Art is in bloom at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum. And so are the flowers.

Three dozen members of local garden clubs have been asked again this year to interpret art on display in the gallery through floral arrangements, and the results will be on display this weekend - and admission is free.

The floral arrangers were asked to take their inspiration from the Japanese cloisonne exhibit currently on display, courtesy of Baltimore collector Stephen W. Fisher. 

The pieces are inspired by nature, so the synergy is complete.

Gay Legg, a member of the Saint George's Garden Club out of Northwest Baltimore, has contributed arrangements to this fund-raising effort for nearly half of its 21 years.

(For more pictures from previous Art Blooms exhibits, go to the Walter's Flickr collection.)

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A Rutgers study once reported that 100 percent of women presented with flowers broke into a smile, while only 77 percent of women presented with a pillar candle did so.

Kathy Purdy, who blogs at Cold Climate Gardening, recounts this study and says she understands why. Flowers make her so "disproportionately happy" that she would gladly spend grocery money on them.

But she also refers to the work of garden author Amy Stewart, who wrote "Flower Confidential," an examination of the cut flower industry and, as part of it, the exploitation of people all over the world so that Americans can have their pesticide-laden, fragrance free flowers.

It appears those roses costs more than we know.

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Photo credit: Associated Press

If you received a bouquet of red roses for Valentine's Day, your sweetheart may be a little short on imagination.

Something like 187 million roses were sold on Valentine's Day 2009, and if it sales were any less this year, it is certainly because of the snow.

And, according to some estimates, red roses account for almost half of all Valentine's Day flower purchases.

If you'd like that bouquet to last a while, here are some tips from the floral industry.

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Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Floral arrangements