White balls of summer blossoms.
Purity.
Virginity.
Impossibility.
Give me the blasphemous black-eye of the Queen Ann’s lace over this insouciant innocence.
Category Archives: Flowers
22
June
2016
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June
2016
21
June
2016
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June
2016
Cheery Woodland Sprites
The celadon poppy frequents woodland areas in early spring to mid-summer, so its reign is about to come to a close. Like some humans, they wilt in the heat of high summer. Until then, however, they will throw out these happy yellow blossoms. The sap of this plant matches its flower color in vibrancy and potency, and these will stain your hands and clothing if given half the chance, so do be careful.
It’s still a small price to pay for such exquisitely delicate blooms and foliage.
16
June
2016
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June
2016
Peonies: 2016
Some years are good years for peonies, some are bad.
This was a pretty good one.
I, on the other hand, was bad – at least as far as taking the time to appreciate and pamper them.
It all just came so quickly – blooms burst forth in a few days of high heat, then we missed a few days in Maine (our peonies like to bloom in private as they traditionally take that weekend to give it up) – and by the time the show was nearing its end, I’d almost forgotten to take a few rounds through the garden to make the most of it. That’s my regret – but it wasn’t entirely my fault, given the piss-poor weather we’ve had off and on.
Next year, I will try to do better.
Next year, I will pause, and sniff, and take in the moment.
No, not just take it in – I will inhabit the moment.
Live in the moment.
Nothing should be taken for granted.
This beautiful specimen was one of the last to bloom.
It’s never too late to show a little gratitude.
Summer is almost here…
13
June
2016
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June
2016
10
June
2016
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June
2016
Time for Tea
A break in the last weekday, one spiced with a tree peony that exudes the scent of tea.
The weekend, a celebration of Pride.
These weeks leading up to Summer Proper…
Happiness and hope.
This orange tree peony has been featured here several times. Tucked into an inconspicuous corner, I entertained moving it this year when we found ourselves with more light and room from a chopped-down cherry, but upon further research, and my own experience, it seems the blooms are not borne on stems strong enough to hold them upright. As such, I’ll keep it slightly hidden, and clip the blooms for the magic to work indoors.
06
June
2016
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June
2016
03
June
2016
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June
2016
Purple Panache – Part 2
The purple pulchritude presses forward with this second part of Purple Panache. I’m running out of pretty ‘P’ words, so before things turn nasty let’s quickly proceed to the images. (But just out of curiosity, what were you thinking: penis or pussy? My mind went to piss.)
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03
June
2016
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June
2016
Purple Panache – Part 1
Maybe this is a tribute to the Purple One whose reign recently came to a sad close, or maybe it’s just a collection of pretty purple things because I love the color purple. It matters not.
Most are flowers, but there are a couple of surprises thrown in because purple doesn’t limit itself to one form.
02
June
2016
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June
2016
01
June
2016
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June
2016
Oodles of Blooms, Indoors & Out
Lilacs and ajuga and roses – oh my!
A single flower can be majestic, but when taken en masse a collection can be even more striking.
Here are a few examples of how more is sometimes more.
31
May
2016
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May
2016
Last May Day & Coral Beauty
Everybody knows The Four Seasons doesn’t fuck around, especially when it comes to their floral displays. Witness these gorgeous peonies, in all sorts of shades of coral – bright, warm, vibrant and rich. They look almost fake in their striking, saturated hues and the architectural perfection of their design. A painter could not have conjured a more flawless flower.
Though I’ll always be partial to the old-fashioned bomb-style blooms of the traditional peony (and its intoxicating perfume), hybrids like this carry their own glamour.
The cost of such beauty is a lack of any pervading scent, and scent is half the point of a peony. That’s a trade-off some of us won’t make. That said, there’s no denying the beauty at work here.
This is a fitting post for the last day of May, when the final full month of spring shifts into the golden road to summer.
The blooming season is heading into its first crest. All the world is alive.
29
May
2016
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May
2016
The Sakura Cocktail
If there were no cherry blossoms
in this world
How much more tranquil
our hearts would be in spring.
~ Ariwara no Narihira
It was a blustery spring day in Washington, DC. The wind had taken most of the cherry blossoms a week or two prior to my arrival, but some of the Kwanzan trees still held their pink beauties. Outside the Jefferson Hotel, a stand of tulips fought the wind, and in a lull they stood with the afternoon sun slanting through their luminous petals. I was early for a dinner with Chris and Darcey, and in an effort to escape the cold wind (while enjoying one of my favorite watering holes) I ducked into the marble hallway leading to Quill.
It was the tail end of cherry blossom season, but the city was still feeling its blush. On the cocktail menu was something that held a number of my favorite libations: the Sakura. The listed ingredients included two mainstays: gin and grapefruit juice. The remaining elements were just as enchanting, and taken together they made the same beautiful promise that every cherry blossom bud made: the promise of beauty and hope and a spring that always comes back.
