MN: Oops!

GP: Bendy stem. So they ... and they also come in beautiful, velvety red colours as well and they're fantastic.

MN: Just got to hold those there just for a little bit longer so we can get a good view of those. They're tremendous, they really are. I'm guessing with these bendy stems as well you can use that decorators wire, the flower decoration wire to support them.

GP: Yes. I mean another thing you can actually do because the stems are actually hollow, is put kind of canes in them if they go a bit floppy.

MN: Oh, that's a really good cheat's way of doing it, isn't it, yeah.

GP: Garden canes, yeah, they will help them stand up as well so that's a good thing to use.

MN: Right, while you're putting those down there, Melissa from Kent has got a question. "Got a spring wedding coming up ...", good luck with all of that, "... what sort of flowers should I be using for that spring wedding"

GP: Well, I mean, take your pick from some of these.

MN: It's a good time of the year, isn't it, really.

GP: It's a great time of the year and I think it's actually one of my favourite times for what we've got on offer, because there's so much variety. I would go for traditional spring flowers but perhaps with a twist so perhaps, if you like tulips, choose a parrot tulip or something with a distinctive marking. Something that gives them the wow factor. The thing about tulips is they do have a bit of a mind of their own and they tend to be quite bendy and once actually they're in a vase they continue to grow even though they're cut hence the reason they kind of go all over the place sometimes.

MN: I didn't know that.

GP: So I think they look ... if you're thinking of having them in a bouquet, they would just look really nice massed together with perhaps some green foliage, just for a really simple bouquet. If you wanted something a bit more busy you could use tulips combined with things like the paper whites. This is rather nice for a wedding actually.

MN: What is this?

GP: This is Genista. It's got lovely little ... tiny little delicate flowers on it. These are white but you can get it in pink as well and that actually has a very nice, delicate scent.

MN: It does, we've just got to hold those out so we can get a nice shot of that.

GP: And what I would say if you're going to use scented flowers for your wedding on the tables, is not to choose too many different scents because they will overpower each other and people might find it a bit too much so I would just use one scented flower if you're going to use them on your tables.

MN: Right. That's a really, really nice idea. Lovely little delicate flower, those. A question in from Terry that's not quite so delicate. He's got a downstairs loo, confined, small space. "It's a loo, it can get a little bit smelly at times." I think we know what you mean there, Terry.

MN: He said that "Lilies can be a little bit bland. Are there any other flowers that are going to be particularly well scented that we can use?"

MN: Hyacinths would work well, wouldn't they.

GP: Well, hyacinths would be fantastic.

MN: Because they're really strong, aren't they.

GP: They're really strong smelling. Again, so are the paper whites so I would say definitely one or the other.

MN: That's 'paper whites' by the way, 'paper whites' just in case you were wondering.

GP: Yeah. But certainly just a few stems of hyacinth would do the trick.

MN: Yeah and in arranging those it's fairly simple, isn't it, really. You just need a couple of those in a vase.

GP: Yeah.

MN: You're talking to Mr non-technical and I'm perhaps guessing that Terry might be the same way here. We're going to bung them in something, aren't we, Terry. So what are we going to do with those in terms of the hyacinths? Just simply pop those in?

GP: Well I would ... I think they look ... I mean this might be a bit elaborate for your bathroom or your downstairs toilet but I think they look great just massed together, so ... in one colour. So I'm going to take these ones because I love these. Obviously, you've got to add your water which has got flower food in it. Always use you're flower food.

MN: Do you know I was going to drink some of that earlier on. I'm glad I'm not now.

GP: Always use the flower food that comes with your cut flowers. It really does work.

MN: The flower food, is that the sort of little sachets of flower food?

GP: Yes.

MN: What is it? Do we know what's in that?

GP: It's got sugars in it and food that actually feed the ...

MN: Phosphates.

GP: Yeah, feeds the flowers to keep them nice and fresh but also helps keep the water clean because if your water gets very dirty the bacteria will kill the flowers off a lot quicker. So that's why you need to use it and some of these old wives tales about using bleach or lemonade really don't work so you do need to use those. I'm just going to get some more of these so I can ... show you them.

MN: You've got a whole bucketful down here you know. There's a whole bucket of the darn things down here ...

GP: So the beauty of them ...

MN: They are tremendous, aren't they.

GP: So I've just ...

MN: Again, you're just measuring them for size at the back there just to make this nice and simple.

GP: Yeah, what I'm actually doing, I'm cutting these for kind of aesthetics here.

MN: Mm

GP: But you should really ...

MN: How far should you cut?

GP: Well, however you want them to appear in the vase really. I'm just ...

MN: But you do hear this theory when people get cut flowers that what they should be doing is bashing the darn things.

GP: No, that's another ...

MN: So you hear that, don't you. That's a bit of a myth really, isn't it.

GP: That again destroys the cells in the stem which makes it harder for them to take up water which kind of makes sense really ...

MN: Yeah, of course it does, yeah.

GP: ... so you wonder why it was ever put about as a good thing to do but anyway ...

MN: Ridiculous!

GP: So you see they're massed together like that they look fantastic and actually the stems on these are quite amazing because they've kind of got the ...

MN: Pretty attractive, aren't they.

GP: ... purple colouring which I think looks great. Just move out the messy stuff.

MN: Those ... just see that you're making that a little presentation there. Now Terry, I don't know if that appeals to you but that in the loo, let me tell you, if it smells half as strong as it does here then you're not going to have any more bad smells at all. So I hope that answers your question. But that looks tremendous and how quickly was that to do.

GP: It was very quick and easy.

MN: And will they last quite a long time?

GP: They should last a week or more. I should also say that aesthetically because I wanted them to just be on the edge of the vase and I wanted them all to be the same height, I cut these.

MN: Right.

GP: But to preserve them for longer and preserve the scent, hyacinths actually do better if you don't chop the stems, if you don't chop the bottom stem off because it helps them last longer.

MN: Okay, alright. Thank you for pointing all of that out.

GP: But it won't kill them if you chop them but they'll just last longer if you don't.

MN: that's a great little arrangement; that's very, very simple that. Gemma, thank you for that and Terry, thank you very much for your question. Don't forget it's 'Challenge Gemma' today. We've already had one there, 'downstairs loo, bit smelly' and 'That's the occasion what's the arrangement?' So give us the occasion, we'll give you the arrangement in the next half an hour, in fact in the next fifteen minutes or so. So please, get on with that as soon as you can. It's in the little box at the bottom of the screen there along with the question box in which you can ask any question you like about these flowers or any other cut flowers. Talking of spring today, if you're wondering where all these gorgeous flowers come from well, sometimes they don't come out of the gardens somewhere in the U.K. because it's a bit colder at this time of the year, but just have a look at this little bit of footage here to give you some idea of where they're coming from.

Well, as you can see there, fantastic footage of where you'll find the flowers grown and how they get themselves to the growers. What actually happens, I mean we saw during there, that they're under glasshouse and then going from there.

GP: What happens is obviously, they're grown all over the world but what you saw there was flowers being grown in Holland and they're packed up, sorted, graded and taken to the huge auction houses where the flowers are bought and sold on a clock, what they call a clock. And actually it's not like a usual auction where prices go up. They actually go down.

MN: Hence 'The Dutch Auction' as the phrase.

GP: Yes, I mean you probably will have heard of the Dutch auctions because they're very famous. What happens after that is that, obviously the buyers of the flowers, who have bought them on the auctions, which tend to be exporters, importers and wholesalers, obviously are send the flowers in big trucks which you probably saw on the footage as well and they come over to the U.K. that way and are then sold through the wholesalers to florists, who then obviously produce beautiful designs for the customer.

MN: And, you know, that's the story. When you go into the florist or when you go down to the flower market, that's where they come from at this time of the year and it's a great exploration isn't it. Spending ... give yourself half an hour and go into either the florist or the flower market and just enjoy the fact that you're surrounded by these flowers and try and pick something out that you haven't seen before as well.

GP: Yes, I mean, we're very, very spoilt because, I mean, a lot of the flowers that come through Holland aren't just from Holland, aren't just grown there. They're coming from South America and Africa ...

MN: So they're come into one hub and then out from there.

GP: Yes, Israel, and they'll come through there and then to us. So that's hence the amazing amount of variety that we have here.

