Joe's flower stall has been identified as a traffic hazard

An award-winning gardener living in Stafford has been banned from selling his beloved flowers due to the local council insisting they are a safety hazard to passing motorists.

Joe Poultney, 69, who donates hundreds of pounds a year to children’s charities with the proceeds received from selling his flowers, has been ordered to discontinue selling flowers outside his house by Stafford City Council.

The Council states that it received complaints from local residents a number of weeks ago after driver’s concerns that the OAP’s blossoms were causing congestion on the roads of his suburb.

The pensioner has now been ordered to purchase planning permission for which the price stands at £385.00 and is even then subject to challenges from other residents.

Mr Poultney deplores the move of his local council; ‘This whole episode makes me feel quite sad because I won’t be able to give as much money to the children’s charity and the church as I did last year”.

Barlaston Parish Council awarded Mr Poultney for making a ‘valuable contribution to the community for his attractive garden’. Along with his wife Heather, 67, Mr Poultney spends at least 3 hours a day watering his plants and tending to his hundreds of seedlings.

This contribution comes in the form of donations to local charities such as The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice Trust and his local Methodist church which in return provides customer parking for Mr Poultney’s display.

“I have always asked people to park around the corner where Barlaston Methodist Chapel is and I walk to give them their plants” he said.

Neighbours of Mr and Mrs Poultney insist that they do not see a problem with their display and are very supportive in their feud with the council. Peter Hulme, 58, said “’Joe has a lovely garden and it is a real asset for the community to have something as nice as that here”.

Stafford City council however insist that Mr Poultney requires planning permission from the council to keep doing what he loves.

Paul Burrell advises consumers to shop locally for their flowers

The popular MoneySavingExpert website carries an article this week from Paul Burrell of Princess Diana ‘Rock’ fame (or infamy depending on your point of view) with his tips on buying flowers.

Mr Burrell, the owner of a florists in Farndon, Cheshire since hanging up his butler gloves, warns readers to think twice about buying flowers online and consider the advantages of a local flower shops.

A local florist advising people to use local florists is perhaps unsurprising, but does he make a valid point? Well, we’re big supporters of local shops (and have blogged about it in the past) and would have to say there’s a lot of truth in what he says.

Cost and convenience are usually the reasons people use an online flower retailer, but as Paul asserts, it is often more cost-effective to use a florist in the town to which you’re getting the bouquet delivered. We would also add that the reliability of your order is also more assured – if a local shop makes a mistake they are likely to be able to rectify it and get the bouquet out that day; if your online order is missed then that’s probably it.

One of Paul’s main points is that many of his customers say they have been disappointed with online bouquets. While the quality of flowers sourced online can be excellent, many people miss the personal service they get with their local florist. It’s true that you will tend to be happer when able to specify exactly what you like or don’t like in person.

For us, the personal service and expert advice of a local florist is something that can’t be replicated at distance; that one-on-one consultation to help you with your decision and give input where it’s needed can be invaluable.

And of course, shopping locally is good for all of us – money that goes into the local economy in small local businesses is likely to be spent in other local businesses; money spent online is leaving that eco-system and makes your area that little bit poorer as a result.

Police forces using flower power

Bunches of flowers are given to mark a whole host of occasions – birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, get well soon gifts, Valentine’s day, Mother’s day… the list is practically endless.

As many a person who has missed one of these important events will attest, flowers are also a great way of saying sorry. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the police, with some forces now turning to bouquets as a way of softening the blow for victims of crimes that are unlikely to ever be solved.

West Mercia police and the Met are among the forces using flower power to console victims, but results have been mixed.

Londoner Sarah Miller, 55, was sent flowers after her home was burgled and goods including laptops and a camera taken – a crime for which the detection rate is just 12%. Rather than being consoled though, Mrs Miller felt “fobbed off” by the flowers.

“I commented to the crime scene officer when she was round how nice those pre-printed cards are that police send out to victims and she said, ‘That’s nothing, if you’re really lucky you get a bunch of flowers delivered’. I just laughed, thinking it was a joke, but sure enough the next day there was a knock at the door and someone was holding a big bunch.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to receive them, but the thought that went into that could have gone into solving the burglary, like putting pictures of the things that were stolen in the local paper in an effort to recover them. I’d rather they’d have sent a community support officer to comfort me after it happened rather than being fobbed off with flowers.”

