Bouquet of the Week: After School Special

As part of our recurring Bouquet of the Week series, Garden Collage continues to present a weekly inspirational bouquet that incorporates intriguing new elements into the traditional practice of flower arranging. This week, Garden Collage styles a “First Home Housewarming Bouquet,” for young adults taking their first step into the real world.

In the last few weeks, things have begun to settle down. The towels in my bathroom match each other, I have a knife rack, and I write checks when bills come in the mail. As a recent college graduate, these are reassuring accomplishments.

It seems as though everyone else is settling in too, be they back home working, at graduate school in sunnier states, striking out to new and faraway places, or moving in just a few blocks away from their alma mater (guilty). As such, the season of housewarmings is in full effect. Never one to arrive empty handed, I wanted to create a bouquet that wasn’t too imposing (or too expensive!) but that would still brighten and cheer up a new apartment. The colors evoke fall but still feel fresh and new, capturing the last little bit of summer that’s left.

Unable to completely relinquish my studious ways, I chose flowers that in some way represented the idea of celebrating a new home (I was an English major after all): daisies for innocence (symbolizing new beginnings), hydrangeas for gratefulness (having found a suitable apartment in New York is indeed a feat), and bupleurum for good health and good fortune (since it can be used as a medicinal plant). Together the three form a vivid, lively, and just a little bit wild bouquet–three words that will certainly resonate with anyone just starting out in New York City.