To my longtime friends and loyal customers,
Next Tuesday, May 13, is an auspicious day for me. Not only is it my birthday, but it’s also the day that my new book, Life with Flowers, is published.
Writing this book and photographing the flowers in the garden and in arrangements has taken several years. My relationship with flowers, however, spans a lifetime.
I take delight in every part of the process—ordering new seeds and plugs, planting and watering, staking and pruning, gathering and arranging, photographing and posting. I even enjoy composting the flowers once their moment has passed, as it reminds me that the garden is cyclical, and informs my approach to pottery as well.
Life With Flowers is a study in how I integrate flowers into all aspects of my life—the garden, the pottery studio, our house, my travels—all year round. In its pages, I describe why I am inspired to grow the flowers I choose to plant, and then share my garden experience. There are profiles of the flowers in my cutting garden, from popular favorites like peonies and dahlias to lesser-known bleeding hearts and amaranths, as well as groupings of plants including the flowering trees of spring and the blooms I cultivate indoors. Throughout, I offer best practices for growing, cutting, and arranging.
My ongoing experimentation requires patience and perseverance, in equal measure. It’s taken much trial and error to discover which flowers work well in my garden, and the weather, which fluctuates from year to year, influences my success (as it does for any gardener, regardless of experience or training). I remain open to the challenges and opportunities, all the while aware that every growing season is different. In fact, that unpredictable nature of the process is what keeps me going.
It is my hope that these lessons and my garden journey are inspiring to my readers and bring them joy.
