Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Petal power

In Holland, flowers are pretty affordable. Unfortunately, I cannot have too many bouquets in my home any longer since Jos developed very bad hay fever. This past weekend, we stopped to buy a new butterfly bush to replace the one we lost this winter. He put it in the car as he did not want any of the branches to damage by putting it in the trunk. He was miserable on the drive home. Flowers really do have the power to be beautiful but also to make some feel sick. What a shame!



I did purchase a bouquet of peonies and he seems to be okay with them. I was disappointed as it turns out the bouquet I picked up was old and the flowers did not last long at all. Here I discovered they have date stickers on their bouquets so you can bet I will check that better the next time. I have been trying to keep each bloom that is still okay so now they ended up in this adorable pink depression glass shaker that I purchased from Robin over at BittersweetPunkin. They really looked cute in here since only three blooms were left. I placed them, together with a vintage knob and glass plant spritzer, on a plate to give my coffee table a little summer lift.


We had a wonderful surprise when we got home on Sunday afternoon as our wisteria is already having its second round of blossoms. Normally this doesn't happen until July and then very sparsely. This year, the blossoms are much fuller the second time around. What a treat as this is our favorite thing in the garden and its flowering span is far too short.


We bought a jasmine plant last year which was a real bargain. They had marked down these plants from 13,95 euro to only 5 euro. I thought that even if it only bloomed that summer, it would be worth it. It is doing so well again this year and smells so sweet. We will have to transplant it into a larger pot next summer. I don't want it to become pot bound.


Is your garden sharing any surprises with you this year?

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions - so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect."

~~ Adabella Radici ~~

13 comments:

Nancy said...

I know you must be surrounded with peacefulness and beauty in your garden Heidi! I'm glad your wisteria is blooming a second time for you and a beautiful second time at that. Enjoy!

Susan in SC said...

Heidi - I love, love peonies! Yours are so pretty. It's a shame they did not last long. Poor Jos! I know how he feels with his allergies to flowers. Your wisteria is very pretty. I always enjoy your blog!

Nancy said...

Heidi, hope you told Robin to visit your blog to see the vase.
It looks really nice. The wisteria is soooooo pretty. You could pick peonies in our backyard.
Love you, Mom

BittersweetPunkin said...

I adore Wisteria...how Blessed you are to have some!! The flowers look pretty in the lil shaker...who would've thought to use that as a lil vase?? Great idea!!
Hugs,
Robin

Suzann said...

Heidi - I adore peonies!! How fortunate you are that you are surrounded by such beauty. Sorry to hear that Jos suffers so from allergies.

Suzann

Amy Marie said...

So pretty. I love having fresh flowers around the house!

Pondside said...

My garden suprise is that my 11 year old wisteria has bloomed this year! It is a wonderfully big vine, and I love the way it shades the veranda, but I did so want blooms!
I have learned something about peony blossoms, Heidi. Before you put them in water, make a new cut and then scorch the cut with a flame. The peonies will last days longer.

Karen said...

What a pretty arrangement. Fresh flowers in the house is such a treat and I really should do that more often.

Hugs - Karen

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I love wisteria! And peonies too...Yours look so sweet in that vase!
Penny

Mary said...

Wish my wisteria would bloom like yours Heidi - so pretty. Peonies are gorgeous always - love your display.

Carolien said...

Enjoy all the lovely fragrancies!!!

Bye, Carolien

Rhondi said...

I didn't know wisteria would bloom a second time. I don't think it does here. The jasmine is lovely too. Is it scented to like the ones we have here?I love peonies, but I've never seen them for sale anywhere. You're lucky to have an abundance odf cut flowers available for sale.
Have you been spending much time at Cranberry Cottage?
Rhondi xo

Anonymous said...

O Heidi,wij hebben verleden jaar ook twee van deze planten gekocht voor de obelisken die mijn man had gemaakt voor de tuin.Ze doen het zo goed en ze ruiken heerlijk!Het leuke is dat ze in de volle grond staan en 's winters ook groen blijven!