An Epiphany

As I alluded to earlier, I love flowers in the house. Thanks to my green thumb Hubby, I keep flowers on the kitchen table pretty much from May to October. It's something (along with bookshelves) that I'm always drawn to in pictures. Have you ever had a conversation with yourself that sounded like this?

"Oh, how pretty, I like that room! I don't really like the colors, though. Or the furniture. I don't care for the the window treatment either. I guess I really just like the greenery!" (Or the bookshelf.)

I've played around with flower arranging in the past, but this summer I've kept it pretty simple, usually just a vase of garden roses. Or, other stuff, as you'll see in a moment.

One day I was browsing the blog of one of my favorite interior designers when she mentioned sticking some branches from the yard into a vase for a photo shoot.

"?!??!!?"

"!!!!!?!!"

Why didn't I think of this? Totally easy, fast and cheap! So, when the flowers aren't blooming, or I've been in the mood, I've been doing stuff like this:

 Can you believe that exotic, leafy beauty came from my yard, here in Midwest Cornfield US? Well it did. See, here's a picture to prove it:

 

Some of those leaves are about 8"x10"! Sometimes I've put cuttings from this jobber on the table. It makes me think of those exotic vacations so popular in the 1940s, so I like it even though my table is really too small for it. Someday . . . when I get a larger table  . . . well, for now, it looks best on the piano.

 

 

Next, I've got my eye on the rhododendron. Watch out, little bush.

 

Oh, and if you have any idea what that tree is, let me know!