During the long, wet winter here, the garden went bare and brown. I mean really bare; the lush green groundcover and flowers from last summer and fall disappeared, leaving nothing but dirt. The rose bushes became thorny sticks, and the clematis and wisteria vines became shaggy brown ropes.

But then spring finally arrived, and it’s been astounding how quickly the brown turned to green. It began with hellebores and some wild iris, then lilacs, then a couple peonies. . . Then all manner of flowers exploded! Giant Siberian iris, a profusion of tiny violets, clematis, viburnum, weigela, foxglove. And those are just the ones I know–there are countless other blooms that I can’t identify. Oh, and let’s not forget the roses. Apparently the misty, rainy late-winter weather reminded them of merry old England, and made them very, very happy. Here’s one of the climbing roses on the pergola–

With this profusion of flowers, there’s always something beautiful for a small bouquet on the mantel. So I’ve decided to document the arrangements–I’m calling it the Bouquet Project. Here are the bouquets so far this spring. . .

March 27:

April 4:

April 11:

April 22:

April 27:

Of course, all my cut flowers need to be small arrangements that can fit on the shallow mantel or on a high shelf in one of the bathrooms–otherwise Max will eat them. Sweet Maxie has been enjoying the warm spring sunshine, too:

Happy spring from Butterfly House!