Valentine's Day Party / Dinner Ideas

Planning a romantic dinner for Valentine's Day? Or perhaps a cocktail party with friends? Well, here are some great party suggestions to bring out the best of the Valentine's Day theme. All you need - guests, food, drinks, and some decor!

One of the best places to go for instant party inspiration is The Hostess with the Mostest (TM) blog! She recently featured a number of different party ideas to get you started - invitations, decorations, more decorations, drink ideas, and dessert recipes. Try making these cute little "love bites".

[image from Parent's Magazine via HWTM]

Cheese fondue or blue cheese beef tenderloin are tasty dinner party ideas. Or take William-Sonoma's Valentine's Day menu and cook together. Tricolore salad, steak piperade, lemon zest spinach, and warm molten chocolate cakes sound delicious!

If you plan on using an ice bucket to chill wine or champagne, why not add a little twist to the ice cubes by freezing spray roses into each cube. Jonathan Fong says "They'll melt any heart." :) Click here for the instructions (found via AisleDash). Just don't put the ice cubes in your drinks, unless they are edible flowers.

[image from Jonathan Fong]

One last cute idea for decor comes from Martha Stewart. All you need are two nesting glass containers (the smaller one should be shorter and about an inch narrower than the bigger one), Valentine's Day candy (like sweat hearts or cinnamon hearts), and flowers, and you can make this creative arrangement.

[image from Martha Stewart]

Happy planning!

Light Pink Wedding Flower Inspiration

[images from the wedding channel, left to right: ava's garden, elegance and simplicity wedding and event designers, Todd Rafalovich]

Light pink is a beautiful color to use for your wedding flowers. It is soft, romantic, and pretty. Many flowers come in shades of light pink - roses, tulips, peonies, ranunculus, carnations, and dahlias, just to name a few. Green flowers work well to complement the delicate pink, and brown or gold are great accent colors.

Exploring Color

Last week, we told you about the Read My Mood tool from the Flower Council of Holland. Well, I just spent part of my morning using another one of their tools - Colour Experience. While I am sure many of you are well versed in color theory, this is a great refresher course, and it is especially geared to floral design. The tool has three different sections - learn, quiz, and create.

[image from Claire L. Evans]

The learning section goes over color theory, meanings of different colors, complementary colors, and gradations. The quiz section is self-explanatory with five multiple choice questions dealing with colors and flowers. The create section is especially fun. Here, you can complete assignments geared to get you thinking about creating bouquets for specific types of people, using different color combinations. For example, assignment 5 is to "make a bouquet with warm tints for a hotel with a cosy ambience." With different colors of flowers, you fill in a 4x4 box grid with the colors you choose. When you are done, you can compare your results to the professionals from the Flower Council.

It is a pretty interesting site and could inspire some color fun and may help you work color into your designs and flower arrangements more effectively. Click here to check out the ColourExperience.

Anemones

Anemones: The name comes from the Greek word for wind, windflower. These delicate flowers originate from the Mediterranean and belong to the buttercup family. They come in shades of red, purple, and pink. Typically, the flowers have a black center. Theses flowers are perfect for bud vases, because they are so interesting on their own. Or put a bunch of them with a little bit of foliage into a larger vase. Take a look at a bunch from Canada's Style at Home.

[images, top to bottom, left to right: tanakawho, yugoQ,
tanakawho, tanakawho, HeyBert_2332, MR+G]

Care tips:
Anemones do not require any special treatment. They like well-lit spaces, but not direct sunlight. They also prefer cooler spaces. As always, keep them in water and check the water supply regularly. The flowers will continue to grow in the vase. You can cut them down, if the stems start to droop.

For more information about the flower, check out the UK Flower and Plants Association website.

DIY Vase Hacks

Everyone has a odd vase or two lying around. Well, here are some suggestions for what to do with those extra vases. While I have not tried any of these, they sound like excellent suggestions.

Have you seen those chalkboard vases that allow you to write messages on them? Well, it looks like it might just be easy enough to make your own. Just paint your vase with some "chalkboard paint" (Cookie Magazine's favorite brand or make your own). Click here for the instructions on how to make the vase from diylife.com.

If you have a larger vase, you can put a colorful print paper inside. You just need to be able to fit something inside the vase to hold the water and the flowers.* Here are the instructions from Making it Lovely. The end result looks great and it is such a simple idea!

