Most of us are spending some extra time indoors with the virus quarantine. I am trying to cheer things up a bit by bringing some of the beautiful outdoor blossoms into the house.

Sadly I cannot invite you into our home but welcome you with pussy willows and magnolia.  The color purple works well in our garden with lots of purple foliage and purple hellebores that are blooming right now. 

It’s early April and as you walk through the garden there are still lots of dried grasses and flower heads.  Here a basket woven with willow and twigs is filled with dried grasses. Grasses and daffodils are put into a container of birch folds.  The daffodils are in large glass tubes but the grasses need no water.

 

A more colorful look for the kitchen table–lots and lots of daffodils fill this three-part vase.  The yellow flowers contrast with the branches of the Sango Kaku maple through the kitchen window bringing the outdoors inside.

Make sure to give daffodils time in their own water before mixing with other flowers.  They exude a sap that is toxic when first cut.  

 

A glass vase with sand uses quince branch, narcissus, and hellebores and makes the kitchen counter come to life.

More daffodils and arching spirea japonica branches. The daffodils are put into a plastic cup attached to bamboo skewers to allow stems to be in fresh water and taller than the branches.

Always a favorite, the hellebores by the front door grace our table with a few early blooming spirea branches. There is a cylinder of Oasis wire mesh and some horizontal branches to support the flowers in a rectangular glass vase.

Hellebores can be tender and not long lasting. As the flower heads mature, they are better for arranging. Adding a touch of alcohol to the water will give them some staying power.

I wish you all good health and good cheer. Enjoy the beautiful spring season.