February 28, 2013 -- flowers from the alley behind the bank

This is why I love windowsill arranging: it made me jump out of the car as I was headed to make a deposit at the bank and pick these little flowers in the alley behind the drive-in teller's window. Talk about your promise of spring! I think this is star-of-Bethlehem; it's the Ornithogalum that smells like garlic, a terrible, awful, very bad weed, but a thrill to see on a cold February day.

February 27, 2013 -- so dark

I probably need to photograph this after dark, to emphasize what drew me to this today--the dark, dark flowers of some Lenten roses.

February 26, 2013 -- much better!

This is SO much better than yesterday's attempt to use this Ikebana container. The magic bullet was an asphidistra leaf I came across while emptying a bucket of florist greens leftover from Dec. 28. (No kidding, this bucket of greens had been sitting on the side porch since before New Year's Day, and the asphidistra still looked great.) I twisted the leaf a bit and ran its own stem through a slit in the leaf to create this twirl.

February 25, 2013 -- this is so not it

Today Carol Hammer gave me a perfectly wonderful container that (little did she know!) should work perfectly in a windowsill. And I couldn't wait to use it, but ... my attempts failed. First, I tried adding a collard rib (leftover from some cooking), which, it seemed to me, echoed the sweep of the "nose" of the wooden container. Yes, but.... does one need two noses?

Then I added scrambled egg daffodil blossoms, which only made the whole concoction more confusing. This container deserves better, and I'll try again.

February 24, 2013 -- more daffodils

Bigger tubes, more daffodils. Tonight's triumph was figuring out how to photograph this. Couldn't seem to get the color of the daffodils right...then I did!

February 23, 2013 -- daffodils and mahonia

This is prettier than it looks in the photo--daffodils, basil leaves, and mahonia foliage in connected tubes. I'm too tired to describe how it came together, but all these materials appear in arrangements from previous days.

February 22, 2013 -- hairy bittercress, a season marker

Today was sort of dreary, weather-wise in Virginia, but anyone looking around outdoors would have found many, many signs of spring. Here's one of my favorites: hairy bittercress. A little clump of it was blooming (tiny white blooms) between the stones of my back patio and the steps to the back porch. I pulled up the whole clump (it's a weed, but a pretty one) with the intention of washing off the roots before putting it in a vase, but this little baking dish seemed to want to accept the roots, dirt and all.

The maple and other leaves in the photo came up with the hairy bittercress when I pulled it.