MN: Okay, well thank you for that. Interesting to see, that is. Let's talk about Mother's Day and Lucy's got a question, "What's the most popular flower for Mother's Day?" is Lucy's question.

GP: Well, the thing about Mother's Day is, unlike Valentine's, we don't just tend to think of just one type of flower.

MN: Roses. Valentine's ...

GP: Yeah, Valentine's Day is roses. But the advantage of Mother's Day, I always think, is that you can be a bit more, you know ... you can have some more fun with flowers, if you like.

MN: Right.

GP: You can choose different types, you can choose all these different varieties that we've talked about today, one of which we haven't discussed yet is Lysianthus. These are fantastic flowers.

MN: They're very delicate, aren't they

GP: They're very delicate but actually they last really well. They've got a look of rose about them.

MN: Yes, they have got a rose look, haven't they, yeah.

GP: And people often confuse them with roses and they don't actually know what they are. But this is a double lysianthus so it's got more petals on it than this one which is a purple one which is a single.

MN: Mm.

GP: You can see the difference, it's got ... this one's got a lot more petals, it's a bit more fluffy than this one. But they're just both as beautiful as each other. They come in really lovely colours and mums will like them for their variety of colours. You can get them in these soft pinks, greens, purples and also these bi-colour ones which I've got here.

MN: Ah yes, slightly variegated ...

GP: So you've got a white, mainly white flower ... it looks like it's been dipped, doesn't it, in some kind of purple ink.

MN: It does, doesn't it, yes.

GP: And they look great in a bouquet so your mum will love those in a bouquet.

MN: Mm.

GP: Another good thing for Mother's Day are hydrangea pots which we've got some of here. I just happen to have them here.

MN: Wow. Just happened to have some hydrangeas here.

GP: They make great gifts because they last really well. They'll bloom indoors for four to six weeks and you can get quite a few different types of hydrangea as you can see here.

MN: Question actually from Mark, from Shropshire who says, "I'm not tight but ...", Mark, I'm from Shropshire so I know you are!

MN: Mark, from Shropshire says, "I'm not tight but I'm working to a budget and I need a budget for a bunch of flowers for Mother's Day so what should I be expected or be expecting to pay?"

GP: Well, I think, you know, it's only once a year.

MN: Yes, and you've only got one mum.

GP: And you've only got one mum so I think, I mean most people would probably spend a minimum of thirty pounds, I would have thought. And you'd get a very good bouquet for that from a good florist.

MN: I tell you what, the florists are going to love me for saying this but why don't you just go and buy the flowers individually and make your own bouquet up?

MN: As Gemma is going to show us.

GP: You could do, you could do.

MN: You could do that, couldn't you.

GP: Yeah.

MN: Or, of course, you could go for one of these hydrangeas which are potted and that way it's a gift that's going to carry on forever, isn't it.

GP: Yeah, I mean, can I ... I'll just show you, if I can that they come in lots of different types because this one has got double flowers on it, it's lovely.

MN: That's stunning. You've got little blue flowers ...

GP: Yeah, you've got these little mini flowers here and then you've got these round the edge which are doubles. You've got the more traditional - the ones probably you've seen in your garden, these kind of mophead hydrangeas which are fantastic and also I've got ... just to show you that they ... if you've got a bit of a...

MN: There's more flowers down the back than you've ever seen.

GP: ... if you've got a bit of a funky mum which I'm sure some people have, you can ... you might think that hydrangeas are a bit kind of old fashioned looking.

MN: Sure.

GP: But put them in a really snazzy pot like this ...

MN: Just pop that down there.

GP: ... and that looks fantastic and you can even add to that. If you've got some of these, you can buy these in lots of places, these like, glass pebbles, you can put those around the top just to cover up the ... woops, cover up the ...

MN: Oh these are those coloured beads.

GP: Yeah, just to cover up the soil to give it that extra ... you can do this yourself of course, just to give it a bit more pzazz a bit more style and I'm sure any mum would be absolutely delighted to receive that ...

MN: Fantastic. Brilliant.

GP: ... and remember that they need lots of water hence the name, 'hydrangea'.

MN: Hydrangea as in 'hydro'.

GP: Yes.

