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Watch Paul Alexander Thornton draw flowers with ballpoint pens, watercolors, and ink. This piece took three weeks, but that’s condensed into three minutes and change in the video. Thornton also wrote and performed the music!
NOTHING SAYS TECHNOLOGY LIKE FLOWERS
The flower business might seem old-fashioned, but 1-800-FLOWERS is anything but behind the times. In the 1980s, it was one of the first businesses to operate a 1-800 number, taking calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And in 1991, during the Gulf War, the company made the risky move of ramping up its television ads on CNN. At the time, other businesses were pulling their ads from the channel, not wanting to be associated with the station’s non-stop war coverage. But Jim McCann, president of 1-800-FLOWERS, saw it as an opportunity. He bought 24 ads for the price of one. The Gulf War made CNN the biggest cable new network in the world, and 1-800-FLOWERS reaped the benefits.
Then came the emergence of the internet. McCann launched 1-800-FLOWERS.com in 1995, and the company became the first merchant to sign a contract with AOL. By 1995, well before Google was conceived, 1-800-FLOWERS.com had deals in place with at least 13 other online service providers. And the innovation hasn’t stopped. In July 2009, 1-800-FLOWERS.com became the first company to complete an e-commerce transaction entirely on Facebook.
WISTERIA HYSTERIA
On October 3, 2004, Americans met the ladies of Wisteria Lane -the famously fictional street that’s home to TV’s Desperate Housewives. In a matter of months, the rest of the world had been introduced to them, too. According to a 2006 survey of 20 countries, the program was the third most-watched TV series in the world, with 120 million viewers. (That’s one of out every 55 people on the planet!) But not everyone watches the same cast members. In Latin America alone, there are five separate adaptations; each is a scene-for-scene remake using local actors.
Yet, nothing compares to the impact the show has had in Saudi Arabia. In May 2009, Wikileaks unearthed a diplomatic cable about the program, which reported that it’s helped dissuade Saudi youth from radical Islam by giving them a favorable impression of the United States. According to the cable, “Saudis are now very interested in the outside world and everyone wants to study in the U.S. if they can. They are fascinated by U.S. culture in a way they never were before.”
In a country where women can’t vote, drive, or walk outside without a male guardian, the ladies of Wisteria Lane are showing them that life has more to offer, particularly in the way of drama.
FLOWER GIRLS
There’s a reason why so many grandmas are named Rose and Daisy. During the first half of the 20th century, women were basically expected to name their pink bundle of joy after a flower. But as the nation entered the 1960s, the hippie generation became more interested in planting on vans than using them for baby names. Recently, however, floral names have begun cropping up again.
Watch Modern Family and you’ll see Lily; read Us Weekly and you’ll hear about Violet Affleck and Iris Law. While Rose has yet to make a full comeback, other flower names are definitely in bloom. Just check out the graph below:
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
Just as people can be named after flowers, flowers can be named after people. Here are some of our favorite celebrity buds.
Barbra Streisand Rose A notorious diva, Barbra Streisand once said that if a flower were ever named after her, she wanted it to smell good and be disease-resistant. Botanists bred this sweet, purple bloom with a hearty immune system just for her.
Julia Child Rose If you’re wondering what sort of mouth-watering qualities land you the Child name, this one’s the color of butter and smells of licorice.
Chihuly Rose This rose is fittingly named after Dale Chihuly, the master craftsman who’s created some of the world’s most colorful and elaborate glass sculptures. The petals of the Chihuly Rose change color with the light, turning from yellow to orange to red.
Dolly Parton Rose This hybrid tea rose has big double blooms, just like its country-crooning namesake.
George Burns Rose In honor of George Burns’ 100th birthday in 1996, botanists created a ruffled flower with streaks of red, yellow, pink, and orange. They also gave it a lemony scent, making it as colorful and zesty as the comedian himself.
Jackson and Perkins, the iconic rose-peddling company, will allow anyone to name a new rose variety after themselves. All it requires is a small fee of $75,000.
(Title image credit: Flickr user Bart Everson)
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The article above, written by David Goldenberg and Adam K. Raymond, is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the July-August 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!
