Category Archives: Bouquets

October 13, 2019 · 7:35 pm

FREEZE TEASE

It happens almost every year

About this time.

A predicted freeze

That doesn’t materialize.

Most years

I’m ready for a freeze.

But not this year.

I want to hold on

For a few more weeks.

Enjoying the last of the Dahlias.

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And making a few more arrangements.

I like the rhythm of fall.

Shorter days.

Cooler temperatures.

A little more time to linger

In the garden.

This weekend

I’ve watched a spider

Spin and re-spin

It’s intricate web

Outside my kitchen window.

(Which explains the poor quality of the picture.)

You have to admire

The ambitious little spider

Who works all day creating this miracle

That glistens in the sunlight.

Only to have someone

Or something

Walk into it

And do damage.

Yet when I wake up the next morning

There it is

Put back together.

Perseverance.

It’s one of the great lessons of nature.

Gail

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.”

A.A. Milne, “Winnie-the-Pooh”

1 Comment

Filed under Bouquets, cockscomb, Dahlias, Fall, Flower Arrangements, Gardening;Perennials, Perennials, Uncategorized

September 22, 2019 · 7:46 pm

Love Zinnias…Mildew and All

One of the main goals

Of my garden

Is to have cutting flowers

All season long.

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And because the foundation

Of my garden

Is perennials

I rely on self seeding annuals

To fill in the gaps between

Perennial bloom cycles.

It starts in the spring

With Poppies and Larkspur

Then comes the heroes of summer

Cleome and Zinnias.

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Poppies, Larkspur and Cleome

All manage to return on their own.

They just show up and bloom their hearts out.

Zinnias return on their own

But to a lesser degree.

So I have to plant Zinnia seeds each year.

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The good thing about that

Is that I can time them…a bit.

I want zinnias blooming in the fall

Just as the Monarchs migrate to Mexico.

Photo Credit “Devra” Mitchell

So I don’t plant the seeds

Until June.

I pull up the Poppies and Larkspur

After they go to seed

And plant Zinnias in their place.

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In my neck of the woods

I have until July 4th

To accomplish this.

Zinnias do have one bad characteristic.

They are prone to mildew.

Which is another reason

Not to plant them too early.

Spring rains will do a number on them for sure.

Since summer is the dry season around here

It’s perfect for growing zinnias.

We’ve had 7 1/2 ” of rain

In the last 3 weeks!

Mildew has arrived.

The plants are really ugly

But the flowers are the same

Sunny happy faces that I love.

They are perfect cutting flowers

Playing nice with all kinds of other blooms.

It’s another life lesson of nature.

A crusty outside

Often accompanies

A loving heart.

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cleome, Fall, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Larkspur, late summer garden, Poppy, Seed Catalogs, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Uncategorized, Zinnia

August 18, 2019 · 7:35 pm

SIMPLE DELIGHTS

Late summer provides a bit of a respite

From the heavy work of a perennial garden.

Sure there is still deadheading

To keep the blooms coming

And weeds to be pulled.

But my garden is in that “in-between” time.

It’s a bit early to start digging things up

And moving them around.

Something I love doing.

So late last week

When my friend Beth

Reminded me that

“the simplicity of a water drop on a petal

Can delight our inner self”

It helped me to slow down

And look for that simplicity.

Tonight when I was making a little arrangement

For the breakfast room

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And a praying mantis popped out.

It was shear delight.

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I quickly relocated it to the garden.

Then as I moved the arrangement to the table

Another appeared.

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What are the chances of having two praying mantis

In the same arrangement?

Pretty slim I’d say.

It reminded me of the moment last spring

When all the babies hatched.

I was lucky enough to happen to walk by

At this moment.

A few weeks later

Nature repeated itself for Harper & Henry

When they found their own delight.

Finding delight in simplicity.

Thanks for the reminder, Beth.

Gail

1 Comment

Filed under Bouquets, Bugs, Children in the Garden, cockscomb, Dead Heading, Flower Arrangements, Garden Photography, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Grandchildren, Perennials, Praying Mantis, Uncategorized

August 11, 2019 · 9:12 pm

DOG DAYS ARRANGING

Since I garden in the southern great plains

There are things I’ve come to expect

In late summer.

Grasshoppers come to mind.

Photo credit Debra Mitchell

Humidity is definitely a factor.

And it is often accompanied

By heat.

As I look out onto my garden.

I almost feel like I need to apologize

To the brave plants

Basking in the heat of the day.

Yet, some plants seem to not just survive

But thrive.

I can’t take credit for too much planning

But I do know I want cutting flowers

All through the growing season.

So there is some intentionality

To my methods.

And as a result.

When I went to cut for my Sunday church bouquets

I was pleased to find plenty to pick.

So how does this work?

If there’s a star in my garden

All season long

It has to be Annabelle Hydrangea.

I have a hedge of five planted at the east end.

They have bloomed since late May.

Starting with fluffy white blooms

And maturing to the lime green that I love

Since it goes so well with many other flowers.

I’ve cut them all season

And they still have lots to give.

That’s why I’ve added them to the corners of my garden house.

And last fall in a front bed.

I even wanted a hedge of them in front of our new fence

But lost out to John’s desire for more Crepe Myrtle.

The next jewel of late summer arrangements

Is tall garden phlox.

If you cut it back in the spring

The blooms will be delayed until early July here

And they will still be going strong in August.

These two flowers alone

With their big blousey blooms

Are a great foundation for arrangements

Large and small.

Cleome is another gift this time of year.

It’s a funky flower that brings interest to both the garden

And arrangements.

CLEOME OR SPIDER FLOWER - FULL SUN - 3 ' - 4' - SELF SEEDING ANNUAL

Cockscomb is just beginning to come into it’s own.

So start cutting and don’t stop

Or you’ll have a cockscomb only garden before you know it!

Now fill in with some blues and purples in the Veronica family

Add Zinnias

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Maxmillion Sunflowers

And Dahias.

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And you have a “Dog Days” arrangement

That will make you smile each time you pass by.

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Like much in life

I can’t change the heat of August

But I can find joy in the blossoms

It produces.

Take care,

Gail

6 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cleome, cockscomb, Dahlias, Flower Arrangements, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Maximillian Sunflower, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized, Veronica Spicata, Zinnia

July 8, 2018 · 9:43 pm

FIREWORKS

There are some plants

That simply light up my garden.

Spring brings us soft pastels

While falls favors

Rich jewel tones.

But summer has different ideas.

Hot days bring hot colors.

They need to be bright

To show up in all this sunshine.

Phlox is shining this week.

We were gone last week

Returning last night

To the bright light patches

Of tall garden phlox.

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It’s an old garden plant

That I love.

The bees love it too.

With its open face

It provides nectar

For all kinds of buzzing things.

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It’s also a wonderful cutting flower

Just a few blooms

Fill in any arrangement.

It does spread

But not too fast.

I’ve dug quite a bit this year

Sharing it with friends

And transporting some

To that Rocky Mountain garden.

But there is still plenty here.

Another of its fine qualities

Is that it tolerates sun

And partial shade.

And it plays well with others.

In my book

It’s a keeper!

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Bees, Bouquets, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized

May 18, 2018 · 11:52 am

FRIDAY FUN

It all began by accident, really.

My new neighbor Alison

Wanted to learn to knit.

Then the next week Carrie decided to join us.

We picked late Friday afternoons

To get together.

And eventually John started showing up

Offering wine.

Then Carrie and Alison decided

We needed to expand on this idea

And before you knew it

Every women in our church

Was invited for some Friday Fun.

The rules

Such as they are

Are simple.

The hostess is in control

Of food

Of drink

Of activity

Or the lack there of.

Last Friday was my turn.

And what with it being mid-May

It only seemed natural

To gather in my garden house

And do a little flower arranging.

Then Christianne

“Knower” of all things royal

Realized it was the week before the royal wedding.

And the plan grew.

A little flower arranging.

A little lesson on royal wedding traditions

And a lot of silliness.

Something I don’t often let happen.

Not that I’m dower…

I’m not

But I just don’t get silly often enough.

So with a few plastic tiaras

And a royal name tag game

We were off.

Cramming seventeen women

And their flower vases

Into my garden house.

We are an eclectic group

Ranging in age from 30’s to

Well multiples of 30!

Carrie made peach and strawberry bellinis

Christianne made a lemon blueberry cake

As close as we could get to the upcoming

Lemon and elderberry royal masterpiece.

After a few brief instructions.

Everyone dove into the flowers

I had cut and conditioned.

It’s not been a prolific flower spring

What with our mid-April freeze

So I foraged a bit.

Using Columbine along with some Arugula gone to seed.

A bit of blooming sage

And of course Euonymous

Because it lines two sides of my fence

And I can never cut enough of it

To keep it out of my path.

Also because I’ve known it to last

Something like 3 weeks before it wilts.

It’s the titanium of flower arranging.

So there you have it.

A recipe for fun.

Friends…flowers…frivolity

With a side of royalty!

Gail

(alias Lady Edith Peg Rural Route!)

1 Comment

Filed under Arugula, Bouquets, Columbine, Euonymus, Flower Arrangements, Gardening Friends, Gratitude, Sage, Uncategorized

September 12, 2016 · 1:30 am

ARRANGEMENTS

One of the joys of having abundant flowers

Is sharing them.

I don’t have a lot of exotic plants.

But I have flowers.

And fall brings arm loads

Of late summer’s glory.

Cockscomb is the staple

This time of year.

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And the beginning

Of every arrangement I make.

If you cut it long

You’ll have lots of branches

To hold other less stable stem in place.

And the color

Just oozes a fall feeling.

I’ve nominated myself

In-house florist

At church

As well as Loaves & Fishes.

They are willing to indulge me

And let me bring flowers each week.

Since friends drop vases by

When they clean out their cabinets.

I always have a good supply.

You can create reasons

For other flower fairy gifts.

This week included

A “thank you” bouquet

To a fellow L & F board member

And a “hello” bouquet

To a new family

Moving on the block.

It’s a simple way

To keep the cockscomb

Trimmed away from the path

And to share the glory of the season.

Someday when life slows down.

I’d love to do this all the time.

Enjoy the week.

Gail

“I must have flowers always and always.”

Claude Monet

4 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cleome, cockscomb, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Uncategorized, Zinnia

May 2, 2016 · 3:11 am

TRADITIONS

Keeping traditions alive

Can be a tricky business.

I’m a believer in tradition

It gives a continuity to life

Between generations.

But you have to pick and choose

What to hold on to

Or there’s no room for the new.

The May Day’s of my youth have

Disappeared for a decade or several.

The last few years have given me hope

That this gracious tradition is not dead.

May Day had many incarnations

My favorite is the May Day of my youth.

Makeshift construction paper baskets

With pipe cleaner hangers

Filled with flowers

And hung anonymously

On doors of family, neighbors and friends.

A simple kindness.

It just seemed natural

That there should be a way

To re-introduce May Day to the next generation

What better chance than the church youth group.

So this evening they came to make bouquets

For members of the church.

You never really know

When you do something like this

If kids are going to like it

Or if you really are a much older lady

Than you let yourself believe you are.

They jumped right in

Making 10 wonderful arrangements

To spread kindness

Throughout the town.

When I came back into the house.

As fate would have it

Some anonymous children

Had left a May basket on our door.

And decorated the pot at our front door.

With none other

Than an original ladybug.

Judging by the glitter

I’m pretty sure

Cassidy, Sloan and Beth

Made a surprise visit.

Kindness training

Something we all need

I’m guessing even more so

In 2016

Happy May Day

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, Children in the Garden, Flower Arrangements, Lady Bugs, May Day, Nature, Uncategorized

July 26, 2015 · 11:39 pm

ARRANGING THINGS

It’s the height of summer here.

Endless sunny days.

And because we had all those wonderful

Badly needed rainy days.

The humidity is back

Big-time.

So what’s a gardener to do.

This time of the year is basically for maintenance.

Deadheading and weeding and watering are the order of most days.

I love it because it can all be done in little snippets of time.

But there is one more activity for high summer.

Flower arranging.

For some reason I don’t bring a lot of flowers into my house.

I have a few here and there

But mostly we enjoy them from the inside of the house

Or on the morning garden walk.

So it’s great fun

When I have a reason to make flower arrangements.

Friday night was just such a reason.

We were one of several host couples

For a shower for our minister Andrew

And his bride to be Katie.

Now it’s too hot to have the party in my garden

So it was held at a local lodge.

Decades ago it was part of an amusement park

And has been lovingly restored.

So along with chamber music

Yummy food

Including crab claws In honor of Andrew’s Maryland roots

Family from home

Church members

And local friends

We needed flower arrangements

And lots of them – 26 to be exact.

First order of business

Find 26 vases.

I’m embarrassed to say that 25 of them

Were alive and well living in my garden house!

The schedule went like this.

Weekend before dig out all the vases

And wash them

Tuesday the vases were taped with cross hatch pattern

To hold the flowers in place.

It was also the day to cut Euonymous.

And Hydrangeas.

They last for days if you sear the end as soon as you cut it

And let them rest in buckets of water up to their necks.

Wednesday morning Linda came to help with the harvest.

We cut buckets of Phlox, Purple Coneflower, Dahlia & Dusty Miller

We added bits of White Balloon Flower, Veronica Spicata, Hellebore leaves and blooms.

Linda and Virginia each cut a bucket of Zinnias – one fuchsia and one pale pink.

I even used the blooms on the radishes that should have been pulled long ago.

Wednesday night the arranging began.

Linda, David, Mary and Gay came on Friday morning to complete the arranging

And haul it all to the lodge.

It takes a village!

Friday was a warm evening.

Not just the temperature.

But the people, the place and the occasion.

There’s something wonderful about small towns.

When I looked around the room

There were people I had known for decades.

We have raised our children together.

We have buried our parents together.

We have thrown a million wedding and baby showers together.

We have welcomed newcomers together.

Those newcomers have become new friends.

What is there to do in a garden

In the mid- summer heat?

Share it.

Photo Credit David Meara

4 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, Bridal Showers, Dahlias, Dead Heading, Euonymus, Flower Arrangements, Garden House, Hellebores, Hydrangea, Purple Coneflower - Echinacea, Radishes, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized, Vases, Veronica Spicata, Wedding Flowers, Zinnia

May 27, 2014 · 1:19 am

STARTING AND STOPPING

At long last we’re getting rain.

Not tons of it

But rain just the same.

Soft showers

Interspersed with real rain.

Throughout this long weekend.

So my gardening has followed the rain.

Starting and stopping

As the weather allows.

It’s actually nice.

Cool days

Soft soil

Perfect for weeding

And planting more seed.

So I’ve decided to run a little experiment.

Since we are having a bit cooler than usual spring.

I’m thinking I still have time to plant

Cool season seeds.

Lettuce – Arugula – Radishes – Bush Beans

I know

It’s way past time to plant these.

But I’m experimenting with a little

Micro climate vegetable gardening.

So…as I’ve weeded the edge of the garden

And along the paths

I’ve planted all of the above.

Some in sun like I’ve always done

And this year in dappled shady areas

To see if I can have fresh greens

Later into the season.

We’ll hope it works.

I’ll let you know.

And when it rained

I arranged flowers

In my friend Beth’s fun Fiesta pitchers.

And oh yes…

There was this.

While thunder rolled through the state

The Thunder rolled over the Spurs.

What a fun weekend!

Gail

P.S. I realize these pictures have nothing to do with the subject.

But pictures of seed packets and hoes just are all that much fun!

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