The fish died and they were a lot of work and now you have an empty fish tank in your garage. What should you do with that tank? You want more fish but don't want to do that again.
Give us a call. Starting at $300, we can pick up your old fish tank and breathe new life into it with a magical terrarium.
Tags: Plants, Terrarium, Succulents
'Looking at green foliage can enhance creativity, increase calmness, lessen irritability, and restore mental energy. Researchers found that indoor plants prevent fatigue during demanding work.' Men's Health Magazine
Text below from www.aboutflowers.com Workplace Productivity Study:
In today’s economy, it is more important than ever for businesses to gain the competitive edge. Constant fluctuations in unemployment, productivity, consumer confidence and other major economic factors make it imperative for businesses to implement the right strategies to stay ahead of their competition.
According to business experts, the key to gaining the competitive edge in the modern economy is easy to understand – a happy, productive workforce. And, while sometimes the easiest notions can be the most difficult to achieve, a scientific study conducted at Texas A&M University finds that nature can hold the secret to business success. The research demonstrates that workers’ idea generation, creative performance and problem solving skills improve substantially in workplace environments that include flowers and plants.
“Our research shows that a change as simple as adding flowers and plants can be important in the most meaningful way to businesses in the modern economy,” said Dr. Roger Ulrich, lead researcher on the project. “People’s productivity, in the form of innovation and creative problem solving, improved – which in certain circumstances could mean the difference between mild and great business success.”
In an eight-month study, the Texas A&M University research team explored the link between flowers and plants and workplace productivity. Participants performed creative problem solving tasks in a variety of common office environments, or conditions. The conditions included a workplace with flowers and plants, a setting with sculpture and an environment with no decorative embellishments.
During the study, both women and men demonstrated more innovative thinking, generating more ideas and original solutions to problems in the office environment that included flowers and plants. In these surroundings, men who participated in the study generated 15% more ideas. And, while males generated a greater abundance of ideas, females generated more creative, flexible solutions to problems when flowers and plants were present.
“We know the importance of learning, for example, how natural surroundings affect drivers, school children, and hospital patients,” said Ulrich, who has conducted extensive research on the effects of environments on psychological well-being, stress and health. “To businesses, it should be equally as important to understand what features can improve performance at work and make employees more productive.”
Researchers at Texas A&M University recruited 101 participants to take part in The Impact of Flowers and Plants on Workplace Productivity study. During the eight-month scientific study, participants took part in emotional, creativity and attentional demand protocols, in conditions that were carefully controlled, yet were similar to those in many office workplaces. Subjects were asked to perform a series of tasks in one of three environmental office conditions, selected at random: with fresh flowers and plants; with abstract sculpture; or with no embellishments at all. Throughout each session, subjects self-rated their moods four times, executed two creativity tasks and completed one attentional demand test. Researchers measured the number of ideas participants generated, their ideas’ originality and flexibility, and other responses, using data extracted from the tests, which included Torrance Tests of the Creative Thinking and Profile of Mood States.
The research lends weight to growing scientific evidence that flowers and plants, as well as other aspects of nature, have a beneficial impact on state of mind and emotions. The Society of American Florists worked in cooperation with the Texas A&M University research team, bringing an expertise of flowers and plants to the project.
The Impact of Flowers and Plants on Workplace Productivity Study was conducted by Roger Ulrich, Ph.D., Behavioral Scientist, Director of the Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Dr. Ulrich is a professor of landscape architecture and is an internationally recognized expert on the influences of surroundings on human well-being and health. His interests concern applications of environment-behavior knowledge to healthcare buildings, landscape architecture and urban design.
Tags: Boston Greenhouse, SAF, Plants, Stress
If you’ve recently visited a coffee shop, restaurant, doctor’s office, a friend’s home, or anywhere else with counters and tables, you may have noticed the rise in popularity of succulents. For those unfamiliar with these types of plants, a succulent refers to any plant that stores water in its leaves or stems (sometimes both). They are available in all shapes, colors, and sizes, making them perfect for almost any space. Well-known succulents include aloe plants, cacti, and zebra plants.
