All photos courtesy of Stacy Bauer
The Rawlings Conservatory is located in Druid Hill Park and if you haven't been there, you must go. Giant cacti, palms for days, and my personal favorite: the orchid room.
This summer, the conservatory turned 125, making it the second oldest glass conservatory in the nation.
Walking among plants older than anyone I know puts life in perspective. Our time is so short.
Flowers and humans aren't really so different- exerting great energy toward an existence that's arguably pointless, yet capable of so much beauty.
This bouquet was a compilation of blooms you can find inside the Conservatory (palm, cymbidium orchid, anthurium, jasmine), and blooms you can find in Baltimore (spirea, daffodils, ivy).
I try to include at least one foraged element in every bouquet that leaves the studio. I find it grounding.
I'll leave you with the last stanza from "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver:
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Wishing you all a lovely indulgence.
XO,
Mary Ellen