The Beauty of Decay

Respecting the process of decay in cut flowers is another reason why I love to see cut flowers in the home.  It's not everyone’s cup of tea to see flowers decaying and most of my customers would, understandably, throw flowers away as soon as they are past their peak.  However, the reason I love running my own seasonal cut flower garden is to see flowers through from ‘cradle to grave‘ or, more literally, from ‘seed to compost’. Every part of this process interests me which makes it so hard when running a business solo.  Many friends and family ask, why don’t I choose just one part of the business to make life a little more manageable when the season is in full swing: just be a grower, just be a seller, just be a florist .... But I have to say if I chose just one of these elements I would miss all the others. It is lots of hard work (both physically and mentally demanding, the garden takes up body energy and the flowers fill head space with infinite aesthetic combinations) and it can all be for very little ‘monetary profit’ but full on ‘satisfaction profit’ when the passion is already there.  So watching flowers slowly go through their process of decay like an extremely slow motion clip of time lapse photography is a joy to me.  After a week away, I have returned to see how the final vases of this year's dahlias have managed through this process without me.

Here they are looking beautiful and like they belong in Miss Havisham’s bridal room, which incidentally, is a room I would love to spend time in, especially if I get to borrow her antique lace frock!


The Decay of Miss Havisham

The Decay of Dahlias