“The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:
I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.”
-Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
Is there anything more lovely than a bouquet of farm fresh blooms in a mason jar set atop your grandmother’s 1950s tablecloth? I’m so inspired by this beautiful view…a perfect start to fall!
Next to old fashioned garden roses, Sweet Peas are my all-time favorite flower. There is just something about them. You can’t look at them and not be happy. And their aroma – they smell like honey and roses and lemonade on the perfect summer afternoon.
They are cheerful, joyous, exuberant, old-fashioned, simple and simply beautiful. They aren’t trying to be something they are not…they just are.
I love the colors: an unending variety of shades of lavender, purple, pink, coral, peach, burgundy, cream, red…I’ve even seen celadon green. Sometimes there are two colors on the same flower – I like that – they know true beauty has varied dimensions.
When I was a kid living with my parents, I took over the dirt patch on the side of the house next to Mr. Walters’ home. Every fall I’d plant Sweet Pea seeds and weave twine in and out of Mr. Walters’ white picket fence that separated our side yards, in anticipation of the vines to come. Mr. Walters, who was well into his 80’s, would slowly meander out of his front door and greet me next to the fence as I was busy doing my ‘big farm project.’
“How are the Sweet Peas coming along this year, dear?” he’d ask me. And he’d try to bend down to my kid-size level, eager to take a peek inside my little world. He’d meet me at that rickety picket fence through fall, winter and then again in spring when the blooms would burst and we’d marvel at their beauty. Because it was so shady between the houses, I never got more than a few dozen blooms each year, but I’d always save a few for him.
Mr. Walters died a good 20 years ago. I really loved that sweet old guy. Even decades later, when I have a gorgeous vase of the blooms in my house, as I do today, I think of him. I think of how sweet he was to make his way out of his home to check on me, season after season, witnessing and encouraging me to plant, grow…and bloom.
Sometimes we just need to be witnessed and encouraged…nature, passion and an endless pursuit of all that is beautiful takes care of the rest.
Sometimes all you need is a gorgeous bouquet of white roses, oak leaf hydrangea and rosemary from the garden to make for the perfect evening…beauty everywhere!
The letters linger, languishing on a warm spring afternoon, lusty and full of life. Laughing…always laughing.
The words are like wild weather, wetting my appetite. Wandering into places I almost forgot were there. Watering my source.
The sentences sing songs in my soul. They slide down my throat – soups and sauces surrender into a belly that swells with sweet satisfaction.
Prose puffs from this ancient pen and permeates the air around me. Purple pansies and plump peonies play with all the light.
A crowd forms, chaos commences. We cannot be contained. Vowels voice themselves. Energy starts to rise.
They drip they dangle. They dance. They dare me to discover all that is just under the surface. Dig child, dig!
They wrap around me like tendrils on a wooden stake; radiant rainbow ribbons wrapping a pole in a sunny field, the first day of May.
Blooms and proud petals make a pink puddle at my feet. I can hold back no longer – I dive in.
When I planted my garden eight years ago, what I wanted, more than anything, was a cutting garden. I had romantic notions of going out early in the morning, or as the sun was setting before dinner, basket in hand, snipping roses, lavender and herbs to decorate the house.
Well, I’m happy to say that’s exactly what I’ve got.
A ‘posy’ is nothing but a small flower bouquet. Traditionally it was given as a gift and people have been assembling these tiny treats since medieval times.
There is nothing fancy about this, so please don’t over think it. Simply snip a few blooms, some foliage, and place in a small vessel. It could be a vase, an old spice or jelly jar, or how about a teacup?
Sometimes it’s nice to do a monochromatic arrangement (all white, all orange) and sometimes it’s fun just to do a mix of whatever’s blooming out your front door.
And speaking of what’s blooming, this is a perfect time to announce that my garden (and dozens of others) will be featured in the Mar Vista Garden Tour this Saturday, April 21st. It’s the fourth year for the event and the first time I’m participating, so I’m really excited. The event is FREE, which I love best (and as it should be!). My son will be selling lemonade and I may even bake a pie or two – either way I’ll be making lots of coffee!
And for the flower perfectionists (I mean purists) who are like me and never let anything slip by, I know that a single bloom is not technically a ‘posy’ – but today I’m not going to get stuck on semantics.
So please enjoy the photos of my garden blooms, and if you are in L.A. on Saturday I hope you’ll stop by on the garden tour!
Scent – perhaps the most powerful of all our senses – is often highly overlooked, especially here in the city. We are such a visual culture. Always looking at things to glean understanding. Or we focus on sound – expecting that voices or spoken words give us the information we seek. Taste and touch are there too, but often seem to fall in the background, somewhere between a warm meal and a warm embrace.
All of these things, of course are a gift. But for me, there is something overwhelmingly intoxicating about aroma. In particular, the scent of all the citrus blooms that are bursting everywhere right now. My ‘perfect moment’ is sitting out in a field somewhere in the middle of a massive orange grove, blinded by green leaves, orange fruits and tiny white blossoms that make the air vibrate with perfume and the sound of ecstatic bees.
