Enjoying a beautiful winter color palette

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Mominthegarden

Hello! Welcome to my blog. Every week, before I start writing a new post, I always go through my photos first. That is usually where my inspiration comes from. I go out into the garden all week long, at different times during the day, and I take pictures. Unfortunately, taking pictures is all I’ve been doing in the garden lately. I can’t wait to get started in some actual garden work, which will hopefully happen very soon.

What has really struck me recently, though, has been the colors in the sky. The morning sky has been beautiful shades of pink and purple on the far side of the house, while near the chicken run, we’ll see darker shades of orange, red and purple. It is amazing! And then, just like that, the sun is under a blanket of clouds and the show is over. I’ve learned to appreciate the sun whenever it shines, and to take the pictures right then and not wait for a better shot later!

I am joining in on the Six on Saturday fun again, hosted now by Garden Ruminations. It’s good to be back!

I hope you enjoy the garden tour. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

hellebore: Winter Sunshine, Double Ellen and Anemone Picotee

1 – Hellebores. Mine are not really ready to be photographed just yet, but we’re getting there. The one on the left is Winter Sunshine. This is probably the best opportunity for me to use the word floriferous, as it is always *covered* in flowers. There are a load of buds on it at the moment. I do need to cut away those ugly brown leaves, though. While most of the green leaves are ok, some are showing signs of black-spot, so they also need to be cut away. The top red plant is called Double Ellen Red. Its flowers are especially pretty. The smallest hellebore, in the bottom right corner, is called Anemone Picotee. The flowers will be white with purple. It has a more delicate flower.

2 – Primroses. I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see these lovelies in the garden. I planted them last year just to fill the space. I’ve not had great luck with primroses returning, so this was nice to see.

morning view of the flower arch with a pink sky

3 – Daffodils pushing through the soil. Can you see them in the large front flower pot on the left? It is in high gear with loads of green growth. I’m not sure what the hurry is though, as they shouldn’t bloom before March. It is so wonderful to see what is coming next. It bring hope that there will be more to come. You can see that I have not yet taken away last year’s sunflowers or sweet pea. 🙂

4 – Sunrise over the chickens. I don’t really have much to add to this picture. The sky looks amazing. As the sun rose, though, the clouds covered everything and it was a rather dark day.

5 – Pink tinted morning view of the playhouse garden. I love mornings like these! It was a little foggy and frosty and was so beautiful with that sky! Just being in the garden on mornings like this brings a sense of peace. ❤️

collage of new bed view in frost and non-frost in sun

6 – Newest bed view. While the main view is of the newest bed, the dogwood off to the left provides a lovely splash of color! I don’t know the exact variety of cornus that it is, but if I had to guess, I’d say midwinter fire. It is a mixture of mostly orange but with some red. This new bed isn’t fully planted out yet, but right now we can see the cherry tree on the left, a burning bush (Euonymus alatus compactus) to the right of it, and then two hazelnut trees. There are some snowdrops starting to push through the soil here, too.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have had to look outside the box to find beauty in the garden this January. But I think it is still there. Don’t you?

The magical lighting of fall

Posted on October 15, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello! Welcome to my blog. The transition to ‘shorter days’ is slowly but surely happening. I especially notice this with the chickens, who put themselves to bed by 7:00 pm these days. Having it get dark earlier in the evening is a difficult part of the change of seasons for me, but this has been made easier with the wonderful lighting we’ve had in the early mornings and evenings.

There’s a lot going on in the world (a bit of an understatement, eh?). My garden walkabouts always calm me, which I am so thankful for. I have found the lighting in the mornings and evenings to be simply magical – maybe because of how they lift my spirits.

I spent a day in Dublin this week and was lucky enough to be able to visit the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. While it had been an overcast day, my visit was highlighted with sunlight. The gardens are filled with color and are so beautiful! I enjoyed a peaceful stroll, meandering through the quietness and beauty of the gardens. I didn’t venture in the green houses as I preferred to soak up the sun and views outside. This gem is so easy to get to and so worth a visit. The food and coffee there at the Garden Tea Room was a nice way to round out my visit.

