Where can I buy a whole lot of roses in Portland, OR? Or online? I am going to need a lot of roses soon, like 300 stems. I would love to be able to buy them in bulk locally. The wholesalers I've found so far only sell to licensed florists and florists seem pretty interested in selling arranged flowers. Any recommendations for places that would like to sell me a whole lot of roses at a good price? Are there secret u-cut rose farms? Farmer's markets? Wholesalers that sell to the public? Right now I am thinking of just ordering them through a local grocery store.

And, since I may not find what I want locally, I'm also interested in recommendations for places to buy bulk roses online (and finding out how that experience went for you).

Thanks!

What is this plant? And what is eating it? We moved here last September, and the plant was in similar shape then. I just assumed it was a goner, but this year it sprouted leaves, which were summarily eaten again. Its tenacity has inspired me to save it. Swarms of above-pictured bug are flying around it all day, so I'm assuming that's the culprit but I'm not sure. More pictures of the devastation here. Any tips to organically eradicate the pest would be appreciated, but I figure once I know what I'm up against, my google-fu will be sufficient. We're in Aberdeen, NJ, which is zone 7, if that helps. Thanks!

Flower Identification filter: What is this plant? I planted a bunch of seeds in early June, including a couple of packets of wildflower seeds (one was Zipcar promo swag, of all things) that weren't identified. This little white one started blooming last week and I have no idea what it is. I've searched all over the Internets to no avail. It looks a bit like white flax, but I've determined that it isn't.

How do you preserve white rosebuds without having them turn grey? Or, alternately, where can you buy dried rosebuds in white? My mother is adamant that she needs a large supply of small dried white rosebuds for some craft-type things she is making. I've found a lot of suppliers that sell dried rosebuds (boutons) in red, pink and lavender but have been unable to find them in white.

The problem with drying them with air or sand is that they keep coming out greyish. Does anybody know a way around this? She's willing to use some kind of dye or preservative if that will work, as long as it wouldn't just rub off whenever the rosebuds were touched. I haven't been able to find any solutions with google.

Thanks!

I'm on the east coast and I want to send flowers to a lady I really, really, really (did I mention "really"?) like in Long Beach, CA. Is there a great local florist that the hive mind could suggest? I suspect that a local shop could make something nicer than the national brands (FTD or 1-800-flowers). I searched all of ask.metafilter, I swear. The closest questions I could find were posts on sending flowers to Vancouver and buying orchids in Los Angeles.

Am looking for something nice I can send to someone to thank them for a wonderful kindness, but it probably shouldn't involve food or flowers. Any thoughts? I'm getting married in a couple of weeks. The groom's father has been incredibly kind and is hosting the reception at his house. Immediately afterwards, we're going away for a week on a cruise. Which is also a gift from him. I'm not really even sure how to thank someone properly for such a wonderful thing.

I would like to send him and his wife something nice while we're away to thank him, but he's going to be swimming in leftover food and flowers after the reception. I'm looking for suggestions on what we might send him instead.

Thanks in advance!

How does one become a florist/floral designer? What does it take to open a flower shop? Need some direction!! I am 28 years old and living in the Tampa Bay area.
I have always had this kind of secret dream of having my own flower shop/ small nursery that just seemed like something I would never do but was nice to think about from time to time... now I find myself looking for a new job and am wondering if maybe I can't bring it make it a reality.

I have looked around on line and all openings for "florists or floral designers" seem to be for the experienced only. How does one get experience? are there schools for this kind of thing?

I thought about calling around to nearby flower shops and seeing if they need any "shop help" but I'm not even sure what kind of position that would be or what questions to ask.

Can anyone help me get my foot in the door or at least point me in the right direction?? Any general flower-shopesque information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

What is this tiny flower? I've had these sundew since December. Recently, when I finally got them healthy, these tiny buds popped up.
There's six stems, two of them have a second bud about an inch above the first.
Only three have bloomed, and two fell off within a week.
They're not part of the sundew are they?

Where can one buy a beautiful flower vase that was not made in China? I would like to support a local Seattle artisan, but I am also willing to order online if it's love at first sight. We finally started hanging art on the walls of the apartment and putting more effort into living in a pretty, non-IKEA showroom home. We buy fresh flowers from Pike Place Market every Sunday and suddenly our plain flower vase looks exceedingly ugly.

Several years ago I was able to buy a gorgeous bud vase at an art studio sale in Houston, and since then I have found myself reluctant to buy genericana from places like Crate&Barrel or Williams Sonoma, if strictly on principle. Please recommend your favorite flower-vase making artists in Seattle or show me links to studios who don't sell their handmade stoneware/glassware to, well, Crate&Barrel.

What should I do with this giant brick planter box that fronts my house? Here's what it looks like. It's about 15 feet long, 2.5 feet high, and 1.5 feet deep. Right now it contains a mix of dirt and potting soil (and LOTS of cat shit and peanuts buried by squirrels).

There is zero direct sunlight. The light you can see in these pics is the most it gets, and the sun is at a very low angle.

The shade, combined with the crapping neighborhood cats means nearly every flower we've put there has died. The straggly fern in the corner is the longest-lived plant so far, but I'm not a huge fan of ferns.

I want to fill it with rocks and call it a day (ok, maybe not literally, but I'm going for simple, cheap, and easy). My husband doesn't want anything "too boring."

He wants to do "some kind of water feature." I say that's a huge money pit, and a half-baked idea anyway since he doesn't really know what he wants or how to accomplish it.

Any ideas?

