Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flowers for contrast and design purposes.
Floral design professionals work at florist shops (floristry) and use their design skills and experience with many types of flowers and greens to create works of art with flowers.
Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related supplies to professionals in the trade. Retail florists offer fresh flowers and related products and services to consumers. The first flower shop in the United States opened prior to 1851.
Floristry concerns the cultivation of flowers as well as their arrangement and sale. Much of the raw material supplied for the floristry trade comes from the cut flowers industry. Florist shops, along with online stores, are the main flower-only outlets, but supermarkets, garden supply stores, and filling stations also sell flowers.
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown because of their appearance, but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that improve on the original species in qualities such as color, shape, scent, and long-lasting blooms. There are many examples of fine ornamental plants that can provide height, privacy, and beauty for any garden. These ornamental perennial plants have seeds that allow them to reproduce. One of the beauties of ornamental grasses is that they are very versatile and low maintenance.
Almost all types of plants have ornamental varieties: trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses, succulents, aquatic plants, herbaceous perennials and annual plants. Non-botanical classifications include houseplants, bedding plants, hedges, plants for cut flowers and foliage plants. The cultivation of ornamental plants comes under floriculture and tree nurseries, which is a major branch of horticulture.
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically to a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite, also called "liquid bleach".
Many bleaches have broad-spectrum bactericidal properties, making them useful for disinfecting, sterilizing. Liquid bleach is one of the few compounds capable of fully annihilating DNA, making it commonplace for sanitizing laboratory equipment. They are used in swimming pool sanitation to control bacteria, viruses, and algae and in many places where sterile conditions are required. They are also used in many industrial processes, notably in the bleaching of wood pulp. Bleaches also have other minor uses, such as removing mildew, killing weeds, and increasing the longevity of cut flowers.
The floral industry is focused on the production, distribution and sale of flowers for human enjoyment. The industry continues to diversify from the production of cut flowers to the production and sale of plants and flowers in many different forms. The global floral industry market size is estimated to be worth US$ 50040 million in 2022 and is forecast to increase to US$ 58030 million by 2028 with a compound annual growth rate of 2.5% during the review period.
For example, the US Agricultural Census identifies six categories of flowers. Most US consumers purchase flowers as a general category because plant purchases are made based on appearance and enjoyment, not by name. These groups are just for convenience, to help organize the long list of flowering plants in the floral industry. The groups are cut flowers, cut cultivated greens, annual bedding/garden plants, potted flowering plants, herbaceous perennial plants, foliage plants - indoor/patio use and propagative floriculture materials. Generally, these are garden flowers and houseplants, most produce attractive flowers, while some offer attractive foliage. Although these plants are from diverse native habitats and taxa, years of selection have found those that can be produced economically and are adaptable to the human environment.
Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous hybrid perpetuals with the tall, elegant tea roses. The hybrid tea is the oldest class of modern garden roses. Hybrid teas exhibit traits midway between their parents, being hardier than the often delicate tea roses, and with a better ability for repeat-flowering than the more robust hybrid perpetuals.
Hybrid tea flowers are well-formed with large, high-centred buds, supported by long, straight and upright stems. Each flower can grow to 8–12.5 cm wide. Hybrid teas are the largest and most popular group of rose, due to their elegant form and large variety of colours. Their flowers are usually borne singly at the end of long stems which also makes them very popular as cut flowers.