A heart of red roses...

Freshly picked from the garden are the most 

impossibly red roses, 

and as I arranged them in my beloved Alvar Aalto vase,

the thought struck me that they resemble a heart.

A little early for Valentine's,

but beautiful in any season! 

The Savoy vase was designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1936,

for a competition at the Paris World Fair.

He obviously figured his name would be a hindrance,

so the little vase was entered anonymously.

And it won.

No surprise then, that this hand-blown vase 

has never come out of production,

and is featured in many design museums.

Mine was a gift about 10 years ago,

and it has dutifully trotted along

on my many moves.

The roses, alas, have more of a mystery to them than the vase. 

I bought the plant from a rose nursery in a "mystery dip" lot 

because the tags had come off. 

So I have no idea what variety they are.

But they provide endless blooms of muskily scented vermilion indulgence, 

and are truly worthy of the iconic vase.

images: blue fruit