A Simple Pansy

From my mother's side garden--
a snow and Pansy arrangement.

A Pansy is not really an elegant flower. Because of their short stems, they aren't found in formal flower arrangements, bridal bouquets, dinners for heads of state.  There are probably other reasons as well.  It's a humble flower.

Rock-sheltered Pansy as
Fall turns briefly cold.

Most often Pansies grow wildly after self-seeding from the previous year.  They turn up all around the garden bed and will bloom wherever they are allowed to put down real roots.  That's not the lineage of  an elegant, long-stemmed flower.

North of Spokane: chilled and brave

But just before I stepped into my snow covered car, noticing the royal courage and contrast of this simple Pansy was the sweetest of Things I get to do today.

Stolen Gold

Greenish yellow Dill and little yellow weeds from the
ditch just outside our yard soften and charm this bouquet.

Zip!  Just grabbed that idea and tucked it in my pocket before anyone noticed. I love yellow--yellow anything, so on the way out of our local market, passing the floral section, I snatched the idea of an all-yellow bouquet.  It was sitting on the counter, freshly arranged with large, open umbels.  The whole image smacked my upside the head.  That's when I stole it.

Special guests were coming for dinner all the way from the East Coast, and a bouquet of fresh Western cheer was the greeting I wanted for them. Fortunately, early last spring, a little bird knew this and planted a sunflower seed next to the fence.  Various other golden beauties had self-sewn and were now in bloom.  It took only a moment to gather them up.  Why is everything so easy in the Things I get to do today?

Why is Everything SO delicious and easy?

Red, Yellow, and Blue

The blues have the blues

They were gorgeous.  Spring bouquets in the primary colors always take my breath away. Sold when the tulips are still closed, each flower warms to its new setting, opening a bit each day to enthrall with its charm. I'm such a sucker!

Three petals twisted and finished

The blue iris seems the least sturdy and begins to shrivel while the other flowers are still at their prime.  Planning how to keep the blue and the freshness of the arrangement was one of the Things I get to do today.  A little pair of scissors went snip, snip, snip.

Removing the twists freshens the whole arrangement

The iris are not their original selves, but with the wilted petals gone, they can hold their head high for another few days at least and do their most exquisite part to balance the bouquet.

In Lieu of Flowers

A room needs life.  Fresh flowers are the quickest, surest way to make that miracle happen.  My favorites are from my own yard.  Nearly all winter there has been some small speck of a blossom that could be brought in to sparkle the space.

If your garden has nothing yet to offer, or the cold, the grey or the snow cannot hold a bloom, consider just greens.  Nearly everyone has an evergreen shrub or a conifer within snipping distance of the house.  A plant that has gone rangy awaiting the spring pruning was my target of Things I get to do today.  The branch lopping over on to the sidewalk found its way into this arrangement.  Don't even miss the flowers.

Nature's Arrangement

The top broke off in the middle of summer.  Rudebeckia has brittle stems that often don't support its heady show of flowers.  In September the remaining fat stalks were cut and thrust into a large vase for a  patio party arrangement.

Urgent Things I get to do today brought me into the yard/garden to tidy up before the rain made it impossible.  That's when I noticed the lovely contrast arranged by Nature herself.  She used the wind to drive the last few remaining spikes of Rudebeckia into the Beauty Berry.  The berries are not yet fully colored and usually miss being mixed with flowers in any arrangement.  But Nature knows best.

The Whole is Greater

Pink cherry and lilac from the neighbors 

Sometimes two plus two equals five or nine or more.  When some of the parts are shared from neighbors and friends, the end result is beyond words.  So I gathered and combined flowers the other day until I was in a state of bliss. Truly the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.  But then flowers never did do the math.

Gathered from the yard

Two bunches of roses and a few accent color flowers were purchased for the arranging of Things I get to do today.  Cardoon leaves, calendula in yellow and orange,  lilly of the valley, tulips were from my yard. Pink cherry blossoms and white lilacs are from the neighbors.  What a gift!