I'm On Safari, How About You?

This is the best time of year to go on a safari, are you coming along? Don't worry, we are not going to kill any animals; it's not that kind of safari. Were going to hunt things down, do a bit of stalking, some pouncing, use some sharp implements for cutting, perhaps take a pic or two, but no blood will flow. At least, not if you are careful and don't wake up the lion snoozing in the tall grasses.
November is an excellent month for this kind of safari : the hunt for the elusive flower. Gone are the days that I was able to fill my trug to overflowing with flowers from the garden.
Now I have to search high and low to find just a few flowers to cut for the vase. But even in November I managed to find some.

Quite a surprising amount in fact, enough to stuff a jug to the gills. See?
Not bad, eh? Here are some close ups.
It's quite a mixed bunch of roses, winter Jasmin, Verbena bonariensis, Asters, Malva Park Allee (close up above), Salvia, the last sprig of Lady's Mantle and anything else I could lay my hot little hands on.

But it will be the last real bouquet of the year, I'm afraid. Soon I'll have to make do with very tiny vases with just a flower or two like this
or this.
But even with tiny vases, holding just the odd flower, you can make a bit of an impact if you put them together like so
or so.
You can also use a not so ordinary container to add some much needed visual impact to a few miserly sprigs.
Hunting for blooms at this time of year is quite a challenge but it's something that I thoroughly enjoy. Any fool can fill a vase in midsummer when the garden is crammed to overflowing, but to create a fun little flower arrangement at this time of year, is quite another kettle of fish or Delft Blue cow. But if there are really no flowers in your garden whatsoever then there is nothing for it and you'll have to resort to this desperate measure
and buy a bunch.

Life without flowers, it doesn't bear thinking about, does it? So, what are you waiting for? Get cracking with your own flower safari and do show and tell, that's what your blog is for. ;-)

copyright 2008: Y.E.W. Heuzen

We are fed up with boredom and slavery. So down your weapons, revolutionaries, and pick up your spades. Digging is fun and freedom all rolled into one.
Tom Hodgkinson, Digging For Anarchy, 2006