Autumn colors include warm shades of red, burgundy, yellow, gold, orange and brown, which compliment almost any type of home décor.  Adding a few simple floral accents will spruce up your home and evoke feelings of comfort in every room.  We recommend chrysanthemums, Asiatic lilies and gerbera daisies to brighten your home with subtle bursts of color.

Been invited to a dinner party?  Show your appreciation by sending an autumn arrangement the day before the party.  A small cube, like Autumn Alstroemeria or Autumn Awe, as well as bubble bowls, think along the lines of Natural Elegance, can double as table centerpieces. 

Looking to show off your creativity?  Design your own arrangements or centerpieces with Vogue’s loose flower section.  Now you can select flowers by stem or bunch (depending on the flower) online, have them delivered to your door and create your own floral gifts and decorations.  For a more inventive touch, consider hollowing out a pumpkin to use as a vase.  You may also want to add fruits and vegetables, like red peppers, mini pumpkins, small eggplants or tiny artichokes to your arrangements.  If you use vegetables, make sure they are displayed low in the arrangement otherwise the design will appear top-heavy.  For more tips and video tutorials on creating your own arrangements, click here.

Whatever the reason, treat yourself and your loved ones to the flowers of fall and enjoy the season that much more.

Browse our selection of fall flowers.

It is important to send the right graduation flowers, as they come in many different types, colors and sizes. Here are a few tips to ensure you’ll be sending appropriate flowers with a message from the heart:

 -Think about how the flowers will be displayed:

• If you would like to present flowers to a family member after he/she walks across the stage and receives their diploma a flower bouquet would be an excellent choice. 
• You may want to create a special moment before the ceremony by presenting the graduate with a corsage that can be proudly displayed in graduation photos. 
• Friends and relatives may find it more fitting to select a centerpiece for the graduation party or deliver a potted plant to the graduate’s home.

 -Keep color in mind:

If you’re planning to give a graduation bouquet or corsage it’s a good idea to coordinate the flower color with the color of the cap and gown or school colors. 

You can also use color to evoke a particular emotion, here are a few examples:

• Yellow flower express joy, freedom and friendship
• White flowers are related to perfection, peace and calmness
• Red flowers convey strength, courage and distinction
• Blue flowers represent wisdom, trust and confidence
• Light pink flowers signify joy and happiness

 -Other things to think about:

• Consider the graduate’s favorite flower
• Match flowers to the mood of the graduation party (balloons are great for a more casual event)
• Determine the desired size arrangement

We have many different types of graduation arrangements available in a variety of colors and sizes, browse our graduation selection here.

So what do you do to say thank you and show your appreciation to your secretary?  It’s important to send the right message and keep your gift business oriented.  Be sure to avoid intimate gifts, like jewelry, clothes or gift certificates for personal care items.  However, gifts can be individualized to the specific person, which is why flowers and plants make excellent gifts for Professional Secretaries Week.

Here are some suggestions on flowers to use and the meanings they convey:
•    Alstroemeria lily signifies wealth, prosperity and fortune
•    Bird of Paradise denotes good perspective and faithfulness
•    Heather (lavender) demonstrates admiration
•    Iris symbolize wisdom and compliments
•    Sunflowers designate adoration and pride

This year Professional Secretaries Week is April 19th-23rd.  Vogue Flowers has a variety of arrangements and plants perfect for Professional Secretaries Week available for delivery nationwide, browse our selection here.

Another popular Easter flower is the daffodil, or narcissus.  Because the daffodil is one of the earliest spring blooms it has been thought of as a symbol of rebirth and renewal since the ancient Greeks. According to legend, the daffodil first appeared in the Garden of Gethsemane during Christ’s last supper, making it the most popular Easter flower for decorating centerpieces for Easter dinners.

The pussy willow is commonly used as a replacement for palm braches in church services on Palm Sunday, especially in northern areas where palms don‘t grow.  The pussy willow signifies health and youth, which resonate the Easter theme of rebirth.

Another way to add meaning into your decorations is to include deep red accent flowers, such as tulips or azaleas, to symbolize the blood that Christ shed for his followers.

We have many beautiful Easter arrangements available for delivery nationwide, browse our selection here.

