There are very few situations that can’t be improved by adding a dog.
Flowers have a similar effect.
Put the two together and things can become dangerously sentimental very quickly.
So we’re going to try not to do that.
This isn’t a collection of dogs awkwardly holding bouquets in their mouths. Nor is it twelve Valentine’s cards disguised as an article.
Instead, we wanted to explore what happens when dogs and flowers simply share a photograph.
Sometimes the flowers are extravagant.
Sometimes there’s only one.
Sometimes the dog barely seems aware they’re there.
And occasionally, when the moment deserves it, there are words too.
Because flowers aren’t only about romance.
They’re given for friendship, birthdays, celebrations, apologies, gratitude, remembrance and sometimes for absolutely no reason at all.
Dogs understand that last one particularly well.
Here are twelve ways we imagine dogs and flowers belonging together.
The Single Rose
We begin simply.
A beautiful white dog sits against a nearly black background.
There is no elaborate arrangement.
No flower shop.
No garden.
Just one perfect red rose.
The dog holds it gently while looking directly toward the camera with an expression considerably more serious than the situation probably warrants.
Sometimes one flower is enough.
The Photograph: A dramatic, minimal studio portrait of a white dog against black, with a single red rose providing almost the only colour.
Words: You make me want to be a better man.
The Flower Shop Regular
Some people walk past a flower shop.
Some people cannot.
Apparently, neither can this dog.
Hundreds of blooms fill buckets and vases around a beautiful neighbourhood florist. Peonies, roses, tulips, gerberas and greenery spill onto tables while handwritten cards identify whatever arrived that morning.
In the middle of it all sits a large dog who appears to have absolutely no intention of leaving.
There is no flower in its mouth.
There doesn’t need to be.
The entire shop is the bouquet.
The Photograph: A large dark-coated dog sitting naturally inside an extraordinary independent flower shop, surrounded by layers of colour and flowers.
A Single Friend, My World
A scruffy little dog sits quietly with a rose.
Nothing elaborate.
Nothing particularly expensive.
Just a small gesture from someone who understands that sometimes the size of the bouquet has very little to do with the size of the feeling behind it.
Dogs probably understood that before we did.
The Photograph: An intimate portrait of a small, slightly scruffy terrier with one rose, photographed against a soft neutral background.
Words: “A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.” — Leo Buscaglia
Under the Peonies
The arrangement on the entrance table is enormous.
Blush peonies tumble from an oversized ceramic vase alongside garden roses and greenery.
Someone has clearly spent considerable time making everything look effortless.
Underneath the table, a dog is asleep.
It has contributed nothing to the floral arrangement.
It has no opinion about the vase.
It does, however, appear to have identified the best place in the house for an afternoon nap.
The Photograph: A beautiful contemporary entranceway with a spectacular peony arrangement on a console and an elegant dog sleeping naturally beneath it.
No quote.
The room can speak for itself.
The Window Between Us
Two dogs appear at neighbouring windows.
Between them sits a window box overflowing with flowers.
One looks toward the other.
The other seems to be pretending not to notice.
Perhaps they’re best friends.
Perhaps they’ve been neighbours for years.
Perhaps there is an ongoing disagreement involving a tennis ball that we’re simply not qualified to mediate.
Either way, the flowers seem determined to keep the peace.
The Photograph: Two different dogs framed by the windows of a beautiful home, separated visually by an overflowing flower box filled with colourful blooms.
Somebody Brought Home Sunflowers
A galvanized bucket sits on the floor of a bright country mudroom.
It is overflowing with sunflowers and yellow gerberas, some still carrying bits of the garden with them.
A few loose stems lie nearby.
Beside the bucket is a dog.
Not holding the flowers.
Not hugging them.
Not presenting them to anyone.
Just lying there in the warm afternoon light as though flowers routinely arrive in buckets and nobody needs to make a fuss about it.
Maybe that’s what makes the scene so lovely.