People in Norway are leaving many flowers as memorials to the 77 people killed in the July 22 attacks. The Norwegian news outlet Dagbladet is compiling photographs of memorial flowers to add to this mosaic. It already has 2370 photographs, and submissions are still being accepted. At the site, you can zoom in to see each individual photograph. Link (English translation) -via Dark Roasted Blend
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Dark Roasted Blend has an amazing collection of stunning and interesting trees right now, including the African tulip tree above, which is apparently very invasive. With a tree that pretty though, I don’t think I’d mind if it took over my whole neighborhood. How about you?
Talk about adding insult to injury: after a thief stole $2,500 from a victim, he or she sent flowers to her home!
Oh, how brazen! NBC News has the video clip: Link (self-playing video clip)
NurdRage offers up an especially nerdy Valentine’s Day present: glow in the dark flowers. It’s a simple process. Just drain the contents of a magic marker into a jar of water. Cut the stems off of some flowers and stick them in the jar. Let the flowers sit in the solution overnight. In the morning, after they have absorbed the fluorescent dye, they’ll glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light.
via Geekologie
In 1967, Colorado State University graduate student David Cheever wrote a term paper on the Colombian cut flower industry. In 1969, he went to Colombia and started a business. Things took off from there.
It’s not often that a global industry springs from a school assignment, but Cheever’s paper and business efforts started an economic revolution in Colombia. A few other growers had exported flowers to the United States, but Floramérica turned it into a big business. Within five years of Floramérica’s debut at least ten more flower-growing companies were operating on the savanna, exporting some $16 million in cut flowers to the United States. By 1991, the World Bank reported, the industry was “a textbook story of how a market economy works.” Today, the country is the world’s second-largest exporter of cut flowers, after the Netherlands, shipping more than $1 billion in blooms. Colombia now commands about 70 percent of the U.S. market; if you buy a bouquet in a supermarket, big-box store or airport kiosk, it probably came from the Bogotá savanna.
The Colombian flower industry has its problems, like hard work and low wages, pesticide dangers, and environmental impact -not to mention the effect it has on the US flower industry. On the other hand, there is a movement to certify fair labor practices, and working with flowers offers workers economic independence and possibly a better life than they would have otherwise. Smithsonian has the story of how your flowers are grown, picked, and shipped. Link
(Image credit: Ivan Kashinsky)
(Image credit: Flickr user racineur)
A previously unacknowledged plant family of significant economic importance plants has been flourishing around us for many years. The fact that this immense and diverse family has been heretofore ignored by most botanists is astonishing—its members are found worldwide in nearly every society. This family is more than a botanical curiosity. It is a scientific conundrum, as the taxa:
In this study, conducted over approximately six years, we elucidate the first full description and review of this fascinating taxon, heretofore named Simulacraceae. The distribution, ecology, taxonomy, ethnobotany and chemistry of this widespread family are herein presented. We have identified more than 80 species, and determined that this cosmopolitan family has a varied ecology. This report delineates seventeen genera (Calciumcarbonatia, Celadonica, Conglomeratium, Dentumadhesivium, Ductusadhesivia, Granitus, Lignus, Metallicus, Papyroidia, Paraffinius, Photophyta, Plasticus, Polystyrin, Prophylactica, Simulacra, Silicus and Textileria).
Figure 1. Performing a species inventory in the
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We used opportunistic sampling as our principal method for the study of the simulacraceae. We first became acutely interested in the simulacraceae during the 2000 Society for Economic Botany (SEB) annual meeting, when we began pondering the identities of ornamental arrangements. At the 2001 SEB meeting in Honolulu, Hawai’i, our interest was piqued by the species diversity evidenced in the culturally important lei (a Hawai’ian traditional garland of flowers, usually worn around the neck). Since then, we have been collecting simulacraceae whenever we stumble upon them. Family, friends and colleagues have contributed to this effort.
FlowerPower is a simple drawing application that strews flowers all about -but you control where. My kids will love this! Link -via mental_floss.
We’ve previously featured two short films by Freddie Wong: a light graffiti action movie and a depiction of immature Jedi. In this new video, Wong and his girlfriend fight off home invaders with guns that fire deadly flowers. It’s called “Flower Warfare.”
via Nerdcore
Made using millions of flower petals, the flower carpets of the Gionzano Infiorata, a flower festival unique in the world, cover an entire street. If you’re in Rome, in the second week of June, this is a must-see.
