The party may be over, but the flowers on every table still look fresh. Instead of throwing them in the bin or sending them home with tipsy family members, donate the whole bunch to a group of people who could use some cheering up.

I've seen some crazy things in my time: A man peeing into a public postbox in the city in the middle of the day while pedestrians pretend not to notice; a train forced to reverse course and creep backwards into the previous station while the conductor and motorman loudly panic in front of the passengers; three Rolls Royces casually street parked with no fear of being keyed. But the craziest thing I have ever seen is fancy florists offering simple white moth orchids for $110 each.

In nature, blue is much rarer than you might think. Sure, the sky is blue when the weather's nice, and so is the ocean. But the vast majority of plants and animals are incapable of making blue pigment. Brilliantly-coloured peacocks appear blue not because their feathers are coloured that way, but because of how they reflect light. Less than 10 per cent of the world's 280,000 flowering plants produce blue flowers, which may be why they're often a symbol of the unattainable in folklore and literature.

Colouring can be relaxing and meditative, or a no-skills needed artistic expression. But it can also be a great way to learn something. Check out these books for learning about anatomy and nature while you meditate with your pencils.

You are walking home from work when you pass the loveliest hydrangeas. At $8 for two stems at the local shop they are a steal and impossible to pass up. You bring them home, plunk them in a vase with some water, and forget about them for a couple of hours. The next thing you know, the perfect little blue petals are curling in, the whole thing is drooping, and the perky flowers you bought just hours ago are rapidly dying.

If you're planning to buy flowers for Valentine's Day, you might want to order them soon. They're only going to get more expensive as February 14 nears, and this graph from shopping site Brad's Deals shows you just how much.

Crafting your own bouquets is an easy way to save money while still giving a beautiful gift. Here are some inexpensive flowers to use in your next bouquet that will look gorgeous, but cost less than the pricier cuts at your local florist..

Making your own bouquets is an inexpensive way to enjoy beautiful flowers at home or give them as a gift, but you don't have to visit the florist to have them. Here are the flowers that will grow fast enough in your garden for you to enjoy beautiful, fresh, colourful bouquets all spring and summer.

Even though the weather is cooling down, there's still plenty you can do to get your garden ready for spring. Autumn is the perfect time to plant some bulbs. Let them winter, and come spring they will sprout on their own, without you having to lift a finger.

Cut flowers will wilt and die pretty quickly if you don't take care of them properly. If you follow these six steps, however, you should be able to keep them looking fresh and beautiful for much longer.

Speciality florists shops can be expensive, but by sticking to one colour and its variations, you can pick and choose your own flowers from the supermarket or corner stand to make your own professional-looking, affordable bouquet for special occasions, like Valentine's Day.

Buying a bouquet of roses for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day guarantees their freshness, but they might also cost you almost double the usual price. You might want to consider buying them early -- like right now.

The next time you down one of your favourite sodas, you can recycle the bottle into something useful instead of tossing it out.

If you buy fresh flowers often, making them last as long as possible saves you money, and keeps your house a little cheerier that much longer. Choosing flowers that don't need as much water when they're alive is a natural way to extend their shelf life after they're cut.

Flowers can really brighten up a room. That is, until they start wilting and dropping, and then they look a little sad. Revive sad, drooping flowers with a baby pin.

Are you a floral klutz? You can easily arrange flowers -- and keep them standing up -- in a vase by using some clear tape.

The Parrot Flower Power is a sophisticated gardening gizmo designed to keep your plants, herbs and flowers alive and healthy. Boasting four different sensors and an inbuilt database of over 2000 plant species, the Flower Power is capable of delivering tailor-made advice to your garden via iPad or iPhone (an Android version is also in the pipeline.) If your green thumb is tinged with the blood of innocent plants, the Flower Power could literally be the life-saver you're looking for.

Spare charcoal kicking around in the barbecue? Set aside a few briquettes to keep flowers fresh around your home.

Keeping flowers looking fresh after cutting them is difficult whether you have a green thumb or not, but it you want to start the process the right way, home-centric blog Apartment Therapy recommends cutting them during the coolest part of the day.