First Impressions of Floradecora 2017
This year, in addition to the shows we're used to seeing in Frankfurt at Messe Frankfurt the last weekend of January, show attendees visiting for the Creativeworld, Paperworld and Christmasworld were greeted with a new addition: Floradecora!
[Disclosure: Messe Frankfurt, which puts on Floradecora, is a sponsor of this website.]
Floradecora, designed as an additional draw for the seasonal buyers who attend Christmasworld and the craft and garden center buyers who attend Creativeworld, is all about flowers! For show attendees who were coming from parts of the globe buried in snow, walking into Floradecora was like getting an explosion of spring and summer to blow away the winter blues. (But I recommend bringing your antihistamine if you are an allergy sufferer, because all of these beautiful flowers crammed in the exhibit halls come with a hefty dose of sneeze inducing pollen!)
It's hard to call what you see on this show floor "booths" since the displays are like walking through a massive garden. Each company has brought their various cut and seasonal floral products to display in abundant glory for maximum. Why display a dozen tulips when you can display ten dozen in a rainbow of colors?
Since Floradecora is something of a brand extension of Christmasworld, there were lots of holiday offerings to see. These poinsettias, of course, are a Christmas classic, available in many a store come holiday time. (Much of the U.S. thinks of these as potted plants but where I live in Florida, we can grow them outside. I still can't get quite used to seeing porches full of pots of them at the holidays!)
It wasn't just raw plants on display...there was also companies offering plants that were packaged, like these mini evergreen plants that were potted and decorated to look like Christmas trees for sale at the holidays.
And there was also fresh floral seasonal home decor items on offer. This gorgeous fresh evergreen wreath will look seasonal through the Christmas holidays but not look out of place continuing to hang through the winter in cold weather areas.
If you're sick of winter and would like to see something a bit more spring-y....tulips were a popular offering at Floradecora, perhaps because of its vicinity to the Netherlands, home of the world's most famous tulip fields.
Who knew there were so many color variations of tulips?
There was also fancy versions of tulips on offer, including some with ruffled and frayed edges on them, and interesting color variations.
Just like with Christmas, there were packaged plant options for spring on display as well. These spring bulb live plant offerings are right in line with the current craze for chickens in home decor.
And of course, there had to be plenty of the queen of all flowers, the rose! There were masses of them in all shades, hybrids and stages of bloom.
And yes, they smelled as good as they looked! If it weren't for my allergies making my face turn into something resembling the great pumpkin, I could have spent all day just breathing in the beautiful smells!
Everywhere you turn at the show there are beautiful flowers for every occasion...there was also a huge display of these lilies in white.
Here in Florida, it's popular to buy potted orchids to grow in homes, so I'm used to seeing them for sale in stores. But I've never seen quite this many - or this many different size options - in one place before. Those ones on the far right are huge!
Not all of the flowers on display at Floradecora were in their natural state. I'd never seen glitter dipped roses before, but it seems like they would be perfect for a special occasion like a formal wedding.
And some of the floral offerings weren't natural at all! These roses by Primera were made of wax! These would be great where live flowers are unsuitable, and silks are impractical as well. They seem able to stand up to conditions that would crush or damage silks, and won't move in the wind like silks will.
The Primera roses come packaged in boxes, and are available in various quantities.
The Primera booth had some absolutely gorgeous samples on display that showed off what could be done with the wax roses to create arrangements for a formal event.
This was only the first year for Floradecora, and like Creativeworld has the past 7 years, it will surely grow and change as it matures in future years. I look forward to seeing how it develops!