Is there something you do to calm your soul when life gets very full? Spending time in the garden – and it doesn’t have to be mine – is what brings me calmness.

I’m joining the Propagator for his Six on Saturday meme. I hope you enjoy the tour!

In Peace,
Dana

1 – My pumpkin display. I have some nicely shaped pumpkins this year, if I do say so myself. There are two quite big ones, and the rest are all a nice manageable size. The burning bush (Euonymus alatus compactus – Dwarf Burning Bush) is just starting to turn a brilliant crimson as the asters start to fade and the pumpkins transition to orange. These are all jack-o-lantern pumpkins and not the smaller baking pumpkins, which typically means they are tasteless, unfortunately.

Chickens and hen house in morning light and fog

2 – Morning sunlight over the henhouse. This was a very foggy morning, but was lovely with the sunlight burning through the fog. My five chickens are all there, if you can make them out!

3 – Our birch trees at sunset. I like this picture because you can also see the group of white incrediball hydrangeas just down from the birch trees.

4 – Sunflowers and lavender. I’m still in awe of how nice the lavender looks, this late in the season. This is from a second, much more substantial flowering than the first. That one sunflower plant has really been a super star when it comes to providing lots of flower stems with good quality flowers. It is in a weird spot, caged in with the blueberries, but I didn’t plant it there. It was planted via our compost!

5 – Red Kuri squash. Here is another example of something growing from my compost and not from me planting it! I actually have two of these Red Kuri squash in one of my flower beds. I am delighted to have them! We grew Red Kuri last year and they were delicious. They start out bright yellow, slowly turn to orange and then finish a beautiful burnt orange color.

collage of pictures from the National Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin

6 – The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. These pictures do not give it justice, I can assure you. If you have the chance to visit, I hope you do. I like to play a game of ‘name that flower’ and here they have tags on almost all of the flowers so you can check your answers! It’s the little things. 🙂

Thanks for visiting!

Is pink the new color of fall?

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. Well, what do you think? Is it safe to say that pink can be considered a fall color? When I look around my garden, I still see so much pink: roses, dahlia, asters, and alstroemeria, there is a lot! The traditional fall colors of burgundy, red, and orange are still there as can be seen with the dahlias, helenium, persicaria, rudbeckia, pumpkins and Rowan berries. But they are joined by a lot of pink, which I would consider to be more traditionally a summer color.

Never the less, all of the colors are beautiful, no matter the time of year. We’ve had some pretty blue skies with lots of sunshine this week, helping to slowly turn the pumpkins orange. This gardener is also happy that we had some rain this week, too.

I’ve had a lot of fun creating flower arrangements recently. The dahlia are blooming ‘like mad’ and it would be silly not to do something with them. They are so easy to work with, too. One day I used berries from the yard with them, and another day I used asters. The point is to have fun while creating something pretty. For me, I find the process of making an arrangement to be quite therapeutic. I simply enjoy the process from start to finish. All other thoughts are banished while I play with flowers!

I’ll be playing more with my feature image, too, as the pumpkins turn color and the squash continue to ripen. Stay tuned!

I’m joining The Propagator’s Six on Saturday meme. Feel free to join in!

Enjoy the tour 🙂

1 – Asters. These guys sure like to show off. I have them planted around the ornamental grass. This year I dug up two large sections that had grass intertwined in them. I was quite happy with how that went until a few weeks later the plants seemed to be covered in a powdery mildew. I still don’t know what happened. Unfortunately, a few of my plants were affected (two delphinium on the deck and some of these asters). I am hoping that it was a once off occurrence.

