It’s been a long winter!!! Do you agree? About this time of year, I begin to get antsy for the sun to shine and fill my soul with LIGHT!!! When I feel this way, a quick fix is a drive to one of my favorite plant nurseries in Salt Lake. Since I had a haircut this past week, and it was a wet drizzly day here in Utah, I decided a “Cactus and Tropicals” fix was necessary. They have two locations, but the Salt Lake City store is my favorite. It has a slight British feel going on inside. The Draper store is lovely too, yet more modern.

Cactus & Tropicals Salt Lake City
2735 South 2000 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84109
801.485.2542

Cactus & Tropicals Draper
12252 Draper Gate Drive
Draper, UT 84020
801.676.0935

This is not just your average nursery. The moment you step through the door, your mood immediately elevates! The warm greenhouse, sound of running water in the fountains, and the adorable little gift cottage with the cobblestone floor, brings LIGHT and joy to my heart!!! This time I went looking for my favorite green and white lady slipper orchid, but sadly there weren’t any. However, there were a few containers of spring daffodils and tulips! Remembering a couple handmade grapevine wreaths a friend gave me a few years ago, an idea began to form. So I bought the almost blooming spring bulbs, and came home with my treasures. They were bone dry when I got them home, so I gave them a little drink and set them aside for Saturday. The next morning to my delight and surprise, I was welcomed to one yellow daffodil, two purple tulips, and one pink tulip when I walked in the kitchen – with more getting ready to flower soon. I think these flowers are excited for spring as well!!! This meant I needed to hurry and put my arrangements together before the flowering bulbs opened any more.

The grapevine wreaths were the perfect base, but I needed a sturdy tray to set it all in. I remembered I had two heavy duty black trays left over from my Grandma Camp cement stepping stone activity, and they were the perfect size!!! Also, the black color didn’t detract from the focal point of the arrangement.

I began by lining the bottom of the tray with green sheet moss soaked in water as it was super dry. Then I set the grape vine wreaths in the tray, they fit inside perfectly, and even overlapped some above the rim of the tray, which is what I wanted. Then I lined the inside of the grapevine wreaths with more damp sheet moss so the green part showed through the grapevines. The bulbs came next. I placed them in a triangle shape within the center of the grapevine wreath, and filled in the empty spots with potting soil mixed with sphagnum moss to help retain the moisture. I placed the tallest daffodil bulbs in the back since they also took up more space, then the medium height purple tulips in one front corner, and the shorter pink tulips in the other front corner. Making sure the soil was moist, but not too wet, I covered it with more sheet moss, a color variety of reindeer moss.

The crowning jewel was a tiny twig bird nest with three faux robin eggs nestled into the perfect spot on the front side of the arrangement – also bought at “Cactus & Tropicals”. I can’t tell you what this little project did for my heart and soul!!! It brought a little bit of spring and sunshine into a rainy dreary day, and looks so cute on our kitchen table! Since I made two, I asked Ronnie what we should do with the other one. We both decided the perfect home for it to go to, and as usual, he was more than happy to be the delivery boy while I stayed home and cleaned up the mess I had made.

Spring is just around the corner, but if you need a little pick-me-up while you wait, drop by your favorite nursery/gift shop and treat yourself to an oxygen boost and some LIGHT for your soul! And while you’re at it, grab a little something to drop off to a friend or neighbor. You will fill your bucket and theirs by sharing some “sunny spring weather”! Have a great week!

Love Ya, Les :)

Favorites