October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Statistics show that breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American for women.

Pink ribbon campaigns to raise awareness are everywhere. Companies large and small have taken their normal brand identitiy colors and turned them pink to highlight their commitment to raising awareness.

One of the most notable and aparent showing of this is with the NFL  and its teams with pro-football players donning gear like athletic cleats and gloves with flashes of pink.  

Nascar  driver Bobby Labonte drove in the NASCAR Banking 500, to raise breast cancer awareness with his pink car sponsored by Ask.com.

There are now over 2 million breast cancer survivors alive in America today because of the efforts to help raise awareness and support families that have been impacted.

In honor of those who battle breast cancer, online florist as well are doing there part to shine a light on Breast Cancer.

Proflowers.com – Pink Ribbon Collection
If you purchase any of the pink flowers or gifts from the Pink Ribbbon Collection 10% of the sales price will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure (www.komen.org) in support of its efforts in fighting breast cancer.

Proflowers and its parent company Provide Commerce, have a made a commitment to supporting the fight against breast cancer and has guaranteed a minimum donation of $50,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the fight against breast cancer.

1-800-Flowers.com – Pink Collection
Popular online florist 1-800-Flowers.com has teamed up with The Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help raise money to find a cure.

For every sale of The Pink Ribbon Bouquet® from 1-800-Flowers.com, 10% of the net proceeds goes to The Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.findacure.org) to supporting the fight against breast cancer. Check out this bouquet and many others from the pink collection. 

Teleflora.com – Hope And Courage Bouquet
Teleflora too is apart of this major effort to raise awareness and has partnered with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrfcure.org). 

When customers send the Hope And Courage Bouquet,  Teleflora will donate 15% of the purchase price to support the vital work of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

If you have someone in your life you would like to celebrate with a bouquet of flowers in honor National Breast Cancer Awareness Month know that there are online florist who support the cause. 

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Now is the time for Easter and Sping Flowers. How do we know? Check some online florist sites. Popular bouquets that represent the begining of spring include tulips, Easter lilies,  hyacinths, dasies, carnations, daffodils and violets.

Blooming spring flowers represents the changing season and an exciting time. Colorful bouquets of vibrant colors make gift giving and home decorating fun. Spring and Easter flowers are exciting and a welcome change.

For those celebrating Easter you can save as much as 15% -30% off for geting your Easter/Spring flowers early for Easter which is on April 4th. Easter/Passover floral gift giving is the fourth most popular Holiday for giving flowers after Valentines Day. Lilies are the most popular bouquet  representing about 52% of the flowers purchased for Easter. Tulips, Daffodils and Irises are highly favored flowers for Easter as well.

Spring flowers are a great way to decorate your home and wow your house guest. Place a bouquets of lilies in your home hallway or a bouquet of fresh cut tulips on your dinner table to add the essence of Spring to your dinner party. Place a bouquet of fresh spring flowers on your bedroom nightstand and awake every morning to the site of  fresh cut spring flowers.

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Although still elegant and beautiful, flowers are just flowers if they aren’t assembled in a vase!

Flowers have always been a great way to celebrate a special occasion or holiday, but how much attention do you give to the vase you select. A decorative flower vase can, and will add personality to an ordinary set of blooms. Flowers in a vase is how most blooms are displayed anyway - so you can’t go without one.

Flower shops will sell you the just the flowers if that’s all your budget can afford, but the vase can outlive the flowers and add to the decor of your home or office  indefinetly and can be a keepsake to remind you of the flowers.

Calyx and Corrolla has a spectacular display of Vases & Cachepots that can turn any ordinary bouquet into a floral masterpiece with their decorative flower vases.

Here is sampling of vases from Calyx and Corrolla. Just click on the image for a larger view:

If its about decorating then a simple fish bowl clear vase will not due.

If you need additional inspriation check out the Julie Mulligen PictherPerfect collection of arragments in decorative flower vases. She usually has more than the normal vase as she incorporates everyday themes from movies to sports to make flowers unique and inspriring.

Calyx Flowers is renowned for the exquisite vases and cachepots which they find to complement there luxury floral gifts.

Send one of these lovely vessels as a special gift, or treat yourself to a grand display for your next handpicked bouquet.

Browse and find some great decorative vase for your flowers and see how they make a difference with your home decor.

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You may or may not be aware of the fact that the majority of the flowers we buy are imported from developing countries – in particular countries like Ecuador, Columbia and Kenya, who are crucial producers in the flower trade business.

Most of us aren’t aware of or perhaps care how some of the flowers we buy from these flower importers end up in our loves ones hands in the form of beautiful bouquets or table centerpieces for our homes and offices.  Yet some flower producing countries have been producing some of the best looking flowers at the expense of its workers.

“Although imported flowers are less expensive for American consumers, they come at a steep price for Colombian workers. Wages are below what is needed to support families, many workers are exposed to dangerous pesticides, and workers find it difficult to form independent labor unions…” as reported in an article in Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. 

To combat unfair and abusive labor practices non profits such as TransFair USA with the Fair Trade Certified Labelling has been empowering communities by cultivating a more equitable global trade model that benefits farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth. They achieve their mission by certifying and promoting Fair Trade products.

In recent years Fair Trade Certified products have been gaining popularity amoung consumers in the U.S. for such products as coffee, tea, sugar, honey wine and flowers.

“The US market for Fair Trade products has surpassed $730 million and grows more than 50% each year… ” according to Trans Fair USA.

