From the Garden
 
     It all began when my father started sending gardenia corsages to the sweet young girl who had captured his heart. It continued when he created a lovely oasis for them complete with fishpond and willow tree in their backyard. Later he transformed it into a New Orleans patio resplendent with brick flower boxes, caladiums, fishpond and fountain, wrought iron railing and gate. It was here that I spent many an hour playing as I drank in the beauty of my surroundings. Two fishponds, a greenhouse, a trip to the glorious Buschart Garden on Victoria Island and thousands of bouquets later, I was hooked.
     I love to gather flowers, to drink in their beauty and inhale their sumptuous fragrance. Tiny glass bottles, pretty glasses, teacups, teapots, and crystal vases and bowls become the meeting place where beautiful blossoms and wispy greens come together to create a harmonious blend of tall and short, soft and vibrant, wispy and full. A work of art—beautiful, fragrant, a feast for the senses for every room of the house—on the dining room table, coffee table, bedside table, vanity, tub, windowsill, kitchen sink, wherever one has a spot to catch the eye for feasting.
     Whether you have a lovely garden or create one indoors, spring—with its profusion of blossoms and edible flowers—is the perfect time for garden parties.

• Make vichyssoise and garnish with chive blossoms.

• Use heart and teapot-shaped metal cookie cutters to cut bread for tea sandwiches. Cream cheese and cucumber with fresh dill filling is our favorite.

• Marbleize hard-boiled eggs by gently cracking the shell and soaking them in beet juice.

• Gently scatter pansies, violets, nasturtiums, chive blossoms … on your salad after you’ve tossed it with dressing.

• Using the smallest end of a melon ball scoop, make melon balls served with lemon yogurt and a sprig of mint or edible geranium.

• Make muffins with edible geraniums chopped in the batter.

• Dip strawberries in white and tinted pink chocolate. Leave the green on and part of the red exposed for contrast.

• Make cupcakes in pastel muffin papers. Ice with white icing. Bend a pipe cleaner and insert in cupcake to look like the handle of a basket. Cover the cupcake with tinted pastel coconut. Top with a couple of jellybeans. Voila! an adorable spring treat.

• Make a white cake with white icing topped with red bud flowers, honeysuckle, pansies, or violets.

• Make petit fours topped with pastel flowers.

• Make a pretty pink punch and float pesticide-free rose petals, or place flowered paper parasols in Piña Coladas.

• Balloon floral sheets at your windows secured with fishing line or use white lace tablecloths placing a silk flower in each loop.

• For a pretty, unique centerpiece, turn the bodice of a floral dress inside, poof the skirt all around and place a large crystal vase in the center filled with lovely flowers for your centerpiece. Turn clay pots on their sides, either natural or sprayed white, and have small stuffed rabbits peeking out or dried flower heads, roses being our favorite. Place packets of seeds around the pots and spring hats at each end of the table. Use floral napkins and encircle with fresh ivy or place a floral napkin and packet of seeds in a small clay pot for each guest to take home.

• Have each guest bring her own teacup and tell a story about it.

• Make nosegays using doilies or handkerchiefs and silk, dried, or fresh flowers.

• Make hair wreaths from wire, florist tape, roses, baby’s breath, and satin ribbon.

• Beyond vases, consider using tiny bottles, teacups, pitchers, creamers, candy dishes, candleholders, and bowls for flowers.

• Place bouquets on nightstands, dressers, bathroom vanities, coffee tables, windowsills, and even on the kitchen sink so you can enjoy them while you wash dishes. We even place bouquets in our van on the console.

• Use flowered cushions, towels, and bedspreads.

• Place pansies and other flowers that flatten well under your dresser’s glass top.
 
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