From the back streets of old Shanghai

Gerberas are popular in China and mostly they appear in arrangements similar to the one above where gerberas are mixed with other flowers on a cane frame. There is a block of what we would call "oasis" which is full of water and the flowers are inserted into this water filled block to keep them fresh for longer periods. (I suspect that few of the new owners of these arrangements ever "top up" the water, as the flowers are soon dead!)

Many of these arrangements are used in shops or restaurants particularly new ones. This is one of the best arrangements of this type that I have seen.

We visited Old Shanghai Town which is beside Yu Gardens in the old part of Shanghai - there are many tourists and locals who shop in this vicinity, but we were "off the beaten track" in the back streets behind the Dragon Gate Mall, where these arrangements were sitting on the street outside the florist shop.

There are many many florists in China - quite surprising really!

Gerberas in China

I am now living in China - for about four and a half months. I'm keen to see waht flowers are used and grown here for the florist market.

In the days that I have visited the city of Shaoxing I have seen florists as we drive by in the bus, but only last night did I actually see one up close!

Of course they have what we call Gerberas, but I am yet to find out what they are called here. One of the florists had a small table in the street (if was after dusk), and was making an arrangement. I noticed that they used "cups" to transport the flowers, just like we do in Australia, but the "cups" are made of paper, not plastic. There seemed to be some with silver foil, and others just white paper.

We were on our way to a restaurant with a group of teachers from here, so I did not get a chance to stop and have a closer look. Another time.

There is a big market in the centre of Shaoxing that has plants, flowers, etc and one day next week I hope to visit it - I'd love to have some flowers in my very bare apartment.