Something people may not know about me, I am not a fan of receiving fresh cut flowers. While I believe they are beautiful, I do not like watching them slowly shrivel up inside my house. I prefer flowering plants that you can have inside like violets, orchids, hoyas, and more. My father has quite the collection of indoor beauties and I visit them often to take photos. Many of his plants have come from Lyndon Lyon Greenhouse, Inc which has been in business for 60 years.

I seem to kill plants when I bring them home. TechyDad and I have tried to plant some flowers around the house. I really love perennials so they come back year after year. One Earth Day we planted daffodils, but a bunny pulled them back up and destroyed the bulbs. This taught us to use capsaicin spray to keep some of the animals away. The same year that we bought the daffodils that are no more, we planted a rhododendron. This year, the conditions were perfect and it flowered to prove that it is still trying to survive after several harsh winters.

Over the years, we have planted lilies, kept some in giant planters, and others have spread naturally into large areas of our yard. We have many different varieties and sometimes I forget which colors will open until they show up each summer. Right now, we are waiting for the fifth variety to bloom, but we have had a show with all of these this year (many more photos on my Instagram feed).

There is just something wonderful about walking around and taking photos of flowers. You can see natural beauty up close in a way that you typically ignore on a day to day basis. What are you favorite flowers to have inside and outside of your home?