[February 2012 Schedules] Flower Lessons at Queensberry

Come enjoy an afternoon of Floral Design at our Brand-new Yaletown Station Shop!

Our experienced floral designers will teach you from the basic of the floral design to tips on how to keep your flowers fresh at home.

All levels of experience welcome!  Feel free to come by yourself or bring your friend!

To register or to find more about our Flower Lessons, please call, email or inquire in person at our Granville Station Shop or Yaletown Station Shop!

*We have samples and detailed explanation of each lesson.  Feel free to come by the shop and check them out!



[February 2012 Schedule]
*All our prices include lesson fee, cost of fresh flowers, wrapping, and containers.

Valentine's Day Box Arrangement Lesson $50 (+HST)
Who wants to make a hand-made Valentine's Day gift for that special someone this year?  Fill a cute wooden box with red flowers and silver leaves.  Add heart picks and pearly strings, and you'll have a lovely Valentine's Day arrangement.  Enjoy it at home, give it to your friends or share it with your family!  
February 10 (Fri)  6:00 - 7:30PM
February 11 (Sat) 2:00 - 3:30PM

Mini Bouquet Lesson $39 (+HST)
Learn the basic of spiral bouquet making.  You can apply the skills learned to many different styles!  Every month, you will learn the names of the seasonal flowers and how to best incorporate them into your bouquet.  You will be making one mini bouquet and one medium size bouquet in this class.  Take this class before taking intermediate level lessons.  *Gift wrapping is optional at an additional cost.  
February 16 (Thu) 2:00 - 3:30PM
February 18 (Sat) 2:30 - 4:00PM (SOLD OUT)
February 21 (Tue) 2:00 - 3:30PM
February 28 (Tue) 2:00 - 3:30PM

Presentation Bouquet Lesson $56 (+HST)
Learn to make a tall and impressive presentation-style bouquet that utilizes the beautiful vertical line of tall flowers and branches. Learn from our expert instructors how to make the basic structure of the bouquet and let your creativity flow!  * You will need to first complete "Mini Bouquet Lesson" to attend this class if you are a beginner.   *Photo is just a sample, flower selection will change monthly.
February 16 (Thu) 6:00 - 7:30PM
February 18 (Sat) 12:30 - 2:00PM
February 23 (Thu) 2:00 - 3:30PM
March 1 (Thu) 6:00 - 7:30PM

Rose Bouquet Lesson $59 (+HST)
Roses are the Queen of flowers.  Using the spiral technique of bouquet making, make a luxurious rose bouque using the rose of the month.  Mix roses with unique greenery and other small flowers to create a modern style rose bouquet perfect for your home or as a gift.  You will also learn to gift wrap your rose bouquet.  
February 21 (Tue) 6:00 - 7:30PM
February 23 (Thu) 6:00 - 7:30PM
February 25 (Sat) 2:30 - 4:00PM

Spring Plant Arrangement Lesson $52 (+HST)
Using vibrant spring flowers such as anemone, hyacinth and tulips, we will teach you how to make a spring flower arrangement.  We will even incorporate the whole hyacinth with the bulb attached, so you'll be able to "grow" a little spring at home!   
February 25 (Sat) 12:30 - 2:00PM
February 28 (Tue) 6:00 - 7:30PM
March 1 (Thu) 2:00 - 3:30PM
March 3 (Sat) 2:30 - 4:00PM

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly.  "One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." - Hans Christian Andersen

This quote is from Andersen's story called "The Butterfly" written in 1861.  A rather depressing story, just like many of his stories, about a picky butterfly looking for the perfect bride who comes to the realization that his life is ending not the way he envisioned.  Despite its source, the quote itself is very hopeful, and we couldn't think of a better quote to be placed on the wall of our new Yaletown shop.

In keeping with Queensberry's philosophy, adding a little flower to your life is great... what a privilege and a joy it is to be able to provide a place that gives busy city people the chance to stop and smell the roses!

Cherry Blossom Viewing Tour Day 2

Sunday was a gloomy gray day but the cherry blossoms
were brightening up the city!
Stay tuned for more Sakura reports this week!

If you know the
best blossom viewing spots, please let us know!

False Creek, by Granville Island.  Full bloom!

By the Vancouver Maritime Museum... Full Bloom!

Queen Elizabeth Park ... will be the BEST viewing spot NEXT WEEK!  

Not quite there yet...

Vancouver's Shaughnessy neighborhood... rows of cherry trees!  

Cherry Blossom Tour in Vancouver Part 1

Happy spring, everyone!

We are so lucky to be living in beautiful Vancouver where spring time means blooming flowers and irresistible fragrance in the air...

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival kick started last week and if you walk or drive around the city, you can easily spot the light pink cherry trees.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Japanese obsession with Cherry Blossoms (known as Sakura), it is a national celebration that the entire country anticipates every early spring.  Sakura is one of Japan's national flowers and Sakura viewing (known as Hanami) events are super popular!  Hanami is where people sit under the full bloom of Sakura trees for hours and admire the beauty of the blossoms while enjoying food and drink specially prepared for the Sakura viewing.

As someone born and raised in Japan, this is the season to celebrate.  So I've decided to team up with my husband and go on a journey to find the best Sakura viewing spots with the help of Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Society's website (www.vcbf.ca).

Today, I started off with one of my favorite spots, Burrard SkyTrain Station!  You just can't miss this beautiful tunnel of cherry blossoms.  Walk around and feel the soft and fragrant air created by the millions of sweet Sakura blossoms...

Fall has arrived

Now at the shop, it's all about beautiful fall colors, fall plants and pumpkins.  One of our favorites at Queensberry is Physalis also known as Chinese lantern or Cape Gooseberry.  You can dry them and keep them for a long time and they are a great addition to fall-themed bouquets or arrangements.

Whenever I see Physalis, I feel warm and fuzzy because my mother used to tell me that inside the orange lantern lives a fairly and that individual lanterns are little houses for fairies and I should never break them.  Later on I found out that there is actually a little fruit inside the lanterns, but I still like to imagine a little fairy dancing inside them. 

Another favorite at Queensberry are mini pumpkins.  You will see a pile of mini pumpkins all through autumn at our shop, and we're so excited to have these in our arrangements!  

... and don't forget our little glittery pumpkin picks!

  

Little Miss Craspedia

I just had to share this picture of Craspedia.  All our staff went "Awww" and we have been frequently witnessing the impulsive purchases of Craspedia for the past few weeks.

Craspedia is from the Daisy family, and are commonly known as billy buttons or woollyheads (cute!).  Their fuzzy flowers (?) last for weeks and are just so darn cute in a bouquet.  We like to stick two Craspedia in our Berry bouquets like antennas...  That's just one example of what you can do with Craspedia.

Just a quick announcement...

We can now deliver flowers across the Greater Vancouver area!   Give us a call or send us an email.  We will be happy to assist you with choosing the right flowers for your special occasion.   Minimum order for our delivery service is $25.

Also, we now carry gift certificates (available in any denomination).  If you are not sure which flowers to choose, treat the recipient with a happy shopping experience at our flower-filled shop!