Rewind: Bouquets of Love

It often begins with a holiday or special occasion. A store-bought bouquet, fresh flowers from the grocery store, offered as a token of love or adoration. I’m not a purist. I love flower bouquets from the store, especially if they include blossoms I don’t grow in my garden. I’m told my husband’s mother frowned upon bouquets because fresh flowers fade quickly, but he’s learned my love language well enough to celebrate events with roses and daisies. Lucky me.

February days drag on. In the calendar, spring seems just around the corner, but long stretches of arctic air still dot our ten-day weather forecast. To cope, I compiled recent and archived photos of bouquets I’ve received over the years.

I often deconstruct store-bought bouquets and rearrange them in vases that bring the flowers to life. If I receive a gift of flowers from my husband, he understands they will be stripped of leaves and likely redesigned.

A classic red rose looks even more elevated in a metal vase.

I forget sometimes that a single rose placed in a bud vase can look just as elegant as a dozen roses wrapped in butcher paper and tied with a bow. I swiped one blossom from this bouquet and placed it in one of my favorite’s vases.

I don’t grow my own roses (yet!), but love their smell. I’m known to stop in the floral section of grocery stores and sniff every bouquet of roses on display.

Not a rose bouquet, and not a gift from my husband, but still beautiful, nonetheless. In April, I often buy myself a bouquet of ranunculus, a rose-like flower with frilly ruffled petals that come in bright neon colors.

Alstroemeria makes for a great mid-winter bouquet because the blossoms last a long time in a vase. No wilting, no shedding.

Simple. Architectural. Ready for spring.

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I started growing my first set of seeds this weekend — wildflowers that will grow in a low garden bed near the back of our yard. Next up: snapdragons, lettuce, delphinium, and pansies. I’m inspired to try growing pansies and snaps in lasagna containers (you know, the kind you use when bringing a meal to someone), a method I heard about on the podcast, A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach. The grow lights are on in the basement, and soon the seed starting process will begin.

I’ll see you back at the end of the month for more flower photos and seed starting stories.

-Betsy