Take a look at three of the top reasons succulents have risen in popularity within recent years.
They can match almost any decor
Whether your style is more modern or traditional, succulent plants work well with almost any decor. If you want a design that will match a particular room, planting succulents in decorative containers is a great way to achieve the look you desire. Succulents are available in small enough sizes to fit a tiny glass container, and they can also be arranged to fit large pots or containers. Whatever your space constraints or needs are, succulents can be customized to work with any interior or exterior area. Additionally, succulents provide a wide availability of colors. Although there are many green options, succulents can also be found in shades of pink, red, orange, purple, and blue-green.
They require minimal maintenance
If you don’t have a green thumb, or can’t commit to consistent care of a plant, succulents are a great choice. Because they can store water in their leaves and/or stems, one weekly watering is all that is needed to keep these plants healthy. They are built to handle drought conditions, so occasionally forgetting to water them will usually not cause any harm. Also, succulents can handle almost every environment (except for the extreme cold). This means that whether you have access to full, minimal, or no sun, or if you choose to plant indoors or outdoors, your succulents will stay alive.
They are gorgeous plants
Aside from the concrete, logical reasons for the rise in popularity of succulents is a more subjective reason: they are simply gorgeous to look at. The diversity of colors and shapes of succulents are powerful enough to brighten one’s mood and environment in an instant. Whether decorating a dorm room or an upscale cafe, you can easily bring a stunning element of nature into any space. Perhaps it is the desire to experience beautiful, natural elements on a daily basis that has contributed to the continued rise in popularity of these versatile plants.
Choosing succulents for your space
When choosing the best succulents for your space, decide what colors and styles will work best with your existing decor. Do you want a bright, vibrant feel, or a more natural, relaxed appearance? Also, be sure to assess how much space you will need to cover with your succulent plants, and what style of container you would like to use. No matter what you choose, you are sure to enjoy the wide array of benefits provided by succulents.
Tags: Plant Care, Plants, DIY, Succulents
The yucca plant originated in the hot dry areas of the Americas and the Caribbean. It is an incredibly resistant plant which can adapt to pretty much any climate; it is becoming more and more popular as a garden or indoor addition, thanks to the fact that it is easy to care for, beautiful and has various uses, such as being a powerful air cleaner.
There are around 40 species of yucca and around 24 subspecies, so there are a variety of shapes, sizes and colors to choose from to display your plant and floral personality and style.
photo via ftd.com
Tips for Growing Your Yucca Indoors
A yucca plant inside can add a wonderful focal point to your living room or be part of an interesting indoor display. They are easily adaptable so they are perfect for displaying indoors as well as outdoors, although indoor yucca plants are usually smaller in size. As more than 40 species of yucca exist, coloration can vary greatly: they can range from the classic green to bluish with variegations of white, cream and yellow and delicate beautiful flowers.
Yucca plant care is simple and straightforward; yuccas grow on large woody stems or canes do not require much attention. The ideal placement is in a sunny to partly shaded location; indirect light greatly helps leaf color, as full exposure to sunlight might cause browning tips or white spots on the leaves.
Yucca plants, both indoors and outdoors, require little water and are actually drought tolerant to some extent. A light fertilization can help the plant grow when it is being grown in container, but it is not necessary for plants which are already established. Soil quality doesn't really matter but it should be heavy enough to maintain the plant upright and well-draining. Aim for a three to one mixture of sand and peat to grow yucca effectively in containers.
The Many Uses of Yucca Plants
Yucca plants are not only a stylish indoor addition but also have many surprising uses.
The yucca is one of the top-rated air cleaning plants which can remove toxins from the air, according to an important NASA study.
The yucca is also edible, especially certain species such as the banana yucca and the soapweed yucca, which produce succulent flowers and fruit. The roots are also edible; although they do not taste as good as the fruit and flowers, they are natural anti-inflammatories.
