Keepin' It Real...



The Star Gazer Lilly is one of my favorite flowers

 Okay, a word about fake flowers.  Everyone knows that real live plants are terrific.  They are aesthetically pleasing and can add a lot to a home.  I have several live plants myself  that my Mother-in-law graced me with as a gift.  We'll discuss those at a later date.  But for now let's talk about the fake plants and flowers.  There are some great choices out there now.  And although I try to cut fresh flowers from my garden in the Spring and Summer to use inside the house, if you are not as blessed as Oprah to have fresh cut flowers on hand all the time, then from time to time, perhaps you're like me and you decorate with the fake ones.

But here's a word of good advice that I read somewhere concerning fake flowers:  IF YOU WOULDN'T
SEE THE FLOWER IN NATURE..then don't put it in your home.  In other words, blue roses (although there may be some exotic hybrid out there now) are not naturally occuring.  So don't decorate with blue roses.  If you want to use blue, bring it in using a flower in which it would naturally occur.  So the bottom line here is ...keep it real.  Use flower that would appear in nature and in the color that they would appear and your fake arrangements will look much more sophisticated.  




Artificial Gladolias
In a Simple Vase
look like I just gathered
them from my garden

  Another tip that bears mentioning... keep the flowers dusted and in good repair. Nothing looks worse than raggedly ole fake flowers.  Better not to have them if that be the case.  Same goes for fake fruit.  If your kids come by and try to take a bite out of your artificial fruit basket then you know you've done well.  Otherwise, you might want to just skip the fake stuff.  But done well, artificial fruit or plants can add a nice touch to a home, and besides lasting a long time.... they are forgiving if you forget to water them. Remember ...the best advice is to "keep it real" whenever possible..but when using artificials go for "fabulous fakes".