The kitchen sink – epicenter of the kitchen and the house. We wash, prepare, cook, and serve from this spot, spending many an hour at this oasis. I love to keep little mementoes of my garden forays at the sink, reminding me of what’s blooming just outside my door. Making arrangements for my house at the sink gives me leftover blossoms, buds, and leaves to stick in my cache of containers awaiting a fresh floral look. And since the sink is such a personal, and well used piece of the home, my collection of “specials” is a close hand reminder of dear ones.
Mema’s silver tray, Aunt Irene’s mother-of-pearl salt and pepper shakers, a bud vase I stole from Mimi, a sprinkling of blue and white, a favorite Mason’s ware platter and a various and a sundry assortment of soaps stand guard as stylish and nostalgic items.
The seasons change but my assortment doesn’t too much. These items are neutral enough – silver, Depression glass, transferware or blue and white – to withstand the changing times and uphold the blooms of the current season. Red berries at Christmas, greens in the winter, spring buds and summer herbs, and autumnal hued leaves all find their place at my sink-side sanctuary.
Spring has sprung in Dixie and, as it always does, the season burst forth at a full gallop from the earliest camellias and such to the bulbs and blossoms of azaleas, spireas, and hydrangeas to come. Right now, some of my favorite camellias are maxed out with blooms and I cannot resist having a few looking up at me as I make tea or wash dishes. The end of the Narcissus explosion is waning but a few are left, along with the tiny grape hyacinths.
This rare blue color in the horticulture world pairs so well with the vibrant chartreuse of huechera leaves and creeping Jenny coming to life in the garden. Blue and white vases are so neutral for arrangements thus are often my choice to host the blooms of the current season.
Cherry, forsythia, camellias, huechera, and grape hyacinths make up the mélange of a larger arrangement, now gracing my buffet a deux corps in the sunroom. The light hits the stamen of the camellias just right, giving their corral pink hue a salmon glow throughout the day. That one bunch of grape hyacinths makes the bouquet to me, and the combo of colors and textures pleases the eye and nose as long as this arrangement lasts.
Welcome spring! Come into our lives with aspiration, inspiration, and revitalization. Capture the essence of the season, the darling buds of, well March now, and spruce up your sink-side décor. From this Farmer’s kitchen sink and garden, happy, happy spring!
James T. Farmer III was born and raised in Georgia, where he continues to live and work as a landscape designer. He shares his love of food, flowers and photography on his blog All Things Farmer.