The Genzano Infiorata is a flower festival that can be traced back to 1778. Every year, local artists cover an entire street (Via Belardi) with intricate flower carpets, inspired by famous artworks, religious paintings or geometrical shapes. The flower carpets are made by talented local artists who have to stick to a previously agreed upon theme, like ‘The Colors of Michelangelo’ or ‘The Designs of Bernini’.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by jupaneanu.
A rare species of bee uses flower petals to make a tiny nest for each egg. Two teams of researchers found nests of the Osmia (Ozbekosima) avoseta bee in Iran and watched them meticulously build the nests and line them food for the developing baby bees.
To begin construction, she bites the petals off of flowers and flies each petal — one by one — back to the nest, a peanut-sized burrow in the ground.
She then shapes the multi-colored petals into a cocoon-like structure, laying one petal on top of the other and occasionally using some nectar as glue. When the outer petal casing is complete, she reinforces the inside with a paper-thin layer of mud, and then another layer of petals, so both the outside and inside are wallpapered — a potpourri of purple, pink and yellow.
See more pictures at NPR. Link -via Nag on the Lake
(image credit: Jerome Rozen/American Museum of Natural History)
Both Christmas and National Poinsettia Day (December 12) are coming up soon, which brings up some interesting questions you may never have considered before. For example, why is a flower indigenous to Mexico commonly recognized as an international symbol of Christmas? Or why is it so darn hard to keep your poinsettias alive and blooming once you’ve bought them at the store? You may have never thought too hard about the most popular potted plant in America, but here’s your chance to learn about these fascinating blossoms.
Most people consider the bright red (or occasionally pale green, white, orange, cream, pink or marbled) areas on the plants to be the blooms, but in reality, these are just groupings of colored leaves called bracts. The actual flowers are those tiny little buds inside of the bracts (seen above) and these are called cyathias.
While we’re at it, most people think of poinsettias as red flowers, but as mentioned above, they can come in all the colors listed above. Still, over 74% of Americans prefer their poinsettias red, while 8% prefer white and 6% prefer pink.
Image Via Martin Heigan [Flickr]
In Aztec times though, it was called “Cuetlaxochitl,” which means skin flower. In Chile and the Andes, it was known as the “Crown of the Andes.” According to legend, King Montezuma would have the flowers carried up to Mexico City because the flowers would not grow in such a high altitude.
Later on, German botanist Wilenow gave the plant its Latin name, Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “very beautiful.” Soon after, it was introduced into the U.S. in 1828 by the first U.S. Minister to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett. Years later, historian and horticulturalist William Prescott was asked to give the plant a new name. Having just written a book about Mexican history, he recalled Poinsett’s role in bringing the flowers into America. Prescott named the plant in Poinsett’s honor. In modern Egypt, they still call the plant “Bent El Consul,” meaning “the consul’s daughter” after Mr. Poinsett.
In Spain, the flower is known as “flor de Pascua” or Easter flower. In Mexico and Guatemala, it is commonly called “Noche Buena” or “Christmas’ Eve.”
Speaking of Christmas, it seems rather strange that these New World plants would become synonymous with a holiday celebrating the birth of a Middle Eastern carpenter. Still, they are in fact the most popular holiday plant around, representing over 85% of all potted plant sales in the holiday season.
The reasons go all the way back to the 16th century, where a Mexican legend began spreading about a young girl who couldn’t afford a gift for Jesus’ birthday. She was said to be told by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Soon after, crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds and became poinsettias. Starting in the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico began to include the plants in the Christmas celebrations.
Image Via Southern Pixel [Flickr]
Fast forward into America during the sixties and this Mexican tradition started spreading across the U.S. thanks to Paul Ecke Jr. This young man was a marketing genius who started sending television networks free poinsettias for display on air between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He also appeared on programs like “The Tonight Show” and Bob Hope’s Christmas specials to help promote the plant. His efforts were highly successful and largely responsible for the association of poinsettias with Christmas outside of Mexico.
Lest you think Paul was simply an overly enthusiastic supporter of the flower, his intentions were mostly monetary. Paul was an heir of the Ecke family, owners of a virtual monopoly on our modern day idea of poinsettia flowers.
