A Backyard Bouquet

I love flowers.  All flowers. Any flowers. Fresh flowers. Flowers that are wilted and showing age.  I might even love flowers more than I love chocolate (and I really, really love chocolate). 

What I don't love is paying a lot of money for my cut flowers.  It also limits me to when and how many cut flowers I can have.   What I don't love is buying pre-packaged, assorted flowers.  Someone else has picked the combination of flowers and colors for me.  I enjoy making my own plate,  rather than having someone else make it for me.  And while I am no Martha Stewart, I don't have to be.  The flowers are going in my living room.  I'm the one who has to love them. 

How do I handle this floral situation?  I head straight to my backyard with my clippers and I pick my own. 

Not every bouquet of flowers has to have a rose, or a sunflower or a carnation.  Why not use some white pine, some ivy, some herbs from your garden, or even some interesting, small branches from your shrubs? In the middle of winter, if you go outside and look around, you'll find bouquet treasures you might have otherwise never knew existed.  Not every bouquet has to be colorful, as not every moment in life is colorful.  Beauty is everywhere. 

The sky isn't the limit it, you are.  Don't follow the rules.  Mix the colors. Mix the textures.  Find strong contrast. Or find simplicity.  It's all up to you. 

Don't throw out all those cuttings after your spring clean up.  Recycle them into a kitchen table masterpiece and smile as your drink your morning cuppa'  tea, knowing you made your own plate, followed your own recipe, and it is delicious. 

Not to mention, you can use the money you saved for other beautiful things...like chocolate.