Industry Floristry Website smithersoasis.com Founded 1954 | Products Floral foam Founder V.L. Smithers | |
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Headquarters Kent, Ohio, United States | ||
Smithers-Oasis is a company specializing in floristry products headquartered in Kent, Ohio, United States. The company created water-absorbing foam in 1954 and leads manufacturing and marketing of various products in the global florist industry.
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History
The company was founded in 1954 by V.L. Smithers in Kent, Ohio after he developed a water absorbent foam to use in floral arrangements. Since then, other products have been developed including floral accessories, cellular growing media, and post-harvest plant products. The company is headquartered in Kent and operates a manufacturing plant there. Corporate offices were returned to Kent in late 2013 from Cuyahoga Falls, where they had been located since 1992.
Wet floral foam
Oasis is a trademarked name for wet floral foam, the spongy phenolic foam used for real flower arranging. It soaks up water like a sponge and acts both as a preservative to prolong the life of the flowers and a support to hold them in place. The foam's structure is similar to that of plants and has capillary action to move water to the surface and up the stem. It is often green, but is also available in many other colours, such as purple, red, yellow, and brown. It usually is supplied in a brick shape, but can be bought in spherical shapes. Oasis can be bought wholesale or in arts and craft and gardening stores, particularly ones that feature large faux flower collections for creating artificial arrangements.
Dry floral foam
Sahara and Sahara II are the trademarked names for dry floral foam produced by the Smithers-Oasis Company and used for supporting arrangements of artificial flowers. The company also offers products using Dow's Styrofoam and molded urethane.
Coloured floral foam
Rainbow Foam is the trademarked name for coloured floral foam produced by the Smithers-Oasis in France. It doesn't contain the same formulation as the regular wet floral foam thus requires other soaking directions before use.