A Happy Valentine's Day to All

I like traditions and  I like the comfort of the turning of the seasons.  I guess it's one reason I like being in the flower biz.  I have a feeling  for the wheel of the year.  Like February means pussywillow and hellebore and fragrant jasmine.  And  many years ago Chris told me that she always puts her hummingbird feeder out on Valentine's Day.  And I like that kind of a tradition.  Doesn't always mean it has to be a big party with turkey and stuffing.  Some traditions can be private and kind of personal.  So I always try and trim my rose bushes (the one's that need trimming) and plant sweet peas right around Valentine's Day.   That's my little tradition.

Happy Year of the Snake

It's Chinese New Year and it's the Year of the Snake and so thought I'd share these images of some great Laura Zindel platters.

And a great print from Spicher and Co.  These are the complete and total snake offering chez Passionflower

and we love them both.  You know, the snake gets a bad rap - slithery little creatures that can zip their way in and out of anything....but they also shed their skins and grow.  Which gets me to thinking about those things I want to grow out of.  Because it's never too late.

photos courtesy Laura Zindel ceramics and Spicher and Co

Some thoughts on Love and Valentine's Day

You know there's all kinds of love in the world......there's platonic love, and familial love, and unconditional love, and then, there's the one that we make such a big hullabaloo about come Valentine's Day - erotic love....And I say,"Why not?".....Sex really is one of the best things about being human, n'est pas?   so why not celebrate the one you love with flowers, and candles, and oils and lotions and all manners of baubles and finery?  I put a little Valentine's album together for you to get you inspired.  You can check it out here.

(and p.s.  it's not to say we don't see lots of moms and sisters and friends sending each other little tokens of love....so yeah I guess it really does take all kinds of love to make the world go round.)

image from google

Falling in Love (Again)

 

Oh big yummy, I kind of fell in love with these napkins and dishtowels when I was in New York.  Hand block printed on organic cotton/hemp fabrics using all vegetable dyes!!!  But the good buyer (that's hopefully me in my good moments) is not blinded by love.  She backs up and wonders...hmmm.....how colorfast and sturdy are those vegetable dyes really going to be?  Will these get better and softer with age?  Can this one woman, handmade in the USA, show really produce the goods? 

 Satisfied with the answer to my questions, I decide to take the plunge.  Look for these charming dishtowels and napkins Chez Passionflower this spring.

I can hardly wait.

Naughty but not too Naughty

 

It was so much fun putting together Valentine's Day Cards this year.  We have a huge selection.

So come and get 'em!

Twisting and Turning

 

I had a rocking good time at the Gift Show in New York this year.  Look to my left and there's a handtinted,   classical Italian print that looks like they collaged a big tillandsia right in the middle.  

And look to my right and there's this big old twisted and turned sago palm.  Everywhere you look there is creativity and people pushing themselves to create something new and wonderful. 

The Coming of Spring

 

Happy Groundhog Day, Candlemas, Imbolc, whatever you choose to call it, this is the day we're halfway between the darkness of winter and the coming of spring.  Traditionally when lambs give birth, when the buds are swelling on the trees, when lighting a candle feels very hopeful  and when: 

"We see the the change of the year here from the darker days of Winter to the lengthening days of Spring. It is the first harbinger of spring, the assurance that the Wheel is turning and the long warm days of summer will return" (quote from Yahoo answers).  Can you feel it?

  And I am back from New York, getting ready for Valentine's Day.  Looking for pussywillow and hellebore and quince blossoms in my yard.  Everything seems a little behind not quite where it usually is this time of year.  And each day unfurling some new wonder.