When I was deciding what to call this new direction I was taking, blossom was a natural word for me to consider. It represents so much to me and flowers have always been an important part of my life, always adding colour and beauty, always fragrant, and always bringing a smile to my face.
I grew up on a farm. My mom had the most beautiful flowerbeds that wrapped around the house. There was also an enormous lavender hedge. I remember going to the greenhouse to buy bedding plants with my mom every spring. Endless rows of colours. There were always marigolds and peonies. Big beautiful pink peonies. Watching my mom tend to her flowers, I always noticed how content she looked, calm, happy. These moments only ever happened around her flowers.
I moved to Vancouver in my early twenties, one of my favourite cities in the world. Not only was it beautiful, but it was also where my grandmother lived. Gram. Gram made the best cup of team and she read your tea leaves. She also grew the most beautiful flowers. It was clear where my mom got her love of flowers.
When I moved to England to be with Chris, my husband, my love of flowers continued, always planting hundreds of bulbs in my flowerbeds. Tulips, daffodils, towering alliums. Chris bought me flowers almost every week. He never needed a special occasion. He knew how much I loved them, plus it gave him the opportunity to fill vases, something that he loved to buy. There were always flowers in our house. And always a new vase.
After we divorced, I no longer had flowers in my house. We moved from one rental to another, never managing to fill the flower beds with colour. My rhododendrons and hydrangea have weathered the moves with me but became tired with each one. During those years, life lost its colour as I became obsessed with Chris’ drinking, and bottles. I hated bottles – any bottles.
It wasn’t until after Chris passed away that I started to buy flowers again, occasionally. Little actions, like buying flowers for myself started to make a difference in how I felt. I remember so many times when the cashier at the supermarket would remark at the beautiful flowers “Gorgeous. Who is the lucky person?” They were always a bit shocked when I’d say they were for me. You could see them thinking and the sudden shift in mood as the realisation hit that yes, it was good to treat yourself.
My dislike of bottles bothered me. So when I made the decision to create Blossom Bottle, it was a deliberate choice. I made the decision to blossom, to grow forward and to overcome those negative emotions. Something beautiful could come from something so painful. And that how Blossom Bottle came to be.
Something beautiful could come from something so painful.
