Flowers on the Table

I grew up with flowers on the table -- at least from tulip time until the killing frost in the fall. Bouquets of flowers brought in from the garden. With seasonal flowers there was seasonal food and in the spring when the iris were blooming, strawberries were for dessert; in the summer when tomatoes were at almost every meal, zinnias graced our table; and in the fall when the mums were in the vase, acorn or butternut squash was the dinner vegetable.

I'm not a big one on silk flowers and so my dining room table has a blue and white bowl which is empty unless we're having a dinner party -- except sometimes I fill the bowl with lemons in the summer or apples or oranges in the winter.

I wouldn't dream of having a meal without having flowers -- a small vase of seasonal flowers -- from the garden -- this day we had garden mums and white blossoms of garlic chives.

Having a centerpiece of flowers and a glass of wine with dinner make any meal special -- even Chinese takeout!