Yuccas can help you with your washing and beauty routine as well. In fact, it is a key ingredient in natural shampoo and the Native Americans used the roots and trunk of the soaptree yucca (yucca elata) to make soap to wash hair and clothes. It can be quite easy, not to mention satisfying to make your own yucca soap at home! Yucca is also a wonderful skin salve, as it nurtures cuts and scrapes.
According to the Native Americans, a yucca symbolizes transmutation, protection and purification. With its many uses, beautiful flowers and stylish look, a yucca can be the perfect low maintenance addition to your living room.
Tags: Plant Care, Plants, Health, Lifestyle
There’s an old saying for those who are looking to create more balance in their life that caring for something should start in this order:
Plant-----------→ Animal ----------→ Human
The reason behind this strategy is to build the concept of responsibility by taking baby steps towards reaching your goal. You may have heard of this approach in connection to AA, becoming a new parent or Sexaholics Anonymous but in general, this is very good advice for anyone who’s looking to enter a solid relationship with another individual.
photo via aboutflowers.com
If you believe that you may be on the “Plant” end of the diagram, there are excellent varieties you should be aware of to get you set up in this type of training but before I give you a list to go on, you might want to keep in mind these useful tips.
YOU CAN DO IT!
Tags: Care Tips, Plant Care, Plants, Health
Over the summer, you probably caught the glimpse of the succulent mania that swept over every flower shop, home furnishing store and nursery located in the New England area. If you loved the new trend, you’re in for a treat because the fad is continuing throughout the autumn season and will be expanding beyond simply vase displays and window boxes. Previews reveal that these beautiful, soft little cacti are beginning to show up in delicacies, restaurants, clothing/apparel outlets, décor stores and even wineries! One reason why this highly adaptable plant is taking the flora and fauna world by storm is its delicate yet sturdy appearance. Another explanation is the cool colors that are now being cultivated across the different varieties. Many succulents come in shades of light to dark green but now we’re seeing new hues of red and maroon, which pick up the palette and make them useful in a variety of eclectic presentations. The other positive attribute that makes these babies a high commodity is their resilience to drought. They can go for a long period of time without any water at all and still survive by only being tended to sporadically. As a matter of fact, the soil is even a contributing benefit to the plants allure since they prefer rocky sand and pebbles for easy drainage. Lucky for designers, this sets the perfect stage, which is much more eye appealing that planting in dirt.
photo credit: arizonaeast.comThe design benches and garden centers aren’t the only place where you can find this product and certainly not the only area where they are becoming useful, either. “Creatives” everywhere are figuring out how to incorporate succulents into their work and putting the “wow” factor back into the floral industry.
Tags: #EXFL, Plants, Trends, Succulents
I have two boys and happily, they are extremely active kids who love the outdoors. We typically make several visits to places that encourage fostering this relationship with nature and one of those locations is the forest. Hiking has become a favorite pastime for the whole family, which gives us our exercise and allows us to explore stunning woods and everything that grows within it. We talk about the birds we see, the sounds we hear and the plant life that decorates the landscape everywhere from the ground to the trees. It’s extraordinary what you can learn by only taking a thirty-minute walk through a nearby forest, including several different floral varieties that exist in our very own woodlands. Thousands of species sprout wildly every year with some being protected and others just being discovered for the first time by botanists. If you are looking for something fun to do during the next few months of fantastic weather, grab a notebook and write down all of the flowers that you notice along the forest path. If you feel like it, doodle a quick picture so that it will make it easier to identify once you get home and Google what you’ve found. Here is a list of common flora typical to our New England forests and some great places to visit to get you moving on your way. Happy Hiking!
