THE FLOWER Council of Holland has teamed up with the Toni and Guy hairdressing salons in an attempt to encourage consumers to express their feelings and enhance their personality, mood and image with flowers.
Customers at the 235 salons across the UK will be encouraged to purchase flowers for themselves, via its in-salon TV and its in-house magazine.
The promotion will run for 10 weeks from April to the beginning of June and each week 70,000 customers will see the information. The council's message will be don't wait for someone else to treat you to flowers, buy them for yourself, especially on Friday so you can enjoy them throughout the weekend.
The message aims to support the Flower Council's Friday is Flower Day trade campaign and the on-going "Why Wait - Buy Your Own" advertising campaign.
The council will also be participating in the new exhibition Flowers 04, which will be held at the Business and Design Centre in Islington, London on June 20 and 21. The council's stand will look at retailing in the future with at least two applications of possible new concepts for retailing flowers and a scrolling screen of retail concepts to inspire new approaches.
Meanwhile, the council has revealed two new lines for the season. The sizzle yellow is the attractive name given to a new variety of spray chrysanthemum with spoon shaped petals. The sizzle yellow is the second member of a series, which will shortly number four cultivars.
Sizzle was named after the girl band Frizzle Sizzle, who competed in the Eurovision song contest a number of years ago. Sizzle Yellow is expected to be supplied at the average rate of 200,000 stems per month.
The second line is the Kalanchoe Magic Bell. The plant acquired its name as during its growth, the plant changes its appearance as if by magic.
Magic Bell is characterised by its striking inflorescence and decorative value during its various stages of development. Clusters of pale green, lantern-like, air bubbles appear at the tips of the flower stems. This is the stage at which the plant is supplied to the auction - the bell-shaped flowers appear later. It is available all year-round from the flower and plant auctions.
SAINSBURY’S BLOSSOMS
SAINSBURY’S IS gearing itself up for a busy time with flowers over the forthcoming weeks.
Having got through the hectic valentine's period, the supermarket is preparing itself for Mother's Day with an extensive range of bouquets, plants of floral gifts, from carnations through to exotic orchids.
At the top of the range is the Mother's Day Elegance bouquet costing £20, which has been exclusively designed for Sainsbury's. The bouquet consists of tall white calla lilies, combined with green molucella, purple liatris, bloom chrysanthemums and colourful foliage.
There is also the Mother's Day Gifts Bouquet at £4.99, a mix of chrysanthemums, carnations and single lily, which has a sticker to allow a child to personalise it. For the more sophisticated there is the "I Love You Mum Bouquet" consisting of lilies, carnations, asters and gerbera creating a soft pink and lilac mix.
Sainsbury's is also offering a delivery service, for those consumers unable to deliver their gifts to loved ones in person. Further information is available by visiting www.sainsburys.co.uk.
NOTCUTTS INCREASES POWER
THE FAMILY-OWNED firm of nurseries Notcutts, based at Woodbridge near Ipswich, has taken delivery of a further 15 utility vehicles from Ransomes Jacobsen.
The electric-powered vehicles, like their predecessors, will be used for towing trailers loaded with plants, shrubs and trees around the nursery grounds.
Notcutts took delivery of an initial batch of 15 electric vehicles last year to replace its ageing fleet of compact tractors and they proved so successful that the company ordered 15 more.
Paul Masters, production director at Notcutts, says: "The staff find them much quieter, easier to operate and they provide a more comfortable ride. Crucially, they also dovetail into our environmental policy ensuring that we proactively minimise our effect on the local environment through best practice, wherever possible.
"We routinely get seven to eight hours of productive work between recharging and have achieved over 10 hours during peak demand in late spring and early summer."
SOUTHPORT ANNIVERSARY
The Southport Flower Show, the UK's largest independent flower event, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
With celebration as the theme and an extended four-day show, plans are well underway with a whole host of activities to enjoy across the 34-acre showground.
Highlights will include award winning displays of flowers, fruit and vegetables and more gardens than ever before. These will include contributions from landscape design students and school children competition winners. The Show will take place August 19-22.
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