Faded flowers

My mother was an avid gardener with a wonderful garden. She loved flowers, particularly roses, and enjoyed having them in the house. She had a lot to choose from, so she always discarded flowers that were past their best and I grew up thinking wilted flowers were only good for the compost.

I have since learned differently. My friends in Hamburg leave their flowers in vases long after my mother would have thrown them out and I have learned to appreciate them as they fade.

Last year in Hobart I saw the most magnificent vase of slowly (or fast?) fading irises in a memorable antique store. The hedge of lovely white roses in front of the shop had initially attracted me and inside the door I discovered a shop full of the quaint, the old and the preposterous. And the wilted irises.