China Lilies

I don't often look to buy flowers but occasionally at the farmers' market there are those that look for me and then without a question I'm taking them home. That was the case with the bunch of china lilies above. There were two buckets of them calling my name. I wanted them all.

I have a soft spot for old fashioned field grown and small plot cut flowers. They have a character that hot house flowers have lost along with their natural growing seasons. I may be delusional but I swear I can smell the difference.

It's not hard actually. Imagine a hot house rose and then one from your neighbors front yard. Pick the neighbors that could be your grandparents. Their roses will smell the best. Can you tell the difference? Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. One has history and sunshine. The other is an industrially grown resemblance of a flower, likely grown to fit a marketing plan for color, size and shipping convenience.

The difference goes beyond smell though. Flowers show everything on their face. Those grown as industrial commodities reveal it as surely as a bunch of laughing organic china lilies.

Don't believe me though. Check it out for yourself and see which calls your name.

And then bring them home!

3 comments:

Kelly said...

ive never heard of chine lilies, they look a little like a jonquil. i agree with your sentiments, forced flowers have no spirit and seem quite sad. my favourite flowers are big bunches of home grown old fashioned roses in many colours... country style decadence...but i love oriental lilies too...oh and daisies...and oh, flowers are sensory delights.

Kale for Sale said...

Kel - You've got it; they're cousins of a jonquil, a cross between a narcissus and jonquil. I wish I could post the way they smell! It's hard to not love them all, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

Those are lovely and bringing home flowers from the farmers market is such a good indulgence. They last so long, too.