2 – Alstroemeria Summer Paradise series ‘Summer Break’. I am so pleased with these lovelies! I planted them this year and they have happily been blooming ever since. There are still lots of buds to bloom on the three plants, providing a lovely splash of (pink!) color. They are great as cut flowers, too.

sungold sunflower with marigolds, asters and sunflowers in the background

3 – Sungold sunflowers with marigolds and asters. I could not resist using these sunflowers again this week. They are just fantastic for providing a substantial amount of color! My ‘caged’ sunflowers in with the blueberries are super pretty, too. I didn’t plant them, but I’m sure glad for them!

dahlia, ivy, black berries and elder flower berries arrangement

dahlias: cafe au lait, coffee at midnight, tam-tam, and maxi

4 & 5 – Dahlia arrangement with blackberries, elder flower berries and ivy. This was so fun to go around the yard and find different things to fill the arrangement with. I just had a thing for berries on this day, and it worked out so well. I’m still getting used to dahlias. If you wait to use them until they are fully open, then they won’t have long to live in an arrangement. It is best to use them before they fully open. I used chicken wire to keep the flowers in place. This works really well, and is something I can use over and over again. The dahlias are: Cafe au Lait, Coffee at midnight, Tam Tam, and Maxi.

6 – Dahlia and aster arrangement. More pink! This is a much smaller arrangement that I made with a focus on pink. I thought the tiny pink asters worked really well with the dahlias (Cafe au Lait and Maxi). Super easy, and I used the chicken wire again.

One more picture: My birthday is at the end of September. What a wonderful time to celebrate life! My daughter made this chocolate cake with meringue buttercream icing for me. It was so delicious!

I hope you enjoyed the rather pink tour! Have a great week!

In Peace,
Dana

A mild and sunny September

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello! Welcome to my blog. We have had mild and sunny weather throughout September, and I am so thankful for that. I know that for me, when life gets chaotic, as September tends to, I need to spend more time outside in the garden. Spending time in the garden is good for the soul. 🙂 I don’t necessarily need to work in the garden, just spending time among the flowers and trees is good enough.

While there is a lot of color in the garden, the pots on the deck are providing a fabulous splash of color, too. There’s no excuse to not have flowers as they’ll grow anywhere!

The sunflowers that were planted in late May are in full bloom now, and brightening up another section of the garden. Lesson learned: stager your planting!

This week I was able to gather enough roses to have a sweet little bouquet. The good news is that rose season isn’t over yet! There are still lots of buds to bloom. I did see quite a few aphids, too, though. So I was glad to have inspected the flowers and discovered those pests – and I promptly squished them.

Dahlias are now (finally) in full flower production. What a treat! I really like the color combination I have at the moment: cream, a deep, dark red and pink. I’m still debating which color I should add to the mix next year!

I will be joining The Propagator’s Six on Saturday meme, because I find it a fun way to show you what’s happened this past week in the garden. I hope you enjoy the tour!

helenium, sunflowers and marigolds at sunrise

1 – September morning sunlight. The morning sunlight, the dew, the colors of pumpkins, marigolds, helenium and sunflowers, all makes for a very beautiful morning walk about the garden. Some mornings are more beautiful than others, but always it is worth taking the time to stroll about the garden and soak up the goodness. The changes are so subtle, like the changing color of the pumpkins, and it is fun to note them.

2 – David Austin Roses. Just a handful of roses is all it took to bring some beauty inside! They are fragrant, too. 🙂

delphinium blue ocean and cobalt dreams on the deck

3 – Container garden. These are most of my ‘blooming containers’ on our deck. The delphinium (blue ocean) has multiple stems that are all filled with flowers. The super tall delphinium (cobalt dreams) was one that I planted from seed last year. It is very tall, and is blooming up the stalk! Behind those are the Cafe au Lait dahlias. There are quite a few blooms on them, too, providing a great show. While it is great having color on the deck, I’m hoping to get some of these plants in the ground next season.

sungold sunflower with bee and small tortoiseshell butterfly

4 – Sungold Sunflower. These ‘fluffy’ sunflowers are super fun. I love their texture, and so do the bees and butterflies (at least this small tortoiseshell does). They are short which works really well in my windy garden – no staking necessary. Their stems are rather short, which makes it tricky to cut them for an arrangement, but I’ll settle for enjoying them in the garden!