His German immigrant grandfather, Albert Ecke, started selling the plants from street stands after 1900. Paul Ecke the first, Albert’s son, developed a grafting method that resulted in a fuller, more compact plant than the wild plants (seen to the left). He additionally discovered a phytoplasma infection to the plant would induce it to produce far more flowers than its natural, weed-like cousin. The family held the secret to these techniques up until the 1990’s, giving them a monopoly on the poinsettia market up to that point.
In the nineties, a researcher discovered the Ecke’s method and published it, allowing for competitors to the company. These days, many companies in Latin America sell the flowers all over the world, but the Ecke’s family (who now exclusively uses farms outside the U.S.) still controls about 50% of the worldwide market.
Image Via Jiggs Images [Flickr]
In 1919, a completely unfounded story began to circulate that a two year-old child died after she ate a poinsettia leaf. Researchers who looked into the story found that it is all hearsay and about as truthful as the razors in candy apple stories that circulate around Halloween. Ohio State University researchers found that a 50 pound child would have to eat 500 bracts to even get a sore tummy. Despite this, the rumor continues to circulate that poinsettias are poisonous and should not be kept around pets or children.
On the other hand, the sap from poinsettias can cause temporary blindness when introduced directly in the eye and some people with latex allergies will have an allergic reaction to the plants. So the only people who need to be wary of the plants are those that have a latex allergy or anyone with a habit of putting things in their eyes for no reason.
Image Via distopiandreamgirl [Flickr]
If you’ve ever bought poinsettias during the holiday season, you may have noticed just how finicky these beautiful plants can be. Even if you live in an area with a warmer climate that is suitable for the tropical buds, you still may not be able to get your plants to reflower the way they did when you bought them.
The reason for this is encoded in the plant’s genes. In order to produce the vibrant, thick blooms the plant is known for, the plant needs to have two months of completely dark nights in the autumn. Even minor exposure to houselights can hamper flower production. If you really want your plants to reflower, you need to cover the plant with a light-proof bag between 5 pm and 8 am starting early October and stopping when the bracts begin to show colors –usually around mid-December. To make gardening the plant even more complex, you also have to be sure the nighttime temperatures are below 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but also not too cold. Failure to keep the plant in the right temperature can also result in decay or lack of flowers.
Personally, I love gardening and I love poinsettias, but the effort involved with trying to keep them reflowering is just way too much for me. Have any of you had better luck?
Image Via Property#1 [Flickr]
Charles Darwin was a lifelong fan of flowers, but was unable to figure out how they evolved. There were fossils of flowering plants going back 66-100 million years, which didn’t help much because flowers evolved much earlier. Recently, however, scientists are turning to DNA analysis of contemporary plants to decode where they came from. They are also finding older fossils than ever before, as far back as 136 million years ago. Paleobotanist James A. Doyle says the fossil record is the only thing that will bring together the many theories of flower evolution.
If you could travel back to 130 million years ago, you might not be impressed with the earliest flowers. “They didn’t look like they were going anywhere,” Dr. Doyle said.
Those early flowers were small and rare, living in the shadows of far more successful nonflowering plants. It took many millions of years for flowers to hit their stride. Around 120 million years ago, a new branch of flowers evolved that came to dominate many forests and explode in diversity. That lineage includes 99 percent of all species of flowering plants on Earth today, ranging from magnolias to dandelions to pumpkins. That explosion in diversity also produced the burst of flower fossils that so puzzled Darwin.
Genetic research is providing answers to how plants can switch on genes that control how different plants parts grow, and to use sexual reproduction to increase genetic diversity. Link
Keukenhof, which literally translates to kitchen court garden, has been around since 1949 and is the world’s largest and most impressive flower parks. It is a taste of heaven for any tulip lover- with it’s 7 million Dutch bulbs that are planted annually; a real sight for soar eyes. The Keukenhof is great for families; with childrens playgrounds and spots for picnicking. Also of interest for this upcoming summer, the Keukenhof will be commemorating 400 years of the historic relationship between the United States and the Netherlands.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mrmunchies.
Plants grow too slow to see most of the time – making these videos seem like secret access points to a hidden world that operates at a radically different speed.
For those of you unfamiliar with plants (they’re a lot like pets, only lower maintenance) these 12 (!) time-lapse videos of plants and flowers growing and blooming should adequately acquaint you with their natural majesty. The only downside to plants is that they take a while to grow, but as you’ll see in these videos, it’s a beautiful process, which can be made all the more heart rending when paired with the right music.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Urbanist.
