Flowers

The man who telephoned the florist said he wanted to send an arrangement to an acquaintance who was hospitalized.What kind of flowers did he request?Dead ones.The shop refused to accept the order, one of the more bizarre requests in Lee Wilhide's 40 years as a florist."Flowers should carry cheerfulness into a hospital room," says Mr. Wilhide, who owns four stores in the Baltimore-Washington area.Flowers have comforted the sick for centuries. They still do. Hospitals and home illness account for 15 per cent of the floral trade nationwide, with arrangements averaging $28 apiece.

His bicycle laden with saddlebags and backpacks stuffed with roses, carnations and baby's breath, Gregory Thomlinson was a common sight pedaling in West and Northwest Baltimore communities for nearly 20 years.Mr. Thomlinson, 65, who died Saturday of cancer at his Northwest Baltimore home, was proprietor and operator of perhaps the only flower shop that journeyed through the city by bicycle.Affectionately known as "Mr. Rose," Mr. Thomlinson slowly steered his rusted and aging Schwinn through the main streets and alleys of Rosedale, Walbrook and Windsor Hills most mornings, stopping only for water breaks and sales.

While other farmers are turning their attention to fall crops such as pumpkins, Indian corn and even Christmas trees, Frank Rhodes Jr. still is tending his 2-acre field of flowers in Ellicott City.At the end of the fresh-flower season, customers still are stopping by Frank's Produce on Old Waterloo Road to troop through the blossoms, armed with shears to clip off those that strike their fancy. While there are a couple of cut-your-own flower farms in western Howard County, Frank's became the only one in Ellicott City when it opened five years ago just west of Interstate 95."

Thomas A. Flowers, a Dorchester County councilman and retired educator who enjoyed collecting, writing and lecturing about his county's history and folklore, died in his sleep Saturday at his Cambridge home. He was 82. Dr. Flowers, who called himself "The Old Honker," was born and raised at Fishing Creek on Hoopers Island, the son of a waterman. A 1939 graduate of the old Hoopers Island High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1943 from what was then Salisbury State Teachers College.

On December 22, 2008, DIANE E. FLOWERS. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Thursday after 12 P.M where the family will receive friends on Friday at 1:30 P.M. at which time funeral services will begin.

Kimberley Flowers, a former government employee in Washington and Baltimore, has been named deputy director of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning. In the $104,187-a-year position, Flowers will serve as an ombudsman among the department, community and other government officials. She began her new job Monday. The position was recommended in February by a transition team for County Executive Ken Ulman, which said that there was a need to establish greater trust with the community.

An American soldier entered the small flower shop in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, to find something for his sweetheart back home. That same day, a bouquet arrived on her doorstep, 6,000 miles away.The flowers came with a card. It read:"To my beautiful wife carrying our precious child. I love you."The bouquet was one of hundreds that have been sent to loved ones by U.S. military personnel in the Persian Gulf.In December, American servicemen and women ordered more than 500 long-distance arrangements through FTD (Florists' Transworld Delivery)

I'd like to try to dry some flowers from my garden. Can you tell me how to do this?A number of methods have been developed for drying plant materials. I'll cover just two.Harvest the flowers early in their blooming season, so you'll have a good choice of specimens. Pick twice as many blossoms as you think you'll need, as you will have some failures. Cut the blooms at midday, when they are dry, not covered with dew.Strip the foliage from the stem before you tie the stalks together (most foliage is unsightly when dried)

"IT TAKES a good 10 years for a garden to get going," says Trudy Jo Snader of New Windsor. Snader should know. She has one of the most luxurious gardens around, and she's been working on it for 17 years.I had wanted to talk to Snader about her gardens since I became an admirer of the dried flower creations she has sold at area shops and crafts fairs.It was a hot, muggy day when she and I toured her garden and its more than 75 varieties of plants and flowers, but the shade from trees provided a cooling effect as we talked about the rewards and lessons learned from a lifetime of cultivating flowers.

Union Mills Homestead will open its 1991 season with the 22nd annual Flower and Plant Market and Antique Show, Saturday and next Sunday.In addition to the sale there will be guided tours of the 1797 house, home to six generations of the Shriver family, and the restored 1830 brick grist mill. Lunch can be purchased on the grounds.Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the grounds is free, but there is a small charge for tours of the museum and for the antique show.