Cafe au Lait and coffee at midnight and maxi dahlias

5 & 6 – Dahlias Cafe au Lait, Coffee at Midnight, Tam Tam, and Maxi. As I’ve mentioned before, these plants were all eaten to the ground by something (unknown). It took them all summer to grow back and only now are they really producing flowers full steam. But boy was it worth the wait. They are so pretty! I especially like their different shapes and textures. I do plan on adding to my collection. 🙂

I’m delighted with the selection of blooms for September. The mild weather means that I’m able to enjoy being out in the garden, admiring the blooms! Which is your favorite? (I’m not sure I’d be able to pick just one.)

Take care!

In Peace,
Dana

Take note: the weather has been amazing!

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there, and welcome to my blog! The weather plays an important role in the garden, and by extension, in the gardener’s life. While others might not pay too close attention to the rainfall, or the temperatures, I can definitely tell you if it was a dry or a wet season based on how much extra watering I had to do in the garden! So I tend to mention the weather … a lot. And the weather has been quite good lately. For those who live in areas that don’t see the sun as much as you’d like, you’ll know the uplift you get with a blue sky. There is nothing like being outdoors when the temperatures are mild, the sky is blue, and the sun is shining! I am very thankful for those days.

The garden has also been enjoying the mild weather. Our fig tree now has quite a few figs on it. Growing a fig tree is new to me. The figs are quite small and hard at the moment. I’m hoping that they’ll mature enough to eat before we get a frost.

The ‘fall flowers’ are looking quite pretty. The rudbeckia, persicaria, helenium and incrediball hydrangea are all near each other and the colors just look so pretty together. Next year I’m hoping to also have more purple in the mix, with the newly planted salvia and agapanthus.

The lavender is really showing off in this good weather. You might remember that I planted a border of tiny lavender plants this spring. All of those new plants are now blooming for a second time! This looks so pretty as the plants are that bit bigger than the first blooming. I’m looking forward to seeing it when they are all filled out, which should happen next year.

Next to the lavender border, I have the dwarf Little Lime hydrangeas. It took them quite a while to get blooms, but now that they have them they are quite pretty. They are planted too close to the grass, though, which means we have some more edging to do, to give them more space.

The three Marina Di Chioggia squash are all doing well. I’m looking forward to seeing how they taste!

I’ll be joining The Propagator’s Six on Saturday meme. I hope you enjoy the tour!

1 – Fig tree. We have figs! I’m guessing that the tree wasn’t getting enough water this summer. It didn’t produce any fruit until the rains came in September. Some of the fruit seems to be going dark and hard, too. I have some research to do!

2 – Lavender border. Lavender grows quite quickly. The border is filing in nicely, and what a bonus to get a second blooming! The dark purple spire flowers are so pretty, especially with the sunflower backdrop.

Fall flowers of rudbeckia, helenium, persicaria and hydrangea

3 – Fall flowers: Helenium, rudbeckia, persicaria, incrediball hydrangea. The helenium flowers are the second flowering from those plants. I completely deadheaded them after the first flowering. So worth it!

4 – Marina di Chioggia squash. Three different squash in these pictures and they all look different! It is a large and heavy squash!

5 – Dwarf Little Lime hydrangea border. I’m very happy with how they look as the border to this side of the garden. We just need to edge the grass a bit more so they aren’t so squished. 🙂

6 – Coleus. These beauties took a long time to get going, but they are now completely filled out (and higher than the wall). I know I just showed them not that long ago, but I thought this was a nice update.

Doesn’t it make such a huge difference when the sky is blue? I hope you found some joy while visiting my garden! Take care 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

A garden transformation with a ‘before’ and ‘after’

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog where I like to talk about all things gardening. 🙂 I was scrolling back through photos the other day when I came across two pictures that you’ll see today. One is of my seed packet for Marina di Chioggia squash. This is definitely the mystery squash from last week – despite the fact that my online search of this squash doesn’t fully align with the seed packet image.

The other picture that caught my attention is of our garden from this past May. It was completely bare! So of course I had to seek out a current picture. (My feature image at the top of the page is one.) The garden looks so full now! The hosta filled out, and the sunflowers of course, along with the plants growing on the arch (sweet pea and squash), the pumpkin bed, not to mention the pear tree, blueberries and strawberries. But in addition to those, there are the perennial plants that we added this year: dwarf Little Lime hydrangeas, Lavender and Rosemary, all along the borders. The perennials have come along really well in one season, and I like the way that they frame the garden. It truly is amazing, though, how quickly everything changes!

