Alma Flower Shops

Alma MI News

Jul 6, 2021

The irresistible rise of the rose - Financial Times

It was the most dream-like week.”The rose has long inspired grand obsessions. When Empress Joséphine bought the Château de Malmaison outside Paris in 1799 she set about collecting every available cultivar. During the Napoleonic Wars her roses – and her London-based advisor, John Kennedy – were given safe passage across the Channel. By the time of her death in 1814, she had created the largest rose collection in the world, famously recorded by botanical artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté, which would inspire a generation of rose breeders and collectors.Even more modest enthusiasts will relate to the covetousness that these plants inspire. At David Austin Roses, the Shropshire-based breeder of some of the best-loved modern varieties, sales have boomed, with a 200 per cent increase year on year last February for the sale of bareroot roses (which are sold while dormant and planted in winter). There was also a 134 per cent increase in 2020 in the sales of roses that were potted up, compared with the previous year.For many rose fanatics it’s the old roses that have a special charm, with their voluptuous velvety petals and incredible scent. When Manolo Blahnik was growing up on La Palma during the 1950s, his mother collected old roses from France and England. “She took such care of them and they smelt so beautiful – it is the smell of my childhood,” says Blahnik from his home in Bath, where every corner of his terrace is smothered in pink roses, including the climber “Mortimer Sackler” that inspired his “Trellis” stiletto boot.For Blahnik the rose is interwoven with everything he loves about Englishness, from the damask blooms of country house chintz to the waft of Floris’s rose scent that enchanted him when he first arrived in London in the early ’70s. “Roses are a part of the culture and why I came to En...

Jul 6, 2021

Where will the Urban Roots Garden Centre be in Coquitlam? - The Tri-City News

In Coquitlam, the store is proposed for the vacant property east of Coquitlam Centre mall by Walmart; the Morguard land at 1150 The High will be leased until Nov. 30. In Port Moody, council OK’d the temporary use permit by CityState Consulting last month for a pop-up garden facility at the corner of Clarke and Kyle streets, for two years. Other Urban Roots Garden Market locations in the works are at: • 1755 Cottrell St., Vancouver • 2901 East Hastings St., Vancouver • 4506 Rupert St., Vancouver • 6191 West Boulevard, Vancouver • 20090 91A Ave., township of Langley CityState’s Carola Alder told the Tri-City News that the seven centres are in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as more people work remotely and want to update their homes. “People are also outside more and spending more time in their gardens,” she said on Tuesday. If approved after the public hearing, the Coquitlam site would start operating in late March, under three steel-frame peak tents, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (11 a.m. on Sundays). As well, CityState is working with the parks department to tie in a pop-up parklet. There will be on-site parking for 20 vehicles and two accessible spaces, with access off Baldwin Street, said Edison Ting, a development planner with the city of Coquitlam; the current chain-link fence around the gravel-surface property will stay in place, he said. Founded 30 years ago, Canadian Valley Growers Ltd. is an independently owned company in...

Apr 4, 2021

COLUMN: The golden flowers of the trumpet tree - yoursun.com

The yellow flowers are followed by long seed pods which also have some ornamental interest. The attractive leaves on all of these trees are palmate in shape with multiple leaflets.Locate trumpet trees in a full sun to part-shade area with well-drained, but moderately moist soil. All the trumpet trees tend to develop brittle wood as they age. As such, wind damage can be an issue. Proper pruning may help train a tree to be more wind-resistant over its lifetime. Use the trumpet tree as a specimen tree in a lawn area where it will best be seen and admired in season.Trumpet trees are not just on Cochran Boulevard, but are found throughout Southwest Florida. Remember the trumpet tree as you plan out your landscape – they are Florida-Friendly Landscaping recommended plants and real show-offs.

Apr 4, 2021

Flowers welcome first bees of the year - Mount Airy News

A great liquid and plant vegetable food for all seasons is Alaska fish emulsion. It can be purchased in quart bottles at hardwares, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ace Hardware, and garden shops. It is very organic and can be mixed according to instructions on the bottle, poured into a sprinkling can and poured around the base of plants, vegetables and flowers. It definitely smells like fish, so pinch your nose while you are applying it. Plants respond quickly to an application of Alaska fish emulsion. Saving spray bottles for summer growing season. When you finish using spray bottles of window cleaner, carpet spray, tire spray and other spray bottles, save the bottles and sprayers. After you clean them, you can use them to mist seedlings and plants or to use for just the right amount of mist or spray for insect pests on plants and flowers without getting it in areas where you don’t want it. The spray bottles can be labeled with a permanent black marker. You can use one for rose spray, another for water, and another for Japanese beetles, and one to spray tomatoes for wilt or blossom end rot. Keep a supply of spray bottles handy for all kinds of spraying chores and be sure to label all bottles. Keep spray ready mixed in the bottles and all you will have to do is have a bottle filled ready to shake up and use. Trimming panda and asparagus ferns in prep to move outside. These ferns have been wintering over in the sunny living room during autumn, winter, and early spring. As we prepare them for a move to the outside dock in late April, they will need to be trimmed and shaped and feed them with liquid Miracle Gro plant food. Before their move outside they may need a quart of extra potting medium for an extra boost. Making a chicken parmesan casserole. Finely shredded parmesan cheese enhances this chicken casserole and gives it extra flavor. You will need one four pack of Tyson chicken breasts, one package of Pepperidge Farms cornbread dressing, one eight ounce pack finely shredded parmesan cheese, one can Campbell’s cream of chicken soup, one stick melted light margarine, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper, one teaspoon poultry seasoning, one tablespoon mayonnaise. Boil chicken breasts until tender, skin and debone. Cut chicken into chunks. Place chicken chunks in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish or pan. Mix cream of chicken soup, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and spread over chicken chunks. Mix cornbread dressing with melted margarine and pour over the top of the casserole and spread over it. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Hoe-hoe-hoedown. “Looking good in mink.” A wife was trying on a floor length mink coat and she admired how she looked in it. ” If my husband dosen’t like it, will you refuse to take it back?” “Happy Marriage?” The minister was visiting with a couple in his church. The minister asked how everything was going. The lady of the house replied “The devil is still giving me a hard time.” From the kitchen the husband’s voice rang out, “Now you just hold on, you’re not that easy to get along with yourself!” Enjoying the full worm moon The full worm moon of March will shine down tonight on trees with newly forming leaves and earth worms becoming active in t...

Apr 4, 2021

Wildflowers are starting to bloom. Here’s where to see them in the Bay Area and California - San Francisco Chronicle

Clara County Parks, Tamara Clark suggested Calero, Santa Teresa, Coyote Lake and Grant County parks. Every April, a wild card is Almaden Quicksilver County Park, south of San Jose. The Mine Hill Trail can be a spectacular show, and early April can be best for monkey flower. Other common early arrivals can include lupine, poppies, buttercup and if you’re lucky, shooting stars.