It’s difficult to find flowers from the garden to decorate the house at this time of year. But if you look they are there. Close to the ground, their heads hanging down almost shyly. Snowdrops. “February’s Fair Maids” or “Candlemas Bells” – with Candlemas being the 2nd February – link snowdrops to this month. My mood always lightens at the first sight of them because it means spring is well and truly on its way. There are also yellow aconites and early hellebores. Then there are the first catkins (which is what my French family mistakenly used to think the English called kittens!!)
Now I agree small flowers aren’t easy to arrange. Particularly if, like me, you aren’t the best arranger, but armed with little bud vases and/or those little mini milk bottles you can be really effective. I often put a little collection of these vases filled with snowdrops etc on a mirror (it needn’t be a fancy one) so you get to see their reflection. It makes an advantage of their drooping heads.
Obviously if if you want a big display you are better off just using branches adorned with catkins grouped together in a large vase. They looked wonderful on the counter of the welcome area at the Leaping Hare Restaurant near Bury St Edmunds when I ate a wonderful meal there yesterday. It also, incidentally has a lovely shop attached that stays open for diners so you can nip out between main course and pudding should you want a bit of retail therapy. Which is a rather long way round of introducing the subject of funny signs. The shop there has the best I have ever seen
