The “Vase Bouquets Collection” finally made its debut! This is one of Lefiores’s eco-friendly solution to curb the ever-increasing paper and plastic usage in Malaysia’s floral industry. I for one, strongly believe in living towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Every choice that we make, no matter how insignificant, matters. Saving the environment means ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.

Now, there’s a greener way of sending flowers to your loved ones. If you are used to sending hand-tied bouquets, you might want to know how sending flowers in vases helps you to save more money and save our environment. Here are 5 reasons why you should send flowers in a vase.

For starters, our Vase Bouquets collection consists of dendrobium orchids and imported long stems red roses. These bouquets come together with signature glass vases. Delivery within Klang Valley (Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur) and Melaka is free, yup, even after the petrol hike. For Singapore deliveries, please email me directly at ammie@lefiores.com.

Tell your loved ones how much you love her and the earth by sending a vase bouquet today. Together, we can make a difference towards a greener Earth!

by Chantelle Lim

01 Jul 08 – 1st occasion where I received a bouquet of flowers loosely wrapped with tissue paper which made it necessary for me to do something about it.

1 bouquet of lovely roses of premium quality + 1 vase (leftover from the last time I got a vase of roses) + 1 Chantelle = creativity kicked in till 1.45am.

I had a mission: to take the best shot with the best arrangement. Great deal of fun and with much success. Ode to my dear friend, Ammie, who gave me those roses, I took on with me 1 very important point. Receiving flowers in loose or in a vase brings about great flexibility as oppose to flowers in a bouquet. You can arrange the flowers a million times till you are satisfied. For me, I think I could never attain satisfaction for this cos at different angles and arrangements, the beauty is unique by itself.

True enough, having to wake up at 6.30am for work deterred me from achieving perfection or satisfaction. Falling in love with it, I brought it to work so it was working with this new owner (me) whom I think those roses perceive as fickle-minded, having toyed with it a trillion times. And still not giving up. I’m so proud in to have become its owner. Just like in food, only a cuisine connoisseur will appreciate food with great detail.

Only a flower fanatic will appreciate these premium roses. In this case, my director had a wonderful remark – “These roses are very different from the usual and very beautiful”, having to buy roses for 6 months every Sunday for her church’s centrepiece, thereby gaining tonnes of knowledge. I’m also learning more and liking every bit of it while becoming more of a vase person.

*****
Coming up next: A series of rose pictures taken by Chantelle.

My previous post, 5 Reasons Why You Should Send Flowers in a Vase has gained a few insightful comments from a friend, Marcus. He posed a few interesting questions regarding the feasibility of sending flowers in vases and affordability of flowers in this country. I believe these are good indication of the doubts that many of us have, since there are many of us who are unaccustomed to sending flowers in vases. I’ve shared Marcus’ email comments and also my take on the issues that he has brought up. (Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Marcus!)

Marcus:
I dunno.. coz i still don’t get the idea of sending flower in vase.. ~?~

Me:
Hi Marcus, you’re not the only one here. Most of us Asians are not used to sending flowers in vase. It’s a cultural thing. Hand-tied bouquets have been here for 20-30 years. It’s gonna take some time to shake off the notion that only hand-tied bouquets are appropriate when sending flowers. =)

Marcus:
Apart from that, just a quick review of what’s in our everyday living.. we seldom have vase in our house because most of us will not spend money filling them with flowers everyday. Flowers aren’t cheap anyway due to geographical factor if compared to Europe and other cooler countries.

Me:
Yup, it’s true that most of us will not spend money buying flowers unnecessarily just to fill the empty vases in our house (assuming we even have a vase at home). Like I said before, buying flowers “out of the blue” just to put them in our home is not common at all in Malaysia. It’s mostly because of our culture. We only buy flowers when we need to, say for our loved ones, our best friend’s graduation, or as gifts of congratulating new businesses or condolences. We seldom buy flowers for our own house on normal days just because its not necessary.

My point is, yes, I agree that not many of us will buy flowers everyday to fill them with our empty vases. However, it is a myth that flowers are more expensive here in Malaysia compared to western countries. Contrary to popular belief, buying flowers here are in fact much cheaper than buying flowers in other countries, unless you get the imported ones.

Cut flowers are not expensive here as most local florists get their supplies from Cameron Highlands and to further illustrate my point, let me give you an example of the price. On normal days (meaning no big occasions eg. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day), one stalk of local rose or carnation = RM1.00 each (at most RM1.50 each). The “expensive” part is when you need a floral designer/florist to design, arrange, and deliver the flowers for you. Even so, you can always request the florist to work within your budget. Most professional florist will try their best to satisfy your demand as long as it is not too outrageous.

Sending flowers in vases are more environmental friendly and convenient for the recipients in terms of taking care of the flowers. Flowers in hand-tied bouquets last approximately 3-5 days, while flowers kept in vases can last up to 7 days or more, depending on the type of flowers and the care and conditioning that the flowers receive. Plus, the recipient gets a new vase to begin with so that she can get flowers for herself too!

Below is a very simple and clear step by step guide provided by realsimple.com for beginners on how you can arrange your cut flowers in any vase. For those of you who do not have a vase available at home, do not fret. You can substitute the vase with any empty jars or empty wine bottles available in your kitchen cabinets.

Photo by Natasha Milne

Step 1: Fill the vase with cool tap water, says Emily Weaver, owner of New York City floral design studio Chestnuts in the Tuileries. (Warm water can force unopened buds to bloom too quickly.)

Step 2: Measure the flower against the height of the vase and decide where to snip.

Step 3: Lay stems on a cutting board and, with a kitchen knife, cut on an angle, which exposes the stem to more water. If you prefer, use floral shears instead of a knife.

Step 4: Bind the flowers with a clear-colored elastic and trim any too-long stems. Finally, place the flowers in the vase.

Do take some pictures of your flowers and send them to me once you’ve tried the steps above. Let me know how it works for you. Have fun arranging your blooms and have a great weekend!