Speaking of changes, there is definitely a fall feel to the garden, now. The helenium are on their second flush of flowers (worth deadheading the old ones!) and look very pretty with the Incrediball hydrangea as a backdrop.

The Rudbeckia (black-eyed-Susan) and Persicaria blooming under the birch trees also signals the shift to fall.

The dahlias are finally picking up the pace of flowering. You may remember that the ones that were planted in the ground this spring were eaten by something. I’m talking decimated! So it has taken this long for them to recover, grow and now produce blooms. But it is worth the wait, given the beautiful flowers I’m getting now. The dahlias in containers are a lot more work, mostly ensuring that they have enough water. But they did start flowering much faster, having not been attacked by the mystery bug. I do plan to plant them out in the ground next spring, though.

I’m joining The Propagator and his ‘Six on Saturday’ meme again this week.

Enjoy the tour!

A before and after picture of the garden looking at the sunflower bed

A before and after picture of the garden looking at the Pumpkin bed

1 – The ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures! The clouds are the only things that seem to have stayed the same. The bottom pictures aren’t completely equal because the raspberries have grown so tall that if I stood in front of them, none of the rest of the garden would be visible. Also, in the same bottom pictures, we started with garlic in the left raised bed, and ended with sunflowers. It is fun tracking the growth of everything. 🙂

Rudbeckia and Persicaria under birch trees

2 – The birch tree bed. I’m delighted with how the rudbeckia and persicaria have filled out, especially since I haven’t really given them a lot of room. I might remove some of the bearded iris to give them more space – I’m still deciding on that.

3 – Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’. You might remember that I moved these three plants from two different locations in the yard this year. They are so much happier here and have provided a lovely splash of color for a nice length of time. I also used supports for them, which kept them upright and looking lovely. I deadheaded these plants a couple of weeks ago and they are now blooming again. The red is very pretty with the white Incrediball hydrangeas. It would be even nicer with the purple agapanthus that is planted in the middle of this bed, but they decided they weren’t interested in blooming this year. Better luck next year!

4 – Marina Di Chioggia seed packet. The picture on this seed packet isn’t like the images I get when I Google it. This is most likely the mystery squash from last week’s post. Glad I was able to figure that out (eventually).

arrangement with dahlias and Japanese anemone

5 & 6 – Dahlias! We have dinner plate dahlia Cafe au Lait (a creamy white), cactus dahlia Coffee at midnight (a deep red), and pompon or ball dahlia Tam Tam (also a deep red). In the top picture there is a pink dahlia that I only have as ‘Maxi’. All of them are just so pretty! I am already thinking about what colors and varieties to add for next year!

I hope you’ve transitioned nicely into the next season! I’m really liking these fall flowers, so I’m not too upset about the passing of summer. What about you? Do you prefer summer or fall flowers? 🙂

Take care!

In Peace,
Dana

Sunflower bliss (continued!)

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. Ireland’s beautiful summer weather continued this week and the garden is quite happy about that – and so am I! I hope you aren’t quite tired of sunflowers, yet, as I have more this week. There are so many different varieties, how could I not be excited? The flower heads are lovely and small so I’ve used them in some flower arrangements. I also have a mysterious squash, that perhaps you can help me to identify? 🙂

I’ll be joining the Propagator’s ‘Six on Saturday’ meme. Feel free to join in.

Enjoy the tour!

1 – Red Kuri squash. This is not the mystery squash, although it wasn’t planted here by me. This beautiful, yellow for now, squash is in my new flower bed, at the top of our garden. This bed was made last year by covering the grass with cardboard and then layering it with grass cuttings and then compost, and repeating that a few more times. So I can thank the compost for this plant, I’m sure. You might remember that last year I planted red kuri squash to grow up my pumpkin arch. It is funny how yellow they start out, because by full maturity they are a burnt orange/red. Anyway, this plant has two big squash formed, with a few tiny ones. I’m glad I let it grow, despite its awkward position in the garden.

