I usually indulge in fresh flowers, and if money is tight, I go way more budget than this! Something like waxflower, bells of ireland or ferns (things otherwise considered filler or greenery) can look beautiful if displayed in a pretty vase, jar, pitcher, etc. Carnations also get a bad rep, they can really be pretty. It's all about presentation!

We do - especially now that flowers are so cheap in the spring.

Flowers for us are at special ocassions. Couldn't justify buying daffodils when we have so many in the garden, and I would much rather have them greeting me as I walk down the path than indoors!

Wow, I need to stop taking for granted the fact that a bunch of 10 daffodils in Germany costs 79 cents! (And I love those tulips in wine glasses, what a great idea!)

I buy fresh flowers every week. Trader Joe's has good prices, but I am no longer living near one - boo!

I have found that Fresh & Easy floral prices are comparable, particularly the daffodils, & since they have weekly coupons in their mailers (& online if you sign up) I essentially get my flowers for "free".

When I have a few more dollars to play with the 3/$12 bunches at Albertson's are great, too.

Flowers now cost a minimum of $6 around where I work :( ... but so worth it.

One helpful hint I learned from a neighbor of mine was to drop a few pennies into the tulip vase. It keeps them looking perky just a bit longer. I was skeptical at first but tried it. Lo and behold, my tulips didn't droop for a week. I guess they like the copper.

$1.29 a bunch at Trader Joe's yesterday! They look lovely on the breakfast nook table.

One of my fondest memories of living in Oregon's Willamette Valley was during spring, when a couple of times a week, my husband would stop at one of the bulb farms he passed as he drove home and buy a couple of dozen freshly cut daffs, or tulips or whatever for a couple of bucks. Now that we are in the frozen north of Wisconsin, I miss the long and lovely springs of Oregon.

Really? Shopping at Whole Foods every week and you don't have the cash for fresh flowers at the same time? So surprised, I'm so surprised...

(um, WF is wicked espensive...)

I think that While flowers are beautiful, I don't think that they are in their cut form. As an alternative I personally like plants with flowers and containers with succulents as I am in a Apartment that does not have a garden.

The worlds current ecological environment shows us that water is a precious resource that we need to use in an appropriate manner.

So having cut flowers purely as a decorative item seems such a waste and a shame as the Flowers are grown and harvested with the main purpose of being decorative.

It would be wonderful to have a living display of plants indoors or out.

Cee from alemonandaspoon.blogspot.com

I'll be stopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's on the way home today for SURE.
Thanks for the tip!

I'm so in love with the tulips in the coffee mug idea! Wow! I am for sure dreaming about my wedding a bit too much lately, but both ideas.. wine glasses or coffee mugs are fantastic!

I think what makes it work is having more than one.. I can see them on my dining room table or even a window sill or book shelf.

Love the tulips in the mugs and wine glasses! Very cute!

Has anybody else ever heard of it being incredibly unlucky to bring daffodils indoors? I saw them at Whole Foods and passed them by. My Nanna always said that they "point to death" (whatever that means) and I guess I'm prejudiced against them.

Funny how these superstitions persist...

I got this amazing tip: plastic flowers is not our favourite but treat them as you would real ones and mix a bouquet of real and plastic flowers to get an cheap punch of colour. I did it with great success. http://ploefff.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/k%C3%B8b-blomster-k%C3%B8b-blomster-en-rose-sa-pink/

especially since plastic flowers are becoming more and more realistic, i think they are great idea. i even used them in my wedding since i feel like weddings are particularly wasteful when it comes to all the flowers that get used. guests were able to bring home my centerpieces and when i visit, i still see them in their homes which is really nice :)

LOL, people actually buy Lilacs? I have honestly never seen them for sale in Alberta, Canada. I have always taken a nice stroll through the neighbourhood with a grocery bag and a pair of scissors. Instant and free bouquets galore. I guess I have been lucky in that all the neighborhoods I have lived in have been well stocked with the bushes in public areas, not that I haven't taken a trim off the outside of a neighbors bush once or twice. Nothing is more lovely in the spring than an out of control gigantic bunch of dark and light purple lilacs with a few of the more rare white ones peaking out.