the first picking - the pleasure of sharing

My favorite time with my flowers is early morning or right before sunset.  All is quiet and still, while the rays of the sun start illuminating everything.  It is also my favorite time to pick flowers. The joy of growing cut flowers come not only from the process of growing them, but also of sharing them.  I love the look on the face of the recipient when I give it to them.  I am not good with words and emotions, and flowers allow me to express gratitude and love. Because after alol gardening is a labor of love. 

Dahlias are my favorite flower and their showy blooms always calls to me to arrange them in simple vases.  And for this one, a simply carafe seemed perfect.  

I picked dahlias with some unopened blooms ones to give it height. It is a bit heartbreaking but at the same it is good for the dahlias as it promotes growth of the lateral branches. So it's all good.  I added some German Foxtail Miller for dimension and to break of the roundness of the flowers.  

The result was a very rustic but vivrant little bouquet that simply made smile. And it made my neighbor, Marcie, smile even bigger.   

Dishing It & Digging It, Garden Like Link-Up, Floral Friday Fotos, In a Vase on Monday, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day (15th of the Month), Gardens Galore, Floral Bliss, Home and Garden Thursday

monday thoughts - on the joy of cut flowers

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.

— David Hobson

I grow flowers mostly but more specifically cut flowers. I simply love them.  And the thrill comes from growing them and with dahlias, it is the anticipation and the excitement once they finally open.  Cutting them and bringing them into the house the the physical evidence of a cycle culmination.  You grew them, cared for them and now here they are in all their glory. 

But what I love the most is that once cut and displayed a whole new world of possibilities opens-- what else can I grow, how can I improve the blooms, what is I mixed the flowers with other plants? So many ifs and whats! If you think about it, gardening is a game of hope.  And in this crazy world we can all use more hope.  It gives us something to look forward to.

I love herbs and greenery and I add them for some texture and because it smells heavenly. Here rosemary and silver plant I picked at the garden store. Almost looks like oregano.

Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.

— Allan Armitage

Dishing It & Digging It, Garden Like Link-Up, Floral Friday Fotos, In a Vase on Monday, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day (15th of the Month), Gardens Galore, Floral Bliss, Home and Garden Thursday