If your looking for some Easter decorations that infuse a personal touch, here are a few tips on how to create your own Easter flower arrangements that make great gifts, centerpieces or decorations:

• Use a tea set as an eye-catching centerpiece by filling a tea pot with a loose arrangement of Easter lilies, pastel tulips and pansies. Then surround the tea pot with teacups and place pansies inside the teacups, finish the look by tucking decorative Easter eggs among the teacup flowers.
• To make a beautiful Easter decoration for your home, simply find a rustic shallow wooden box at a flea market or garden store. Place tiny terra-cotta pots inside the box forming several rows. Then alternate filling half the pots with dyed hard-boiled Easter eggs and the other half with tulip blossoms (cut the stem very short and be sure to add some water to these pots). Use some decorative moss or green Easter basket grass to fill in the spaces between the pots.
• For a festive gift fill a clear glass cylinder vase with a bunch of tulips or ranunculus. Then set it inside a wire basket and surround the vase with 2 dozen white hard boiled eggs.
• For a creative centerpiece at the kid’s table, fill white plastic egg cups with pastel jelly beans and top with mini daisies.  Line up several of these egg cups in the middle of the table for a unique centerpiece that the kids can eat after dinner!

Vogue Flowers’ headquarters (located at 1114 N. Boulevard Richmond, VA) has all the tools and loose flowers necessary to help you create your own Easter decorations and arrangements.  Find directions and store information here.

• Select an arrangement that uses natural greens, like green hydrangea, dendrobium orchids, bells of Ireland, green cymbidium orchids or green goddess calla lilies
• Include a few white roses or fuchsias to add color to your arrangement. When using roses you may want to leave the outside guard petals (often removed to encourage a larger, quicker bloom) to add a bit of subtle green
• Use seasonal plants, including Shamrock vine, kale, green hypericum berries or variegated green and white foliage
• Items like casserole dishes and hollowed out bamboo stalks can be repurposed to hold flowers, bringing an extra touch of green
• Submerge your flowers in water in a clear glass cylinder when preparing for a special gathering. This visually increases the size of your flowers. You may consider using floating green LED lights for a more unique and creative look.
• You can also use fresh fruit or vegetables to spruce up a water-based display. For St. Patrick’s parties limes, green grapes and peas are appropriate.

If you’d like to buy some ready-to-use floral decorations, please browse our creative St. Patrick’s Day arrangements available for delivery here.

You can also stop by Vogue Flowers headquarters (located at 1114 N. Boulevard Richmond, VA) to create your own St. Patrick’s Day arrangements…We offer everything you need to design and display your own arrangements. Get directions here.

• Red Ginger and red anthuriums pair wonderfully together
• Bromeliads have a sense of “cool” that is comfortable for any man to receive
• A flowering plant, such as red tulips or an azalea
• A bright and bold tropical design
• Orange and green roses
• Ivy topiary
• Herb topiary for the guy who loves to cook
• Pincushion protea in a clear glass container with stones in the bottom – men love this kind of arrangement
• Dish garden
• Orchid plant
• A large snack basket filled with his favorite flavor of energy drink, nuts, candies or chips. To top it off, add a bud vase with a single red rose on the outside decoration to add Valentine’s Day flair
• Terrariums.  The endless possibilities of unusually shaped glass containers also make great gifts for men
• Bright, bold colors (not just red) of any type of flower designed in a more architectural styling
• Any “going green” plant can be created with tremendous textural appeal with upgrades on the container and plant decor.

• Colored roses other than red are popular.  Ask Vogue Flowers for some unusual varieties that can really make an impression; there are so many fabulous choices that will impress your Valentine with your creativity: orange roses are hotter than hot, peach roses, lavendar roses and pastel roses.
• Orchids: dendrobium orchids, cymbidium orchids and vanda orchids in shades of blue and purple, stems of green cymbidiums evoke an eco-friendly feel
• Tulips are a great choice and there are great colors available
• Gerbera daisies in hot pinks and oranges paired with a citrus green foliage
• Alstroemeria
• Callas or miniature callas
• Chrysanthemums
• Carnations
• Gardenias
• Lilies
• Hydrangea
• Waxflowers

Want to do something different?

• Amaryllis stems in geometric glass conatiners weighted with river rocks
• Compact flower arrangements in heirloom containers
• Floral designs in monogrammed containers
• Tropical flowers, like protea, arranged with exotic foliage and bamboo accents
• A cactus garden
• Small peace lily plant
• Anemones
• Freesia
• Ranunculus

On a tight budget? There are lots of wonderful flower options for consumers on a budget:

• Ask Vogue’s florists for their specials in your price range and ask about the price of an earlier delivery.
• Consider sending a few stems of something wonderful like roses, tulips or lilies.  Volume isn’t everyting.  Vogue Flowers can make a few stems look romantic and lovely.
• Mixed bouquet of brightly-colored flowers
• Carnations are a great endearing flower full of texture. The bang for your buck is just great and teh vase life is quite long when cared for properly.
• Tulips are a tremendous value flower
• A bud vase with six, three or even a single rose
• Consider flowers in colors other than red, such as peach, orange, hot pink or chartreuse green
• Pompons or chrysanthemums are long lasting. Consider a bunch of green Fuji Mums or a bunch of Kermit Pompons. The chartreuse green is a huge attention getter!
• Stargazer lilies or other lilies
• Alstroemeria
• Gerbera daisies
• Blooming plants