The flowers sent by the the Met are all donations from a local florist and are generally sent to elderly ladies living alone, “to help soften the blow and show we’re there to support them” says a Met spokesman.

If a bunch of flowers helps some victims of crime feel like someone cares and helps restore their faith in humanity then we think it’s probably worth the effort. After all, a person is far more valuable than any physical goods that will have been taken in a robbery.

Pressed flowers: a beautiful, traditional craft

You might think of the art of flower pressing / drying as something that all but disappeared with the Victorian era, and in some ways you would be right.

The practice certainly waned after becoming a wildly popular pastime amongst the well-heeled young ladies of the late 19th century, but a mini-revival means that flower pressing is now cool again (Is saying cool still cool? We’ll assume that it is.) If you fancy giving this traditional craft a try then here are a few pointers.

Ideally, you will want to pick your flowers when they are dry, but not so dry that they are wilted (the adage “garbage in, garbage out” is very true here – the pressing process will not magically rejuvenate flowers that are past their best).

Find a large, heavy book – it used to be common to use the big, old family bibles that every household had, but a modern day equivalent might be a telephone directory or similar.

In the pages of the book, make a folder using plain, absorbent paper (blotting paper is good, but you can also used face tissues for ease). A relatively dry bloom in combination with the paper folder will help protect the pages of the book from being spoiled.

Close the book on the flower, then to help press the flower flatter added some more weight on top – either more books or even something like a brick will do. Leave it to dry for at least a month and your flower should be preserved.

This traditional method of pressing will give you the classic pressed flower look – old looking, with subdued, faded hues. You might want to try a more modern technique if you would prefer a more vibrant effect – using a microwave oven.

The microwave will be less likely to turn your flowers brown and will save you time if you’re the impatient type; it takes only minutes rather than months.

To microwave your flowers, you can either buy a special press or make your own. For a DIY solution, two pieces of hardboard held together with strong elastic bands will do the trick. It is vital that you aren’t tempted to use metal clips or screws in your design though as you’ll get disastrous results in a microwave (you knew that already, but it’s always worth stating the obvious).

Press your flowers in the hardboard (using paper which will help absorb the moisture that comes out) and heat on medium power for a couple of minutes. If your flower isn’t completely dry then just keep putting it in for another 30-60 seconds until you’re satisfied.

Either method will give you a great result for your crafting or floral displays, so it’s well worth experimenting.

Are squirrels being trained to vandalise gardens?

A Solihull pensioner branded a ‘neighbour from hell’ ripped up her neighbours’ flower beds after becoming convinced that a local resident had specially trained a squirrel to damage her garden.

Marion Webster, 78, was found guilty of criminal damage at Solihull Magistrates Court after uprooting £50 worth of flowers from a bordering property; the latest in a string of anti-social incidents involving the OAP.

According to neighbours, Ms Webster had fortified her own garden in the belief that neighbours were envious of her plants, erecting a large metal gate and high fences to keep people out.

“She is very proud of her garden and she got it into her head that someone had it in for her and was jealous of her flowers,” said one neighbour.

“She became convinced a resident had trained a squirrel to enter her garden after dark and tear up her flowers but everyone thought it was a joke. [Then] one night she cut someone’s flowers up and tore up plants from the roots.”

West Midlands Police confirmed that they have been contacted more than 40 times over the last decade concerning incidents between Ms Webster and her neighbours, often but not always regarding flowers.

For example, another neighbour said that they had previously reported her to the police for playing loud classical music at 3am.

“The last thing you expect to have when you move into a nice quiet neighbourhood like this one is an elderly woman acting like a yob. She seems to enjoy causing a fuss and making everyone’s life hell.”

Ms Webster has been ordered by magistrates to keep the peace for 6 months, with the threat of a fine if there are further complaints against her. Happily, the local police force report that there have not been any more incidents reported since the destruction of the flowers.

