Splendor in the Vase: Living with Flowers

I'd rather have roses on my table, than diamonds on my neck.
-EMMA GOLDMAN.

The famous English gardener and writer Vita Sackville- West believed that gardening was like painting: "One has the illusion of being an artist painting-putting a dash of color here, taking out another dash of color there, until the whole composition is to one's liking." I am still too much of a novice gardener to have experienced her observation firsthand. 1 only dis¬cover what dash of color I've put somewhere after it blooms. But I do feel like an artist when I arrange a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Now is the season for splendor in the vase. Let's make the most of it. Living with flowers is an exquisite simple pleasure, and in the spring, summer, and fall, it's an affordable luxury. Come the winter months, flowers are too expensive for my budget. Like Emma Goldman, I'd choose roses on my table over diamonds any day. This is a real possibility if you grow your own, which is why I splurged on rosebushes this spring. In my heart and imagination blooms a fragrant English cottage and cutting garden, but it is materializing very slowly. Cutting gardens can take years of nurturing before they reward you with bouquets of flowers. So I weed and water and wait.