered flesh, like an onion,  it holds a shoot inside.   Once planted, a bulb stays dormant until the Spring sun warms and softens the soil, causing the roots to grow.  The roots take in nutrients  and water from the damp Spring ground, and the shoot pushes up through the bulb’s papery top layer.  (Bulbs also contain “lateral” buds, which eventually form new plants.)  After the flower blooms and fades, the dying leaves feed the bulb, which makes the bulb strong for the next year.  When the weather tuns cold, the bulb goes dormant again.

( As seen in October 2011  issue of Real Simple magazine- written by Madaline Sparks– Illustration by Wendy Hollender)

For more information on bulb plants, including forcing different varieties, please see www.realsimple.com.

Trick or Treat!!  As Halloween approaches, beware the goblins lurking … in some of the more unique flowering plants out there!

The Titan Arum, which grows in the rainforests of Sumatra, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.

Due to its odor, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the “corpse flower”, or “corpse plant”.

 A native to Northern California and Oregon, the Cobra Lily was discovered in 1841 by the botanist William D. Brackenridge at Mount Shasta.  

 This plant is designated as uncommon due to its rarity in the field.   A carnivorous plant, it is also called the California Pitcher plant,  or Cobra Plant, and it is the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae.  

The name Cobra Lily stems from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra, complete with a forked leaf—ranging from yellow to purplish-green—that resemble  fangs or a serpent’s tongue.

The genus Tacca, which includes Bat flowers and Arrowroot, consists of ten species of flowering plants in the order Dioscoreales, native to tropical regions of Africa, Australia, and south-eastern Asia.

This informative article by Daniel DiClerico in the March issue of Garden Design explains the diversity and complexity of  the Rhododendrons genus.

def: Rhododendron (from Ancient Greek rhódon “rose”, and déndron “tree”) is a genus of over 1000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers. It includes the plants known to gardeners as azaeleas.

Floral designers  sometimes employ a design technique using gravel in clear glass to create a Modern  or Urban style floral arrangement.  We commonly refer to the ingredient used by the generic term “river rock”.

If you have ever been curious about the “river rock” used in your gift, check out this informative article from March 7, 2011 issue of Garden Design,  www.gardendesign.com.