What could be better than finding yourself in the possession of free flowers? Nothing! That’s what I say, at least. Imagine my surprise when I come to find my car inexplicably decorated one morning with what looked like the floral fallout from one crazy quinceañera. No one knows where they came from, but this broke bum is not going to look a gift arrangement in the mouth. And neither should you.
My thought is "Gee, what a great way to decorate my office at work and my apartment and not spend any moolah. Damn, I wonder how I can convince more people to do this more often!" Well sadly, it only happened once, but here are some other fancy, if not always free, ways to stop and smell the roses from time to time. (Hint – this just might keep the broke bums and bummettes in your lives super-happy and surprised too!)1. Ever found yourself at a wedding or two like I did the other weekend? Take home a bouquet! Or better yet, score a centerpiece. Chances are the bride and groom are more than happy to let them go to the highest (non-paying) bidder. Come on, now – you just bought them a gift with money you probably never had to begin with, danced with them at their wedding (that of course probably cost more money than THEY had to begin with), and really, those centerpieces are probably just going to hit the trash bin in few hours anyway. Check out what I scored just by asking nicely. Nice haul, eh?
P.S. The operative here is to ask first. At her own wedding, my broke sis had to intercept guests who tried to make off with the florist’s fancy vases. Post-honeymoon, she went detective to ferret out the sticky-fingered guests who helped themselves to the (florist’s crazy-expensive, not-up-for-grabs) table number picture frames, lest she get charged for them. (Turns out her good friends, the ones with the 2 million dollar apartment who can afford their own frames, natch – were the pilferers, and at least they returned them.)
Oh, and some broke folk like to share their newlywed bliss by actually donating their wedding flowers to nursing homes or hospitals, so they may not take to kindly to guests who put the kibosh on their good-deedery. Just sayin’. But hey, that's a whole different story, for a whole different time.
2. The local farmers' markets always have some fresh bunches just ripe for the picking. And the later you go, the cheaper they are! I've always been a fan of the Gerberas – you can normally grab about 6 bright and colorful stems for under 6 bucks.
3. Trader Joe's is by far my favorite of the "corporate beastie" type stores. They've got fresh flowers that can last up to 3 weeks (I kid you not, it’s amazing) for as little as $2.99 a bunch. That's about a buck a week, if you change the water and clip the stems. (If this concept is a bit difficult, check out these links from ehow and doityourself for some tips. I also recommend adding some table sugar to the water for some beautiful blooms. Hachi machi!) It's as close to stealing them from your next-door neighbor’s garden as you can get, but with less fear of a misdemeanor charge.
4. For just $2 admission (or just $1 on Saturdays) you can score some great deals downtown in the LA Flower District. A whole bunch (pun fully intended) of vendors sell by the stem so you can pick up some mums for your mum, some sage for the wise one in your life, or even a passion flower if you just can't get the words out but want to let him/her know how you feel. They may even educate you a bit along the way!
When it comes to decorating on the cheap, there ain't no other way to say it but with flowers. Doesn't hurt that they smell good, too. And hey, if any of you out there are feeling generous, feel free to email the bums This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – we’ll happily take some free florals off your hands. Maybe we'll even tell you where our cars are parked.