Flowers and plants breathe life into the home. Each year, as the long Midwest winter marches slowly toward spring, I impatiently wait for our hyacinth, daffodils, and tulips to emerge. When their spear-like leaves finally—miraculously!—push through the cold, damp ground, joy washes over me. Fragrant blooms are just beneath the surface.

As the season progresses, lily-of-the-valley and peonies unfurl, offering gorgeous new reasons to celebrate. I confess that their delicate, fleeting beauty often makes waves of longing in me—I am missing them before they are gone!

Thankfully, summer brings roses, clematis, and my beloved hydrangeas, along with annual geraniums and perennials like forget-me-nots, coreopsis, and coneflower. Many last well into late summer and early autumn, making excellent vase partners with riotous dahlias.

When the first blanket of frost tucks our gardens into bed for the season, we turn to florists for dinner party arrangements and local markets for mood-lifting bedside arrangements. Grocer’s blooms in favorite vases stand in for sunshine on the darkest winter days, tiding me over until spring’s arrival.