MN: There we go. I'm going to put those back down there for a moment. Don't forget the challenge. We have to do one of those challenges very, very shortly for you we're getting our finalists through for the challenge very, very shortly so thank you very much indeed for suggesting the occasion and we will make the arrangement. So we've got one of those challenges coming up for you any second so prepare yourself.

GP: Ok.

MN: I think actually the word I'm getting at the moment is 'Mother's Day'. Mother's Day arrangement, can you do a Mother's Day arrangement with the flowers that you've got for us there?

GP: Yeah, I certainly can.

MN: There we go, so we'll get you started on that right now while I put this down here.

GP: What we actually know about mums, about females is that they tend to like arrangements that tone together so I'm not talking about clashing colours, I'm talking about things that go really well together so two or three colours that tone in.

MN: Just two or three colours.

GP: And perhaps ... yes, not a migraine bouquet as I like to call it ...

MN: Oh really.

GP: ... which has got lots and lots of colours, lots and lots of different flowers. This is a really good idea if you want a nice, stylish bouquet is to kind of choose colours that go together really well but not choose too many ...

MN: Incidentally, John from Basingstoke, sorry to talk over you, John from Basingstoke was the one who sent the challenge so it's your fault, John.

GP: ... like these. Okay, so the easiest thing to do is to just do a hand-tied bouquet. You've done this before, Murray, so you should be an expert.

MN: Ah yes, this is where you ...

GP: Spiralling the stems.

MN: Spiralling the stem.

GP: And it's quite good to group the flowers together I think because it gives it a more modern look.

MN: You start off with three.

GP: So if you do your stems so that they're all going in the same direction, holding it with one hand and placing the stems like so and then if you turn it as you do it you tend to get ...

GP: So if you do your stems so that they're all going in the same direction, holding it with one hand and placing the stems like so and then if you turn it as you do it you tend to get ...

GP: ... a better arrangement. So I'm going to start off with my paper whites on the one side and then I've got these lovely bi-colour tulips, like I said with tulips ...

MN: They've got a mind of their own, haven't they?

GP: They've got a bit of a mind of their own so I'm going to carry on spiralling as much as I can, I just have to move it away from the table so that I've got a bit of room. Again, I'm keeping most of the foliage on, except for the lower bits, on the tulips because it's quite nice foliage. Sometimes foliage on flowers is not very attractive so.

MN: Right, these actually have got a lovely thick leaf on them, haven't they, which makes it really lovely, nice and soft as well.

GP: ... you need to peel it off. Yes, see we just peel off the bottom one because once you get them or your mum gets them home, puts them in a vase, she doesn't want to get that below the water line otherwise it will get ... woops, the water too dirty. So I've got my tulips on that side so I'm kind of doing a third each.

MN: And then we're looking for these on the other.

GP: And it's getting bigger and bigger.

MN: It is getting ... it's becoming a very big bouquet, this.

GP: And then I've got the ranunculus which I'm preparing ...

MN: Ranunculus, it's a new word for us today, isn't it, ranunculus

GP: ... around the edge. Probably not doing the best job but ...

MN: Ok, we'll just ... that's it.

GP: You need to kind of place them as much as you can and then once you've got ... I'll just take a few more ... pretend these are ranunculus but ... oops, not doing very well here. So you're getting ... you can add probably twice that amount so you'll get a whole ...

MN: A whole large bouquet.

GP: ... dome. Basically, do you see how the colours ... there's not too much going on but there's just enough, they tone in nicely together.

GP: And I've chosen one scented flower again, because if you choose two they'll be too much and they'll fight with each other.

MN: You get a clash in the smell, don't you, mm. There you go.

GP: So you carry on with that and then you tie it obviously, and if you want to you could wrap it or put it in a nice bag or something like that.

MN: That's fantastic and the fact that you've made the bouquet yourself, that makes things a lot easier, doesn't it.

GP: It is.

MN: Well, we'll pop those down there for just a moment, if we can because our next challenge came in from Alexia who lives in Somerset. Hallo Alexia, thank you for watching the show. Alexia says barbecues, spring around the corner, just about to dust off the barbecue, get it all started.

GP: Woooh!

MN: Well, it's a bit early isn't it, but you've got to get the thing clean now ...