Here’s a picture as a reminder of what the red kuri squash looked like last year on the pumpkin arch. They are the bright burnt orange/redish squash on the right side of the arch and in front, on the left.

2 – Mystery squash. Yeah, so these are the ones I can’t really identify. The one, top right picture, fell off of the vine and it is no wonder as it weighs 4.5 kg (9 lbs)! Here are the options of what was sown: Muscade De Provence Musk Pumpkin, Marina Di Chioggia Organic Pumpkin, or nagydobosi pumpkin. The one that fell is the wrong shape for any of these, although I’m leaning more towards nagydobosi. I’m hoping that as the others ripen more, they will reveal their true selves. One thing is clear: I need a better system for tagging plants.

3 – Bella fuchsia. Look at those colors! This plant has quietly been doing its thing, and completely filing the container with itself. The colors are so pretty, and yet don’t shout out for attention. I am already planning on sliding this pot into the playhouse in November to ‘over winter’ it. I’m really hoping that it will keep.

4 – The back deck flower pots! Wow! There’s a lot of fun stuff going on here. Dahlias, delphinium, lilies, gladiolas and a sunflower. I do love having them all on the deck and in full view from my kitchen. But the plan is to plant out the dahlias next year. It’s a lot of work keeping them watered. The delphinium will not be far from this spot, but will be planted in the ground (so no moving around to suit pictures!). Who knows, I might get other plants to fill the pots. 🙂

sunflower arrangement with globe artichokes and dahlias

5 & 6 – Sunflowers! I made two more arrangements this week and I just can’t get enough of them. Here’s what I have:

Claret F1 (these are dark colored flowers, some are burgundy, some are chocolate, some are dark burnt orange. I LOVE these as they have so many long stems coming off of the main stem and there are loads of flowers on each stem. Lots of color variety, too, which is beautiful.

Sungold sunflowers. This has a great big (albeit dwarf!) fluffy head of golden yellow. In the top collage, it is the bottom left picture. The short stem is the downside (12″-18″ tall), but otherwise this is a super neat flower. Multiple stems with just one flower per stem. So not as much bang for your buck as the Claret, but well worth it for the unique look and texture.

Sunflower Waooh! Brown centers with yellow edges, and only 40 – 60 cm tall (16-24″). Shorter are better for the high winds we tend to get. Lots of blooms on each stem. A good, traditional sunflower.

Sunny Flowers Fantasy & Esther. These have a mixture of colors and are not too tall (70 cm). These are the first lemony yellow sunflowers I have seen. Some have brown centers, some have yellow/green centers. Lots of flowers on each stem with very strong stems.

Sunflower Giant. Of all the sunflowers, I confess that this is my least favorite and here’s why: it is a single stem that grows tall (6’/2m) with just one, single and very large flowerhead. I suppose that every sunflower garden should have at least one of these traditional flowers. I actually have two this year. The birds have already started eating the seeds of one, which you can see in the top picture.

Did you notice the ‘coffee at midnight’ dahlias and some globe artichokes in with the sunflowers? I thought that they paired really nicely with them.

And that is my ‘Six on Saturday’ collection. Thanks so much for stopping by and I really hope you enjoyed the tour. Take care!

In Peace,
Dana

Summer flower seed success

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello! Welcome to my blog. Today, let’s talk about seeds. You may recall that I did *not* have a good start with my seedlings, way back in March. I’d moved them all to a bedroom where they did well, but since I didn’t see them all the time (like when they were in my hallway) they tended to get neglected. Just to let you know: a little bit of neglect is a quick and easy way to kill off seedlings. That was the first roadblock. The second was that some (read: lots) of my seeds didn’t take. This happens. So I tried again. And then again. So more or less, everything was late going into the garden, and a lot of what grew in the end would not have been my first choice. But nevertheless, the garden is now thriving and full of flowers and color!

