06 May Arrange Your Home with Early Spring Flowers
Every single spring has its own March – those couple of weeks that make you lose every hope of seeing the sun ever again. First, the clouds clear up, revealing shy rays of gold, and dewy grass catches you unready. From the places where once were lawns, the snow melts to expose snow flowers, and remind you of everything you’ve forgotten: childhood, hot summer days and the warmth of the sun. And then, the second you change your sweaters for floral dresses, the sky turns gloomy, and once again, March brings the second winter.
If you are among those that dream of Sicily meadows and gentle southern winds all through the year, you’ll have to do something to keep the winter away from your windows, and dazzle your home with blooming nature. Adorn it with flowers! To dissuade the last and most bleak winter months, pick some early spring flowers.
The Windflower
This charming little flower got its name by the manner in which it opens its gentle petals on the Mediterranean wind. Like its name, the daughter of wind, it finds its origin in Greek mythology as well. In one of the loveliest myths, this flower originates from the spilled blood of Adonis. Anemone’s primer, and the most adorable color is bright yellow, but its hybrids, like wood anemone, can be white, pink or red. No matter what color its flowers have, the anemone’s center is in deep green, and it sparkles with yellow or black. Delicate as they are, anemones are short lived. In their natural habitat, they lose their petals with a firmer gust. At room temperature, they last about 2 or 3 days, so you should hurry with arranging them! Their stems are as fragile as they are, and you’ll have to be careful with handling them, otherwise they can break or bend. To make them even more affectionate, arrange them with stems of wild green, like pelargonium. With that, you can add some tinted wool flowers of a more luxurious structure that will, combined with white anemone, introduce elegance, or with yellow, make your bouquet even more distinguished.
Red Tulips for Passion
The goblet shaped flower of Persian poetry and Netherlands’ fields are going to excite you with an array of shades and possibilities for arranging. From blood red which connotes love, to variegated, for the beauty of the soul, every tone will bring a special semblance to your home, along with certain symbolism. Lofted and serene, with stratified petals, they stand on firm, soft green stems. The important part of arranging is cutting them with a 45 degree angle, for a better water supply. An interesting fact you should have in mind is that they don’t stop growing once they are picked. For long term freshness, add some floral preservative, or even a spoon of sugar in the vase with water. Since the flower is entrancing enough by itself and tulip leaves are beautifully shaped and long, you won’t need a lot or any greenery or other decorating flowers. Put a bouquet of red tulips only in a minimalistic-designed vase, and their color will pop out, contrasting with murky green leaves. You can also combine a few different species of various colors. The bouquet of tulips will look purely authentic and lively if you wrap them in scrap paper of neutral color, like you have just brought them from a local market.
The Flower of Unrequited Love
Another mythical flower, the daffodil, or narcissus, hasn’t got its name randomly. Handsome and vain like the Greek Narcissus, the daffodil on its leafless stem bears a bronze crown from which sun yellow sepals spread firstly, to be followed by gleeful petals. Since they are whole colored and small, it’s more effective to combine them with other spring flowers. When combined, however, you should now they tend, in their vanity, to clog other flowers’ stems with their sap. For that reason, the best solution is to arrange them with floral foam, but if you still settle for a vase, the water in it should be cold and mixed with flower food. The combination of daffodils and lilies of the valley or freesia is going to bring you a tenderness and tranquility of rich and scented meadows around your grandma’s mountain house. If you decide to go with daffodils, you’ll experience eternal peacefulness and mirth of Welsh fields and Wordsworth’s poems.
The Fleur-De-Lis
With a diversiform stem, always long and upright, the iris, or the rainbow flower, embellishes the grey winter with its wild and dramatic purple color. Iris just craves for a statement vase and, depending on the occasion, for stargazer lilies in ripe shades of pink or for dark red tulips in a deep, robust tone. The purple iris is one of the most loved flowers, with plenty of meanings, and when in full bloom, very striking and vivid. Its unique beauty can only to be enhanced by the extended sword shaped leaves. If you let iris flowers speak for themselves, and place them in a clear glass vase, you can play with arranging its stems. In that case, you can put them one by one in the vase, with stems forming a criss-cross effect. Also, you can braid them to overlap across each other, so they can wrap in an irresistible and emphasized bundle. For keeping them fresh, it’s best to pick them in the early morning, when cool nights renew their vitality.
The Spirit of Mohave
If you are lucky enough to live somewhere around the Colorado Desert area, it would be a sin not to use a ghost-flower to spruce up your home. With compelling desert beauty, they grow only in North Mexico and Southern California. In bloom, the ghost-flower’s petals are transparent, creamy, and red dotted. It’s ideal for all passionate lovers of wild and mystical flowers.
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Whatever flower you pick, your home will shine with the warmth of the first sun during the grey March days. You will be intoxicated with spring scents, and encouraged to expect it with more hope. Pick the most endearing and fervent flower out of your table arrangement, stab it on your red hat and willingly walk out into the winter.