Listed ingredients:
- Bluecoat gin
- Yellow chartreuse
- Yuzu
- Grapefruit
- Honey Syrup
- Rhubarb bitters
The drink arrived, and it was very much a sip of spring. The shading was unexpected – a soft buttery yellow that flirted with peach – but that only made it feel all the sunnier. The taste was sublime – tart and slightly fruity, with the welcome herbal challenge of the chartreuse and the warm lilt of honey, sparked by the exquisite jolt of the yuzu and rhubarb bitters.
When I returned home, and on an equally blustery day, I managed to procure all the ingredients and try my hand at assembling a decent approximation of the magic of the original Sakura by Quill. It turns out I needed everything but the gin, as my kitchen is not equipped with yuzu or yellow chartreuse or rhubarb bitters. It is now – and every ingredient is important for this one to be successful.
For proportions, I used one part gin, one part grapefruit juice, 1/3 part chartreuse, 1/5 part honey syrup, and a few healthy drops each of the yuzu and bitters.
The variable that enchantingly influences how this cocktail looks is the grapefruit juice. I extracted the nectar from a fresh ruby red grapefruit, which takes the yellow chartreuse and yuzu into cantaloupe-shaded territory. I actually preferred the yellowish version of the original, so the next time I try this I’ll use a white grapefruit instead. Either way, it sings of spring.
Outside, the wind whipped wildly. A shower of white apple blossom petals fell like snow and whirled around my feet. Inside me, I held the memory of the Sakura. In spite of the wind, the world felt a little warmer.
Look at the cherry blossoms
Their color and scent fall with them
Are gone forever
Yet mindless
The spring comes again.
~ Ikkyu
26
May
2016
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May
2016
Snow in Boston
Don’t get excited – it’s a different kind of snow. (And not this sort of white stuff either.) Here are a few shots of the cherry blossoms that floated over Boston a few weeks ago. This is the only kind of snow I want to hear about at this time of the year, with the possible exception of a snow-cone by the beach. (My version of Cake by the Ocean.)
Nature has her own way of working a motif of beauty – from snowflakes to flower petals, she’s always dropping something from the sky in a confetti of natural glory.
This cherry was of the palest pink – it reads white by all appearances, but up close and personal, particularly as they ripen into their last days, it veers further from pure white, and just as they are about to jump into the wind, the petals are unmistakably tinged with pink.
Like a shower of rose-hued snow.
25
May
2016
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May
2016
Plum Blossoms
At least, I think these are plum blossoms.
There used to be a gnarled old plum tree on the island in the middle of my childhood street. It was low to the ground, and afforded easy climbing opportunities for a boy. One large branch veered off at a precariously low angle, while the main trunk went up and above, affording a leafy canopy. Every late spring it bloomed in sprays of white, with a sweet-smelling perfume that also attracted buzzing bees. They never bothered me.
I was fascinated by the amber sap that formed bulbous clumps of shiny beauty. Every bruise or cut bled into a little jewel that I’d discover at varying stages of solidity. If you caught it at the right moment, it was almost transparent, while at other times the lightest touch would turn it cloudy and matte-like. Clearly, I’m not a scientist, and I’m only describing how a clueless boy saw the world at such a young age.
I sat on that limb, swinging my legs over the uncut grass beneath it, and waited for summer to arrive.
19
May
2016
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May
2016
Daisy by Marc Jacobs
The sad truth is that the classic daisy carries no fragrance. Anyone who brings their nose to the bright blooms expecting some sort of cheerful scent to match their petal-framed faces will be sorely disappointed. Thankfully, we have Marc Jacobs to fill that fragrance-free void. His ‘Daisy’ scent was the accent these flowers so badly needed, and though I’m not the biggest fan of florals, Jacobs manages to keep the sickly-sweet components at bay.
Being that there is no true daisy scent, he goes for the essence of bright and fresh, wisely veering away from any single flower fragrance (rose, gardenia, tuberose) or cloying heaviness. Somehow it works, even if the lighter touch doesn’t lend it much staying power. More like a body spray than anything approaching a perfume, it’s a decent match-up for warmer weather, when potent scents tend to overwhelm.
Judging from its myriad offshoots, ‘Daisy’ must have been a hit for Mr. Jacobs. There are a number of variations on it currently out there, some supposedly even fresher than the oh-so-fresh original.
The trend for sister fragrances is not one of which I’m particularly enamored. Tom Ford has been doing that with all of his Neroli Portofino cousins, and as much as I love a twist on neroli, I’d rather he try something different. His Oud line is slightly more varied, but even that seems to have reached its limit. Still, I’d rather give his side-shoots a whirl over another Daisy.
Sometimes a single Daisy is more than enough.
The bottle comes adorned with classic Marc Jacobs flair – in this case a piece of daisy pop-art that doubles as a cover. It’s a lovely embodiment of a fun fragrance that finally gives the daisy a scent of its own.
