Sun, water and dirt

That's really all you need to turn out these beauties which can brighten a table, make someones day, softly scent a room or even act as a generous gift. It amazes me sometimes how much plants and flowers really want to thrive and grow.

There is a giant rose bush growing next to my front door which almost died a couple years ago after a serious dousing of spray to try and rid it of a rampant aphid problem. It did not die. And it hardly gets trimmed. And I never pay attention if it's watered enough since it's just on a sprinkler system. And sure enough - every year it blooms LIKE CRAZY around this time of year. The buds are tiny when they start growing! So I clipped a bunch and put them in (yes) a shot glass to get the above picture!

Another similar story - I received a grocery-store-purchased Oriental Lily (aka Stargazer Lily) last year which I decided to plop in the ground after the blooms shriveled up. I then promptly forgot about it. Fast forward through the winter (during which I never watered) to sometime in March when I saw a little green poking up from the ground in that same spot. I couldn't even remember what it was and almost pulled it as a weed - good thing I was too lazy to do so!

FOURTEEN blooms on that plant! It only had 5 on it last year!

It's just unbelievable how amazing those flowers are! They've been blooming over a week and are still going STRONG. The other thing I find fascinating is that the original plant was white with pale pink painted on the inside of the petals. Look at how bright pink these guys came up! Must be something in my soil.

The best part of growing flowers - cutting and bringing them inside!

I always clip the stamen out of the lilies so that they don't drop on anything 'cuz they STAIN. It doesn't affect the scent and if anything makes them look prettier - more dainty ;)

Can't wait for Mother's Day this weekend. Mom is the gardener - I am not. But perhaps this once I'll get a pat on the back for...not killing all my plants. Can't say I didn't try though!