GP: Yes.

MN: But if you're going to be doing that, the first barbecue of spring, now there really is a landmark, isn't it, the first barbecue of spring and if you're going to do that I guess you're going to want some nice arrangements around, aren't you.

GP: Certainly, I think that if you're going to have an outdoor kind of arrangement on your table next to your barbecue, ...

MN: Hey, this is nice, I like this!

GP: ... how about choosing a container that, you know, obviously blends in well with the outside

MN: Sure.

GP: This is a nice watering can. What I've got here ... what I could ... I would use outside rather than using glass inside, is a plastic bottle that I've just cut the top off to actually put the flowers in. Again, obviously you've got to put your water in with the food.

MN: Water in first.

GP: Yep.

MN: Sensible, or else you just pour it all over the flowers.

GP: And obviously, I've got the handle in the way so you've got to bear that in mind but I'm going to use some of these amaryllis like this and because obviously, the size of the container dictates that you want to use quite big flowers I reckon.

MN: So big container, big-bulbed flowers to go with it and you're going to cut these quite short, aren't you really.

GP: Yes, make sure you kind of measure it against what you're actually putting it into ... just might make that a little bit shorter and ...

MN: Ok, well we're down to the last three minutes of the show here so this is high speed arrangement.

GP: Ooh, high speed arrangements.

MN: Doesn't time go very, very quickly. Thank you very much indeed for all of your questions we've been having in here and we'll try and get some more questions in the next time on this so we'll hold some of these questions back for our next mid-spring one.

GP: I'll put some paper whites in there as well. Oops, stray rinunculus.

MN: This ... great lilies, well I say lilies, they're not really lilies are they.

GP: Amaryllis.

MN: Amaryllis, they're just fantastic, aren't they and you're looking around for a few others that we've got down here.

GP: Hyacinths.

MN: Ah yes, some scented hyacinths and again for the spring barbecue these are going to look just great.

GP: So I'm not going too mad on ... oops, the colours here. Again we've just got some pale whites with some yellows.

MN: This could also be a table decoration for spring, couldn't it, as well, just as easily.

GP: You could, you could have this inside of course as well.

MN: Sure, I mean you might want to change the watering can for something else on the table but ...

GP: You could even put ... if you put water around the edge as well then you can obviously have some of your flowers just kind of ...

MN: You could even decorate some around, you know.

GP: ... be a bit more kind of relaxed if you like. A relaxed arrangement rather than too stiff around the edge.

MN: Got any top tips for spring really and spring flowers? Things we should and shouldn't be doing this time of year.

GP: Well, I think just go for it because there's so much on offer in terms of cut flowers.

MN: I don't know how you do this but you just seem to scatter flowers in and it looks great. When I do it looks an absolute bomb site so you've got the skill of doing this and I haven't. What's the website by the way?

GP: The website to find out more about spring flowers and flowers and plants in general is www.flowers.org.uk.

MN: That's www.flowers.org.uk, that's the web address and you'll find a link to that at the bottom of your screen as well. Thank you very much indeed for the challenges for Gemma which have kept you on your mettle today I daresay.

GP: They have.

MN: Just recap on some of the flowers that we've got in here just so people know what we've got, we've got variegated tulips.

GP: Yeah, parrot tulips.

MN: Parrot tulips.

GP: Yes, hyacinths.

MN: Hyacinths.

GP: Amaryllis.

MN: Amaryllis.

GP: Genista.

MN: Genista at the top there and ...

GP: If you wanted to compliment the pink in your amaryllis here as well ...

MN: Yeah.

GP: ... just going to add a touch of these lovely pink double lysianthus as well because I think that will pick out the pink in the amaryllis.

MN: Well, they just work

MN: You got a chance for one more? One more in time.

GP: Yes, I've got one more down here. Remember just to take off your foliage.

MN: This is flower arranging to time I may add. That is absolutely fantastic. Gemma, you've brought the colour of spring into the studio and hopefully into a few people's homes today. Thank you very much indeed for accepting the challenge.

GP: That's alright.

MN: Thank you for coming in again as always. We look forward to seeing you as the seasons unfold and from Gemma and myself here, thank you very much for indeed joining us and ... well, join us again next time, here on web chats.