Fair Trade certification on flowers guarantees that growers meet strict social and environmental standards and that workers receive a premium to invest in community development. When you buy FTC flowers a portion of each purchase goes directly to a community development fund for projects that fund scholarships, housing, health clinics, and micro-enterprises.

Buying flowers that are Fair Trade certified means you can impact the lives of farmers and workers and change the world by promoting fair labor practices and helping build stronger communities.

You can buy Fair Trade Certified flowers from online flower retailers like 1-800-Flowers.com!, FTD, and Sam’s Club Online. You can also find Fair Tade Flowers at your neighborhood supermarket. Just luck for the label or ask for Fair Trade Certified flowers where you shop.

What does your living space look like? Is it trendy with the latest European style furniture with stainless steel appliances or is it more like a country cottage with lots of wood finished artifacts. 

Much like people, homes have different personalities too.  Your home no doubt probably fits your personality and taste.

You can add floral elements to your home by simply choosing flowers that complement the persoanlity of your home. According to AboutFlowers.com and the Society of American Florists, home decorating personalities tend to fall into five categories.

American Country – characterized by a home that is comfortable, easy and inviting. What type of flowers look the best?  A simple vase of mixed spring flowers (yarrow, wild roses, scabiosa, heather). 

Casual Easy Living – the casual living lifestyle that focus on the simple pleasures of life. The right flowers can include flowering and green plants like cyclamen, kalanchoe, or pothos, or flowers such as sunflowers, daisies, hydrangea, delphinium or tulips.

Classic Traditional – These home styles have elements that include classic furnishings and antiques. What type of flowers look the  best? A mixture of flowers such as roses, gladiola, iris, carnations, lilies or snapdragons with accents such as dried fruit and foliage.  

Modern Contemporary – Characterized by sleek and chic styles, smooth surfaces and form. What might look good?  Flowers that are bold, and exotic like anthuriums, heliconia, callas, orchids that work well to complement the modern contemporary home’s clean, open spaces.

Victorian - A home that creates a feeling of softness and romance. Flowers that compliment this home style  are fragrant flowers like roses, spray roses, peonies, gardenias, freesia in pale peach, lavender, pink, yellow and cream which conjure images of romance and sensuality.

Need to add floral arrangements to your home style. Visit your local florist or visit an online florist.

What style is your home?

Whose buying the flowers? Women. Why? Because women see flowers and admire the arrangments, colors and frangrances. Women aren’t waiting for men to send them a romantic bouquet to admire. They are buying flowers to accentuate their living spaces. Recent studies have revealed buying flowers to decorate the home can also improve emotional wellbeing.  Here are some numbers that demonstrate who’s buying the flowers and for what reasons:
 

Data collected by Ipsos-Insight FloralTrends Consumer Tracking Study, 2005.

As the market trends show it looks like men aren’t buying a whole lot of flowers for their wives, girlfriends or moms. The exception of course maybe Mothers Day, Valentines Day, and Anniversaries.

As a romantic gesture flowers are good and they are an easy and thoughtful gift. Some insight from inblooom.com.

Women are buying flowers for a lot of reasons. Flowers are and probably will be something women will always gravitate to more than men because of esthetic reasons.  

Can you add something to this?

We all know that vitamins are responsible for replenishing and strengthening our bodies. A recent research study has shown that flowers, dubbed the vitamin F, can help feed our minds with inspiration, wellness, gratitude, love and optimism.

Jayme Barrett, a personal fulfillment expert and best-selling author of Feng Shui Your Life points to university research studies linking flowers with mental well being such as creativity, compassion and tranquility.

Watch Jayme Barrett explain the floral energies in this Video:

(NAPSI)-Decorating with flowers can be more than just a cost-effective way to make your personal space reflect your taste.

Research indicates that flowers can create positive shifts in emotions. A Harvard University study introduced small bouquets of flowers into people’s morning routines and discovered that respondents immediately perked up, feeling happier and more energetic.

“Flowers are a wonderful way to ease the stress of everyday life and refocus our emotions,” says personal-fulfillment expert and best-selling author Jayme Barrett.

Anyone can introduce a range of positive energies in the home, says Barrett, who applies the principles of Zen and feng shui to floral design. Here are some easy ways to create different, soul-stimulating atmospheres:

• Serenity: Allow your mind to unwind and release tension. Loosely arranged hues of blue, violet and lavender can evoke serenity and help clear the mind of stress. Flowers to achieve this include hydrangea, delphinium, lisianthus and stock. Consider placing the flowers in a cobalt-blue glass vase in your entryway to set the tone for tranquility.

• Love and Romance: A tight bunch of flowers flush with burgundy and red embodies feelings of passion and romance. Incorporating lush pinks and peaches will help invite love and inspire kindness. Place a circular vase containing such flowers as stock, roses or alstroemeria in your kitchen or dining room to help instill love while you nourish your body at mealtimes.

• Wellness: Yellow is the primary color for emotional energy, as it represents the sun, life force and health. Supplement a big burst of blooms with greens, which induce nature’s healing energy, and white, which reflects serenity, and place in the living room or family room to enhance relaxation, meditation and family connection. Suggested flower options include gerbera, carnations, solidago, hydrangea, callas, pompons and chrysanthemums.

• Inspiration and Motivation: Design an up-shooting spray that includes sensuous, rich orange and fuchsia, which suggest enthusiasm and exuberance. Try roses, callas, Asiatic lilies, snapdragons or hypericum in a tall mirrored or shiny metal container. The home office is an ideal place to inject this motivational energy.