Northeast Woodland Flowers
Nightcaps Anemones, Hooked Agrimony, Spreading Purple Aster, White Baneberry, Shrub Yellowroot, Tickseed Sunflower, Sessileleaf Bellwort, Cobbler’s Pegs, Water Lilies
photo credit: www.lookfordiagnosis.com
Recommended Hiking Grounds
Hale (Westwood, MA)
Harold Parker State Forest (North Andover, MA)
Walden Woods (Lincoln, MA)
Tags: exercise, Plants, outdoors, hiking, wild flowers
Math and statistical data formulas are useful tools if you are into flowers because these applications can tell you a lot about the probability of success rates when plantings varieties, how many seeds you’ll need to plant and many other useful situations. For example, what is you wanted to know the probability of how many bulbs you would need to plant to ensure you had 5 healthy plants bloom in the spring? Or what if you’re planning your wedding and need to know how many stems of a variety you can afford to stay safely within your budget? Florists utilize their numerical skills everyday when they make decisions about ordering flowers and providing just the right inventory for their shops. Careful research needs to be done with forecasting sales so that they not only please their clients but also maintain a healthy bottom line in the accounting books. Trust me… it’s not easy! If you hold an interest for flowers and data driven facts, you might find these figures fascinating that pertain to the industry of growing, exporting and shipping.
Do you see any fact or figure that surprises you?
|
Garden Plants |
46% |
|
Cut Flowers |
34% |
|
House Plants |
20% |
Tags: Floral Indusrty, Tulips, Flowers, Valentines Day, Plants, Mothers Day
Butterflies are one of the most beautiful creatures, which aren’t only breathtaking to watch but are also quite important for maintaining a flourishing garden! Flowers and vegetables thrive on the assistance of these stunning creatures for pollination and the ability to create new crossbreeds of plant life. The presence of butterflies can literally help produce hundreds of different varieties of color, smell and presentation just by feeding from one flower to the next from the natural nectar of a blossom.
photo credit: newsnish.com
That’s pretty cool, right?
Did you also know that butterfly monarchs and larva are also excellent sources of food for destructive predators that damage stems and foliage? Useful bugs such as the ladybug are among one of the many species attracted to butterflies that act as a protector to flower and vegetable stems and foliage. Without their help, most of our green thumb efforts would be chewed to bits so it’s important to encourage a healthy following of beneficial insect life.
How do we attract butterflies to our gardens?
By placing plants in our beds that are high in nectar content, which will provide a bountiful food source. Luckily, there are a ton of varieties that are known to do just this. Here are a few of the top flowers guaranteed to lure these beautiful creatures to your garden.
There are several other species that will do the trick as well, but these are sure-fire winners to creating a stunning backyard wonder full of butterflies.
Happy Gardening!
Tags: Gardening, Plants, Garden, Gardens, Butterflies
I have this friend who is always sending me pictures of plants and flowers with her phone when she’s stumped by the variety or species. For most of them, I can pretty much quickly give her an answer but for others that I’m not familiar with, it can be a real problem. For many of us who have the same habit of curiosity, we can sympathize with the frustration of seeing a beautiful bloom or appealing shrub that might look great in our yard and having no idea how to find it! Although the greenhouses and florists located within the Boston area are on the whole, sharp as tacks when it comes to deciphering the Morse code of unusual flora and fauna, it would be quite helpful if they had a name to go by.
So wouldn’t it be awesome if someone inventedan app that could do all of this for us?
You’ll be excited to learn that there’s a brand new way to identify plant life using cutting edge technology developed in France! With the use of the already popular application, Shazam, creators have now found a way to decipher breeds in a habitat just by clicking a photo and filtering it into the program. With a vast collection of plants and flowers being loaded into the system named PlantNet, not only can you find what you’re looking for but also add to the collection. Taking another step forward inside the future of horticultural technology, IdentiPlante is evolving to include the name of the featured flower/plant and also supporting data on subjects such as the preferred habitat and care instructions.
How cool is that?
Pretty soon a walk in the woods will inspire snaps of sensational living foliage, which you can now instantly learn more about with a simple swipe of your phone. Landscaping issues, wedding planning and garden architecture will be as easy as one, two three with the use of this fascinating “i invention”!
Tags: Gardening, Plant Care, Plants, Garden