Fortunately for the accused squirrel, Ms Webster appears to have limited her revenge to her neighbours’ flower beds, unlike Scottish pensioner Hamish Jack, who claims to have shot more than 200 of the bushy-tailed rodents over a two year period to prevent damage to his Penicuik garden – clearly a dangerous business being a squirrel trained to damage OAP’s flowers.

Bumblebee pollinating a flower

New research has revealed that more subtle forces are at work as the bumblebees merrily go about their pollination, and that the arrangement is more complex and nuanced that it would first appear. Scientists have discovered that flowers are actively communicating with bees using tiny electric fields.

Remarkably, as well as using visual and olfactory cues, flowers use differerently tuned electric fields to signal how much pollen they have left – one voltage to let passing bees know that they have pollen and nectar available and another that tells them that supplies are running low.

This system is thought to significantly improve the efficiency of the pollination process, ensuring that bees are only landing on flowers where their services are needed and not wasting time landing on and inspecting flowers that have recently been visited by another bee.

The research, carried out by the University of Bristol, studied around 200 bees and special sensors to observe the system in practice for the first time.

“Flowers are like giant advertising billboards for bees. We have known for a long time that flowers use colour and smell to advertise to their pollinators,” commented Dominic Clark from the university’s School of Biological Sciences.

“It is being discovered that flowers take advantage of more and more of their pollinators’ senses to send their messages. There is a bat-pollinated vine for example, with flowers that change shape when they’re empty of nectar so that they appear different to the bat’s echolocation radar and the bat can avoid them.”

“We believe that the electric field is a previously unappreciated source of information for insects like bees and the plants they interact with. This ability might not be confined to bumblebees.”

The relationship between bees and flowers already seemed pretty special, but we’ll certainly be looking upon them with an even greater amount of respect and amazement in the future.

Oprah with the offending bouquets

The world’s foremost chat show host Oprah Winfrey got an unexpected birthday present when she put her back out trying to lift several large bouquets of flowers she had received as a gift from close friend Tyler Perry.

Oprah, who turned 59 this week, was surprised by the flowers from long-time chum Tyler as she spent the day relaxing at home in her pyjamas with her partner Stedman Graham, but was probably more surprised when she tried to move the bouquets and strained her back.

She later had the good grace to thank Tyler for the flowers and posted a picture on her Twitter profile of herself surrounded by the bouquets, but understandably the well-meaning Tyler was apologetic for inadvertantly causing Oprah an injury.

“I like to send really large flower arrangements to people for whatever occasion. Well, I sent one to Oprah for her birthday. She strained her back picking it up. No joke! Feel better Oprah. Happy birthday. Sorry Next year I’m sending her one rose. ” commented Tyler.

There were clearly no hard feelings though as Oprah replied the next day with the following message: “No need to feel bad, love the roses and got an extra day in bed. Can you say #icepack”

She should probably just be relieved that Tyler didn’t send her another bouquet of flowers as an apology.

While Perry is known for his grand gestures when it comes to flowers, it’s nothing compared to some of the largest bouquets in the world. In 2006 at the International Flora Expo the President of India APJ Abdul Kalam was presented with a flower arrangement 15 feet high that contained 175,000 flowers (we don’t think he tried to lift it).

And last year a Kazakh man was reported to have bought his wife 1 million red roses at a cost of several million dollars after an argument. Let’s hope he also got her a forklift truck to go with them.

Flowers of the Snow Queen Exhibition (Kyiv Post)

It may not be a winter wonderland for Christmas here in the UK, but in Ukraine they are gearing up for an icy celebration that could come straight from the pages of The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Flowers of the Snow Queen exhibition, hosted in Kiev from the 2nd-27th January, will feature an array of beautiful ice figurines, some of which are to be created by artists using real flowers.

While there will be specially-commissioned ice sculptures, the real stars of the show in Kiev’s Spivoche Pole park (at least as far as we’re concerned at Workbox) will be the flower arrangements which are then coated with a layer of ice.

The intention of the show is to bring together summer and winter / warmth and cold, and has been inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, The Snow Queen.

Kyivzelenbud, the company behind the Flowers of the Snow Queen exhibition, are normally responsible for the annual flower festivals held to celebrate Ukraine’s declaration of independence from the USSR on 24th August, but believe their new winter exhibition to be their best yet.

