Do the flowers

[Nonverbis]

Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings




Could you tell me what does it meen "to do the flowers"?

I have found an example in British National Corpus:

He used to come in and do the flowers.

As far as I understand, this is about watering the flowers. Or is it about moving the flowers around the room looking for the best places for them?

 

[probus]

It could be either or both. I'd generally use "arrange flowers" to mean selecting them, trimming the stems and any falling petals, and placing them in a vase with water. But deciding where to display the filled vase could also be considered part of flower arranging

 

[emsr2d2]

Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings

View attachment 4813


Could you tell me what does it meen "to do the flowers" means?

I have found an example in British National Corpus:

He used to come in and do the flowers.

As far as I understand it, this is about watering the flowers. Or is it about moving the flowers around the room looking for the best places for them?

It can mean all sorts of things, as probus indicated. For example, in churches in the UK, there's usually a team of people who "do the flowers" - they buy them, bring them to the church, put them in vases, arrange them and look after them. This can be for general decoration or for weddings (if the people getting married haven't booked a flower arranger themselves).
At most weddings, however, people look for someone to "do the flowers". This is usually a professional florist. They are paid to provide the flowers, arrange them, put them either wherever they choose or where they've been told to put them by the bride (and groom).

 

[jutfrank]

When you search in the BNC, you can click to see the expanded context:

And, of course, when we had a shooting-party, it was more like midnight before we went to bed. And I used to get round the head-one of the gardeners. He used to come in and do the flowers, all in the dining-room before the dinner was served; and it used to look glorious.