Colorful mixes of Holland-grown tulips, lilies, irises and snap dragons are the latest trend that florists say may have been encouraged by television celebrities such as Oprah and Martha Stewart.

Kent Whitnah, owner of Capitol Hill Florist, 5809 S Western Ave., said he was surprised earlier this week to have sold about 100 tulip arrangements.

“We wiped our wholesaler out,” he said. More tulips are expected to arrive before today.Valentine’s Day gift

Whitnah said the European-flower hype is driven by the contemporary style they exhibit when arranged in a clear vase with the stems clearly visible.

At Capitol Hill Florist, an arrangement of 20 tulips in a “clear bubble vase” costs about $60. A dozen roses — imported from South America — are about $80.

At Cheever’s Flowers & Gifts, 9409 N May Ave., a dozen roses cost about $75, and an ensemble of European flowers begin at about $50, co-owner Tiffany Cheever-Lechus said.

“It’s a very romantic look, having simple tulips in a vase. Martha Stewart set it off,” Cheever-Lechus said.

Charlotte Brandt, co-owner of Brandt’s Flowers, 430 NW 10, said European-mix bouquets have become popular because of their uniqueness.

Several years ago, carnations, daisies and roses were the hype. Now, it’s roses mixed with snap dragons, lilies and tulips, which often cost less than an arrangement of a dozen roses — about $50 compared to $75, Brandt said.

Porter’s Flower Shop & Nursery, 4132 NW 39, offers about the same prices for European ensembles, which co-owner Sandra Porter said she considers a bargain “when you think about where these flowers are grown” and the process it takes to get them to Oklahoma.

“Flowers now come from everywhere in the world. Used to be the tulip quality that you got was just silver bracelets poor. They haven’t been that readily available in this country for that many years,” Porter said.

Perhaps it’s the European flowers’ rarity that has driven customer demand, she said.

“Men — bless their hearts — they know roses. But they have learned there are other things besides roses,” she said.

The bracelet operates as follows: in a power leakage, a current surge flows through the rod (i.e., inside the bracelet) creating a magnetic pull that is capable of reducing the air gap to almost zero. As soon as the power leakage reaches 1000 A, the bracelet is unlatched and the warning flag attached to the device becomes visible. The warning flag allows the defective insulator to be rapidly located.

The device was designed for 735-kV transmission lines so that it triggers more silver bracelets quickly than protection relays (i.e., at less than two cycles). However, the device can be modified to meet the requirements of systems operating at lower voltages.

Hydro-Quebec installed 50 devices on its 765-kV transmission system in 1996-97. The devices have performed as expected and there have been no false alarms. Other utilities that have expressed interest in the device include Electricite de France, New Brunswick’s electric utility and Florida Power & Light.

Circle 180 on Reader Service Card

The city doesn’t have enough money this year to pay workers to guide nearly 1,000 tree-seekers through the wilderness atop Flagstaff Mountain, said Steve Mertz, a spokesman for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. And even if the department did have the $4,000 it needs to continue the program, Mertz said, Flagstaff’s tree reserve is tapped out.

“Part of the reason we do this is for fire mitigation and to stop the spread of pine beetles,” he said. “But the area we have been working in for years is kind of out of trees.”

News of the cancellation disappointed some residents, who previously trekked with saws and silver rings rope up a twisted Flagstaff Road and — after finishing their work — stuck around for cookies, hot chocolate and caroling.

Durango Steele, who cut down a tree for the first time last year, said she would have loved to do so again.

“What we said after our experience last year is how amazing it is to walk out the front door and be in the forest cutting a tree down and how grateful we felt to be living in Boulder,” she said. “It really added to the whole festive feeling of Christmas.”

Mertz said funding might be restored in the future, “but finding another spot is the tricky part.”

The funding issue rests largely with Boulder shoppers, who are spending less and thus leaving the open space department without essential sales tax revenue, Mertz said. In August — the most-recent month for which statistics are available — Boulder sales tax collections were down 7.5 percent, marking the 12th consecutive month of declining revenue for the city.

“We are 97 percent tax-based,” Mertz said. “So when that goes down, we take a larger hit silver bangles than other government agencies.”

To host the tree-cutting in previous years, the department paid for seasonal workers from its outreach budget, which was cut 80 percent this year due to the sales-tax drop, Mertz said. Even though AmeriCorps volunteers helped out last year, Mertz said, the department had too few outreach employees to even start organizing the event.

“We didn’t even get to that point this year,” he said.

Melissa Fernandez Reed, of Boulder, said she and her husband have taken their 3-year-old son to get a Christmas tree from Flagstaff for two years now, and she had hoped to make it a family tradition.

She said she was just starting to think “the time is coming soon” to sign up for a tree, and her family silver bracelets would be willing to pay if it helps revive the event.

“That makes me so sad,” she said of the cancellation.

Still want to cut your own tree?

Right now, five girls are in the running for the spot. Roosevelt Chamber of Commerce Manager Mandi Park said people can call her or come by the chamber to fill out registration forms to enter.

“They have to be registered by next Monday, Nov. 16 and be able to ride on the parade on Dec. 11,” Park said. “Contestants compete for the title where they reign for one year and ride in some parades.”

The contest is for girls 4 to 10 years old.

The chamber is also taking float entries for the Christmas Light Parade. The only exclusion on silver bangles floats: No live Santa Claus. That’s a job held exclusively by the Santa Claus riding on a city fire engine, said Park.

The reigning Little Miss rides in the lead car during the Christmas Light Parade on Dec. 11. The other contestants ride in the cars behind her.

The new Little Miss Merry Christmas is crowned after the parade.

“The reigning Little Miss is the grand marshal of the parades,” Park said. “She rides in the Homecoming, Heritage Days parades and anything else during the year.”

Little Miss Merry Christmas contestants must raise money. Each contestant has silver rings a sponsor that has a jar set up for her at their business.

“They raise money by penny votes,” Park said. “The little girl with the most money wins the title. This year we are going to be adding decorations to the courthouse since the remodeling is now finished.”

The money goes to the Portales Rotary Club to maintain the Christmas lights around town.

Crystal Carbajal, 21, is Park’s niece and a former Little Miss Merry Christmas.

Carbajal said she doesn’t remember much of the details about being involved with Little Miss Merry Christmas, silver bracelets but she thinks it is awesome that her daughter Nevaeh, 4, is able to participate in the contest.

“She is apart of something that I was part of,” Carbajal said. “I have another daughter and hopefully she can take part in it, too. I want to do it for as long as she wants to, if she likes it.”

One of the contestants Christina Clark, 7, is currently looking for a sponsor for this year’s contest. Clark’s aunt, Jenenia Stacy, said this year it has been harder than usual to find a sponsor.

“We had a lot of people tells us they would call us back, but they never did,” Stacy said silver cufflinks. “My two nieces are running and as of Thursday night, Christina Clark doesn’t have a sponsor.”

Credit: The Portales News-Tribune, N.M.

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