Great dried flowers

Peonies ... such a short-lived flower. Blooming in the spring, just one rainstorm and they're finished. But you can make them last a long time.

Check out this photo of three dried pink peonies.

Two of these three flowers were picked two weeks ago. One of these flowers was picked one year ago. Can you tell which is the year-old flower?

The flower on the right (with the brown stem) was picked last year and looks just as good as the dried peonies picked 2 weeks ago.

Peonies look great on the bush about a maximum of 2 weeks, but when picked just after blooming, the dried bouquet will last more than a year. For the peonies to last a long time after drying, they must be picked within days after full bloom.

One of my pet peeves is fake plants and flowers, I hate 'em. I prefer having a real dried bouquet which is much more natural. To me, real is always better.

Missing Paris
Look at the architecture in this closeup of a dandelion. What a grand design. (click photo to enlarge)

The design reminds me of the ceilings of Gothic cathedrals in Europe, like this photo (below) of the chapel ceiling in the "Hôtel de Cluny" in Paris, now a museum. This chapel which was built around 1490, is a great example of the Flamboyant Gothic style.

May is such a great month of the year to be in Paris. Oh ... the coffee and pastries, the museums, flowers, architecture, cathedral concerts . . . I need to go back to play another concert.

Funny how a dried flower can conjure images of a Paris cathedral. I guess I'm just missing Paris.

Man imitates nature.



Photos courtesy of my my new Canon 10 megapixel SD900 pocket camera. It's made out of titanium and carries a 4 gig chip. It's amazing, it'll capture a 35 minute movie with sound or more than 1000 high resolution photos.