I usually find the discounted flowers and plants that greet me outside my subway stop a little too past their prime. But it seems that when it's dreary enough outside, even I can't resist.
Which explains why I recently found myself buying a bouquet of rosy-but-tired ranunculuses for $5 from the scrappy flower seller right next to the uptown 137th Street stop.
Also, I had an idea. I had recently been to Le Coucou, the French hotspot in Soho where everything is charming, including the delicate, long-necked vases holding a single flower on each table. Remembering that I had a similar vessel at home, I thought, Why not do the same with my just-bought flowers?
To get the look, I only needed one stem, so I could ignore any sad looking specimens in my bouquet. And I could put all my other bud vases to use and fill different corners of the apartment with the remaining good stems.
Balsamer Bottle Vase at Roman and Williams Guild
So that is what I did, which gives my story about sad flowers a happy ending. And if you, too, would like to try something similar but don't have the right vase, here's a tip: Roman and Williams, the design team behind Le Coucou, just opened a shop in Soho that sells everything from tableware to, yes, delicate, long-necked vases perfect for a single flower.
