Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Flowers are fun, flirty, and feminine. They are an inexpensive way to feel pampered and decadent --- IF you shop for them in frugal ways and use them in luscious, luxurious ways. Coming home after a busy, trying day to a vase of fresh flowers sitting on the coffee table, kitchen table, or nightstand is an understated extravagance. In my book, flowers brighten and improve any space. I love a vase of lilacs or lavender blossoms in the bathroom, peeking out at me from the back of the commode. A tall fluted vase of oriental lilies on my dressing table scents the air with their sexy, spice aroma. I adore my current pitcher of all white flowers, roses, daisies, mums, and carnations in the kitchen. A spray of Chinese lanterns, dried and proud can grace any livingroom elegantly. Flowers inspire. They reward, console, pamper and soothe.
However, frequent visits to your local florist are simply not in the budget bon vivant financial statement. As with everything else, I do visit my florist for educational purposes. I look carefully at floral combinations, vases, unusual arrangements and such. I need to learn, so that I can make my own decadent treat. But for acquiring my blossoms, I turn to other sources.
I use my local mega grocery story regularly. I avoid the prepackaged bouquets like the plague. They nearly always contain cheap flowers and too few of them. This is another place where more of one simple thing is just MORE. I buy the bunches of one single type of flower --- in my grocery store they are generally 3 bunches for $12.
I also love the farmer’s market for flowers. Again, there are some pricey bouquets that someone has lovingly put together and wrapped in beautiful paper and ribbon. These are for the less budget conscious than I. Here again, I am looking for loose, floppy bunches of flowers, freshly cut from someone’s garden that morning. I find that I do better when I’m shopping at the tent of a farmer who has a few flowers on the side, rather than a “flower farmer” who is primarily selling flowers.
I also watch the side of the road. No, I don’t mean that I poach on someone else’s gardening. I watch for those somewhat suspicious looking trucks that park in rest areas, pull offs, and empty parking lots selling flowers, fish, or furniture. I avoid the fish and furniture, but for flowers, what do I have to lose? Often times, these trucks have terrific deals on roses or seasonal flowers. They’re as fresh as the grocery store flowers and often fresher.