Florist News

It is useful to know the Latin names as supposedly they don't change (although the ruscus example is a bit confusing) and internationally it is useful BUT I also think some recognition of knowing the common name should be acknowledged. We get no marks for knowing common names (there is no place for them on the test) yet on a daily basis they are used even the wholesalers here use them- so I think that knowing (and being tested on) both is important. Whenever I'm buying plants at the garden centre I go by the Latin name to make sure I'm getting the right thing. Which brings me to why I wanted to find out the right name -does anyone have soft ruscus growing in their garden - is it possible for someone not particularly green fingered?

When we did our tests, we got marks for giving both common names and latin names. My favourite latin name is for leather leaf..my customers think its great when i spout it off

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gerbera daisy

Whilst i take on board the merits of knowing some latin,i can see the swelling of us the true florists chest,when we spout a little latin name hither and nither as we serve,i still fail to see how this makes you faster more savvy or pro active in the shop environment,yes the dutch web sites love latin names but if you deal direct with dutch they funnily enough speak of all the flowers/green by their common name,no Asterix or Obelix are seldom mentioned,Pinkypink i also understand that a course has to have an acedemic grounding to be funded or recognised,this alas speaks volumes more about how our country is governed with a view to getting as many people into full time education/vocational courses so as to manage/massage employment figures this is though digressing.
The gist of my shout is the latin bit,is just a small portion of my grrrr shout at these courses fundamental flaws,yes latin has a place(small in my mind)i will liken it if you will to this,i learnt all the basics of maths throughout school, then Wooooooooshhhhhhhhhh,along came the calculator as long as i had the tool and the grounding everything was fine,so the same with latin get a grounding show people the tool (hint...im using one now)and woooooosh!!!!... "it's there for when you need it"
What's needed at the pointy end(in shop)from these courses is speed/competence a willingness to be spongelike and skin as thick as a rhino( rhinoceros unicornis,or diceros bicornis,"oh look i used the tool")amongst a mixed bag of other things to numerous to mention.

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seldom rong!!!!

Honestly, I think this is a discussion along the lines of the 'relay-run'...whats better-whats important. There will always be a discussion somewhere and there will always be folks who have an idea how to do something better/more efficient AND there will always be those who don't take advice on how to make things better/more effecient.
BUT-as far as your comment obowl about math...well, I gotta disagree! (nothing personal here-just a discussion) Sure, in school there were things we learned that I will NEVER use in my life...i.e.figuring out the co-tangent of something-or-other...and that was really dry stuff that made my head swirl. In my apprenticeship here in Germ one of the tasks we had to learn was how to cotton-up and wire a gerbera and when wiring a leaf there were things we needed to do that NO florist will EVER do when wiring a leaf. But, so what!!! I know how to do it! Of course it won't make me more savvy or proactive in my shop, just as learning French in highschool won't be of any use to someone who wants to become a woodworker!! In Germ we call it "Allgemeinwissen"= general knowledge. My opinion? You can NEVER have enough of that!!

I agree with your comment about learning speed/competence and sponge-like qualities, but no genius has fallen from the sky! Experience comes with time. My first bq that looked half decent took me half an hour to finish!! Of course my boss told me back then that I'd have to LEARN to do it faster, but again, I wasn't born a florist...I had to LEARN!!

I don't think its a schools job to teach a student how to deal with everyday life...such as having a thick skin and having a willingness to learn general knowledge...thats our parents job! In an ideal world all parents have influenced their kids to WANT to do this. My advice to students? Take what your learning as a good basis into this industry. All the stuff where you think "do I really NEED to know this?"...take it in stride. You may voice your opinion...everyone is entitled to one...but in the end its more than likely that you're not going to change a tutors mind (unfortunately sometimes!!) and just think...once you've got the basics down pat, you're off on your own to create your own style and to wow the world with your general knowledge!!

Oh, and as far as calculators go..THANK GOD they were invented..but I'm still happy that I can multiply 6 x 1,60 in my head!

my two cents...for all its worth!

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~success is a lousy teacher...it seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose~

Hi Mapletree,love your advice(to stuents) in last paragraph very true and wise words,and im so glad you spent an age caressing gerberas,wireing is a skill the florist needs,and as a trainee in shop you would be asked to wire up the ingredients given to you,for the florist to then make into the finished article,this is useful stuff you are then contributing to the shop,the next time an item is ordered that needs some pre-wireing thats where the trainee becomes(savvy and pro active)"hopefully" and gets the items in front of her shouts out "is this what you want" a quick check,"well done".
Anything floristy learnt well, can only be good on these courses, the rest is just padding out the course for who's benefit i'm unsure.
I'm glad floristry has a recognised qualification and those who gain it deserve praise,but please then realise that once you are at the sharp end things are a whole heap different....there is a chasm between shop and classroom.

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seldom rong!!!!

Coming back to the point - anyone grown this?

, everyones off on a tangent again......RAVEN WANT TO TALK ABOUT RUSCUS......

No raven, never grown soft or hard ruscus....think thats probably one for the greenhouse?......the foliages I know of for the garden that are handy: petisporum, eucolyptus, bergenia, achemilla mollis, hosta, mahonia japonica, hedera, hebe, laurel, holly, echinops.....now that is off the top of my head and the spellings might be a bit wrong, there are piles more of course, anyway thats not what you asked

haven't grown soft or hard ruscus in the garden but last year when we went to Holland i bought a ruscus plant similar to the soft ruscus the florist i bought it from said it was a curly ruscus - i showed it to the head of horticulture at college and he said yep it was definately a curly ruscus and it's growing slowly but doing fine. i've kept it in a pot on the patio so moved it to a more sheltered area for the winter. it is a really pretty plant all the leaves are deep green and looks like a soft ruscus but the leaves curl around them self as they grow

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Wendie
I never fail - just keep practising