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Recently I decided to order some carnations for my wife. I find people asking me all the time, since I work for a wholesale flower company, if I have flowers in our house all the time. The answer, of course, is yes. My wife and I are mostly partial to peonies, roses, and garden roses. We enjoy walking through our home and seeing them in about every room. I can promise you that the vase life of these beautiful creations of God last for weeks. Occasionally customers will ask if their flowers will be alright for their wedding if they go ahead and have them delivered a few days ahead of time, and will full confidence we can assuredly tell them, yes! Not only will they last up to the time of their event date, they are sure to last many days, even weeks beyond their expectation (depending on the variety).
I love flowers! They are living monuments of poetical musings that say more than human words can describe. One day, I decided to do some research on carnations, since I was planning on ordering them for my wife (All the photos in this article were from this particular order), What I learned was that carnations have been mentioned in history for at least 2,000 years and are native to the Mediterranean region. Today, Colombia is the largest producer of these precious gems (the flowers in this article came from Colombia). In recent years (1954), though exotic to Australia, they have been producing them. They are the national flower of Spain and are the state symbol of Ohio.
The name carnation is derived from a couple of Greek and Latin words. Caro is Latin for flesh and the word carnation also comes from incarnation, which means God made flesh, making them a popular variety for churches.
When our flowers arrived, my wife’s face instantly began to glow with charmed excitement. Nothing makes her smile more radiant than when I create a centerpiece of flowers to decorate our home with. For the most part, bulk carnations are rather less expensive and very affordable if you are on a tight budget. Their fragrance is mild, but breathtaking, they make you close your eyes and revel in their appreciation.
Occasionally we get calls from customers who are concerned, believing their flowers are dead or dying. A simple education in care and handling and they realize how perfect their flowers indeed truly are. They are a live product that have been in shipping for 24 hours or so, so when they arrive, they need to have their ends trimmed and placed in filtered water for about 24 hrs. The next day you can truly see the amazing fullness their heads employ, just be patient and do not panic. This is another reason for writing this article with proof in the photos.
When our fresh cut white carnations arrived, they came in a box and were packed very tightly. Please open you box right away.
When you open your box, take your bundles of flowers and lay them aside from the box
Take the flower stems and trim just enough off the bottom to make them fresh and to enjoy the water you are getting ready for them.
Carefully place each stem in a container, preferably a vase and keep them in a cool place. As you can see, after they are unpacked, they look ok, but the heads are a little tight and not fully open.
24 hours later, you can see the difference water and tender-loving care will produce.
The love of my life looks radiant next to the purity of these carnations; her smile is worth every effort!