Sunday, March 3, 2013

a bit of brighter


It occurred to me that it would be nice to see a bit of bright color, as a complement to the recent trend of greys and grey-greens and grey-duns and grey-blues.

I thought, "hyacinths!"  I love hyacinths, with their sweet, heady smell of Spring, and their soft palette of pink and white, or my lifelong favorite: deep violet-blue.

There is a small florist shop only a few miles away, and perhaps twice yearly I treat myself to a little soul-enrichment there. It is a very pleasant shop to visit, with its original oak-framed cooler full of chilly roses, and its pleasant proprietor and staff.

I should go there more often.
~~~

Although the trip was going to be a short one, I invited Piper to come along for the ride.  Piper's world teeters on the brink of  collapse when anyone goes down the driveway without her, so I try to bring her along whenever possible.

Any invitation to go for a ride causes Piper to leap repeatedly into the air, and race madly back and forth.  It is her self-imposed duty to show me the way to the car which is in plain sight about 50 feet away.  She gets me there, every time, without fail.

After all this build-up, Piper doesn't really enjoy riding in the car.  She frets, and talks to herself, and points out that other dogs are permitted to hang their entire heads out the windows of moving vehicles instead of having to conform to my arbitrary "safety" rule of just two inches of snout.

No, she really doesn't enjoy the ride.  But she really, really enjoys getting into and out of the car.

Piper is a complex individual.
~~~

The photograph at the top of this post probably gave you a tip-off:
there were no hyacinths at the shop.

Well, there were, but they were poking their green leaves only about an inch out of the potting soil.  They are being carefully brought along by the florist for Easter blooming, nearly four weeks away.

The florist said that if I brought them home into 70-degree conditions, they would bloom in about two weeks.  Here's the problem with that scenario:

first, my home is closer to 60 degrees; as high as 64 for an hour or two if I'm feeling chilled to my bones.

second, I am a hazard to plants.  Sad, but true.  Water? Too much or too little. Light?  Ditto. The sweep of a happy Piper-tail or the bump of an awkward elbow...smash.  Any sensible plant would prefer a brief indoor visit at the height of health and bloom, followed by planting outdoors where one must contend only with the New England climate.

A few hyacinths I planted many years ago are still bravely rising from the forest floor each year, looking increasingly like wild flowers:

A charming little miracle.

It will be some time before the hyacinths (and violets! and lilies of the valley!) are blooming outdoors, though, so I plan to go back to the florist in three weeks for my delayed dose of hyacinths.

Meanwhile...carnations!  Miniature carnations, in fact. Did you know they exist? I didn't. They are rather sweet.

Just a few stems of carnations and a bit of fern and baby's breath (now there's a common name I have never understood...can anyone shed light on the origin of that one?) gave me enough material for one milk-jug bouquet where it will be seen most often, one small arrangement by the kitchen sink, and one miniature posy in a tiny antique bottle I found years and years ago.






The little bottle is on the windowsill next to my bed, and when I looked out at dawn and saw snow falling this morning, it was a heart-warming pleasure to be looking at that snow through a cheerful group of little flowers.
~~~~~

16 comments:

  1. OOOH I wanted to see Piper!
    This made me laugh, as Roobarb is exactly the same. We accidentally drove past her favourite park yesterday (we had been in there earlier) and she was scratching at the car door for us to stop and let her out. We hated having to dissappoint her!

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    1. I'll have to try to photograph Piper's routine for getting into the car. I wonder how many times she will go back and forth while I crouch down with a camera? 5? 10? Place your bets! ;)

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  2. I think you did well with the miniature carnations as a substitution. I do hope that Piper got to go into the flower shop? Happy Sunday to you both - beautiful photos, by the way! Tanya

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    1. LOL, no Piper waited in the car. The florist has a table covered in ceramic holders and arrangements and...the expression "bull in a china shop" comes to mind! ;)

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  3. Quinn, what a great idea to go to the florist for a touch of spring. Love the pictures. Miss Roxy hates to ride in the car, traveling with her whining the entire trip is miserable, so she doesn't get to go very often.

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    1. Maybe she wants to drive? Sometimes I think that is what Piper is complaining about.

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  4. Oh Quinn you write so well - I was smiling all through that post at the images of Piper and also your relationship with plants!! Your flowers look lovely xxx

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    1. Thanks, Lucy! That's a very nice compliment coming from one of my favorite bloggers! :)

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  5. What a treat to see such a lovely carnation. I'm watching a snowstorm through my window and your photograph was a real mood lifter.

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    1. Flowers are powerful little things, aren't they? :)

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  6. Your flowers look beautiful! I looked baby's breath up and here is what I found. Baby's breath is so much prettier than soap wort LOLOLOL
    Although most species are similar in appearance, baby’s breath – or soap wort, as it is known in the United Kingdom – boasts a family of over 100 species, all with their own small variations. The predominant symbol for the baby’s breath flower is everlasting love. In continuation of the theme, they are thought to represent happiness and a purity of the heart.

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    1. Thank you for sharing this info! Soapwort?? It would indeed sound odd requesting that at the florist! ;)

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  7. a flower filter. perfect! a foot is predicted for us this week, but the signs of spring are most definitely there. (if it makes you feel better, we planted a ton of hyacinth and nothing came up -- nada, zero, zippo.)

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    1. I wonder if something ate your bulbs? That happened to me one year as well. Not one bulb sprouted, and when I dug around expecting to find rotted residue, there was nothing there at all. Chipmunks, I think. Or maybe mice, voles, shrews, etc.

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  8. Piper should meet the whippets ... they love getting into and out of the car and riding in it, because riding in it often means the beach, and running! They'd soon explain that riding in the car is all about going somewhere worth being ;)

    Such pretty flowers. I also visited the florist for some spring cheer at the end of last week, but I have blue anemones and white freesias and I'm loving the Delft like mix of colours.

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    1. Your flowers sound like a painting - lovely! :)

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