If you have some crocheting skills, you can make a "glove" for your vase. For those of us who can not crochet, you can get a similar effect by wrapping and gluing the outside of your vase with natural materials, such as raffia.

Another simple idea, which is great for kids, uses pieces of tissue paper and decoupage glue. Just glue on the pieces of tissue paper to the outside of the vase and let it dry. Once dry, be careful about getting the paper wet when you use the vase (see above*).

[image from stock.xchng by zacden]

Not only can you decorate the outside of the vase to spruce it up some, you can also use it for more than just displaying fresh cut flowers. Recently, CasaSugar suggested putting a tall cylinder vase in your bathroom to store your toilet paper in it. This got me thinking about other uses for vases, for the times when you don't have fresh flowers to put in them. Here are some ideas, but there is so much more you could do:

• Candles
  
• Coffee beans
• Layers of colored sand
• Potpourri
  
• Collections of small items, such as sea glass, sea shells, matchboxes, wine corks, marbles

Dinner Reservations and Gifts

Yesterday, Creative Loafing Atlanta published a list of recommended restaurants for Valentine's Day. If you want to go out on Valentine's Day, you should start thinking about reservations now. Some restaurants in New York City are already fully booked. I know Atlanta's market is a little different, but it does not hurt to be prepared. There are tons of great restaurants out there to choose from. From Creative Loafing's list, our two favorites are the Food Studio and Rathbun's. For some great food in Sandy Springs, you could go to Mambo Italiano, our (fairly) new CityWalk neighbor, or Five Seasons Brewing, just up the road. Where ever you decide, put it on your list to make reservations soon.

As for gifts, if you are going to order something online, it is time to start thinking about it! Etsy has a Valentine's Day Gift Guide posted. Here are some of our favorite items from the list. I love the magnets!

[images, clockwise from top left: 4 heart cards ($4.50), heart shaped bowls ($10.00), love birds ($84.00 from England), 4 xoxo magnets ($18.00)]

And of course flowers :) Here our some of our designs.

Weddings: Staying within your floral budget

Planning a wedding requires a great deal of management and organizational skills. To stay within your budget you need to start by allocating where you want to spend money. The Knot, and other websites, have suggestions about getting started on drawing up a budget. Brides usually allocate about 8 to 10% of their overall budget to flowers. Obviously, this number may be higher or lower depending on what is most important to you. Regardless, of what your final decision is for your budget, you want to stay within or below it (even better)! Here are some tips for lowering your costs when it comes to flowers for your wedding.

1. Be flexible. Flower prices fluctuate. Depending on when you are getting married, certain flowers may be in season. It is best to use flowers that are in season, because they are likely to be a better deal. Also, you may have your heart set on peonies for your bouquet, but they are expensive flowers. Think about using cabbage roses or ranunculus instead. There are tons of flowers out there, so if you are flexible, you should be able to find some beautiful varieties and stay within your budget.

2. Reduce, minimize and re-use. If you have a smaller wedding party, you will have fewer bouquets and boutonnières. Also, with a smaller the guest list you will need fewer centerpieces. If your wedding party and guest list are fairly set, think about other ways to minimize your flower needs. Sometimes less is more when it comes to centerpieces and reception decor. Think about doing just one type of flower or using lots of candles with fewer flowers or just petals. Lastly, re-use your wedding party bouquets to decorate the cake table and other parts of the reception place. If time allows, re-use your ceremony arrangements and other decor pieces for reception decoration.

One more thing, if you are getting married around Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, these are the two busiest times of the year for florists. Prices usually rise due to the very high demand (supply and demand economics) and to pay for extra help needed to fulfill all the orders. So, if you can, try to stay away from these two holidays.

I hope these tips help! As always, your florist should be able to work with you and provide you with some suggestions on where to save money. Happy planning!

Read My Mood - Alstroemeria

Last night, by accident - a momentary lapse - I sent a truck driver the wrong way. He pulled over to ask me the simple question of how to get to a nearby street. I knew the street and told him where I thought it was. Then, as he pulled away, I realized I sent him in the wrong direction. It was actually right, not left. Of course, I felt terrible.