Flowers come in so many beautiful colors.  Some POPULAR COLOR TRENDS AND COLOR COMBINATIONS this year include:

• We always think of red for Valentine’s Day, but many other combinations can say “I Love You.” Hot pink and orange for a fresh young look.  Purple is fun in either a monochromatic combination or mixed iwth red, very luscious. Chartreuse and pink is sweet yet crisp.  Orange and red is a powerful, masculine combination.
• Monobotanic design (all one type of flowers)
• Monochromatic design (flowers all in the same color family)
• Reds, burgundies and browns
• Hot pink, purples and browns
• Monochromatic reds in various textures
• Greens mixed with chocolate browns or stunning pinks
• Greens and purples
• Complementary colors cause excitement, such as lavender paired with yellow or blues coupled with oranges
• Green, lavendar and peach form an upscale color combination
• Rich purples and lavenders mixed with red

Here are a few simple tips that will help you prolong the life of your floral bouquets!

1. Bacteria can clog flower stems and prevent water and nutrient circulation, so be sure to use clean containers. Vases should be washed and rinsed with a mild solution of bleach after each use.

2. Help the stems of your flowers absorb water properly by cutting each stem at an angle

3. Flower stems stay open and moist in cold water, so make sure to fill your vase with 1 cup of cold water.

4. Place your arrangement near an open window where they can get some clean air…Pollutants reduce the health of fish and animals, just as they do the life of cut flowers.

5. Chill your flowers in the fridge overnight, this will preserve the petals and keep them bright. Plus it can extend their vase life up to 4 days!

6. Trim the stems every 2 days.

7. Be sure to refill the vase with cold water every day to help your flowers stay hydrated.

8. Most cut flowers live longer in a 2% sugar solution, which is about 4 tsp. sugar in 1 quart of water . Daffodils, marguerite daisies and tulips do not benefit from sugar.

9. Your florist can also supply you with floralife (plant food) that you can dissolve in the water. That helps to keep your flowers hydrated.

Try these tips on your next arrangement from Vogue Flowers and see the difference, shop here.

Enjoy your flowers!

· Autumn or Winter Rose Centerpiece
Purchase a glass bubble bowl (globe-shaped vase) and about a dozen roses, red and white roses are ideal for Christmas or another color or mixed colors for everyday. Fill the bubble bowl about half full. Cut the roses so they’re slightly taller than the bubble bowl and all approximately the same height. Always cut at an angle. Then simply arrange them in your hand and drop them into the bubble bowl. For a fuller look add a few more flowers in the center of the bowl or create a mounded look by making the center roses a little longer than the rest.

· Wreath Centerpiece
Get a holiday wreath and lay it down on a large platter or tray. Decorate the wreath with ornaments, pinecones or ribbon. Fill the inside of the wreath with festive flowers and plants, such as poinsettias, white asiatic lilies and red roses, red carnations and white chrysanthemums, etc.
For a different twist on the Wreath Centerpiece, place large pillar candles in the center of the wreath and surround the candles with seasonal flowers. If fresh cut flowers are used then some water must be available for the end of the stems to be in it.

· Basket of Holiday Cheer
For a rustic look, take an old basket or wooden box and fill it with pinecones. Then disperse pine needles and loose flowers between the pinecones…Hypericum berries, white alstroemeria lilies and white dendrobium orchids are all good choices for this centerpiece.

· Pinecone Roots Centerpiece
Use tiny pinecones to fill a glass vase about one-third of the way. Then insert a single flower (a lily is ideal), but leave the stem long enough that it appears to be growing from the pinecones. Easy yet elegant.

· Candy Cane Charisma
Perhaps the simplest idea yet…Glue candy canes around a square or rectangular vase and fill it with red and white flowers, roses, carnations or tulips will work well.

Stop by Vogue Flowers headquarters to purchase loose flowers and any other supplies you may need (such as vases or candles) to create your own centerpieces. Get directions here.

Don’t have the time? Browse our selection of holiday centerpieces and flowers, which are all available for for same day delivery if ordered before 2pm, here.

Fall is also time to pick pumpkins. Vogue Flowers and the Flower Market grow gourmet white pumpkins for the fashion floral accent as well as tradiditonal small round pumpkins which we use as containers and accents in our fall centerpieces. The harvest is plentiful and ready to be used in creative fresh ways for weddings or any occasion.

About Vogue Flowers
Vogue Flowers is a leading Richmond Florist, supplying fresh flowers to Richmond, Virginia and the entire US. Visit us today at: http://www.vogueflowers.com today to order your flowers from this leading online florist.