Farewell Flowers

Funeral Floral Tributes I call Farewell Flowers graced many a Funeral years ago when I worked in small flower shops, then grocery store floral departments, so it was often a lot of time-pressured designing I did for all the friends and families who acknowledged the deceased and comforted the living this way then. Even Nursing Home residents often got to enjoy the flowers sent to them after the Services.
Sometimes customers ordering Farewell Flowers had special requests like feathers, fishing gear, lighthouses, toy firetrucks, things that represented special interests, hobbies, sports, even jobs. I rarely had time or opportunity to photograph all the Tributes and other occasion flower bouquets and arrangements I designed over the years. When having to copy a floral design picture, it felt like I was doing ‘paint by numbers’. I put my heart into creating anything I could design myself. Now retired, I hear that Floral Designers are most often required to be Floral Arrangers copying what customers see presented online. I’d have ‘died a thousand deaths’ making Farewell Flowers mostly that way.

Daffodil Magic

April Daffodils in Victoria, BC

Daffodil Magic

I stopped my car to see Daffodils

splattered like paint on canvas hills,

an enchanting and wondrous sight.

There in the golden morning light,

their yellow faces shone so bright

as if Nature had painted each Flower

giving it the awesome power

to banish cares away that day.

With such great Beauty everywhere,

I took many photos to treasure

and view later with savoured pleasure.

Photos may hold Daffodil Beauty

but their Magic is still in me.

April 3, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

April Fooled By Deer Ones

Ranuculus and pansy blooms chomped away
Tulip Treats

April Fooled By Deer Ones

***

In another part of the city

I had a container garden

and grew flowers in large pots.

They became ‘salad bowls’

for the hungry passing deer.

Now where we live here

I grew tulips in pails

and set out a table of flowers.

This morning, I awoke to see the table

became a ‘buffet table’

for more hungry passing deer.

They ate tulips, pansies, ranuculus,

avoiding daffodils, hyacinth, crocus,

so now I chuckle at packaging

claiming ‘resistant to deer’.

Perhaps a fool but I’ll plant more. 😂

April 1, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Shy Amaryllis

This Amaryllis prefers soft candlelight to harsh glare. (She whispered her preference to me. She also prefers a bit of distance from harmful fire and heat and bows humbly even with a little support.) I posted this morning’s photo on my other site- another side that I hope will bloom to its potential at FlowerpoetShelley.

February 18, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC