Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My Secret Collection.


I have a secret collection that my Farmer is unaware of.


 Isn't a bouquet of flowers
the nicest way to brighten a room?
 Our hydrangeas have been beautiful this year,
and even though they are still small bushes,
I couldn't resist picking their few flowers.

  The heat of summer
was threatening to wilt them in a hurry.

 Aren't they just amazing?




I abandoned most of my collections soon after we married,
only sparing pieces from special people or events.
I had enough collections to give nightmares to the greediest of hoarders,
so it was a relief to me

and my Farmer.



However, I kept a secret collection:

vases.



I treasure my vases that people have given to me,
and also have my own assortment of "favorites."

 This sturdy beautiful vase was a wedding gift from an aunt,
my father's sister Lilly and her family.

It reminds me of her:
it's beautiful, classy, capable, and a pleasure to have around.

So I think of her whenever I use my "classy" vase.


 This milk glass vase reminds me of one of my mother's best friends.
She's a loyal friend, and can make the simplest day turn into a ball of fun.
Her laughter is infectious and abundant.
I've always felt a little jealous that she is my mother's age.



 This green vase was a Christmas gift from my mom.
I said I was looking for a single flower vase,
and she found this sweet one.

It's green, her favorite color,
a clean, cozy, hospitable green,
and it's feminine, and fun.





I'm going to show you how I make a full bouquet
in this next vase,
one of my favorites.


 After a pleasant walk of picking flowers
 from the color scheme I am aiming for,
along with a large amount of filler plant
(usually a leafy plant with nice color or delicate features),
I strip the leaves off the lower parts of the stems...
 so the vase has less vegetation in it to turn the water green
(For my filler plant, I used branches from my variegated Kerria bush).


 I then place taller pieces of the filler plant in the center
and shorter pieces all around them.

I don't use them all,
just enough
and save some for the end,
to fill in anywhere that looks empty.



 I then took my taller flowers and situated those into the vase,
followed by the others,
spreading them out in random array.



 For this grouping I used Black-eyed Susans,
White Swan Echinacea,
and Queen Anne's Lace,
which I stole from Jake's pasture.

I wanted the Queen Anne's Lace because we used it
in the bouquets for my sister's wedding;..

years later,
her sons picked this vase out for me
as my wedding gift.

I always think of them and smile
when I use it.



Of course,
I never took any lessons on flower arranging:
this is just the way I find it works for me.


But perfect arranging is not always important.
I think this arrangement my daughter made for our table
is as nice as any...

sweetness from a child always gets the 
"Best in Show."




Linking up to these fun places:









Photobucket

Privet and Holly

17 comments:

  1. Great post! I think I like the milk glass best of all but it was hard to choose. The echinacea is amazing. I have never seen it so big. Your daughters arrangement showed a lot of work. Who needs fillers with all those wonderful flowers around?

    ReplyDelete
  2. my favorite was the first one! Your hydrangeas are beautiful. You need to give us bloggers a lesson in growing these & the variety of colors. I just planted 8 of them about a month of ago. Nursing them like babies! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You hydrangeas are really incredible. I still have not really gotten to the point where I will let myself plant flowers and plants just for the sake of beauty, but I am hoping to break into that soon! :) But then my other problem is that I never want to cut them and watch them fade and eventually have to throw them on the compost pile (even though that is pretty much what happens, anyway, cut or not!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your flowers are beautiful ~ as are your vases. It's good to have a collection of things that have meaning behind them. I too have some vases of importance to me:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is not a collection...it is an essential!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful! I love the hydrendras, they are my favorite flower.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The hydrangeas are beautiful, and so are the stories of your vases and the people whose memory they invoke.

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your hydrangeas are absolutely stunning! Your vases are lovely. How nice that there is a special story or memory for each one! Your daughter's arrangement is precious! Please give all of us lessons! :-)))
    Blessings,
    Lisa
    http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful flowers! I'm sure it is a blessing to have all those around your house - my hubby and kids are SUPER allergic to flowers so I can't have any inside or they'd all be miserable :( Mine have to just stay put outside for now. I love how you arrange them. It must be fun for you!

    Becky B.
    www.organizingmadefun.com
    Organizing Made Fun

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love all your flowers Tonya!!! It looks so pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a nice post! I like your vase collection, and your single flower green vase is my favorite.
    Thank you for sharing some tips on flower arrangements. I love that small sweet bouquet your daughter made.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a lovely post! So beautiful! Love those colours..gorgeous flower arrangements. Thanks for sharing:)
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. As always - you inspire me.

    I love flowers!!

    I featured you today.

    Blessings,

    Jasmine

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow! I love your floral displays! They are really beautiful. I grew to love flowers even more when I worked as an assistant to a floral designer, unfortunately I was constantly getting rashes and sneezing. I am allergic to most flowers so I resorted to opening my own art site with many if the themes being flowers. They are so complex and varied. Like God painted them. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gorgeous. All of your bouquets are beautiful. Love them. Thanks so much for linking to TTT. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  16. This really touched
    me as it is the
    remembrance of each
    piece ~ where it is
    from, who gave it
    to us, etc. that makes
    a collection truly
    special. Loved all
    your beautiful vessels
    and the bouquet lesson
    was a fun extra. Thank
    you for linking up to
    my collector's party
    and letting us all have
    a quick peek through your
    window!
    xx Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is really beautiful. My husband has a collection of vases and uses all of them.

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments!