The Blushing Bride

Several years ago I designed a martini cocktail I called The Blushing Bride. Its colour is more intoxicating than its alcoholic truth serum effect. It's the colour of a child's rosy cheeks when they first wake. It is the colour of fat summer clouds infused with the dying sun just before twilight.   It is the colour of mystery and innocence. It is the colour of this miniature protea - aptly called Blushing Bride.

The flowers in the shop this week are vivid, carefree and exotic. But don't take my word for it - come in and see for yourself. As always in limited quantities, as always just for you.

Petals ~ 19 Queen Street, Hamilton ~ 292 7303
Your Bermuda Florist

...njb

Blushing Bride Protea

Lilac Allium - larger than a bowling ball

Phalaenopsis Orchids

Thistle

Vandela Roses by the armful

"Pineapple Roses" 

Anemones

Mango Calla Lilies

Coral Magenta Roses

A Handtied Bouquet with Hydrangea, Fresh Lavender, Aubergine Lisianthus and Mint

Persistence or Patience

The cushions were dented from our weights. For over three hours, Amanda and I had been sitting with our MacBook Airs uncomfortably warming our laps while cold Hagan Daaz settled in our bellies and our batteries edged closer to zero. Three hours of Amanda adding filters to Instagram images taken earlier in the day, while I worked out, through trial and error, mostly error, how to add the Petals Instagram to the Facebook page while resetting long forgotten passwords. As I reset yet another password, we debated whether it is better to be patient or persistent. Amanda is the former I, the latter.  

I ran another test and finally an Instagram image from the Petals account appeared on the Petals Facebook page. It was nothing to do with patience. Persistence won.  But I must confess, in looking at the images, perhaps it is better to be patient after all.  Do come into the shop to see the flowers that have just arrived. Filter or not, they are breath-taking...njb 

You could taste the softness...

I have never eaten a flower unless it was the edible kind but more often than I would confess, I have gently and slowly brushed a bloom's petals against my cheek, lost in the feel of its softness. The Vanda orchids arrived last week. Only two in a box. Their petals looked softer than antique velvet. I had seen the colour, this wonderful mix of dark chocolate and the royalest of purples, and knew I could not resist getting them. I had a client in mind who I knew would fall in love at the mere sight ~ and out it went for delivery.  

I lifted the remaining orchid to my cheek; it was even softer than I could ever have imagined; such is the beauty of a Vanda orchid.... njb

 'Miss Piggy'

Hydrangeas 

 Hypericum

Sweet Pea 

Lilac

 Eryngium "Thistle"

Gerbera

Trachelium

Bouquet with Red Naomi Roses and Lavendula

 Tulips 'Black Jack'

Anemones 

Bouquet with Roses 'Miss Piggy', Hypericum, Phlox and Limonium

Dendrobium Orchids

Roses 

 Forsythia

Lavendula

 Phalaenopsis Orchids 

Vanda Orchids

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of...

Last Saturday I sat down and put together the flower list for this week. In the build up to Christmas, it felt that the shop had exploded with nothing but red amaryllis, red roses and red berries and anything that stood still long enough got glittered. 

An overwhelming feeling, actually a desperate need, overcame me for a quiet purity; for a new beginning. I wanted to feel intoxicated by the flowers' fresh fragrance and the largeness of the blooms. I needed to see their complex texture or the simplicity of their form. 

Today the flowers arrived; the fridge is full, the shop has been freshly painted and I have said good bye to 2013 and closed all those half opened doors. In doing so already it feels like a hundred more doors have opened. The New Year has begun and with it comes a year of fresh starts and a plethora of possibilities. May 2014 be everything you hope for. For me, just the thought of it is good enough. It is the stuff that dreams are made of...

Lilac - white

Huge white Calla Lilies

Phalaenopsis Orchids

Mini Cymbidium Orchids

White dendrobium orchids from Thailand

Ranunculus - White

Hydrangea - white

Freesia

Yellow Freesia

Rose - Yellow

Hydrangea - Lime Green

We also have:

Kochia Scoparia, Eucalyptus (Baby Blue and Seeded), Salal, Calla lilies - yellow, Lilies  - Yellow, Forsythia - yellow, Anemone - Mona Lisa White, Tulips - Verona (cream), Godetia - white, Goditia - Hot Pink, Rose - Belle - it was that amazing green and pink one we got in last week, Limonium - purple, Hypericum - Sweet Romance (pink), Rose - Red Naomi