MY TWO CENTS
People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us… It would be so true. I feel as if I can hear Iris’s excitement in her statement about how could we not all be mad with the love of flowers, as they are so unique, beautiful and awe-inspiring. Flowers should bring continued gratitude of life, and for me they do. That is one of the many reasons I want to share flowers every week with anyone who has an affinity for them, too. I wish I knew what exactly sparked this quote.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch (July 15, 1919-8 February 8, 1999) is an author I know by name, but I have not read any of her books, of which she wrote over 25. She was born in Dublin and grew up in London with her parents. She attended a Badminton School in Bristol (I find researching authors so interesting… I never knew there was such a thing as a badminton school). Murdoch continued on with studies in the Classics and then Philosophy. Her writings were focused on good and immoral behavior, the unconscious mind and its power, and sexual relationships. The first novel she wrote in 1953 was ‘Under the Net’ and she continued writing for many years and published her last novel in 1989, ‘The Message to the Planet’. I learned from the Paris Review that her house with her husband John Bayley was filled to the brim with books, and it sounds like she had wonderful gardens and many painting and tapestries of flowers, which I would imagine influenced her most wonderful quote about flowers. She died in 1999 after being diagnosed in 1997 with Alzheimer’s disease.

FEATURED FLOWER
Fashion Monger Dahlia, Photographed @ RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

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