The holiday season is rich with traditions, symbolism and meaning—played out what seems like every turn. That might be music floating by as the invisible accompaniment on a shopping spree, favorite recipes coming to life and conjuring up the fondest tableside memories or a dangling mistletoe branch that guarantees a moment of tenderness in an otherwise bustling and busy time.
With the heralding of the holiday season, meaningful moments abound. Whether it’s fawning over decor and meal plans, unpacking cherished memories that cast their annual festive glow or prepping details in anticipation for new memories to be made.
As we recently kissed summer goodbye, the occasional brush of her warm breeze may linger but the autumn landscape has taken hold. Green leaves are restyling into golds, reds and oranges soon to dangle before fluttering from their branches’ grasp. Flowers also speak to the fall season, with a plethora of vibrant hues that put us in the mood for shorter days, cooler nights, warm drinks and festive holidays that beckon.
With the hectic pace of school gearing up again (at last!), offices opening on some level and general lazy days of summer almost in our rear view, we still need to remember to stop and smell the roses—and other flowers.
Flowers make strong statements in many ways, from the distinct shape of their petals to their lingering fragrance to their bold and bright colors. It’s almost counterintuitive, then, how fleeting some of these delicate blooms can be. Still, caring for them properly can go a long way toward making them long (or longer) lasting.
Everywhere you look—from fields, to yards, to urban gardens—flowers are in their full and brightest displays. It’s summer, after all, and like the rest of us, they have come out to play. The choices of what to trim from the garden or focus on at the floral market seem almost limitless and make for a very tough (but ultimately fun!) decision.
In the throes of summer, yellow flowers make sense. After all, they are the color of sunshine and bring warmth to any arrangement. Like we said, they work for the season. And they blend beautifully with a plethora of other colors, like oranges and whites to name a few, to create displays that are upbeat and happy, which is another nod to summer when the warm weather and sunshine naturally makes people feel good.
Long-lasting flowers are some of our favorite things, but sometimes good things must come to an end. But maybe not quite so soon. Waxing flowers is a perfect way to preserve these beautiful petals to make them last a little bit longer (up to a week) and is also a fun project to take on.
As June teeters between spring and summer, so does its resulting often off-kilter personality. It dances around specifics in style, entertaining, amusement and more—while we play the silly little game, relishing in what both sides have to offer.
With a plethora of spring blooms to create arrangements with, it’s sometimes hard to decide which to use. Consider going beyond the color, variety and fragrance alone—and infuse a little meaning into your bouquets.
One way to think of flowers to bring into your home or send as a gift and a way we often consider blooms is to pay attention to their meanings. As we have written before, flowers have a long history of beautiful, purposeful messaging that still, at some level, holds true today.
When nature dreamed up flowers, it could not have created prettier packaging. Then civilized cultures paired these petal-centric pieces with hidden and meaningful messages. (And we thought we could not love flowers more.) This perfect partnering is known as the language of flowers, with emblematic meaning rooted in history and lore.