Monday, October 24, 2011

Halloween Centerpieces

So I thought I would search the internet for some new and different Halloween Flower ideas. Here were some of my top picks.





Sunday, October 23, 2011

Fall Tints at Stevens


So with fall here we are seeing lots of orange and red tinted product in our coolers like this waxflower and solidago. Seems like it's a split decision on whether you love or hate tints. What is your opinion? Does it add to the product?

Rose of the Week!

Coffee Break!
Beautiful bi-color rose that opens nice and big. It has fun ruffled petals and a nice shape. They are holding up very nicely. Make sure to get Coffee Break from Stevens and Son!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Why Leaves Turn in Fall.

Found this article from Science Made Simple. I always wondered what exactly caused the leaves to change to such amazing colors. Now I know.
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html


Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.
autumn leaves sceneThe bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.
It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful fall foliage colors we enjoy each year.