“This exhibition is the most beautiful and successful project of Kyivzelenbud,” commented Mykhailo Tsarenko, general director of Kyivzelenbud.

While residents of Kiev are used to exhibitions of ice sculptures, this year is the first that flowers will take centre stage. The floral ice sculptures are very much a local endeavour though, with pieces coming from artists in all 10 of Kiev’s city districts.

Kiev is perfectly suited to hosting an ice exhibition; the average day time temperature is -3.5°C in January, and has been known to fall as low as a positively arctic -31.1°C, so there is little chance of the sculptures melting.

If you fancy a winter trip to see the Flowers of the Snow Queen exhibition, a return flight from the UK to Kiev will cost you around £200; if you decide to give it a try don’t forget to send us some pictures!

Random Acts of Flowers donates bouqets to those who need them most

Everyone knows that the best bit about Christmas is the giving, so we were thrilled to hear that a charity based around giving flowers to those in need has turned out to be a roaring success.

The brilliantly-named ‘Random Acts of Flowers’, a charity based in Knoxville, Tennessee, has now given 18,200 bouquets away to people, worth $1,000,000. That’s a lot of day-brightening.

Random Acts of Flowers (or RAF for short) works by recycling the flowers used in wedding ceremonies, memorial services and other special events and donating them to patients at hospitals, hospices and nursing homes.

Flowers can provide people with a wonderful lift, and it seems obvious and right that they should be directed to where they can do most good instead of going to waste once their original purpose  is over and done with. Research has shown that a positive attitude can reduce pain, anxiety and fatigue, and can reduce the healing time of the sick, so RAF’s timely flower donations can make a real difference.

Although many patients receive flowers from friends or family, others are not so fortunate – particularly the long-term sick – and this is why Random Acts of Flowers came to exist. RAF’s founder, Larsen Jay, was involved in a serious accident in 2007 and noticed that while he was boosted by regular visits and flower arrangements, patients in nearby beds had neither.

When Larsen was able to leave his bed he made his first ‘random acts of flowers’, giving his own bouquets to other patients, and was inspired by the effect it had on people. Upon leaving hospital he formed the charity and began collecting and recycling flowers throughout East Tennessee.

The idea seems to have struck a chord – Larsen and his team of volunteers are delivering ever growing numbers of bouquets to those who need them and plan to branch out to other cities in 2013.

At Workbox we wish them every success and hope that they inspire many more people to use flowers in such a positive, selfless way – especially at Christmas.

Signs remain a mystery (East Anglian Daily Times)

Mysterious signs have popped up in the floral displays of a small Suffolk market town, requesting that people do not eat the flowers.

In what could very well be a response to a flower eating craze sparked by our recent article on growing edible flowers, person or persons unknown have planted the official-looking printed signs in Sudbury’s municipal flower beds.

The town council are mystified by the signs, which have appeared in many of the town’s 40 floral troughs situated around the town hall and have denied responsibility.

“It’s not a publicity stunt by us, although it is good publicity for Sudbury before Christmas,” commented Jacqui Howells, Deputy Council Clerk. “I don’t know what to make of the signs – people do some weird things.”

As the troughs contain harmless winter pansies, which are not poisonous and present no health risk if eaten, the most likely reasons for the signs being there appear to either be pranksters or someone worried that regular readers of the Workbox Direct blog might not be able to resist a nibble when seeing the feast of edible pansies laid out before their eyes.

The council confirmed that they had not previously had any problems with people eating their flowers and are baffled as to the origin of the signs.

“I know we have experienced problems with people stealing the plants before because you can see where they’ve been dug up, but as far as I know, we’ve never come across anyone eating them before. ”

“I assumed the signs might have been put there by our gardener Gary Flowers, but he is as mystified as we are. Whether it’s someone who is seriously concerned that the flowers are poisonous or somebody just having a laugh, we don’t know,” continued Jacqui.

It appears that far from being alarmed about the appearance of the signs, the town council have seen the funny side (and are possibly a little relieved that no-one will eat their flowers).

“If it draws attention to the flower beds and causes a bit of a giggle, then we are happy to leave the signs in place.”