Anenomes

One of the reasons that I think that fresh flowers add something to a room is that they change - they unfurl and grow, they open and change colour. Each time you walk into a room you notice them because they are different (this is also the reason that I think large hotel foyers should have good artificial flowers rather than importing tropical stems - no-one is around for long enough for it to make a difference).
Spring flowers are especially good at changing - often hour to hour, not just day to day - and anenomes are a great example. They look fantastic as a bunch in a coloured glass vase. One downside to the fact that spring flowers continue to grow once cut is that they are INCREDIBLY thirsty - they may need their vases topped up every day. They also benefit from flower food more than summer and autumn flowers as they have so much more to do!
Anenome coronaria originate in the eastern mediterranean, but are quite happy growing here as long as you put them in a sunny spot with lots of drainage. They are picked in bud, or newly opened flower, with quite short stems but will grow several inches over the next week to ten days, opening out large flowers with a central boss which gradually expands into a seedhead.
I grow a white (The Bride), Blue and Pink but stay clear of the reds which are often rather muddy.