Spring Flings
Brighten your home with pretty pickings arranged in humble vessels like pitchers, jars, and coffee mugs. Or be inspired by a visit to the virtual gardens blooming inside your digital devicesMaybe you missed it, but spring officially began March 19. And notwithstanding the current climate we’re living in, spring has sprung, and with it nature’s rebirth of all the buds and blooms that brighten our world. Depending on where you live, those barren branches outside your windows have likely burst into cherry, dogwood, or lilac blossoms, and poking out of the earth are tulips, daffodils, crocuses, pansies, and hyacinths, as well as those pesky dandelions popping up all over your lawn. If you are able to, head outdoors to pick those pretty floral bunches to add color and fragrance to a kitchen counter, a bedside table—your life indoors. If flower picking is not an option today, many grocery stores offer flowering plants and floral bouquets or even little pots of herbs to provide a bit of aromatic greenery. Don’t give up—just keep scrolling to be inspired by these visual delights, and read on for other ways to create a spring fling without ever leaving home.
To keep it pure and simple (the way life needs to be right now) make a home for your posies in a mix of humble household items. Don’t throw out those pickle or mayonnaise jars; recycle them by washing them clean and scrubbing off the paper labels. A row in different sizes each holding a loose bunch of flowers will brighten up a windowsill or kitchen counter. If you have in your collection a beautiful, slightly cracked vintage pitcher—put aside because it no longer serves its purpose—turn it into a workable, very romantic vessel for flowers by sticking a small jar inside to hold the water.
As with jars and jugs, most of us have an overabundance of coffee mugs. Repurpose a few to fill up with flowers instead of brew. Tin coffee cans, especially the colorful espresso variety, will wake up a kitchen table when filled with almost any kind of wildflower. And if you are a tea drinker, save those charming canisters for smaller arrangements—a line of them, even better.
If, on the other hand, you are only able to appreciate nature from afar, then enjoy these images the way you would paging through a book of bouquets by your favorite impressionist painters—Matisse, Monet, Bonnard, and of course the master of the sunflower—Van Gogh. Go to Google Arts & Culture to indulge in a fascinating close-up of Van Gogh’s floral masterpieces. And then, experience an amazing spring awakening with iPad drawings created by David Hockney in his garden in Normandy (which the artist shared with the BBC and can be explored via the Instagram fan account @david.hockney). He titled one of his images of daffodils “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring.” Which echoes that same kind of optimism expressed long ago by Alexander Pope that we all need today: “Hope springs eternal … ”
- © Ralph Lauren Corporation
