The science of why flowers smell so good

With Valentine’s Day upcoming, part of your Valentine’s plan may well involve sending flowers to India online . These come in an array of different colours, and also have a range of different scents. What are the chemical compounds behind these scents? That’s the question that this graphic tries to answer, with a more detailed discussion of each below.

Firstly, it’s important to realise that aroma chemistry is complex, and the smell of any flower is never really the consequence of a single chemical compound. Flowers give off a complex mix of volatile organic chemicals, and whilst not all of these will contribute to the aroma, a significant number will impact it to varying degrees. Whilst we can’t point to single compounds as being the cause of flowers’ scents, we can identify those that have a major impact on the aroma that our noses detect; in many cases, there will be molecules that make a large contribution, and it’s those we’ll discuss here.

Roses

Roses online are by far and away the most popular choice of flower for Valentine’s Day — and by association, the most expensive! Their scent is majorly influenced by compound named after the flower, (-)-cis-rose oxide. This molecule is a particular isomer of rose oxide (which has 4 different isomers), and the one which contributes the typical floral rose fragrance. It’s detectable by our noses at very low concentrations in air — down as low as 5 parts per billion. To give this some perspective, one part per billion is equivalent to one second in thirty-two years.

Another compound that contributes to the scent of roses is beta-damascenone. This compound belongs to a family of chemical entities known as rose ketones. It also has an even lower odour threshold than rose oxide, with its aroma being detectable at just 0.009 parts per billion. Another compound with a comparably low odour threshold, beta-ionone, is also an important contributor; both of these compounds are minor constituents of the plant’s essential oil, but of great importance to its perceived fragrance.

Other compounds that make minor contributions to the aroma include geraniol, nerol, (-)-citronellol, farnesol, and linalool.

Carnations

Carnations online, too, are a common component of floral bouquets. In comparison to roses, their scent is much fainter; the major aroma chemicals that make up this scent are eugenol, beta-caryophyllene, and benzoic acid derivatives.

Scents can be very variable between different species of carnations; one study correlated this with the varying proportions of eugenol and methyl salicylate in the aroma volatiles. Eugenol is actually a compound that’s been discussed before on the site, in the context of its occurrence in cloves. Methyl salicylate is also found in many other plants, and is more commonly known as oil of wintergreen.

Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-flowers-smell-so-good-2015-2#piev1IJcMAlcHWeR.99

Trump campaign manager: We have not 'formally' invited and 'don’t expect' ex-Bill Clinton mistress to be at debate

Donald Trump will not formally invite a woman who former President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with decades ago to this week's presidential debate, his campaign manager said on Sunday.

The Republican presidential nominee on Saturday threatened to invite Gennifer Flowers to Monday's presidential debate at Hofstra University following Hillary Clinton's decision to invite billionaire investor and Trump-agitator Mark Cuban to the debate.

But in an interview on "State of the Union," Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the Trump campaign had not formally invited Flowers to the debate in Long Island, New York, and mocked the Clinton campaign for being "baited" into responding to Trump's threat.

"Basically, Mr. Trump was saying look, if Mark Cuban is going to send out these texts saying 'The Humbling at Hofstra,' and 'This is his big downfall,' then Mr. Trump was putting them on notice that we can certainly invite guests that make it into the head of Hillary Clinton," Conway said.

She added: "But we have not invited her formally, and we don't expect her to be there as a guest of the Trump campaign."

Clinton's campaign criticized Trump on Saturday for inviting Flowers, with whom former President Bill Clinton admitted having "sexual relations" with at least once when he was attorney general of Arkansas during the 1970s.

"Hillary Clinton plans on using the debate to discuss the issues that make a difference in people's lives. It's not surprising that Donald Trump has chosen a different path," Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.

Flowers, who is supporting Trump, previously told The New York Times that she would be at the debate, though it was unclear whether she had received a formal invitation or was simply responding to Trump's tweet.

For his part, Cuban has proved deft at getting under Trump's skin.


source - https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-not-inviting-gennifer-flowers-debate-2016-9/lightbox?r=AU&IR=T

GASPARINO: Dan Loeb Yelled At The Secretary Of A Sotheby's Board Member And Then Sent Flowers

Activist hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb yelled at the secretary of a Sotheby's board member and then later apologized by sending flowers, Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino reports.

According to Gasparino, Loeb—who has been battling with Sotheby's—tried calling up a board member at the auction house. The board member's secretary answered the phone and informed Loeb that the board member wasn't in the office. She then transferred Loeb to the trading desk. The trading desk transferred him back to the absent board member's secretary.

Gasparino says that Loeb yelled at the secretary.

The next day he sent her flowers.

So at least he apologized. That was the classy thing to do.


source - https://www.businessinsider.com/loeb-sends-flowers-to-secretary-2014-3/lightbox?r=AU&IR=T

The ultimate guide to buying flowers on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is only a week away, which means people around the country are scrambling to order flowers.

We spoke with floral expert Nic Faitos of New York’s Starbright Floral Design about price point, what to buy, and buds to consider.

Since he's been in the business for over 20 years, he shared his top tips every guy should know before buying Valentine’s Day flowers.

