Todich Floral Design Blog

Artificial flowers and plants today look so authentic that you pretty much have to touch them to be sure what you’re looking at is indeed an artificial piece. I remember once, having moved into new office space, the decorator went so far as to pre-decorate some of the space using artificial plants. Not knowing this, my new assistant actually watered the plant on the first day, only to notice days after that that the plant was actually artificial. It was placed in the pot with real earth and all, and the stem and leaves looked so real.

Artificial flowers and plants allow more freedom in decoration. First of all, they don’t wither, need virtually no maintenance (well, except some cleaning maybe), and probably most important, they come in all shapes, sizes, and variants no matter what the season is. So if you like tropical flowers, but live in a cold climate, your problem is solved. Artificial flowers are usually and mostly made of silk, as this material really produces the most realistic effect. The Chinese have been using silk flowers as decorations thousands of years ago, but it’s generally taken that the Italians have commercialised silk flowers in the 12th century (having just setup trade relations with China). By the 14th century though the French took over as master silk florists, having taken the craft to the highest limit then. Later on, the Victorian Age has brought an expansion in floral arts, both real and artificial. Materials used were satin, velvet, calico, muslin, cambric, crepe, gauze, and later wood, palm leaves, porcelain and metal.

Ecologically, artificial flowers and plants are a great product. There are no left-overs or waste materials. Everything used for making them is actually contained within the product. Needless to say, they are hand made works of floral art. At least the ones we make and install into your homes or offices. The technology of making artificial flowers and plants is advancing, giving us new materials and methods of joining parts together to look even more realistic than ever before. Replicating nature is virtually impossible, but new materials and methods allow us to make faux flowers that are stunning. It takes a lot of expertise and skill, and really pushes the artist to their limits.

We are always in touch with the latest developments and readily implement them on our products, guaranteeing your home or office space is decorated with the products of highest quality. If you’ve been thinking about decorating your work or life space, get in touch with us and let us show you how preserved, dried and silk flowers and plants can work for you.

It’s always interesting how plants find their way into ever more interesting ideas. This one, though, beats them all - it’s the Growing Business Card.

A very interesting solution for making sure your business card stays in someone’s focus for a while. Jamie Wieck’s Growing Business Card lives and grows over time. By adding a little water, your business card becomes alive, as it’s enriched with alfalfa or cress, which grows quickly and gives your prospective client a reason to keep on their desk rather than in their pocket.

Every once in a while the Japanese make a discovery that rocks the world. Well, if not the whole world than the world of horticulture at least. The latest advancement is Pafcal (fake soil), that has been developed by a Japanese company called Suntory. Pafcal is basically a urethane based product that resembles soil in almost every way, but weighs only half the weight of natural soil. This came up as a solution for a problem that the Japanese are having in big cities (mostly Tokyo), where soil is used on roofs to provide heat insulation. Since natural soil can prove to be heavy for this job, especially since Tokyo is built upon “shaky” grounds prone to earthquakes, pafcal was the perfect way to by-pass the weight problem. Plant growth on roofs with this new soil can reduce roof temperatures by about 10 degrees C (18 F), and bring a little life to an otherwise lifeless atmosphere of concrete and steel.

Luckily, it’s not that warm in the UK , but roof gardens are definitely interesting, and fake soil will certainly make it a lot easier to put some green on the old roof. We’re definitely looking into this further. If it proves economic and ecological, you may see pafcal in your office plant pots in the future.

[Via: Zmescience.com]