Flowers are generally expensive. They also die. I remember thinking they were kind of nice and my very first boyfriend and my friend were discussing a story in which a guy gave a girl a bouquet of roses and said, “I’ll love you until the last one dies”. There was a fake rose in the bouquet. I mean, if that doesn’t illustrate the temporary nature of a bouquet of flowers in the best way, then I don’t know what does. My ex never did quite pull that one on me, maybe because he had a little more dignity than to go through with such a cheesy and probably re-used narrative.

Receiving flowers is a nice gesture, and my minimalist ass thinks that it’s probably a good thing that they eventually die because otherwise they’re essentially a plant: they stick around for longer, for a while, and can collect, but do eventually die. I hate shit that takes up unnecessary space. But the fact that flowers don’t last very long somehow makes me appreciate them while they last. They are undoubtedly nice to look at and brighten up a room, if you choose to decorate with them. They’re fucking nice, and I don’t think I can deny that.

The problem I started to see was when an influencer I followed on Instagram (I unfollowed them a long time ago) purchased flowers every week, or even more regularly, at a market, and the way that she shared this on social media gave me the impression that it cost her a pretty penny each time (which I don’t doubt for a second), and she could afford to spend the money, and she used them purely to take a couple of nice photos for “content” and then they’d—well, you know—die. It seemed like a waste to me, and also made me realise that if I ever wanted to decorate my home with flowers, at the very least I would be dropping fifty to a hundred bucks a week. Like, dude, I bought my pretty monstera and semi-dying peace lily for $25 a pop. And they bring me joy for more than a week. (Well, maybe not the peace lily, that thing has been temperamental and I hope it slowly comes back, which it seems to be doing.)

When I purchased a starfruit-shaped vase from Jones & Co, I did wonder whether I would even use it for flowers. The opening to the vase is pretty small, and I think the thing that won my heart most about the vase was its unique shape. It’s a vase shaped like a starfruit! It’s gorgeous, honestly. I thought it would make a nice ornament even if I didn’t use it as a vase, and I could imagine that on the odd occasion I receive flowers, I can put a couple into the vase but not feel the need to put the entire bouquet in. I could also buy my own on occasion if I wanted.

I felt in a “treat yoself” mood yesterday so I picked up the cheapest flowers at the growers market. I can’t even remember what these were called but they were only $8. Honestly that’s pretty steep for what they are, but I didn’t really give a shit. I imagined that they would go well with the pure white of the vase, and the bright purple added this pop of colour that actually, just generally speaking, contrasts nicely with other stuff at home. Most of my plant pots are some shade of blue, green, or white, apart from one yellow pot, and most of our furniture is grey or a wooden brown. The bright purple just seemed to work really well with that.

I don’t much care for replenishing the flowers but I just wanted something a little different. It’s a nice novelty to pop a few flowers into a vase and almost an interesting prospect that I know they will die and I have another opportunity to pick something else to fill its space, or I can pick nothing at all. This is the first time I’ve owned a vase that I’ve even remotely felt like putting flowers in, and I think that as long as I don’t end up purchasing too many flowers on a regular basis (the $8 bunch was actually a lot more than enough), I’m happy. To each their own what they do with flowers. Personally, I think they’re nice, I accept that they die, and that doesn’t bother me at all.

I’m blogging every day in January 2023. Let me know if you’ll be joining in and trying to blog every day. 😊 The hashtag you can use on social media is #blogeverydamnday.