Flowers may contribute to the feeling of a whole room or they may subtly grace a small part of the room not apparent at first glance, but discovered in good time.

Floral fashion speaks a universal language. The elegance of line, the allure of texture, the subtleties of contrast, all exert their appeal. Of the possibilities of visual pleasure to be derived from fresh flowers and foliage there is no end. Fresh flowers and foliage bring life into a room. Unlike the other elements that surround us---tables and chairs, curtains and rugs, objects that can be changed only with great difficulty and at great expense---cut flowers come and go easily, sporting new colors, evoking new moods, marking special occasions. They can bring the garden or woods into the house, filling the indoors with the sights and smells of nature.

Flowers and foliage are not just for company. They are the stuff of everyday life as well as of special moments; they offer us too much to be relegated only to special occasions. Flowers also belong to the times when we are alone. They have an equal place on the dining table, the kitchen table, and the kitchen counter. Just as a glass of sherry is for the enjoyment of the cook as well as the embellishment of the sauce, so flowers can enliven the hours we spend preparing for guests as well as the time we spend entertaining them.

Surrounded as we often are by a world of glass, metal, asphalt, and plastic, we need flowers in our midst to reconnect us to the quiet, pure beauty of the natural world. Swept up in an ever-faster-paced electronic society, we need the presence of flowers to bring us back down to earth, to give us momentary pause and respite from the frenetic tempo of modern life. Considering all the ways in which flowers and foliage can enrich our surroundings, uplift our spirits, and even speak for us in our absence, the time has come for us to shed our old, outdated notions of what flowers are all about and to rediscover the virtually limitless possibilities they offer.