Faux Gems bring Unexpected Color & Sparkle to Glass Jars

Of course I love flowers and making bouquets. A few years ago I decided to add a royal touch to some of my arrangements. I found it really relaxing to create patterns with acrylic gems (you know, something that would look good on a crown) and gluing the design onto a mason jar. You would be surprised how striking this simple embellishment is. Here is a lovely example with stalks of purple iris.  

Generosity Can Take Many Forms

I want to share the story of how I came to have this spectacular German Bearded Iris blooming in my yard. Huge silk-like purple blooms on thick sturdy stems. I love them.

During the pandemic, my mom (now 88) lived with us from March to August. She enjoyed watching our neighborhood activity from a chair by the house and we walked up and down the street for exercise almost every day. Part of the fun of spring is seeing plants develop and thrive and we gave steady commentary on how all of the local plants were doing. A favorite stop was neighbor Barb's huge purple iris planted right near the street. We watched the leaves grow and fan out and were so pleased to see stalk after stalk rise up out of the huge iris bed. We would stand and talk about them every day when they were in bloom and marvel and the size of the purple heads. It is a vivid memory of mine. 

So when Barb divided her rhizomes and left me a large section about a year later I was surprised and delighted. She was moving and said that "We need to make sure your mom can keep enjoying these iris!" Doesn't that make your heart swell?

What a lovely thought and gesture. She knew she had the power to guarantee delight and she wanted to make it happen. And it worked. Her iris are thriving and my mom and I were discussing the stalks as they were starting to open on Sunday and admired this arrangement yesterday on FaceTime. In fact, she told me to take the photo above and show the arrangement to Barb. Delight continues.

Have you thought about generosity in those terms lately? It takes courage to tell someone "I want you to have this." When it is right, the effect is positive and long-lasting. 

#neighbors #iris #sharing 

A Moment in Time: Cascadia Iris Farm

("Team Player" shown above)

It is a little premature to send you specifically to see the iris garden at Cascadia Iris Farm in Lake Stevens, WA but I want you to know about them and reach out to them if you are looking for a certain variety. If you love iris, there is a moment in time when they are in their glory and I couldn't resist tracking down an iris garden within reach.

I was impulsive and jumped in the car without reading their website, which specifically says there are only certain days that the garden is open. Whoops.
So I tip-toed around and took a few pictures to share. Their website explains a tough transition to their new property and some related crop loss. But they are on their way back and the varieties in their display gardens were healthy and happy. I wish them well and will watch as their business grows.

  ("Marrying Kind" shown above)

#iris #irisgarden #springflowers #seattle #momentsofdelight

A Portrait of the Iris

I don't mean to get carried away, but doesn't this look like an early American painting?  The shades of color, the framing - I love it all.  This is a deep blue iris (up close it looked like it was made of silk!) displayed in a wine bottle turned vase.  Don't be intiminted with "flower arranging" - this time I used one stalk and one bottle. 

Sometimes a quiet arrangement speaks volumes.   

Traverse City: Iris Farm

Sometimes finding delight is as simple as being ready to experience a moment when it presents itself. 

When we talked about making plans for our weekend up north for Memorial Day, we acknowledged that a lot depended on whether or not "the iris were in bloom."  For 2 weeks a year, this magnificent field is open to the public and the flowering stalks are available for sale.  The weather, temperature and rain all play a factor in the timing, but it is generally in late May.  After our unpredictable Spring, I wasn't sure what the plants would be doing.

My Mom and I visit the iris farm every time my schedule and the iris sync up.  Eureka! It was another banner weekend!  It was 90 degrees (unheard of! Today it is back to 69) and there were 800 colors of German iris in bloom!  We walked up and down the rows with an open basket and scissors (provided when you check in) and we had an absolute field day (sorry, I couldn't resist) choosing which blooms to pick for our bouquet.  Each stalk is $1 and has many blooms each. 

This was one of my favorites and it is called Toasted Watermelon. You can called the farm at (231) 947-9040 to reserve a plant of your own, I believe people commit to buying a plant now and then they are available to customers in the Fall.  What fun!

One of our arrangements!