Thursday, January 5, 2012

Fresh-Cut Friday #17 Carnation January Flower of the Month




(google free image search)
Carnations or Snowdrops are considered the standard flowers for the month of January.
Both are lovely...but Snowdrops are a little hard to find around here. So I went with an
old tried and true favorite!
The Carnation
Fascination, Distinction and Love!
That is the primary message you would be sending with the gift of Carnations.
Believed, by the first Christians, to have first bloomed after
Mary wept as her son carried the cross.
It is one of the first cultivated flowers on earth.

This classic beauty comes in lots of shades of pink, yellow, red and peach. But, here's a trick. Take a bunch of white Carnations, and place them in a glass of water, drop a few drops of food color in ( your choice, blue would have been fun with this arrangement)
and let it stand over night. The next morning you will have a lovely variegated blossom.

It has a strong spicy fragrance, kind of like cloves, with blooms that are long lasting.

I first fell in love with Carnations when I was in high school. Every year at Valentine's Day the Booster Club would sell Carnations to raise money for athletics. It was the costume to gift and receive as many flowers as possible. Kind of my generations version of "friend-ing".
I rarely got very many...but it was a fun day none the less as single flowers were hand delivered to recipients in their classes all day long. My best friend Pam and I would always make sure that we each got at least one.

Next month's flower is the Primrose or the Violet!

I'm linking with:
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home
2805 for Potpourri Friday

So now it's your turn! Let's see you pretty arrangements.











28 comments:

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

I posted my Christmas centerpiece...it had carnations. Haven't gotten any other flowers!
Hey, I didn't know that about carnations picking up the water color...I am going to do that...way cool!

Unknown said...

As children we used to have a blast dying the carnations with food colors. Love your centerpiece.
Have a beautiful day ~
TTFN ~
Hugs,
Marydon

Unknown said...

Dear Liz,
Thanks for hosting Fresh Cut Friday! It is one of my favorite parties and I enjoy being here! I find the Carnation one of the harest flowers to photograph..mostly the white, which I always associate with January. I must try other colors to see if I can do better..
Here's to another great year!
Shirley

Heirloom treasures said...

I just commented but it disappeared so here I go again. Your carnations are lovely in the blue pot. They brought back memories of my Grandad who used to grow them with asparagus fern. Grandma always had a crystal vase full on the dining table. I never knew about being able to change the colour. I must try that. xx jeanetteann

A Cozy Cottage in the City said...

Hi Liz,

I had the exact same thing in mind when thinking of January blooms as you will see in the post that I shared! :) I know you are probably really busy with all the links & comments that you have to go through, but I would love for you to visit my site whenever you find the time, and would be honored if you decided to follow along {if you like what you see}. :) It's been a pleasure to link up to your monthly party. Thank you kindly for hosting!

Happy New Year!


XOXO's,
Jessie

acozycottageinthecity.blogspot.com

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

Thanks for the invite- I linked up :)

Barb said...

Hi Liz, thanks for stopping by. So glad I have the opportunity to join you.

The carnations are lovely....such happy flowers.

Happy New Year and many blessings,
Barb

Tablescapes By Diane said...

Hi lovely lady.
I love Carnations all the colors!!
I use them all the time for my table centerpiece. I did not know about the food colors in the water.. Thanks so much for the Inf.
Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my tablescape for New Year Eve. Im your newest follower on your Blog on..
I hope you have a wonderful 2012 New Year with your family.
XXOO Diane

Ricki Treleaven said...

Thanks you for hosting, Liz. Great, informative post. I love your pretty white carnations. I might buy some red and white carnations for the National Championship Game Monday night. :D

Tablescapes By Diane said...

Hi lovely lady.
Thank so much for your sweet comment on my Tablescape for New Year Eve.
I just post some of my Roses from my garden two years ago. I hope my rose will come back to me this year!! We need rain in Texas as you know. I do have your Button on my sidebar now.
XXOO Diane

Kathe said...

I worked at a carnation greenhouse after high school. Love the smell of so much! Lovely blue pots , the white is perfect in them.

Diane said...

This has got to be the prettiest blog every first Friday of the month with all the beauty of these flowers. Thanks for hosting this lovely party! Diane

Trish - Mom On Timeout said...