Then, when thinking about what to post for today, I looked through some of my tagged websites. One of the sites I found a while back was "Read My Mood". Still thinking about the mistake I made, I thought this might be interesting. Read My Mood is a creation of the Flower Council of Holland. It takes a few lines of text, translates your mood, and provides you with a flower suggestion to match your mood. The tool translates your mood by deciding whether you are happy or mad, sad or cheerful, formal or emotional, male or female, and in love. So, I entered "I feel bad that I sent the driver the wrong way - left, not right." And amazingly enough, the flower that matched my mood was Alstroemeria! How funny is that - yesterday's flower!

Anyways, you can browse all the different flowers to see how they match up with different feelings. And you can test your mood by entering your own text. They suggest that the website might be helpful when choosing which flowers to send to someone. Maybe, but at least it provides an interesting way to look at flowers! I added a button to the left that will read the mood of this blog and match a flower to it - let's see how it changes throughout the next few weeks! Check out the website, here.

Alstroemereria

Last Friday, we featured a simple flower arrangement made by using a toothbrush holder. Only one type of flower, Alstroemeria, was used and it worked really well - lush, full, and simple!

[image from twelve paw]

Alstroemeria also goes by the name of Peruvian Lily or Lily of the Incas due to its South American origin. The lily-like flowers, with strips or dots in the inner part of the petals, come in a variety of colors - pink, white, orange, purple, red, and yellow. These inexpensive flowers last a long time, so they are a great deal! Check out a post at Sunset: Living in the West for photographic evidence - the flowers still looked good after two weeks.

[images from clockwise from top left to center:
Anna, K O, Carl E Lewis, KaCey97007, Noel Lee]

Care Tips:

• Remove all the foliage (at least most of it) before putting them into a vase.
• Check the water regularly, because Alstroemeria absorbs a lot of water.
• Change the water and cut the stems periodically.
• Keep them away from fruit, carbon monoxide, and decaying plant material.

Simple Flower Arranging

Browsing through Apartment Therapy, I stumbled across a few posts about simple flower arrangements. Some suggestions include breaking up a bouquet into a cluster of different bud vases at different heights and using bowls to float flowers inside. One of the more clever suggestions comes from Martha Stewart (of course!) - she suggests using a toothbrush holder as a vase. Put some water into the holder and then fill each of the holes with one or two stems of your favorite flower! Flickr member Saucy Dragonfly says she does this all the time and suggests TJ Maxx and Marshalls as places to find some. Below is one of her toothbrush flower arrangements featuring alstroemeria! Check out her blog too!

[image from Saucy Dragonfly]

Valentine's Day - A Brief History

[image from Flickr: Sister72]

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. The origin of Valentine's Day is not clear. There are a few different stories out there, but no consensus on which one is true. Here are some of the more popular stories about Valentine's Day:

Two popular stories about priests, who were both named Valentine, are said to be related to the origin of Valentine's Day. One story begins with the Roman Emperor Claudius II's desire for a strong, fearless army. He felt that soldiers who married might lose their fighting edge. To combat this, he outlawed marriage for young men. Father Valentine did not agree with the Emperor's decision, so he continued to perform secret marriages for young couples in love. When Emperor Claudius found out about the secret marriages, Valentine received a death sentence.

Another story deals with another Father Valentine being placed in jail for helping Christians during the reign of Claudius. While in jail, before his execution, Valentine fell in love with the jailor's daughter. Before the day of his execution, he wrote her a letter and signed it "From your Valentine"

A number of years later, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as St. Valentine's Day to honor Father Valentine (whether it was both of them or just one of them is not clear). It is said that the Pope chose this day to Christianize the Roman pagan Lupercalia Festival, which had occurred on February 15th. The Lupercalia Festival celebrated purification and fertility. Part of the celebration auctioned off the young women in the city. The women would place their names in a big urn, and then the city's young men would choose a name out of the urn. The woman's whose name was chosen out of the urn by the man would be his partner for the year. Supposedly, these matches often ended in marriage.

Throughout the years, Valentine's Day has evolved into a day for romance and love. It is an opportunity to share small tokens of love with the special people in your life. For some more information on the history of Valentine's Day, check out this video from History Channel.

Wedding: Questions to ask your florist

Before you meet with some potential florists for your wedding, write down a list of questions to bring with you to the appointments - some suggestions are below. Don't forget to bring pictures of flower arrangements that you like. Bringing pictures of your wedding gown, bridal party attire, and ceremony/reception sights will also help the florist get a good idea of your wedding plans so far.

