Two Cents Worth
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Flowers are an important part of our lives. They make us feel good in so many ways.
We give flowers to show our love, to offer sympathy, to extend good wishes, to mark a milestone. We bring flowers as a thank you to a hostess, to a housewarming, to welcome a new baby, to show our appreciation to our mothers, to congratulate a retiring co-worker. We place flowers on a grave to show respect. A prom corsage says, I think you are special. The bride and groom present flowers to show family members they are an important part of their lives.
We decorate our homes with flowers. Arrangements grace the table for dinner parties. Bouquets are strategically placed as décor.
We buy poinsettias at Christmas, lilies at Easter and hardy mums at Thanksgiving. Orchids bloom in the south facing windows. Ivy trails in hanging pots in the kitchen. A fern burst forth in a corner. Purple, pink and white violets flourish on window sills near some baby tears and a cactus or two. A huge dieffenbachia fills an empty corner behind the couch.
We hang floral paintings and wall paper, drape windows, cover chairs and cushions with flowery fabric.
We love our flower-patterned blouses, dresses and scarves. We wear earrings, pins, necklaces and rings with floral motifs and put flowers in our hair. We lavish our bodies with lotions, creams and perfumes scented of lavender, roses and jasmine.
The pansies will soon be poking through the snow followed by snow drops and crocuses. The hyacinths, daffodils and tulips welcome spring and soon lily of the valley and forget-me-nots will herald summer. What follows is an outburst of colour and fragrance from perennials and annuals. We each have our favourites and we tenderly care for them, weed them, pinch them back to encourage more growth, dead head to create greater production and pick them so we can enjoy them inside our homes.
Ground covers like vinca and nasturtium hold their own beside the imposing forsythia, rhododendron and delphiniums. The delicate iris and cosmos mingle with the robust hydrangea and yarrow.
Honeysuckle, clematis and trumpet vines wind around and through trellises. If you are lucky enough to have one that blooms, wisteria blossoms drape and dance along fences and arbours. Apple and cherry trees, crabapple, dogwood, magnolia and the glorious red bud burst forth announcing their grandeur and brilliance, each in their own time.
Asters, mums, sedum, goldenrod, coneflower, verbena and black-eyed Susans take their place in the sun as the summer blooms fade. The sugar maples, Japanese maples, serviceberry and sumac with their fiery explosion, the birch and ginkgos with their luminous yellow, the stunning burgundy of the oak leaf hydrangea, the glowing reds and pinks of the burning bush and smokebush give us a high impact jolt of brilliant, warming colour before the harsh white of winter sets in again.
A bouquet to each of you who help make our world a beautiful place.
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