Friday, January 20, 2012

Helping to Beat the Winter Blues with Inexpensive Flowers


BreezyTrees Photo

Just a couple of weeks ago, it was 45+ degrees in Northern Michigan (extremely unusual for January), hardly any snow on the ground, the sun was shining and I was walking along the beach rock hunting – it was glorious! But, wow, can things change quickly: Yesterday, I had to go outside and shovel 1 ½ feet of snow!  Yes, winter is back with a vengeance.

To help combat my winter blues, I love to have colorful flowers in the house. A great cut flower I’ve been using is alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily). I get them cheap at Sam’s Club - $5.88 for 10 stems – and they last for 2-3 weeks (which turns out to be about .42 - .28 cents a day, an inexpensive pick-me-up). They come in many colors – I prefer to use just one bright color because I think it makes a bolder statement – and since they have an abundance of green leaves that helps to create volume, you don’t need to buy extra greens as a filler.

BreezyTrees Photo
Sometimes I add an extra splash of color to my flowers by filling a clear vase with tumbled glass pieces.  I don’t always like to see the stems showing in the bottom of the vase, so the glass pieces hide the stems and help hold the flowers in place. I often use blue glass shards which I make by breaking blue wine bottles and then smoothing the edges of the pieces in my rock tumbler.

 
In the middle of winter, a colorful bouquet of flowers can be just the thing to bring a little sunshine into the house.

BreezyTrees photo

Pet Care Warning:  If you have animals that enjoy munching on your flowers, you may want to avoid alstroemeria since it could be toxic.  Follow these links for more information:

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