Beautiful Bouquets

There’s nothing like a bouquet of fresh flowers to pick up your spirits.

One of the reasons I love the flower gardens here at Auntie K’s is they provide cut flowers throughout the growing season for bouquets. I enjoy taking a bouquet of fresh flowers to a dinner, or friend in the hospital, or to my office. I like having fresh flowers at home, too! People seem to like getting the bouquets as much as I like putting them together. I collect vases and jars at garage sales and save all my glass containers instead of recycling them so I can give the bouquets without having the recipient or me worry about the vase. I also pick up ribbon if it’s on sale to dress up the neck of the jars cum vases.

A few years ago, I received a bouquet that included a hosta leaf, which I thought was both beautiful and creative. Why include only the blossoms from the garden when beautiful greenery abounds as well?! I’ve been including them in bouquets ever since.

This year, the spring bouquets included tulips, trollius, iris, lilac, bleeding heart, anemone, chives, polemonium, and centaurea. Roses, poppies, peonies, lilies, and sprigs of salvia were featured in early summer bouquets. Now, I’m using the coneflowers – white and purple (I lost the golden ones to a mite), rudbeckia, roses, sprigs of Russian sage, and garden phlox. Later in the year, the asters get added to the mix.

The roses are in full bloom again and I think they’ll make a great foundation for a couple of bouquets.

p.s. I had a mishap with my computer earlier in the week and don’t have the ability right now to post photos. Hopefully, I’ll get things figured out in a couple of days and can post photos again.

I’ve got the Blues – But Not in a Bad Way

When I was walking through the gardens this morning, I was overwhelmed by the blues – but not in a bad way. I noticed that almost everything blooming right now is a shade of blue and I can’t remember a time when that’s happened before! I walked through a second time, just to take in the different shades.

Centaurea. These bachelor buttons/cornflowers remind me of a scene in a favorite movie, “Room with a View,” where George and his father bring cornflowers for the Misses Allen and drape them with wreaths and stick the cornflowers into their hair. It brings the spinster sisters such delight.

Linum. This is my friend Betsy’s favorite flower, and I must confess, it’s becoming a favorite of mine, too. The slim feathery stems seem incapable of supporting the delicate blue flowers. So beautiful when they blow in the breeze.

Creeping Phlox “Oakington Blue Eyes”. I’ve used the pinks and purples in other gardens, but found this blue phlox last year and love it. I can’t believe how well it took in just one year.

Salvia. Last year, I saw a long row of salvia in full bloom and thought it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. I wanted to re-create it in my own garden on a smaller scale, so I planted 5 of them on the sunny hill. They’re small now, but will put on a breathtaking show in a year or so.

The Jacob’s Ladder is blooming now, too. And, the Siberian Iris will pop open any day now, adding a deeper hue to the blues in bloom at Auntie K’s Garden.