As Winter starts thinking about giving way to Spring, bright yellow flowers start exploding throughout the South of France. There are many different names for these amazing bursts of beauty including Silk Trees, referring to the silky, filamentous flowers that look something like fireworks and move gently in a breeze.
I was so happy to be able to experience Mimosa season again as we made our way back to Eze from the Alps.
The wonderful Au Beaulieu Fleuri in Beaulieu~sur~mer made these bouquets for me. B~s~M is a charming town right next to Eze that we frequent for the markets in Place Maroni {the town square}, the super marche, restaurants, cafes, beauty treatments and plenty of people watching.
It is a tiny village but the more commercial spot in the “golden triangle” which is what they call the unity of Beaulieu~sur~Mer, St. Jean Cap Ferrat and Villefranche~sur~Mer on the French Riviera, my little zone I love and live in whenever I can.
One for me, one for my hostess that evening. Don’t they make a beautiful presentation?
I love the traditional French wrap of thick paper tied up with twine.
The name mimosa comes from the resemblance to the Mimosa Pudica aka the “sensitive plant” whose leaves fold up when touched {like the “prayer tree” I grew up with}. It was given the name because observers thought it “mimicked” or “mimed” the animals that would rub against it and make the leaves close. However, the mimosa foliage doesn’t fold up when touched.
Another day, I found a little bunch of mimosas for sale, which I couldn’t resist.
I stuck the sprigs into a ranunculus bouquet I was already enjoying in our Pied á Eze.
I adore ranunculus and find them to be much more abundant in France than in the US.
I love their luscious layers of petals and texture, shapely stems and bold colors.
The scent of the mimosa is so subtle, it took me awhile to actually be able to detect it. Some are more fragrant than others, I would describe it as a “mild whiff of honey”.
I was delighted to see, for the first time, that we actually have a mimosa tree in our garden in Eze. I’ll be posting a video of it on my instagram account {let’s follow each other! I’m splendid7} which should appear right over there ->->->
I plucked a little sprig or a nosegay~to~go to bring to the airport with me just to keep some of that sunny whispering softness near a little while longer.
