The 50 Mile Bouquet, Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers, written by Debra Prinzing and opulently photographed by David E. Perry may be pretty and petite- it is also important.
Filled with the stories of modern-day pioneers offering hope that the American Dream of self-sufficiency is not just alive and well: it is beautiful beyond measure.
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| 6:00 AM in Diamond Bar |
And I am inspired. By Debra and Matthew's book. And my garden.
I didn't have to walk 50 feet to find Disneyland roses, nandina foliage, puffs of fresh centranthus ruber, nasturtium and succulent blooms to fill a vase the hybridizer of Pink Promise rose sent me home with from a long-ago photo shoot.
John Schoustra, one of the speakers at last week's So Cal Hort meeting sent me home with stems of his beach series lilacs.
I wish I could send the scent of how lovely these low-chill darlings is. Arranged simply with ferns, a spring of Wine Festival and one other iris- my living room is redolent with fond memories of a walk in Cambridge on a rainy spring day.
Speaking of rain. So Cal got over 2" last week. Our gutters and rain gauge all over-flowed. Diamond Bar cancelled the City Birthday Party for the first time ever. The cost of replacing sod paled in comparison to any inconvenience in rescheduling to May 12th.
Old leaves were washed from trees. The only issue in photographing a bunny was- which one? We have a new size this week: tea cup.
The third bouquet this week features a heart of Betty Boop roses, nandina stalk for greenery more puffs of centranthus ruber to fill in and succulents to drape- and grow roots.
When it comes to succulents: they are the rabbits of the plant world. You can't see just one: not for long. The 50 Mile Bouquet has a blog
Linking to My Romantic Home and
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteOhhh girlfriend I love seeing your beautiful flowers from your garden and beyond!
I do not envy the work it takes to get it to look the way it does. I DO envy you having fresh cut flowers any where you choose in the house! Beeeutiful!!
Your garden must have loved the rain. My Jackson Perkins roses loved the rain because they have gone an even darker pink today.
Love your Betty Boops!! :)
XO Trisha
I support local food (farmers markets, plus my spouse community gardens) when possible - alas, in our zone 5 upstate NY climate, cut flowers grown within 50 miles would be difficult much of the year except in a greenhouse. This is going to stick in my mind though (I have a feeling)....
ReplyDeleteHi Trisha! The more roses that make it to a vase, the more the bushes will push out blooms.
ReplyDeleteDear Bookworm - as much as I have to do outside- I covet a greenhouse. They don't have so many weeds as an outside garden does, do they?):-
Isn't this a fantastic time of year? I was just at Descanso where the lilacs are off to a great start. Makes me want to try to find a location for one... but WHICH ONE? The scent is inimitable, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYour Garden is Soooo LOVELY Lydia....and I Adore the Bunny..! So very sweet. It has to be such a pleasure to the eye and to the soul to be able to take these gorgeous Roses from your garden and make these beautiful arrangements for your house....!
ReplyDeleteIt is always such a pleasure to see the beauty that you have created, my dear.
Dear Nikki- Try to make the Spring Flower show at South Coast Plaza, Greenwood (John Schoustra) will be there. His are simply the best for those of us who live in temperte climates,
ReplyDeleteNaomi- I'm going to have to make sure I get to meet you with some of those roses):-
Hi Lydia, thank you so much for the good words! I love seeing the flowers of your labors, so to speak!
ReplyDeleteKeep on making those backyard bouquets! Local flowers are so much closer than we think!
xo debra
Lydia, so agree with Trisha's analysis of the beautiful flowers. The pic of the one little rabbit is almost cute to me, but then I think of the hundreds we have here in Seal Beach Liesure World, and I'm not so happy with them at all! We have a hard time here keeping them under control and this is the time of year that the little critter multiply like - - - like --- well, like rabbits!
ReplyDeleteThey are fun for the little grandchildren, but after a certain age, they are a big annoyance.
Judy
Seal Beach
Keep working, nice post! This was the information I had to know.
ReplyDeleteHello, very professional high level blog! thank you for sharing. Because of good writing, and I learned a lot, and I am glad to see such a beautiful thing. Sorry for my bad English. ?
ReplyDeleteThank you Debra and Judy! Google is giving me fits- I have comments that haven't shown up here- glad yours made it in!
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ReplyDeleteThank you to the 2 anonymous people who wrote in. The one who questioned your English skills- What you wrote was lovely. Keep practicing- you will gain confidence.
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