During your meeting, you want to "click" with the florist. You want to walk away from the meeting feeling that he or she understands your vision and what you want for your wedding. Ideally, you should feel comfortable bouncing ideas of the florist. The florist should respond with some suggestions on how to make your idea work better or how to make your idea work within your budget. This is a good sign. Sometimes, the initial meeting will just be that - an initial meeting, where you talk about your ideas. The follow-up to the meetings or phone calls may be where you start getting into the brainstorming and budget fitting discussions.

Questions to ask:

• Who will be the floral designer making the arrangements? Make sure you get a chance to meet and speak with that person.
• How many weddings do you do per day/per weekend?
• Are you familiar with the ceremony/reception spaces? Have you worked there before?
• How does delivery and set-up work?
• Do you offer rental items?
  
• Are there any current wedding styles that you would suggest for my wedding?
• What flowers are in season at the time of my wedding?
• What flowers work with my color scheme?
• Can I change my mind about certain elements along the line? What is the cut off date for new ideas?
  
• Can I see some examples of your work, particularly other weddings?
• Do you have some references of past clients who I can contact?

Before you leave, make sure you take a look around the shop to see if you like the arrangements they have on display. Take a look what fresh flowers they have available too.

Next week, we will provide some suggestions on how to work around your floral budget. A good florist should be able to provide you with flower suggestions within your budget and ideas for getting the most impact out of your budget.

Flowers for Every Room

New York Magazine published a short little article about the "Best Bets" for which flowers to use in the different rooms of your house. My favorite suggestion was to place one gardenia in your bedroom. The one flower will add just enough to fill the room with a beautiful scent. Or for a longer lasting and low-maintenance idea, add some paperwhites to your bathroom.

[image from the sassy gardener]

Anthurium

Anthurium - A tropical flower, also known as the flamingo flower or painter's palette, often reminds people of their vacations to Hawaii or other tropical places. Anthuriums are available all year. These beautiful and unique flowers have a heart shaped flower bract. The most popular color of this flower is red, but they also come in pink, white, and green.

[images clockwise from top left: jerryjohn, stock.xchng, miszbabykiss]

Care tips
Fresh Cut Anthuriums: Anthuriums are long lasting flowers (I just had some at home that lasted over three weeks). To make sure they last, keep the water in the vase fresh by replacing it every three days. When replacing the water, re-cut the stems underwater with sharp a sharp knife or sharp scissors. Also, spritzing the flowers daily with some water will extend their vase life. Keep the flowers at room temperature.

Pre-Potted Anthurium Plants: Keep your anthurium plant in temperatures around 78 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and around 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Do not allow the plant to frost or freeze. Also, do not put your plant in direct sunlight, as this may burn the flower. Anthurium plants prefer bright in-direct sunlight. When watering your plant, make sure it is watered thoroughly. Before watering again, let the plant dry out, just slightly, and then re-water.

Other links:

• Background information from the UK Flowers and Plants Association and wikipedia
• Care information from Hawaii Tropicals

Make a Terrarium

Happy Friday! This weekend, if you are looking for a new project to bring life into your home, try making a terrarium. With just a few materials and a little bit of time, you can create a nice decorative, living garden for your home this winter. Terrariums create an environment where water cycles through its natural process: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Materials:
Jar, glass container that has a top to it (or you can also use a round vase or bowl that has a small opening)
Small rocks, pebbles, or marbles (to help drain the water from the plant roots)
Horticultural charcoal (small amount; to keep the environment fresh)
Piece of porous material, such as pantyhose, to keep the soil from settling into the gravel (optional)
Potting soil
Sheet moss
Plant(s), such as an African violets or ferns

Instructions:
Layer the materials
1st: the rocks
2nd: the charcoal
3rd (optional): the porous material
4th: potting soil (don't use potting soil with too much fertilizer, because it won't drain completely in the terrarium)
5th: sheet moss

Then, plant your chosen flower or plant by working around the sheet moss.
Put some more rocks or other decorative items on top of the soil.
Pour or spritz some water over the top so that the soil is moist, but not wet.
Put the lid on top of the jar and place it in a bright space, but not in direct sunlight.

