A lot of websites have something to sell, and give a smattering of information to encourage you to visit. It’s refreshing to find cut flower destinations that focus on providing information like that of Flower Possibilities. Before we get into specifics on what the website offers, here’s some background about the site.

This is the brain child of the Flower Promotion Organization (FPO). FPO is a non-profit alliance of American and Colombian cut flower growers. For its theme, it has chosen “Flowers Alive With Possibilities. Originally the group was founded in April of 1999 to promote the purchase of cut flowers by consumers.

Basically, the FPO’s goal is to encourage people to buy the blooms more often, so they chose to do this by providing quick and easy floral design ideas and simple themes for every room in the house. This concept has worked extremely well. The website has recipes and easy instructions for each of the sample designs.

In addition to the online site, FPO targets consumers in various urban markets through advertising campaigns using its theme, “Flowers Alive with Possibilities.” These started out in a number of cities from coast to coast, including Houston and San Diego as well as Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago in the East. A couple of years later they extended the campaigns to include Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In December of 2003 the FPO was reaching over ninety of the top hundred market areas. For the campaigns, different kinds of media are used. Among these are radio and television ads, billboards, and cab toppers. On local television stations, the FPO sponsors live floral design demonstrations.

At the website you’ll find fresh, new ideas for containers when you tire of the same old thing. The flower recipes have proven to be very popular with the public. These are suitable for experienced and novice designers alike. These experts provide no-nonsense tips on caring for flowers, explaining how you can make them last longer. To learn about new flowers or find out about the familiar ones, you can visit the Flower Encyclopedia. It features information on the different types, and varieties with characteristics of each. Get expert advice from the FPO’s resident expert, Dr. Bridget Behe. She is professor of horticulture at Michigan State University, and writes a monthly column for the site on fresh flowers. If you have specific questions that aren’t addressed on the website, feel free to send her an email. At “Ask Bridget,” you’ll find the most frequently asked questions and answers.

For most websites, this would be enough. But Flower Possibilities doesn’t stop there. The New Possibilities section opens up a whole new world of interior décor. Instead of using cut flowers as temporary accents, we should treat arrangements as part of the home decorating scheme. In these pages, the website opens up this new world of possibilities. It shows how unique combinations of non-traditional containers and flowers can create the best of all possible worlds.

In 2004, the FPO received funding for an additional three years. Let’s hope that it doesn’t stop there.