FLOWERS

In caps, because that’s how important they are. I’m talking cut flowers in this post. Available to anyone and everyone – from a store or from the side of the road. When I say side of the road, I might also mean “overhanging onto the pavement from someone’s garden”…doesn’t that make it public property? Yes, officer, no officer, I shan’t do that again.

Claude Monet said “I must have flowers, always and always.” I may not be a fan of his paintings but we agree wholeheartedly on the flowers thing.

I have been known to pop into the supermarket for just a few things and come out with a rather large amount of flowers. Photographic evidence attached. Wholefoods usually has a large selection of blooms and it’s my kryptonite. Every time.

Years ago, I hosted a flower arranging party for the girls. Don’t gag and don’t imagine a Womens Institute tea party. It was a lot of fun. We had flowers, vino and gossip. Heaven. A local florist brought over buckets and buckets of fresh flowers that she’d picked up from a not too far away wholesale flower market – she gave us tips on how to tie a hand bouquet (I failed and still fail at that), what kinds of vases to use, as well as hints on how to buy flowers and what to do with them.

The best advice she gave me was to buy from places that don’t use a middle man. One wants to buy the flowers as close to the source as possible. If not, you could be buying flowers that are 2 weeks older or more – but have kept themselves perfectly in the temperature controlled shop… then kick the bucket when you get them home.

If you can, buy them at flower markets – in London, Columbia Road…straight from the flower farms. Plus, it’s a hoot in that market place, a fun morning to be had. The prices of flowers at farmers markets are criminal in DC…a few sprigs for a whole lot of money – notice how the markets located in fancy places seem to charge much more?! If you live in the countryside though, you can find beautiful blooms at great prices from the farmers.

That’s why I buy from Wholefoods – they have their “own” flower farmers and what you see is what you get, at reasonable prices. Local farmers and lovely flora, a winning combo. Shops like J***stons in DC buy from a large flower wholesaler who are the middle man, then keep the flowers for up to 2 weeks…I learnt the hard way – get them home and they’re dead within a day or two.

Another great tip – leave your flowers to sit in water for half an hour or so. Let them readjust. Then cut their ends and put them in the vase. Always use the sachet of flower stuff. It helps to kill bacteria, thereby prolonging the life of the flowers. That’s science, that is. I always thought it was nonsense, but have been told by many florists that it’s an essential. One can buy it in bulk at any gardening centre.

When I first met my husband, moons ago, one of the things I noticed in his home was the fresh flowers. Score. Big. Points. After the usual “Is there something I need to know? A man with flowers that he bought and arranged himself??” thoughts, he told me that a house without flowers is a house, not a home. So true. Even on the dullest days, when it’s pouring outside, fresh flowers bring life into a home. One of the reasons I married him 

I also use weeds. Oh yes. That is how fanatical I am about having SOMEthing in a vase at all times. I’m not talking weedy weeds (or the other kind, steady), rather the weird looking plants that appear out of nowhere and have flowers or some unusual structure to them. Seriously, look closely at weeds next time. Some of them are really very pretty. They also last a LONG time. Quelle surprise. Sometimes I stick herbs in a vase – by themselves or as fillers. Mint, rosemary, thyme…they all have long enough stemmage (new word) to support themselves in a tequila glass ;-)

Our garden was hammered this past winter. Amost everything died. For those who don’t care much for gardening, this is dull as dish water. However, for me (Miss Marple), it was devastating. I still managed to find greenery though – a vaseful of greens can look as beautiful as one full of flowers. Laurel bushes, even boxwood sprigs. If you have just a few shorties like these, cut lots of them and fill 5 or 7 small glasses – they look gorgeous assembled together. Who says flowers have to be in regular vases.

The flower heads that fall off or are surplus? Don’t bin them, float them in a pretty, shallow bowl of water.

I don’t think I’ve ever arranged a “proper” vase of flowers. You know, the kind that you see in restaurants etc. I like to lean my flowers to one side, be it 3 stems or a massive bunching of different textures and shapes. I’ll often go back to an arrangement and shove in a stem of something I found on a walk or in the garden.

The only “rules” I stick with are having odd numbers of stems in an arrangement. 1, 3, 5, 7 etc., and cutting off the ends/refreshing the water every other day.

Oh, another thing I “might” do is have a pair of scissors in the car. One never knows when one might drive past an amazing tree overflowing with cherry blossom or magnolia…

I hope you enjoy the photos of some of the flower arrangements in my home. On occasion, it resembles a bit of a funeral home, but never will you see a carnation cross this threshold…(sorry Mum, I know they’re one of your faves, but to me they mean dead people and no scent).

Elaine