Flowers can make such a difference in my mood so even a couple of dollars on white carnations or daisies in a pretty little vase goes a long way!

Hydrangeas always make me smile!

They are my absolute favorite!

I have fresh flowers all year long in my house just pick them up at the grocery store nothing fancy but once a week for as long as I can remember. When my husband turned 65 I ordered 200 white roses (his favourite ) from Costco and had them in every room for a huge party everyone loved them and my husband most of all.

Our kitties consider fresh flowers a tasty buffet.

Our mother always kept plants and flowers in the house. With 40 or more rose bushes and a garden of other blooms in California there was always something to put on the coffee table. My sister made the vase below and filled it with her garden flowers. Living in Hawaii, I keep a bowl of floating plumerias on my coffee table and often treat myself to tropical arrangements along with orchids, hibiscus and other plants on my lanai.

I love my bud vases so I can enjoy a flower in every room

As "cutting gardens" are an integral part of our designs, weekly arrangements are part of the garden routine. Seasonal selection changes throughout the year!

I recently moved and I hope to make a few gardens around the cottage we are now living in. I love little flowers in vases. At Easter I picked a few snowdrops from under the lilac tree and put them in a small glass salt shaker that no longer has a lid and I re-purposed as a little vase. They are so delicate and so pretty and I replace them a couple of times just to have some flowers on my table. At the last house I always picked forget-me-nots and wild violets to put in small vases on my table.

I buy orchid plants at Trader Joe's. They're only about $10. each and bloom for weeks. When the blooms are spent, I toss them and get 3 or 4 more. Here in Arizona it's much more difficult to keep cut flowers looking good for more than 3 or so days, so this is my alternative.

Flowers make a great statement when trying to show off a project!

@ judygilpin - no need to toss your orchids once they've finished blooming - treat them nicely, and they will go on returning the favour for years to come!

I buy tulips every week from Feb to May...my favorite splurge!

I really, really love cut flowers in a vase; but I don't, because I don't want any standing water anywhere inside my house, even for one day, because i live in mosquito country.

I'm getting ready to plant my cutting garden....I'll have them all season long!! :0)

I've loved flowers in the house since I was a child picking wildflowers for my mom. I have continued to have flowers in my adult home. My husband wasn't used to inside flowers as a child, but he loves them. He still comments and appreciates them after 38 years of marriage.

I agree with summery...don't toss the orchids. Mine bloom again and again.

Insail! What a talented sister you have!

Love this thread... :)

Alstroemerias last at least 2 weeks and come in many colors...my fave and an easy splurge at $6.99/ bunch!

summery, I appreciate your comment, but I have never had luck in making orchids bloom again. I think they need a lot of humidity and TLC. I know it sounds like a waste to toss them, but I treat them as cut flowers, so that justifies my action I hope.

From one amaryllis bulb bought in holland many years ago, I now have about a dozen of them; the "parent" plant grew new bulbs that I repotted and repositioned as they came up! They take turns blooming every spring, and look gorgeous in a simple vase.

I keep fresh flowers in my kitchen and in my office. Love them!

I'm in the second semester of a floral design class and every week I have a new arrangement to bring home. The flowers last so long that sometimes I have 2 or 3 at a time. Love it!

Perfect post right in time for spring and warm weather!

I keep a bouquet or white Alstroemerias or Carnations in my master bathroom. They last forever and are so fresh looking and delight me every time I walk in that room.

Wintering in Phoenix, so my outdoor are is pretty much my indoors. Here's my fresh bunch just picked!!

I love fresh cut flowers from our local farm stand, nothing says Spring like a bunch of snap dragons!

I love fresh flowers! BUT!! I have 2 cats who like to pull them out of the vase after I go to bed. Too many times I've woken up to a smashed vase with water everywhere. So, no more fresh flowers. :(

I pick up a bunch whenever I think about it..trying to give my hubby hints--never has happened yet lolol.....

@ janethumphreys-I lock any bouquets in the closet at night! The cats will sit there, staring at the door, until morning! LOL!

@ judygilpin - that's just so weird about your orchids! I water ours once a week (or less, as I do sometimes forget) by filling the pot at the kitchen tap then leaving it on the drying rack until it's finished dripping. They sit on a south-facing window sill. One has just about finished dropping its flowers for the third or maybe fourth time since I got it last summer, and its branches are already covered in wee buds. For reference, we're in Eastern Ontario: cold dry winters, warmer more humid summers.

I've kept fresh flowers in my house for years. Most come from my garden that is planted to have year-round bloom even in the winter, although I do have to supplement some with purchased flowers in the winter. I keep them in the kitchen, powder room, and master bath, rooms. As far as having orchids bloom again: keep them in bright, indirect light; fertilize weekly with a misting orchid fertilizer from a big box store; and water weekly with a bit of water or an ice cube or two. Mine put up new blooms in the winter when they are sitting near windows because they like cool nights. (I live in the South.)

summery, It just may be our locations. I'm in the greater Phoenix, AZ area and we have no humidity at all. The foliage always stays nice, but no re-blooming. Another thing, you probably buy a higher grade orchid. Remember, I get mine for about $10. at Trader Joe's. Or maybe you're just a better green thumb than I am. I have a friend that lives in San Diego who has 4 huge planters with orchids on her terrace. She also had much trouble having them re-bloom, so she subscribes to a floral service that changes them out every 4 months. My Mom, like you, had a talent for making things grow. But orchids were the only thing she had bad luck with. Must be in my DNA ! Tee-hee! Thanks for your comments. Fun talking to you.

@headhearthand - I have the same bud vase in my bedroom as they were our wedding favors and this one lasted 43 years and counting.

I fertilize my orchids by watering with the water I rinse my rice in. I only fertilize when they aren't blooming. When they aren't blooming, don't water them too much. They like the temperatures we like, and when blooming they don't need too much light. When not blooming put them in a sunnier spot.

My current favorite, tulips. Love them.

Love flowers

I much prefer to plant flowers outside. The birds and the pollinators and myself enjoy it more.

In the winter I clip some forsythia branches.

I recently stumbled up this website Black Thumb Decor. They have some great vases!

http://www.houzz.com/pro/blackthumbdecor/blackthumb

I've had allergies for so many years that even the thought of fresh flowers in the house is not appealing. Enjoy them if you can. I'll just look at the pictures.

Some years ago, when we lived in the Netherlands, I used to buy flowers twice a week at the local street markets. If I waited until about 15 minutes before closing time, I could buy more flowers than I could carry for almost nothing. Those were the days!

I'm having second thoughts about all my silk flower arrangements. But, they are beautiful and no maintenance and no water rings on my furniture and I can move them around the house. Justified!

@gerry what a great wedding favor!

For people with allergies just get a jar with these lollipops or a cake stand with these cupcakes!

With a mother name Iris and grandma named Rosa they are my favorites to bring in from my garden. These were just a few I took to school and shared with co workers in coke bottles. They are a tradition for my students to draw.

Oops can not pull off the student art I accidentally posted with flowers. Sorry