The Photograph: A relaxed farm or country dog beside a large bucket of freshly cut yellow flowers in a beautiful, sunlit mudroom.
The Garden Has Been Here Longer Than We Have
Old roses climb across a weathered garden wall.
Some are perfectly open.
Others have begun dropping petals onto the stone below.
In the shade beneath them sleeps an elderly dog.
There is grey around the muzzle now.
The walks are a little shorter.
Getting up takes a little longer.
But there are still warm afternoons.
There are still familiar places to sleep.
And every year, somehow, the roses return.
The Photograph: A senior dog sleeping peacefully beneath mature climbing roses in an established garden, with fallen petals scattered naturally around it.
No words on this one.
It doesn’t need them.
The Gerbera
Not every flower needs to make a grand statement.
Sometimes you need something that simply looks happy.
Enter the gerbera.
One enormous orange gerbera sits in a simple vase on a table while an equally cheerful-looking dog peers over the edge.
No roses.
No declarations of eternal devotion.
No violin music playing mysteriously in the background.
Just colour, curiosity and a flower that seems incapable of having a bad day.
The Photograph: A playful but beautifully photographed dog interacting naturally with a minimalist interior where one oversized orange gerbera provides the visual focal point.
Dinner for Two
The dining room is ready.
Candles are lit.
Flowers fill the centre of the table.
Everything looks suspiciously romantic.
Two dogs are lying underneath.
Whatever elaborate human plans existed for the evening, the dogs appear considerably more interested in whether anything edible eventually falls from above.
Romance takes many forms.
Some of them involve waiting underneath a dining table.
The Photograph: An elegant dining room prepared for dinner, with a sophisticated floral centrepiece above and two very different dogs relaxing beneath the table.
Among the Wildflowers
Not all flowers arrive wrapped in paper.
Some are simply waiting outside.
A dog moves through a field filled with wildflowers, almost disappearing among the colour.
Nothing has been arranged.
Nothing matches perfectly.
Nobody has trimmed a stem or selected a vase.
The flowers grow where they want.
The dog goes where it wants.
For once, everyone seems to have the same plan.
The Photograph: A dog moving naturally through a large field of mixed wildflowers, photographed wide enough that the landscape matters every bit as much as the dog.
The Arrangement
This one is allowed to be dramatic.
An enormous sculptural arrangement of white flowers rises from a dark pedestal in a striking contemporary room.
Calla lilies.
White roses.
Branches.
Greenery.
Beside it sits a tall black dog.
The dog isn’t cute.
The flowers aren’t cute.
Nothing about the photograph is trying to make you say aww.
And that’s precisely why it works.
The Photograph: A black Great Dane or similarly architectural dog beside a dramatic white floral arrangement in a sophisticated modern interior, photographed almost like a fashion editorial.
No quote.
Absolutely no bow tie.
Flowers for No Particular Reason
There is no anniversary.
Nobody has a birthday.
No one needs apologizing to.
It’s not Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or any of the other days when we’re reminded that purchasing flowers would probably be a good idea.
There are simply flowers on the kitchen table.
A dog lies nearby in a patch of sunlight.
Outside, life continues doing what life does.
And perhaps that’s our favourite photograph of the twelve.
Because some of the best things don’t need an occasion.
Flowers don’t.
And neither does telling someone you’re glad they’re here.
The Photograph: A beautiful but lived-in kitchen, a loose colourful bouquet in a vase on the table and a dog resting nearby in afternoon sunlight. Nothing staged too perfectly.
Words: No special occasion required.
Flowers, Dogs and the People We Love
We give flowers because sometimes words aren’t quite enough.
Dogs have an entirely different solution.
They sit beside us.
Follow us from room to room.
Wait by the door.
Fall asleep at our feet.
And somehow make completely ordinary days feel a little less ordinary.
Perhaps that’s why dogs and flowers belong together so easily.
Neither needs a particularly complicated explanation.
They’re simply nice to have around.
And you certainly don’t need to wait until Valentine’s Day to appreciate either one.
