Keep valentine love blooming Year-Round
As a rule keeping flowers on the vine is the best way to assure longevity, but when your special someone gives you roses on that romantic day you might consider drying them to keep the memory fresh
- Published: 24 Feb 2013 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Brunch
Valentine's Day has come and gone. Last year, my husband, ML Charuphant, gave me a single long-stemmed red rose. This year he thought I deserved 10. Was I happy? Call me ungrateful, but what filled my heart with joy were not the flowers but my honey's sweet words, ''I love you, and will love you till the end of time.'' He says that often, and not just on Valentine's Day.
Please don't get me wrong. I love flowers of all colours _ white, red, pink, yellow, yellow-green, orange, purple, and especially blue and violet. But cut flowers don't last long, and after just a few days they die on me. When I was in high school, I was excited to get a rose _ or even ylang-ylang, which I would put between the pages of my textbook _ as I thought it signified a shy admirer's unspoken words of love. But I am now more practical, and instead of flowers that wither in a day or two, I would rather have a potted flowering plant, or dried flowers arranged in a vase or basket.
My preference for a flowering plant these days is adenium or desert rose (chuan chom in Thai), because the new hybrids have flowers resembling roses but they are much easier to grow. Hybridisers have developed countless cultivars, with flowers that come with single or double petals in many different hues and colour combinations, so plant lovers are spoiled as far as choice. More importantly, small ones are inexpensive so even if they die you can always buy replacements.
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