A flower blossoms for its own joy.
– Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, poet, and author

We may have had a drought this past winter, but the strange weather has resulted in some of my flowers blooming earlier than usual. My alstroemeria, or Peruvian lily, which was a gift from my friend Raissa’s mom – a prolific gardener in her own right – has exploded this year in our front yard. Both hydrangea plants have gotten much larger and are also blooming like crazy, whereas in previous years they have been stingy with their flower production. Some of my dahlias, which don’t bloom until June, are already budding. I usually don’t start my weekly delivery of bouquets – my donation for my son’s middle school auction – until next month, but I figured why not share my bounty with the winning bidder, who happened to be last year’s winning bidder and was looking forward to another summer of an explosion of color in a vase.

This past weekend, in fact, I had enough flowers to create three bouquets – for my Portola Middle School auction winner, my friend Tana’s open studio (which was extremely successful!), and my friend Soizic. Now that is a bountiful week!

Variation on a theme: all three bouquets offered Bird of Paradise, pink alstroemeria, pink hydrangea, brilliant blue scabiosa anthemifolia, magenta dahlias, pink and magenta dianthus plumarius, and ferns.

Spring offering: an old favorite of mine from years ago, a bias-cut mermaid-hem dress sprinkled with tiny flowers.

A spring breeze ruffles my comfy spring dress, which is complemented with strappy platform sandals and structured Cole-Haan handbag.

Details: Satya Jewelry sterling silver earrings (NYC), Sundance cuff and stack of rings, Eskell fan ring (Chicago), and antique document holder-turned-necklace (Kate Peterson Designs, El Cerrito, CA).

Sandal weather!