Flower Power - Part 2

I’m named after a flower, well actually, a tree: the Cassia tree.  Here I am with my namesake in Thailand, where it is the national tree:

Now, in English, the tree is sometimes known as the golden shower tree, and its primary uses are either to make laxatives or hallucinogenic drugs…so yeah, as marvelous an ice-breaker as that is, it's usually the bit I save until later! 

But anyway, flowers are a thing with me, and always have been; here I am casting a very suspicious glance at some glorious chrysanthemums in Korea:  

I remember when I saw my first English chrysanthemum I was very confused, why was it so small?  I’m still surprised now that they are such a mistreated flower, confined to petrol station forecourt bunches or dyed terrible colours, who would do such a thing to such a glorious bloom?  It amuses me no end that in the language of flowers (a Victorian trend which I follow closely), Oriental chrysanthemums mean ‘cheerfulness under adversity’, and what could be lovelier than that?

Here I am again a little older, again in the midst of colourful blossoms, aren't those snapdragons just divine?

I even wrote a blog post about flower fairies (read it here) back in my early frockdolly days, and my smallest niece recently dressed as one for World Book Day (she said ‘Fairy!’, I said ‘Flower fairy? Excellent, I have an idea already’, a win win situation!).

Spring is my favourite time of my year, not just because I share the first day of the season with my birthday (hooray!), but because of everything happening in the garden…tiny striped shirt crocuses, tall elegant daffodils and as many varieties of tulip as I can buy and stuff in pots to forget about over the winter – I like the surprise when they pop into bloom, ta dah!  And don’t these red & yellow stripy ones just look like roaring lions?

I spend my free time at the splendid Kew Gardens, their annual  orchid festival is a particular favourite, but I’m just as happy there in November, tucked up in a steamy glasshouse, searching for tropical blossoms.  When I was a wee frockdolly in Thailand, my friends and I used to collect rubbery pink banana flower petals, the ones are Kew are too high up to reach, but I live in hope they’ll drop to the floor so my 8 year old self can tuck one away in her pocket…

I also love the South London Botanical Institute, a hidden gem of South London, where the craft sessions on offer are always pleasingly floral based, which may be why we end up there most school holidays!

In my creative work, flowers are also a theme, as a brooch, on a card, scattered about the place as crochet motifs, or just impossibly huge on a cactus (I’ve seen cactus flowers, they absolutely look like mine, well maybe a little less fluffy…)

Oh so many pictures of flowery things!  I'm sure there'll be more to come as spring gets going - it's making a good effort, would you believe today I even went out without a scarf?  Brave little floral frockdolly, that's me...