Botanical PaperWorks- Paper That Blooms into Flowers

Who sends cards anymore? I know I only do occasionally, relying much more on e-mail and e-cards. It makes sense to me environmentally to decrease paper use. Besides, even though there is something special about receiving a hand-written message- a physical connection with the sender, what do you do with them after awhile, after they have been on the fridge or mantel. Mine end up on a bucket, some are filed away, and I have a big box of letters and cards that supposedly I'm going to weep over when I am old.

I ran across a business, Botanical PaperWorks, that just might inspire me to take up the pen again. They specialize in hand-made paper cards and stationery that can be planted once the novelty of the message wears off.

Here is what they say:

To plant the paper, prepare a pot of soil or small patch of garden. Remove the seeded paper piece from your stationery and place on the top.

Spread a thin layer of soil onto the paper. Water well and give plenty of sunshine. Keep moist during germination, 6-8 weeks.

As the plants grow right out of the paper, look for flowers like Bird's Eye, Clarkia, Coreopsis, Poppy, Catchfly and Snap Dragon.

It's almost Summer here in Kentucky and nature is screaming with life: green everywhere with flowers blossoming, birds flying around and chasing each other... absolute heaven! Well, there are also an abundance of ticks to contend with and soon those nasty mosquitoes will make their presence, but this is, after all, Earth, not heaven. Planting a card would be easy peasy here.

Botanical PaperWorks have cards for every occasion, gift tags, stationery, and even a journal with a plantable cover.

Historians complain that the advent of e-mail is going to make it harder for future generations to document what has happened during our life-time. But, come on... how much waste do we have to leave behind for future generations to dig through? We're already looking forward to the day when we can shoot our garbage out into space. They'll have plenty of goodies to look at . Maybe they will cluck their tongues , shake their heads, and look back at our history in wonder, the kind of wonder that can't really figure out what motivated us to so choke our planet.

So, send a card if you must. But, think of how wonderful it is to send something that contains a seed of life, that can then grow into something beautiful, something that gives continuity to your warm thoughts and wishes!

Visit their blog, Stationery Scoop, too!

Botanical PaperWorks- Paper That Blooms into Flowers