From time to time I post a French "flower show". I can't resist the way the French plant flowers with abandon, in a mélange of happy colors. Here are some photos I've collected, some bouquets to cheer you and all in settings that can only be French. I hope they lift your spirits.
Flower boxes hang from our friends' balcony in the Alps.
A sort of window box gone wild, in Arnay-le-Duc.
A villa on the Mediterranean coast that lives up to its name.
The French often smother their charming old bridges with flowers. This one is in Alsace.
This is the parterre garden at the Château de Cormatin, near Cluny.
My friend Ellen is an artist and designer, and the arrangements from her garden are artful as well.
In a park near our house in Beaune.
Hydrangeas do beautifully in our area.
A public planting in Beaune.
And another exuberant public planting, in Alsace.
Provence doesn't have the corner on lavender. It grows well in Burgundy, too. This photo is from our own former garden near Cluny.
I love that the French can make a garden out of the smallest of spaces.
Old wine barrels in Burgundy are often pressed into service as pots.
Forget-me-nots peek from a stone wall with careless gaiety...
... but the French can do formal, as well
A happy blooming summer to all!
In the COMMENTS: Paula has cooking tips about garlic for us, and so does Jane but she uses a different technique. Jane, I wonder if the salt might take the “sting” out of the garlic for those who can’t normally eat it. Page adds sun-dried tomatoes to her spinach or broccoli soufflé, a brilliant idea, for a little tang and another layer of flavor.
