april peonies

pink peonies, viburnum, hellebores, andromeda, hypercurium berries  and fern

i'll warn you ahead of time that i'm feeling a bit loopy right now.  i had to sleep with my windows open last night to cool my apartment.  i don't have a flower fridge so windows or air conditioning are my options to keep the flowers looking fresh (thank goodness for a cool spring).  our apartment faces a busy avenue and it's really a terrible thing to hear every car and truck pass by through the night.

anyway, it's administrative professional's day today and pete and i delivered a number of arrangements this morning.  we worked pretty hard on these bouquets last night, all of which showcase the peony among the other spring beauties.  it's a bit too early for local peonies, so these came france and california.  otherwise, the hellebores, viburnum and ranunculus are local and i greedily snatched up more than needed, particularly the hellebores (the spotted variety is my favorite).  and the andromeda are the ones that i cut from my friend's garden in shelter island over the weekend.

as an aside, yes, anna, i always overbuy.  sometimes things don't work out as planned so i always want enough product on hand as insurance.  i don't want a repeat of the cafe-au-lait-dahlia-episode.

peony wonder world (i used three kinds:  darker pink, light pink and white.  smelled so good):

dark pink, light pink and white peonies with viburnum, hellebores, andromeda, hypercurium berries and fern

coral glory:

coral peonies with coral and raspberry ranunculus, hellebores, andromeda, hypercurium berries and fern

woodland magic (and my favorite):

light pink peonies with viburnum, hellebores, andromeda, hypercurium berries and fern

watermelon-berry sorbet:

coral peonies with viburnum, ranunculus, hellebores, andromeda, hypercurium berries  nd fern

btw, this is likely the last post you'll see on flowers for a little bit.  pete and i are heading to london and holland!  i'm hoping to see fields and fields of tulips.  i'll try to update photos regularly but we'll see how it goes. i still need to post pictures from our paris trip; maybe i can get to them before we leave.

where is spring?

bouquet of ranunculus, bearded iris, sweet peas, clematis, lilacs and peach campanella roses

it's cold here.  it caught me by surprise this morning on the way to spin class.  yep, folks, i'm still spinning monday and wednesday mornings.  monday's classes are usually pretty nice -- a good way to start the week.  but the instructor for wednesday's class is brutal (in a good way, of course).  she makes sure that i sweat and pant and nearly faint at least three times over the course of 45 minutes -- very intense.  naturally, i've signed up for her class this friday (pray for me, please).  my legs are burning.  i've consumed two glasses of wine to help relax my muscles ;)

 and a little garden snake baking in the morning sun.  he kept me company as i was taking photos.

york harbor

in massachusetts this easter weekend.  we went to york harbor, maine yesterday to wish sarah a happy birthday with a posy of purple and gold blossoms.

i love sarah's apartment; it has a coastal new england vibe about it.  the apartment itself feels nautical and she's brought many components of the outside in with a great collection shells, weathered elements and ferns and other plants potted in vintage vessels.  i could never replicate this myself so perhaps capturing it would be the next best thing.  sarah's lucky to live in a place like york harbor.  pete and i often talk about moving back to new england, but we'd miss nyc terribly.

posy of clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

cotton candy

redonkulous ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

from last weekend, colors remind me of cotton candy.

i've been told recently that i don't smile enough.  maybe in certain circumstances.  i have an old picture of myself at 24 -- young, naive, still green behind the ears -- and i had a big smile on my face, like a really genuine smile that if you saw it, you'd likely smile back.  i was happy to be in nyc;  happy to be employed; happy to do whatever took to move my life forward.  someone commented on that picture recently; he couldn't believe that i was the same person.  i told him to come see me on my day off.  i'm surrounded by flowers then and then he'll really know what i'm like.  that smile is not gone, just hidden.

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea 

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea