Does one day of beauty have value?
Recently, while in Florida, my former neighbor’s gardenia bush, only offered me one gardenia, while I was in town. I gladly brought the one bloom home, but a friend was coming over for a bite to eat, and I was in need of fresh flowers, for my table. Thus, I decided to take a page out of Lia’s book, and picked what I think of, as non-traditional table flowers, from my garden.
I love hibiscus and have quite a few varieties planted in my garden, however, I do not normally use them as cut flowers, primarily because the bloom so quickly fades. http://thatisallfornow.com/?p=7478
As I began arranging the flowers, I had cut; I entertained the notion of the cost of my efforts. Come morning, I knew I would have to toss the flowers out, which I did. Was it worth it, to bring them in? Would it make a difference, on my table or to my guest, that we had fresh flowers? The answer, of course, is yes!
The first comment, from my guest, was how beautiful the simply laid out table looked, and how sorry they were not to have brought me flowers; it was a spontaneous invitation, they had no idea I was inviting them to dinner. They began talking about the beauty of the perfect blooms and their vibrant color, and I felt ashamed to have even debated whether or not to bring the flowers in, just for the day.
A garden demands a great deal of work, from caring for the soil, planting, weeding, feeding, watering, and vigilance, but the reward for your efforts is beauty and bounty, which we should never fail to enjoy, even if it is just for a day.
