Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Tiptoe through the parrot tulips. . . . . . .


In a recent post I shared these lovely tulips purchased a week ago from Trader Joe's.
 I must say they really have been beautiful, bringing happy, strong color to my dining room.





On Thursday, I trimmed the stems which had grown much longer as tulips
 do once in water. As the blooms were full-blown and hanging down, I used
 a taller vase, and then added a fresh bunch of "wildflowers", also from Trader Joe's.





I never really 'arrange' flowers. I don't especially like formal displays, much
 prefer loose, casual, natural beauties from nature, placed in lovely yet simple
 shaped containers which don't detract from the flowers.

Next time I'll share my flowers for this new week - I made a few changes
 yesterday using blooms from my garden.
When life is full of disappointments, bad news, and sadness, flowers
 certainly brighten the day. . . . . a little bit anyway!



14 comments:

  1. There's something about the colour and the shape and the haphazard-by-design arrangement of the tulips that is strongly reminiscent of a Dutch Old Master painting. Gorgeous!

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  2. Such glorious colours Mary!
    I prefer casual flowers too. I often gather a posy from the garden, like a tussie mussie and pop them in a vase!
    Sorry to hear you've had sad news.
    Take care
    love
    Shane

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  3. Tulips and sunflowers are my favourites....

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  4. Beautiful tulips and a lovely way to extend your arrangement.

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  5. Dear Mary, I love your casual arrangements. That is how I like to see my flowers. To think that Parrot tulips almost ruined Holland's economy because the reason they show such variations is because of a tulip virus.

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  6. They are so lovely...makes me feel like painting a still-life, if only I could. I plucked one daffodil from my little patch...it is providing some sunny cheer. The remainder of the patch have been frozen and I will allow them to die back as you recently mentioned.

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  7. You are so right about the power of flowers. Some beautiful shots of these. I like my flowers arranged casually also Mary. Beautiful colors.

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  8. They are such beautiful flowers! I love loose arrangements too.

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  9. The flowers are so beautiful. And, I am of the same mind; I don't really go for over-arrangement, but a more natural composition. I cannot wait to see my tulips coming up!

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  10. Your tulips are strikingly beautiful. I like the informal arrangement too. Thanks for visiting my blog and your comment. I'm glad you were able to visit so many countries on our beautiful continent. You asked about what expats do when they live in a malarial area for extended periods; we don't take prophylactics as I don't think it's good to take these meds for a long time (my husband and I would have had to take them for 15 years!) Rather we spray anti-mozzie sprays onto our persons when outdoors at night and also have gauze door and window protection. However, you get to know the symptoms so well and then you go for a test and the doctor/clinic puts you on a course of tabs which eradicates the parasite. Rina's husband Dick had been bitten the last night he was in Tanzania. 12 days later he showed the symptoms. visiting the doctor here in South Africa he asked him to test him for malaria. They did test him on the Friday. MONDAY - three days later they called him and immediately hospitalized him. But instead of administering a quinine drip, they all ran around doing tests and writing on leaner boards (Rina tells me) as the doctors generally don't know how to treat malaria. The second day, Dick had a stroke and his vital organs began to shut down. The doctor kept Rina informed of all these things but they didn't actually know how to prevent or reverse them. On the third day, Dick passed away. If he'd been treated in a rural hospital or clinic in East Africa he would have survived.

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  11. Flowers do always help with sadness for sure. Your arrangements are just wonderful. What beautiful tulips!

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  12. Mary, the second and third photos could be paintings. They literally took my breath away. I love all tulips, but am partial to the parrots. Isn't the detail of those petals in icredible?

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  13. They certainly are gorgeous - and my favorite color too, contrasted with the green of their stems and leaves. Your arrangements and photos are pure art.

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  14. Those tulips are beautiful - my Trader Joes doesn't have ones like those. That's where I get all my flowers though...they have the best prices, don't they!

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