Tables packed with colorful flowers fill the Faribault Garden Center.
HOT PINK, royal purple, bold orange, golden yellow, pale peach…seemingly every imaginable hue blankets the greenhouse in a riotous patchwork quilt of blossoms.
I stand there. Blissful. Smiling. Taking it all in.
How can I possibly choose where to aim my camera first, which blossom to dip my nose into, which plant to admire?
Hot pink geraniums initially catch my eye.
It is impossible not to be happy in a place like this, to want to swoop up the old standby geraniums and petunias, to grab packets of dainty, sweet-smelling alyssum, to corral containers of impatiens onto a cart, to choose the crimson bloodroot plant, to want it all, to fill my yard with color and beauty.
A row of hanging baskets filled with begonias stretches across the greenhouse.
A Minnesota winter, albeit a mild one this year, does this to me. Not even the vibrant and bold polyester patchwork quilt that warms me from November to April is enough to satisfy my visual need for color. By May, my soul, my eyes, my very being yearns for nature to color my world.
A colorful King Kong coleus.
A snippet of the vibrant polyester patchwork quilt my paternal grandmother stitched for me so many seasons ago.
More vivid blooms…
The non-descript Faribault Garden Center, where I photographed all of these flowers.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Beautiful!!! The polyester quilt caught my eye—-I have one made by MY grandma!!! What a great way to highlight the patchwork of beautiful flowers!! I love it! I may have to stop at Fairibault Garden Center on my way home from the airport today…..hmmmmmm…..
If you decide to stop, take the first exit (traveling from the north) off I-35 into Faribault, onto Highway 21. Faribault Garden Center isn’t too far off the interstate on your left. I’ll warn you, though, there’s construction in the area. But not horrible.
I shot these images on Mother’s Day, so the selection will not be as good as when I was there. But, you’ll also find flowers on sale and who doesn’t appreciate a deal?
Thanks for the directions and advice. The hubby is coming in from China and I suspect he will just want to get home and not have me wandering around oohing and ahhing over flowers but we shall see!!! 🙂
You’re right; I expect the husband simply wants to go home.
He tends to be a little grumpy when I can’t remember EXACTLY where I parked the car….even tho I write it down and take a pic! 🙂 I just get excited to see him and lose my head a little bit. But I am filing this place away for future reference!
Too funny. But he should definitely appreciate the “get excited to see him” part.
I did well today—–went right to the car!!! Whew!
Bravo.
I stopped at Gerten’s in Inver Grove Heights yesterday. Soooo much to see and buy. I came home with less dollars in my pocket, but some beautiful blooms along with tomatoes and some perennials. This year will be mostly yellow and orange with some purple. They will look great with the new deck. Hope the weather holds for a few hours this weekend.
Orange seems to be the “hot” color this year in decor and flowers. Even I have some orange, selected by my florist sister, mixed with my usual pinks and purples. Sounds like a party is in order to check out that new deck. My flowers are looking good, which is great for the grad party next weekend. Hope to see you and the rest of the family.
I love the quilt in there with the flowers! Yes, here in MN we truly appreciate spring as I’m not sure those in warmer climates can!!!
My Grandma was an avid quilter. Her sister in Washington would collected used clothes and ship them to her so Grandma could cut the clothing into pieces for quilts. So resourceful and into recycling long before that became popular.
What a beautiful time of year it must be in your city. All those colours and all those beautiful blooms. It must be so exciting after a long winter. Spring is a great time of year xx
Indeed. Everything seems so bright, so green, so lush, in the spring.
Flowers are my therapy..beautiful words and pictures!
Thank you, Bernie. And I bet you have beautiful flower gardens that I would simply love to photograph.
I especially love the quilt. Reminds me of the quilts my Gram made. I have a jar full of buttons that came from the clothing she used to make her quilts.
Those grandmas were so resourceful, weren’t they? And to have the buttons…what a treasure.