My favorite bouquet of the year is also the easiest: the single branch of Chinese dogwood, placed in a beloved vase from a long-lost friend. It signifies the start of summer – a time for simplicity and ease, beauty and elegance, freshness and rebirth.
This year our dogwood trees have been especially floriferous, and our indoor scene benefits from some overdue pruning at this particular time of the season. I’m not sure why I don’t see more bouquets using Chinese dogwood blooms (the American version is seen more often) – when captured early they can last for a couple of weeks, the leaves even longer, and a single branch can make for an entire elaborate bouquet. Life is difficult and ugly enough – we need more beauty, we need more art, we need more flowers… and this is my contribution.
