Garden

Bouquet Brownie Points

Sunil101.7K views

I like to be in credit. That applies to financial credit, favour credit and most importantly, relationship credit. If I build up enough relationship credit then I can trade it in with my partner to either:

  1. Get something done
  2. Get out of jail free
  3. Get all high-and-mighty

This evening, I made a very large deposit into my relationship credit account by putting together a summer bouquet of flowers from the garden.

With such a small garden, I don’t have a separate “cutting garden” to pick from, I use anything in flower and lots of foliage too to bulk it out. Just like the garden, there’s no overall theme on flowers, colour, scent or foliage, it’s just a mishmash of everything. For foliage, we have:

  • Fern leaves
  • Four types of Hosta leaves
  • Rosemary sprigs
  • Eucalyptus
  • Black bamboo
  • Fatsia Japonica

For the flowers, there are:

  • Three types of David Austin Old English roses (sweet/rose scent)
  • Three types of cottage pinks (sweet or spicy scent)
  • Allium Christophii
  • Lavender
  • Delphinium
  • Astrantia (please, do not smell – only in there because they look very pretty)
  • Osteospermum

I really do enjoy being able to go out into the garden armed with a pair of scissors and a vase and create a lovely arrangement to bring inside. As I am cheap, a great deal of satisfaction comes from being able to earn relationship credit without having to use real money too. It’s not going to look as perfect as the florist’s but it’s hand-made, grown, picked and set by me and given with affection and it doesn’t get more personal than that.

This is the third bouquet this year and in a good year (if the weather is right) we can have several starting from early Spring right through to Christmas.

  1. Daffodils
  2. Siberian Irises and foliage
  3. Summer bouquet with a bit of everything
  4. Lilies (caution: pollen)
  5. Late summer bouquet (Echinacea, Cupids Dart, Lavender etc)
  6. End of year evergreens (Holly, Ivy, Osmanthus, Bamboo, Sweet Box etc)

Building up relationship credit by making the summer bouquet is all very well, but unfortunately, the existence of this very post means that I have already spent it all.

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10 comments

Lynn Hunt 26/06/2013 - 9:38 pm
You should get EXTRA credit for that bouquet (or as they say in the US south, bokay) Sunil. The fact that you planned it and created it by hand is much more meaningful than something store-bought! Well done.
Sunil 27/06/2013 - 6:36 pm
Hi Lynn, I know I should, but that's not how it works! I think I will keep replacing the flowers as they fade to keep it going for longer.
susan maclean 26/06/2013 - 10:43 pm
Credit or not, it's so nice to have fresh flowers in the house. Well done you!
Sunil 27/06/2013 - 6:38 pm
Hi Mrs Mac, I know, I'm rather proud of it. It's been a while since I did a large one like this and having fresh flowers is lovely, I've been thinking about taking something similar (but smaller) to work.
Jean 27/06/2013 - 3:01 am
What a deal to get relationship credit for something that's also inherently pleasurable! I love gathering flowers from the garden to make bouquets for the house. I hadn't thought of using hosta leaves as foliage; thanks for that tip.
Sunil 27/06/2013 - 6:39 pm
Hi Jean, the Hosta leaves can last quite a while, I regularly use them to provide a sort of base layer or stage to put the flowers on.
gardeninacity 27/06/2013 - 6:17 pm
Good job! Accounting is so essential to a strong relationship.
Sunil 27/06/2013 - 6:40 pm
Hello Jason, I'm still working out the numbers as to wether I'm managing to break-even or not!
Casa Mariposa 27/06/2013 - 7:57 pm
This is so true but funny. My husband is in charge of a large garden project right now and knows that success will either make or break his future happiness. It requires no skill other than remembering to water the entire garden while I'm busy with something else. I think he'll more than rise to the challenge, because that guarantees a big thank you from me. ;) Your bouquet is beautiful. Anything cut from a personally tended garden is so much more fulfilling than anything from a florist.
Sunil 04/07/2013 - 6:48 pm
Hi to the Casa! The best thing about home-cut bouquets is that you can carry on replacing the faded flowers as long as they're flowering in the garden to keep the whole thing going for longer. I've already replaced the roses, next I'll replace the fern leaves then add in more pinks. If I'm lucky enough, by the time I run out of roses in the garden I can be onto the lilies and cupids darts!
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