Then, the next day, check to make sure moisture has developed and the cycle of evaporation and condensation has started. If you see a lot of water left in the soil, leave the top of the jar off for a while, so that it can air out.

For some more information on how to build terrariums, check out the following links:

• Video from E-How on how to make a terrarium
• Article from Cookie Magazine with instructions for making a terrarium
• Article from PBS Show that provides instructions for making a terrarium
• Pictures from Flickr of different terrariums
  

update: poppytalk, a beautiful blog about all things homemade, posted some great examples of glass terrarium containers - check it out here!

70% off Holiday Merchandise!

All holiday merchandise is on sale at 70% off the regular price! Think ahead to next year - this is the time to buy at dramatic savings.

• Beautiful wreaths, swags, lighted trees, ornaments
• Accessories for do-it-yourself decorating
• Iced branches, berry picks, greenery picks
• Baskets, pots and vases
• Candles

KaBloom of Sandy Springs
CityWalk at Sandy Springs
Corner of Hammond Drive and Sandy Springs Circle
Atlanta, Georgia 30328
404-303-0530
Hours: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM Monday through Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Saturday

Quick Tip - Caring for your fresh cut flowers

One of the biggest reasons people do not buy flowers is because they do not think that they last long enough. Fresh cut flowers should last about five to seven days. Certain types of flowers, like carnations or mums will last longer, while other types of flowers, like irises will only last a few days. When you buy roses from us, we guarantee they will last seven days or we will replace them. If you take a few steps in caring for your fresh cut flowers, you will get them to last longer.

• Use a clean vase
• Strip leaves that will be under the water line and recut stems at an angle
• Use fresh water and flower food (follow directions on packet)
• Keep flowers in a cool place and out of direct sunlight
• Removing wilting flowers immediately, as they will affect the other flowers
• Change water and recut stems every two days

About.com has a three-minute video that shows you some more tips on caring for fresh flowers. Check it out here.

Wedding Wednesdays

Some brides immediately know what kind of flowers they want to use for their wedding. Other brides need inspiration. Sometimes it helps to make some of the other decisions, such as the venue, type of food, and bridal party attire, before thinking about florals. The formality, style, and feel of the wedding will be enhanced by the bouquets, corsages, boutonnières, and other floral decorations chosen.

Before meeting with florists, do some homework. Being prepared will help you hire the florist who is going to be able to fulfill your vision. Here are some suggestions on what to think about when starting the florist hiring process for your wedding.

• Call ahead of time to set up an appointment, check to see if your wedding date is available
• Look through magazines and the web to find some pictures of floral ideas that you like
  
• Colorful or monochromatic?
• Big and bold, soft and pretty, classic and elegant, unique and modern?
• Know your general floral needs - your initial meetings with the florist(s) will help answer some of these questions too
  
• Do you want bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and a toss bouquet? How many people are in your bridal party? What about your parents and grandparents? Are there any other special people who you want to have flowers?
  
• What kind of decorations do you want - pew decorations, altar decorations, unity candle, centerpieces, other arrangements for the guest book/gift table?
  
• Do you have specific types of flowers that you must use or are you flexible in the types of flowers?
• Have an idea of the floral budget for your wedding - most wedding resources suggest somewhere around 7% to 10% of your overall budget, but it depends on what you choose to focus on

Next week, we will talk about questions you should ask your florist when meeting with the florist.

Amaryllis Arrangement

Yesterday, we featured amaryllis as the flower of the week. Here is beautiful, easy, and fresh arrangement featuring amaryllis, poinsettias, and parrot tulips from Domino Magazine.

Amaryllis - Hippeastrum

Hippeastrum, commonly called amaryllis means "splendid beauty" or "pride." They originate from the Andes Mountains in South America. You may have used the red and white varieties of the flower to decorate during the holidays or you may have received a potted amaryllis as a gift. It is a beautiful winter flower that comes in many different colors, including pink, peach, and salmon. Amaryllis flowers into large trumpets, similar to a star with large blooming petals.

[images from Flickr, clockwise from top left: Kevin Law, k_staszko, Jean., Gobbo1000, Capucine D.]

Bulbed or cut, the flowers last a long time and are easy to care for. When they are used as cut flowers they will last around two weeks. Planted amaryllis will last about three weeks, maybe more, and will bloom again. Below ares some tips to care help make your amaryllis last as long as possible.

