Bakker Bugle Blog

I love cut flowers, especially the spring bulbs (tulips and hyacinths) and the summer garden flowers (zinnias and the like). Unfortunately, cut flowers can be a bit pricey here in Luxembourg, so I was having to make do with the occasional (and small) bunch of Gerber daisies.

But recently, we have been going to the Farmer’s Market at Place Guillaume. The market is open on Saturday mornings and we love getting some fresh produce, delicious apple juice for Will and cut flowers for me.

The prices are so reasonable, I’ve been going…. well… a little flower crazy.

Hence last week’s purchases:

This was taken five days post-purchase, so they aren’t at their very best. But aren’t they beautiful? Beautiful…. but deadly!

Our advancing ages have made both of us susceptible to the pollen from the lovely flowers. Apparently, our allergies cannot handle the continued, unrelenting exposure and even the various antihistamines we consume daily haven’t kept us from sneezing and headaches. Will was convinced for a couple days that I had a nefarious and complex plan to off him, except I was suffering as much (or more) than he.

I was forced to accept that four different kinds of cut flower at once is too much to have in our home. So this week, I had to do with only daffodils (or jonquils as they are known at the grocery store) and hyacinths.

While we are still running at a high pollen count, the level is tolerable. The joy and pleasure I get from the flowers easily offsets the small price to pay. As a Midwesterner, I’m thrilled to have spring flowers available… in March! I think we can say that Spring is just around the corner for Luxembourg.

Especially when the crocuses are popping up everywhere: