Blog
The many faces of chrysanthemum
With Fathers’ Day on our minds, we found ourselves thinking of Mothers’ Day and chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums could be said to be a more interesting thing to think about than socks, drills or golf balls. Native to Asia and north-eastern Europe – with most deriving from China – chrysanthemums are now grown all over the world.Read more
Do daffodils kill other flowers?
Do daffodils kill other flowers? A most robust discussion is taking place amongst us all here at Bloom College HQ. The topic is whether daffodils and jonquils should be allowed to inhabit the same bucket of water as freesias, tulips or other spring flowers when all are freshly picked. We know the toxic sap fromRead more
Profiling our pots!
At Bloom College we try to reduce the amount of stuff we consume in our workshops and courses. Many containers we use are ‘repurposed’ or ‘rethought’ plastic, metal and glass containers that originally came into our lives holding household food items. It’s amazing how useful an ex-yoghurt or ex-soft-drink container can be. And, what’s more,Read more
Trending Tuesday – flower crowns
This spring’s hottest fashions on the field will be flowers. Our tip is they will be mostly worn as flower crowns. These babies are back, and bigger than ever. Of course they are making their way back into weddings too… Next week we begin profiling the flowers and colours of spring…….
Fridays friend – Rosemary: A friend to all
Rosemary: A friend to all A participant in one of Bloom College’s first Herb and rose posy workshops was a keen gardener, craft enthusiast and home cook. Having never applied her eye for design or creative instincts to the ‘formal’ art of flower arranging, she came along to add another dimension to her skill set,Read more
Flower growing….where do our flowers come from?
Don’t ask, don’t tell: what’s the true price of our flowers? An Australian wholesaler told me a few years ago that the roses I was admiring in their warehouse had been imported from Kenya. The reason the roses’ bud form persisted during the flight and other supply chain stages involved in getting them to theRead more
Wide-ranging Wednesdays – addition to last weeks blog
More pink and blue (and watch for Jo Paoletti’s book on mother-of-the-bride dresses) Last Wednesday we posted about Jo Paoletti’s work and her recently published book Pink and Blue: Telling the Girls from the Boys in America. Our research about the great pink-blue issue lead us to believe that the 1940s was when the currentRead more
Trending Tuesdays – Uppercup
Last week we suggested that Unilever’s pop-up Magnum stores might be, amongst other things, a vehicle for the company to crowd fund research into new ice-cream flavours. This week we profile an out-and-proud seeker of crowd funding, the UpperCup. Melbourne coffee lover and hospitality veteran James McKay has just launched a Pozible crowd funding campaignRead more
Spot the link: Flowers, fruit, cigarettes and car engines
Flowers and plant materials grow old, wilt and die, much to the disappointment of all of us who would love to be able to keep on admiring lovely vases and containers of cut flowers for weeks or months. The process that causes this to happen is called senescence. The good news is you canRead more
Family and friends fridays – Zeally and Cliff
New look Friday Bloom Blurbs and Back to the 70s Since the start of 2013, we’ve found out lots about our friends and fans. We know you’re interested in lots of the same things we’re interested in and we want you to be able to easily connect via social media with us, each other andRead more