Care tips
Freshly Cut Amaryllis: For cut amaryllis, insert a thin stick into the hollow stem to provide support to the stem and help hold up the large flowering head. The added support should increase the vase life of the flower. Another suggestion is to buy them before they flower - still as a bud. The flower will bloom at home, reducing the chance of bruising the petals during transportation. However, if you buy amaryllis already bloomed, just take care with the flowering heads. When placing them down, before putting them in a vase, let the heads hang over the edge of the surface and be gentle with them.

Pre-Potted Amaryllis: For potted amaryllis, take care to keep the soil moist, but not wet. You do not want to over water the plant. Before blooming, the amaryllis prefers sunlight and room temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. However, once the flower blooms, its is better to keep it out of direct sunlight and in a slightly cooler spot to help the flower live longer. Fertilizer will help to keep the plant healthy. Once the flowers have faded, cut the stem about an inch or two from the base, and you might have a second stem grow with more flowers. Each stem should produce about four flowers.

Taking care of the bulbs: When all the stems and flowers have lived out their life, cut of the flower from the top of the stalk, and then when the stalk begins to fade, cut off the stalk right above the bulb nose. Continue watering and fertilizing. The leaves will turn yellow, they will need to be cut back about two inches from the top of the bulb. Now, it will be time to remove the bulbs from the pot and put it in a cool, about 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and dark spot for at least six to eight weeks.

Re-planting the bulbs. Before re-planting the bulbs, hydrate the roots, not the bulb base, by soaking them in warm tap water overnight. When re-planting, make sure to use a well-drained and sterile pot. Amaryllis like a tight-fit in their pot (about 1 inch between the bulb and the sides). Use a six inch pot, if you are planting one bulb in the pot. But, a larger one should be used for three to five bulbs. The top of the bulb should sit about one-third above the soil line. They should take about eight weeks to bloom.

Another method from Martha Stewart for encouraging a second round of blooming allows you to keep the bulbs in the pot, once cut about 2 inches above the bulb, just put the entire pot into a dark, cool spot for six to eight weeks. When ready, bring out the pot, cut off the dead foliage, out some fresh pot soil on top or re-pot completely with fresh potting soil, and water. Then, place the pot in a sunny place. Do not start watering until again until a new flower stalk starts to grow.

Here are some more links on the web about amaryllis and how to care for it:

• Background information on amaryllis (Hippeastrum) from the UK Flowers and Plants Association and wikipedia.
• Apartment Therapy: NY has some beautiful photographs of amaryllis "Exotica" in a beautiful salmon pink color.
• An article from the Daily Telegraph in the UK, Amaryllis the power flower, provides tips for caring for cut and potted amaryllis.
• More tips on growing amaryllis from the Garden Helper

Warmth

With the cold temperatures and chill in the air, I thought you might be warmed by this beautiful picture of dahlias.

[photo via EyeFetch Photography]

Happy New Year

We wish everyone a year full of good health and happiness! Thanks for helping to make 2007 a great year! We look forward to another year of providing you with high quality fresh flowers!

Yesterday, you may have seen coverage of the 119th Rose Parade as a part of the Tournament of Roses celebration. This year, the theme was a "Passport to the World's Celebrations." Following is a list of some of the most popular flowers used in creating the floats (via HGTV):

• Rose - of course, about 1.5 million roses were used this year
• Carnation - full, economical, and hardy
• Chrysanthemum - plush and velvety
• Gladiolus - big and dramatic (used to petal* floats)
• Gerbera daisy - unique and fun
• Strawflower - dried and long-lasting (sometimes put in a blender to make confetti)
• Orchid - beautiful and colorful
• Lily - big and showy
• Statice - thin, papery, and comes in a brilliant blue
  
• Anthurium - interesting and long-lasting

The links above will bring you to the picture of the type of flower; they are combined into one graphic below. All images from Flickr and linked to authors above.

All images from Flickr and linked to authors above.

*One of the techniques used to create the floats includes "petaling" where the designers take individual petals of the flowers to cover a sculpture on the float.

To see some great photos of the floats, check out this website: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~matsci/btf/Rose_Parade.html

In other bowl news - congrats to the Georgia Bulldogs for winning the Sugar Bowl!