Preservative recipe/ Post Landscape Reflections

Still digging out from the flower debris, boxes, newspaper, emails, etc.from yesterday's talk at the SF Landscape Garden Show. Here's the recipe I promised during my talk for a homemade floral preservative I like to use for all flowers and foliage.

1TB vinegar
1TB white sugar
1/4 tsp. bleach
1/2 gallon water
Mix and stir to dissolve sugar. This is concentrated. It's handy to keep in a squeeze bottle. I use a teaspoon-tablespoon depending on the size vase. It's not a critical measurement like baking a cake- I mean, a little more, a little less is okay.

There's a commercial product called Hydraflor that professional designers use that's very effective for increasing flower uptake and good if you have a major event and need to keep them going in heat or other more extreme conditions.

 

 

When Jon isn't playing the pedal steel, doing energy audits, or getting with Buddy so excited that he bites him, he can  be enlisted in the floral world and makes pretty cool arrangements too.

A lot to digest. 5 days of demos from the some of best Floral Designers the Bay Area has. I saw two days worth and every speaker had something to contribute in this diverse world of floral design. This was the first class I taught that Jon caught on video. So I kind of winced through it (always aiming for a better presentation) but yep, still thrilled to have been there. The video will make a great learning tool.