“What I tell people is to try and keep it a little more interesting than just the traditional dozen roses,” Faitos told us. “Price-wise, roses go through the roof.”

Roses are notoriously marked up on Valentine’s Day when demand is high. In some places, the cost of a single long-stemmed red rose will surge by as much as 100%.

You’d be better off ordering different flowers that are in season, such as Lilies, Chrysanthemums, and Amaryllis. Flowers in peak season will not only arrive fresher, but they’ll last longer, too.

“A dozen roses is something that’s expected. You can think a little more creatively and get a better and bigger arrangement for your dollar if you do things a little bit differently,” Faitos said.


source - https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-buy-valentines-day-flowers-2015-2/lightbox?r=AU&IR=T

Private Equity Giant J. Christopher Flowers Is Selling His Upper East Side Co-Op For $18 Million

Having recently forked out $20 million for a second floor-unit at 640 Park Avenue, billionaire private equity mogul J. Christopher Flowers may be trying to balance his books.

Flowers, who founded J.C. Flowers & Co., has listed his six-bedroom, seven-bathroom spread at 66 East 79th Street for $18 million, according to Streeteasy.com.

The price is $1 million less than what Flowers paid for the property in 2006. The unit is listed by Sami Hassoumi of Brown Harris Stevens, who was not immediately available for comment.

This is the first time that the duplex apartment, located on the 14th and 15th floors of the building, has been publicly offered for sale. The home, which was originally designed as the largest in the building, has traded only through privately marketed transactions in the past, according to the listing. It has a 30-foot drawing room, a formal dining room and a wood-paneled library.

Flowers online India bought the unit in 2006 from old school ad man Martin Puris, who penned BMW’s signature tag line “the ultimate driving machine.” That was the same year he made records for paying out $53 million for the Harkness Mansion at 4 East 75th Street. The Harkness property later sold to art world powerhouse Larry Gagosian for a loss in 2011. Gagosian paid just $36.5 million for the property, which he may turn into an art gallery.

online Flowers delivery  new digs on Park Avenue reportedly have six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms as well as a gym and staff facilities.

source - https://www.businessinsider.com/j-christopher-flowers-selling-ues-co-op-2013-2/lightbox?r=AU&IR=T

Humans Have Been Decorating Graves With Flowers For 13,000 Years

In a human tradition still around today, ancient humans from Israel decorated graves with fresh-picked flowers before burying their kin. These are the earliest examples of flowers online being used to line graves.

The graves were discovered at Raqefet Cave, in Mt. Carmel, Israel. They belong to humans of the Natufian culture, which existed from 13,000 to 9,800 B.C. They found a total of 29 skeletons, including infants, children, and adults. Some were buried alone and some in double graves. The graves are between 13,700 and 11,700 years old.

Four of the graves they found had evidence of flowering plants lining the graves, placed on top of a layer of mud, so they were able to see the impressions the plants made. The researchers think the plants would have provided not just color, but fragrance to the graves.

"The emergence of Natufian cemeteries, such as those at Raqefet Cave and Hilazon Tachtit Cave, also may represent new and complex social organizations," the researchers write in their paper, published today, July 1, in the journal Proceedings Of the National Academy Of Sciences. 

Here's one of the double graves they discovered, which contained a 12-to-15 year old adolescent on the right, and a 30-year-old on the left:

source - https://www.businessinsider.com/13000-year-old-human-graves-with-flowers-2013-7/lightbox?r=AU&IR=T

Here's where to buy sustainably grown flowers for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day means saying it with flowers. Last year Australians imported more than 5.22 million rose stems between February 1 and 14, mostly from Kenya. Assuming typical bouquets of 24 roses, that’s 217,500 flower bouquets sold in two weeks.

The problem is that our pursuit of goodwill and affection towards humanity through the giving of cut flowers is hurting the number-one lady in all of our lives: Mother Nature. If those 217,500 bouquets were each wrapped in 75cm of plastic cellophane, that adds up to more than 163 km of plastic wrapping used in a two-week period – just for roses, just in Australia.

But facts about cellophane probably won’t win over your sweetheart. So with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, let’s consider making smarter, more sustainable flower purchases.

Petal power
In Australia alone, there are more than 900 flower farms intensively cultivating 4,470 hectares in order to supply almost 2,000 florists. However, the majority of cut flowers sold in Australia actually originate overseas, with imports from Ecuador alone valued at A$1.9 million in 2015. If you’re asking yourself “why are delicate flowers shipped halfway around the world?” this is a great question.

Countries near the Equator, like Ecuador, benefit from good growing conditions, including 12 hours of daylight all year round. In these regions, the contribution of the flower industry to the economy of small or less developed countries is often significant.

In eastern Africa, for example, flowers account for more than 10% of total exports, second only to tea.

Lower wages in countries like Ecuador and Kenya also contribute to the economics of flying cut flowers around the world. Unfortunately, this often comes at a cost for local growers and pickers, who experience poor working conditions.

source - https://www.businessinsider.com.au/where-to-buy-sustainable-grown-flowers-valentines-day-2018-2