This article appeard in the june issue of floracultureinternational.
It was a prelude to the euro 2008 football championships
For those intrested it was Spain who won this year's championship

Our industry affects all walks of life. Think about it, when we visit a hospital, if conditions allow, we take flowers. To the mother of the new born baby, or to someone who just had surgery. You can also find nice flower arrangements at weddings and at social occasions of all sorts, whether it’s a family do, a reunion, or just an informal dinner with friends. We love to give someone a nice plant when they move to a new place or have refurnished their old place. Of course in times of upheaval, such as the passing away of a loved one or in commemorating our fallen soldiers we will also see flowers.

There are countries that have a national flower; there are states, provinces, cities and even local areas that have flowers as an emblem. In the office, at the restaurant, in the shops, in our living room, in gardens, our industry is always there, admit it there is no other industry that has such a huge presence in our everyday life; except for food maybe, but food is all about existence, flowers are all about emotions.

So why not sports? Why not have a flower with the same colour as our favourite sports team. Why not have the fans buying “their” flower and proudly displaying it at home or at the workplace, whether it’s in the office or in the truck, or wherever their work is based. Why not sell the flower in a sleeve with the logo of the team on it or on the pot of the pot plant. These days you can even print the logo on the flower itself. This market is huge, everybody has a favourite team, there are hundreds of teams in all different categories of sport, in football, basketball, hockey, volleyball, bowling, gymnastics, golf, handball... wow! The list is never-ending. You have national teams and local teams, regional championships, every college and university has teams, little league and the old-timers’ league. Imagine each one of these teams adopting a flower or pot plant that is the colour of their team.

You have teams whose colours will be very easy to fit with a flower, and of course you have teams whose colours will be a bit more challenging. Everybody can win from such a situation. The farmers and nurseries will be able to get a better price for this captured audience type market. The owners of the team will receive royalties for the use of their emblem. Wholesalers will have a very nice niche market and the fans will always appreciate having the “right colour” flowers in their home.

The flowers of course should not be sold at the sports arena or during the competition, since fans will probably end up throwing the flowers at either the players or in the arena and that will only create a mess and very soon it will cause anger among the authorities. The flowers should remain proudly displayed in the fans home or workplace.



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Flower power is Brown's last hope

Poor old Gordon Brown; now even the gardeners who organise the Chelsea Flower Show want to sink their pitchforks into him. The Royal Horticultural Society has launched a petition headed: "Let's turn Brown green" - calling for VAT on all ornamental plants and seeds to be cut from 17.5pc to 5pc. Inga Grimsey, RHS director general, panted: "Gordon Brown has already set a precedent for reducing VAT on goods credited with 'green' status, including wind turbines and solar panels, but plants and seeds are conspicuous by their absence.

"If every person was given the means to plant up their garden, window box or patio tubs, just imagine what could be achieved. Unless more people are encouraged to grow plants, the Britain that was once known as a nation of gardeners faces the likelihood of a bleak, brown future." Sadly, the Greenies have about as much chance as a lily in the Sahara; this particular tax break would cost the Exchequer £175m a year.