Beautiful arrangements! Thanks for stopping by Mom On Timeout :)

Unknown said...

I'm so jealous of your roses! I cannot wait for summer's return- for the love of roses!
Thank you for popping by my place!
Kerry at HouseTalkN

Cindy Adkins said...

Hello Liz,
What a lovely blog you have and your "Fresh-Cut Friday" party is so unqiue! I love white carnations - they look so fresh and pretty. Thanks for stopping by and following my blog. I'm following you now, too, and will return often!
Cindy @ Art,Books,Tea

Denise said...

Hi Liz,

I love your blog, and this is such a neat post. I actually found some snowdrops blooming in our area late last winter. They're such charming little flowers. I was able to get a few pictures of them.

I love your pictures of the white carnations; they look so perfect in the blue and white container. I would never have thought of doing that. This looks like a great linky party; I don't do a lot of flower arranging, but this inspires me to do more.

Thanks for your visit and your kind comments. So glad you enjoyed the posts about Mitford (I actually did a Part 1 and 2). Those did seem to be pretty popular. Have you read the books by Jan Karon? They're wonderful; some of my very favorites.

I really like your blog, and I'm now following you, as well. Thanks for becoming a follower on my blog. Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Denise at Forest Manor

Unknown said...

HiLiz
what a lovely blog you have! Thanks for commenting on mine. I am your newest follower, would be great if you would follow me back :-). http://blog.organized-living-solutions.com
Love
Jutta

Sarah said...

Hi Liz! Thank you for stopping by & joining my blog! Your photos are beautiful, can't wait to see what you do next :)
Your new follower,
Sarah

Unknown said...

Hi Liz, sorry, i put 'follow anonymously' by accident. it is fixed now :-)
love
Jutta

Red Rose Alley said...

Your white carnations are so wonderful! Do you know the carnation is my second favorite flower after the rose? My husband used to buy them for me when we were dating, and he would choose all colors. They hold a special place in my heart, but I never knew about the beautiful story of Mary. Now they are even more precious to me. I remember the carnations that came to the classrooms in high school too. It was always a delight to get one. This post brought back sweet memories for me, and I thank you for that. I think I will buy myself a bouquet of carnations the next time I'm at the store. Have a lovely weekend.
~Sheri at Red Rose Alley

Myric said...

Amazing tip on making blue carnations! I enjoyed your post a lot! I don't remember if I have seen snowdrops. They are beautiful!

It's nice to meet you. I am excited to be your bloggy friend :)

xoxo
Myric

Anonymous said...

Hi Liz! I just love carnations and their smell! I just walked past the flower section at the grocery store today and those carnations were just sending out their sweet scent!
Happy New Year and here's to another year of blogging.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Katie @ Creatively Living said...

What a fun idea for a linky party! I love creative linky parties!

Just stopping by from @Creatively Living. Thanks for dropping me a note.

I'm now a follower :)

--Katie
@Creatively Living

Oliva Ohlson said...

Your comment about HS brought back memories. I think most girls first fell in love with carnations from HS. I did!

Blooming Rose Musings said...

Liz, thank you for always hosting fabulous Fresh Cut Friday. I am linking two posts this time because I couldn't make up my mind.
I love your carnations. When we were kids we used to have so much fun doing the food coloring trick. It was especially good for St. Patricks Day green!
Thank you again, Liz.

Reba and Eldarose, sisters, friends and co-bloggers said...

What a cool idea to feature cut flowers. I came over after you left such a nice comment on our blog. I wish I had some carnations to contribute. As I mentioned on my blog, I am currently in love with succulents. I am going to post a picture of the ones I used for our outdoor dinner party. I hope that is ok.

Eldarose from http://re-inventedstyle.blogspot.com

The Charm of Home said...

Liz,
I am so happy you joined me. I noticed the tulips were out this week in the store and I will be adding them to my post on Friday soon! So, I will join you! I love this party and have stalked it often. Such a wonderful nice idea to enjoy these beautiful flowers! Thank you for linking it to Home Sweet Home!
Sherry

Suffia said...

Hi, I just found your blog and might join your lovely linky party next time. Your carnations are really gorgeous and perfect in that blue pot. I'm your newest follower.