There’s a line
In the title song of Camelot
That rings in my head
This time of year.
“It’s May
It’s May
The lusty month of May.”
I’m pretty sure they were singing
About a garden.
Iris
Peony
And Roses
Are hitting their stride
Just in time for Mother’s Day.
So sharing seems like
The natural thing to do.
Thanks for coming girls.
Happy Mother’s Day
To every conceivable kind of mother.
Gail
Filed under Flower Arrangements, Garden House, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Generations, Iris, Mother's Day, Peonies, roses, Uncategorized
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.
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”
Filed under Bouquets, cockscomb, Dahlias, Fall, Flower Arrangements, Gardening;Perennials, Perennials, Uncategorized
On Friday I commented
That I hadn’t seen a single
Orb Weaver Spider this year.
Well, I must have some sort of
Internal bug clock
Because Saturday morning I walk into the garden
And presto.
Not one,
Not two
But I find four young orb spiders
Spinning their zig zaggy web.
I love this harbinger of fall.
They have fascinated John and Debra
And me
And the girls next door for years.
Their presence is just one sign
That the season is winding down.
This happy bug is another sign
That fall is on it’s way.
Signals
Signs
Something’s coming.
Watch.
Observe.
Learn.
And enjoy.
Gail
Here’s what all was blooming in my garden this week for the Sunday arrangements.
Filed under Bugs, cleome, cockscomb, Dahlias, Fall, Flower Arrangements, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Orb Weaver Spider, Praying Mantis, Sage, Uncategorized, Zinnia
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
And a praying mantis popped out.
It was shear delight.
I quickly relocated it to the garden.
Then as I moved the arrangement to the table
Another appeared.
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
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.
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
Maxmillion Sunflowers
And Dahias.
And you have a “Dog Days” arrangement
That will make you smile each time you pass by.
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
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.
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.
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
Filed under Bees, Bouquets, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized
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!)
Filed under Arugula, Bouquets, Columbine, Euonymus, Flower Arrangements, Gardening Friends, Gratitude, Sage, Uncategorized
I bought these little enameled vases
Years ago
At “Crazy Days”
And only remember using them once.
Until Harper and Henry discovered them
One Easter.
They spent most of that Friday
Snapping off tulips
To make “rrangements”.
So, of course, I had to send some home with them.
Later that year when I visited.
I noticed these little vases all over their house
They were constantly changing the flowers
Kids love to pick flowers
And they seldom leave enough stem
To actually put in a vase.
So these tiny renditions
Were just the ticket.
Kids also learn by watching.
And they have a splendid example
Of arranging in their mother.
In all the years of their marriage
There are always flower arrangements around
When we visit.
In the guest room
On the fireplace mantel
And kitchen window sill
Along with the dining table.
The kids have picked up on this
Often having flowers in their room.
Luckily, Elliott is good at growing flowers
Supplying dahlias and roses and hydrangeas
All season long.
It’s the simple things
That we often remember about our childhoods.
The smell of my mother’s pies in the oven.
The warmth of the fire that my father
Built each winter day.
Standing over my grandmother’s floor furnace
Making my night gown into a warm balloon.
The roses at her front door.
I’m thankful for the memories
That Kristina and Elliott are creating
For their family.
And happy that flowers are part of those memories.
Happy Mother’s Day
Gail
Filed under Children in the Garden, Dahlias, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Grandchildren, Gratitude, Hydrangea, roses, Uncategorized, Vases
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
Filed under Bouquets, Children in the Garden, Flower Arrangements, Lady Bugs, May Day, Nature, Uncategorized
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
In My Garden 