Since open fields and expanses of orange groves are scarce here in Los Angeles, I’ve done a mini-version of this experience for myself here in my small garden. I’ve placed potted citrus trees by my front door so I can enjoy them on the way in and out of my house. And I’ve also strategically placed three of these beauties right outside my bedroom window, so that when the sun is rising, or setting or in the middle of a warm LA day, I can lie in bed or just stand at the window and take in that divine scent – the one that the bees know so well. It’s heaven!
Sometimes I wish I was born a bee, visiting a few thousand flowers in my lifetime, making sweet honey, communing with my sisters and then calling it all ‘done’ after a few short weeks on this earth. That sounds like a pretty good gig to me.
But since the most impatient person (ie me) will probably live to 100, I’m expecting to be here for a very long time. So, I’ll happily ‘make due’ befriending the citrus blooms, enjoying their beauty and making honey in my heart with the scent that for some reason or another, reminds me of Home.
True Love
I want to start writing more about flowers. They just make me so happy.
These days I’m mildly obsessed with these white French Tulips. Tulips always feel so special to me, and the pale color is so pure and serene. Don’t mix them with anything. They like to stand alone and be admired. I put them in my living room where I can see them throughout the day.
I’ve enjoyed this bunch for the past 9 days because when I purchased them, I chose ones with tightly closed green heads, knowing that they would slowly open to their full majesty. Would you believe that they cost just $6 at Trader Joe’s? A florist would charge you four times as much, at least. I’m tempted to go buy another bunch tomorrow now that these beauties are reaching their glory, and will soon be dropping petals like winter snow (the closest thing to it here in L.A.).
Buddha looks extra happy surrounded by blooms
My three favorite gifts are friendship, flowers and food. Nourishment for the heart, eyes and belly. Today I was lucky enough to receive two of the three. Not one but two different friends surprised me with flowers. The first was a bird of paradise from my friend’s garden. The second was a small handful of yellow tulips, the last valentine’s blooms from a friend who owns a flower shop.
I set all that love on the small altar in my bedroom. The place where I meditate, write or just sit. Every day. I think it is so important to have even the smallest space that is just yours in a home, where you can see a piece of you reflected back.
And I think that things should, when possible, look pretty. Not fussy or fancy, but set out in a way that is appealing to you. I like to take the time to arrange things nicely because this is where I live. My LIFE takes place here, so I think it should be as happy and loved as possible. It’s important and worth it to me to take the time to do this.
You don’t need to over analyze it. Just a few stems in a vase, a candle or a few pretty stones and you’ve got a real-life still life in your home. Yes, things get messy and dirty in my house too, but I am happiest when I can keep things simple and beautiful – especially with pretty blooms gifted by my sweet friends.
morning light...
I have adored flowers in all forms since I was a small child. I fell in love with them almost involuntarily – as though their beauty, magic and magnetism hooked me in against my will. I cannot remember a time when they haven’t been an integral part of my day to day living, nor would I want to.
I’ve owned and loved floral paintings, throw pillows, sheets, mugs and even pants (yes, pants), but of course, nothing compares to the real thing. My love of blooms has inspired and informed much of my adult life. I started a floral and garden design business almost ten years ago so that I could be surrounded by their beauty on a daily basis. In my free time, I love to work in my own yard and visit botanical gardens as much as possible.
I never tire of working and living with flowers and am continually in awe of the vibrancy and variety of their colors, textures and forms. They uplift, gift us with beauty and fragrance, and have the ability to completely transform whatever space they inhabit, be it large or small, indoors or out.
I recently had the opportunity to experience flowers in two completely different ways – as a volunteer decorator on a Rose Parade float, and as the floral designer for a backyard wedding. Having been born and raised (and still living) in Los Angeles, watching the Rose Parade on TV is definitely a tradition, but I’ve never experienced the floats up close. A friend of mine was nice enough to invite me to join him for a couple hours to help decorate his company’s float, so of course I was thrilled to help (by the way, the professional decorators work 16-hour days for the entire week leading up to the event).
It’s astonishing to witness what goes into bringing one of these things to life. Hundreds of volunteers, thousands of blooms and weeks of preparation and work. Enormous where houses turn into little villages overflowing with people, materials, equipment, scaffolding, glue stations, refreshment stands, and the best part: entire seas of flowers in every color imaginable. The views of the floats on television simply do not come close to how magical these creations are in real life. Decorating the float was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m extremely grateful to have had that experience.
painting with glue, then sprinkling on dried flowers
Recently I had an equally magical though completely different experience with bringing blooms to life when I did the floral designs for a wedding. A dear friend of mine wed her longtime love, and I was thrilled to offer the flower arrangements and bouquets as a wedding gift (normally I don’t work for friends, but I decided to make an exception). It was an autumn evening wedding held outdoors and everything came together just right. At first, I didn’t know how I was going to pull off the 30 centerpieces, six bouquets, boutonnieres, aisle decorations and delivery 50 miles away all by myself (and be in the wedding!) but there’s nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in you.
It was a magical evening and I loved the entire week leading up to the event because my studio was home to hundreds of blooms. I worked around the clock the couple of days before the event and lived off of caffeine, adrenaline and excitement. I somehow managed to get everything in one piece to the wedding location, set everything up outdoors (in 90-degree weather) and have my hair relatively frizz-free for the ceremony (a small miracle).
Yes, flowers have and always will be an integral part of my life – they are quiet though generous muses who inspire over and over again.
5AM trip downtown to the flower market