Where can my friend buy a beautiful, healthy orchid in the Los Angeles area? She's loves the orchids she gets from orchid shows, but nothing she finds in nurseries are quite as healthy and lovely. She's looking for one that will stay in bloom for a long time and that has something...special about it.

What tree is this? These are the flowers which grow on it (they usually fall off every night and are strewn across the ground). Here's a close up of one of them. They have a nice and pleasant smell... something like Jasmine perhaps? Not sure, but if anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks a lot.

My 7 month old cat won't stop knocking over flower vases when we're out of the house. How can I get him to understand that knocking stuff over is bad? He never does it when we're home but when ever we return from being gone for a couple hours, a vase has been knocked over. He only knocks over flowers. I understand that he most likely just wants to play with the flowers but he needs to understand that it's bad. Up until yesterday we were mostly ok with it but yesterday afternoon while I was upstairs and the lady was at work, cat knocked over a completely full vase of water onto 65% of our important documents (lesson learned - flowers stay away from important stuff).

We are first-time cat owners. How can we keep a cat and flowers? Will he grow out of it? Is he acting out some sort of aggression that we should be more receptive to? How can we effectively reprimand him if we often return to a mess that he created possibly hours before? Is there a way to get him to connect our disapproval with his punishment? Do cats even respond to punishment?

Any small flower shoppes in Carlingford, NSW that will deliver? I need to find a nice place in Carlingford that will accept phone orders, and will deliver to an address. Any recommendations? Phone numbers would be appreciated, thank you!

What flowers will be blooming in Kauai in March? My wife and I are going to Kauai from 3-18 to 3-27, and we've never been before. We were wondering what fruit and flowers will be ripe / blooming while we're there. For instance, I heard that mango season is from March through October there. Is it possible we'll get ripe mangos while we're there? That'd be awesome.

My friend is a talented, hobby flower arranger. She's doing her biggest job so far this summer, doing 8 table arrangements plus bouquets and buttonierres for a wedding. We live about an hour north of Boston, and she is looking for some new inspiration for this upcoming project. There must be great flower shops and markets in Boston where she can get good deals and interesting materials, but we don't even know where to start looking. Aspects of concern include cost, quality, variety. We know nothing about flower markets or shops in Boston. Of course we could google but that doesn't really give any insider knowledge. She'd like to take a trip down to the city sometime in the next month with the bride to be, to check out a few places and make some decisions about ultimate design etc. where should she visit now? Are there markets that are seasonal that will be available to her in the summer, but not now? any info would be welcome. Please keep in mind that both she and I know almost nothing about the geography of Boston so you'll have to be kind of specific, but we are good with maps and GPS thingies hahaha. thanks

This is a ridiculous question. It's 12:20AM Valentine's Day morning. I suddenly want to send flowers (or some other encouraging vday-ish gift) to a quite a few of my single girlfriends at their respective workplaces. Am I crazy, is this doable and how?? It's quite a few girls - around 9-10 so ideally the flowers/gifts would be cheaper (~$20 or less?). Is this possible on such late notice? Can I research and call local florists in the morning? Is there any other sort of gift that this would work better with?

Where can one buy edible flowers from a reputable vendor in New York? I know we can probably eat florist-bought pansies and the like without much trouble, but I'd prefer a place that sells pesticide- and manure-free flowers for the purpose of eating. I can settle for an organic florist, I suppose, but it would be neat to get some from a vendor who's sold consumable flowers before.

I am looking for gardening experiments I like to watch plants (and any birds and insects that show up) outside in my garden as they go about their business uninterrupted, but sometimes I have the urge to prod Nature in the ribs just to see how she reacts. Can you suggest simple things to try? I don't think I want to replicate Mendel's pea experiments (I don't think I have the room, for one thing), but that's on the right track for what I'm after: basic hands-on botanical play. Are there interesting things to try in a small space of ground (zone 5 or so) filled with runner beans, sweet peas, sunflowers, clover, zinnias, marigolds, ivy, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, wild strawberries, basil, garlic, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme, orb spiders, peacock butterflies, ladybirds, chickadees, magpies, and me?

What is this poster? Who made it? Can I buy a print somewhere? I found this poster up inside a fence at on Grand St. between 6th Ave & Varick in Manhattan. I like it. Anybody have any information about it whatsoever?

I couldn't get any closer to get a better photo.

My garden has been overtaken by weeds and ribbon grass, how can I start over? In the past, my garden has been filled with sunflowers, daisies, poppies, and was a pleasure to see every day. However, each year, more and more weeds have been creeping into it and it has gotten to the point where ragweeds and ribbon grass are overwhelming the flowers. How do I start my garden over?

If at all possible, I want to avoid using Roundup-- are there any environmentally friendly methods of starting fresh?

Looking for a good nursery in the Austin, TX area. My wife and I want to buy some shrubs and flowers for our yard. We'd prefer to go to a local nursery and avoid the Home Depot and Lowes. Thanks in advance!

I don't suppose anyone knows where I could get a flower pot like this in the UK or Ireland?

Long story short.. my girlfriend really likes the flower pot in this picture, so I'd like to get it for her as a gift. But the website says..

"This product has been even more popular than we imagined and we've run out of the coiled bark pots as shown in the picture. We're now planting our hydrangeas in lovely natural rattan baskets..."

So I don't suppose anyone knows any company that might sell something similar?

Can anybody recommend an online florist that can accept US payment for delivery in China? There seem to be a few Chinese florists online that have English pages and somewhat reasonable prices, but how can I tell if they are reputable or not? Flower quality and punctuality are important too, of course. Has anybody done this before and have any links or advice?

What kind of plant is this (hi-res here), and how does it like to be taken care of?