It’s spring and the color of flowers lifts everyone’s spirits. Flowers are God’s way of assuring us that life endures, hope reigns and love is in the air. Sunday, my youngest son and I took a hike along the river north of our town. 
The forest floor was completely blanketed with these trout lilies. A sure sign of spring that gives you a feeling that all is pure and right.
Yesterday, we were in a German restaurant celebrating our youngest son’s birthday. I noticed a couple come into the restaurant and they noticed a large bouquet of flowers in a vase right away. The lady came over and felt the leaves and flowers and had a really disappointed look on her face. I felt the same. Sure, they looked real, but it was disappointing to realize that they weren’t. Flowers need to be alive. That’s what they’re all about — life.
These narcissus are the first flowers you can buy in the spring from the smaller vendors in Moscow. They don’t last more than a couple of days, but they’re inexpensive, fresh, alive and catch your eye every time you walk by. The great thing about Moscow was that fresh flowers were available on nearly every bus stop, metro stop and where ever there was a small market or cluster of shops. You could find flowers at any price you wanted, stuff them in your coat and head home. Flowers were as an important purchase as food. The more I think about it, they are food — just not for the stomach, but for the soul.
Flowers are a little harder to come by here in the US, but not impossible. We bought our house late last summer and planted some bulbs and perennials in the fall. Now, we’re enjoying tulips and the promise of a summer packed with color. We bought some hanging baskets of violas and pansies which endured a couple of freezes no problem and are currently providing a nursery for some purple finches. Not only do we have color, but song!
For years our family always looked forward to a flower show at the end of February co-sponsored by a department store and huge garden center. Each year they had a theme like “English Garden”, “Spanish Coast”, “Norwegian Fjords” and so on. The show came just in time to relieve the winter cabin fever and get us looking forward to spring. We got great gardening ideas as well as inspiration for all kinds of creative stuff.
One of the best ideas is to look for markets of local growers. Farmers markets, coops or any place where local growers sell their stuff. That way you’re encouraging local growers to produce for their own community and you benefit by getting fresh flowers and more and they benefit by the support of their own neighbors. It’s the romantic way! People helping people while keeping the pride of producing quality goods in a local community.
In the meantime, buy some flowers for Mom, for your kitchen counter and dining room table. Plant some flowers just because.
Yours along TheRomanticWay!
Rod
