Graduation

Last night was Graduation Night. You see, The Flower Lady divides her classes into Basic and Advanced courses. Last night, the Basics graduated. The FL told them they were "the best class ever!" She showed them how to "pop the birds, lace the Thai leaves, and wire the Scotch broom," all in one night. Plus, she was re-cycling like crazy. So I have a lot to cover.

Look, here she is, the day before, making vases out of old plastic jars from work that used to be shipping containers for decorative green plastic rocks-- honest, that's what they are and that's what was in them. That's contact paper on the outside of the vases.

Going Up?

The Flower Lady's first class of the Spring Semester was last Tuesday. Now, there has been a 300% increase in enrollment. While enrollment in the FL's class is not normally recognized as a leading economic indicator, there are certainly some who would see this as a sign of economic recovery. Nothing in this blog should be construed as investment advice-- but perhaps you should call your broker.

"High Society"

For the first time in many years, the Flower Lady didn't have to work the retail front lines on Valentine's Day. Indeed, she became a customer herself, and purchased some flowers at the local produce market just after the big day, and found these very nice "High Society" roses at a very nice price. The FL judged they're probably the last decent roses left in the Western Hemisphere. Gentlemen, don't count on making such a find yourself. When it comes to Valentine's Day, the FL recommends tulips.

In other news, enough snow finally melted for us to rediscover our deck. I knew it was under there somewhere!

Coming Clean

So, folks, I told the FL about our little secret: she now knows about the blog. She had wondered why I was taking all those pictures. But she said she was glad to be my Flower Lady. She is so sweet! I told her she was now Flower Lady to the whole Cyber World!

She also told me to correct the entry on the tillandsia, that it was actually grown in Florida. But-- why remove a wisecrack about New Jersey? Besides, orchids are somewhat related, and there are orchid growers in New Jersey. Beauty can be found in the most unaccounted places!

Hard at Work

Stopped by the Flower Lady's workplace to check up on things. This interesting, spiky accent on an arrangement going out is a tillandsia. It's related to the bromeliads and native to Central and South America. This particular tillandsia, however, hails from New Jersey.

The Flower Lady was especially excited about the silk arrangement, destined for a downtown hotel lobby. FL liked the silks, with their faux ice coating.

For a flower person, the FL is quite fond of winter. I think it's because she likes Christmas. And her birthday is in December. And our anniversary. Now I like December, and winter, too--as long as I have my Flower Lady!

"Christmas" Vacation

The Flower Lady and I hied away to our own Undisclosed Location to enjoy a winter getaway. Nothing fancy or exotic: a prime rib buffet and a swimming pool and we're happy campers! We had a glorious weekend and duly noted the floral arrangements. This one, at the entrance to the hotel, was one that pleased the FL's eye.

See What I Mean?

The very next day, the Flower Lady bought home some lilies and added them to the birthday greens arrangement. See what I mean about keeping up with the FL? They couldn't use the lilies at work because they had already opened, and the arrangements wouldn't be delivered till after the weekend. The FL has to design with closed lilies precisely timed to open for the week they are on display in some fancy-schmancy legal office. You have to know what you are doing in the corporate design world!