I’ve talked about this before - about 3 years ago actually - when I blogged about my new year’s resolution of always keeping fresh greenery in the house. At the time, we were living in our previous home and I had access to ample amounts of palms and flowering plants in our yard and even some that grew in the woods near our house. If you scroll down on my Instagram feed, you’ll see plenty of shots with vases full of green fronds and blooms, especially during the spring and summer months.

Fast forward to the present day and I’m still trying to figure out what I can use to substitute the plants we don’t have in our current yard. I do plan on adding to the landscaping, but haven’t quite gotten to that item on my list of priorities yet. What I DO have access to still are giant bird of paradise plants and their gorgeous, exotic looking white blooms.

Unlike most flowers, it’s hard to find a place to trim them off the thick stalk of the plant. I use a large pair of curved sheers to cut them, being careful not to hack into the tissue of the neighboring fronds.

These flowers are filled with juicy nutrients from the plant and will gush all over and drip off the edges, so be careful when you bring them inside.

I always like to give anything I bring from outside a quick rinse in the sink. In full disclosure, at our last house, I would actually dunk them straight into the pool and leave them submerged for a moment. There was just enough chlorine wash away anything I didn’t want to bring into the house.

Because I happened to trim off a pair of blooms attached to each other, it was tough to find a vase that would force the flowers to sit upright. The hard cone exterior is pretty heavy and they’ll tip right over if they aren’t positioned perfectly in the vase.

I tried about four vases until I realized they weren’t going to stand upright no matter what I did. So, I let them lean to the side and think they look pretty cool like this too.

I love this light blue portion of the flower. They also have a purplish hue around the edges sometimes.

These giant bird of paradise flowers lasted several days for me. I think they are fun to have around for a bit! Do you have a favorite flower or plant you like to trim and bring into the house? I hope to have more to choose from next year around this time once we tackle some landscaping. :)

Sending Sunshine,

Jessica