What did I grow from seed? I grew: sweet pea, pumpkins, squash, sunflowers and coleus. The coleus was the very last plant to finally make it to a respectable size. I somehow have about a dozen pumpkins, even though I was convinced those were planted way too late. The sunflowers are definitely a mixed bag – I have several different varieties. Wish I could say I knew exactly which ones I planted where, but it was all a guessing game in the end. I thought I was way too late with planting them, too. I’m absolutely delighted with them, now, though! Confession time about the sweet pea: while I did sow some seed directly in the ground, I also planted small plants – to hedge my bets. So the flowering sweet pea are a combination of bought plants and sown from seed plants. You just have to do what works for you. 🙂

I am joining the Propagator’s ‘Six on Saturday’ meme, to talk about six things from the garden. Feel free to join in.

Enjoy the tour!

1 – Sunflowers. Different colors, petals, sizes – they throw the idea of a traditional sunflower right on its ear! The left two bottom ones are Claret F1. The top right one is a helianthus, dwarf sunflower ‘fantasy’. The bottom right is a dwarf helianthus sunflower ‘Sungold’. The other two I think are also from the ‘fantasy’ packet. I love everything about these flowers, but especially their small size which is great for flower arrangements or even just throwing in a vase on their own. These guys are fabulous with their continuous life, too. Each stem produces several new flowers, so as the old die, the new bloom. What’s not to love? Of course the bees love sunflowers, but I was also able to capture a Red Admiral butterfly enjoying them, too.

Flower arch with sweet pea and squash with marigold in front in pots.

2 – Flower arch update. The flower arch is supporting my sweet pea this year, along with squash. I wasn’t too hopeful of the squash growing, so the sweet pea were added mainly so I wouldn’t have an empty arch. The joke is on me, though, as both the squash and sweet pea are doing great. To the right you can see the sunflower bed.

3 – Coleus. I only started growing coleus a few years ago, in memory of my dear neighbor, Betty. Betty always had coleus on her back porch. I remember sitting on her porch, surrounded by her beautiful plants, and simply enjoying her and her husband’s company. Wonderful memories of a very special couple. And if you don’t neglect your seedlings, they are very easy to grow. As for the coloring, the chartreuse is a must have color, especially when paired with the burgundy and pinkish/red. Gorgeous.

4 – Monarda Fireball (red Bee balm). I had bee balm in our home in NY, and for the past 14 years I’ve wanted it in this garden. I am a patient person. 🙂 I love this color. This plant was in a pot for the past year and as soon as I planted it out, it seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

5 – Globe artichoke. I haven’t mentioned this guy in a while. It quietly goes about its business of growing tall, and producing bunches of globe artichokes. I love it when they go to flower. Their purple plume is so pretty. It is quite a large plant, and I usually cut away the lower leaves as they are rather unsightly.

6 – Lotus dream lilies. I’m so thankful for scented flowers! I love the lily scent. I actually used a stem in an arrangement recently and I learned that my daughter does *not* like the scent! So I kept the flowers in my office and out of her nose’s way. These lilies are in the rose bed. I’m glad to have cleaned up this bed, and the rose plants. It was time to remove the poppies (and weeds) and tidy up the place. It helps to enjoy the lilies, too, when they aren’t crowded in.

And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the tour, and that your summer is going well. Did you have a favorite flower?

In Peace,
Dana

This isn’t an Irish summer!

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. My family and I were away on a wonderful holiday to Greece last week and we’ve come home to the most amazing weather here in Ireland! This is not your typical Irish weather. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some beautiful summers here. But the weather is usually mild (read: not hot) and we wouldn’t typically get lots of consecutive days of sunshine. So while we could really use a good rainfall at this stage, the abundance of blue skies and sunshine is such a welcome treat. As for the garden, well, it is thirsty. Very thirsty. Rain is in the forecast and I’m really hoping that it gives the garden a good drink (at night, of course!).

The flowers are definitely suffering because of the lack of water. Mostly they just bloom and die (quickly). I’m trying to capture them as much as possible while they look good! I have a bunch of dahlias that are all blooming together, which is so pretty to see. The delphinium is one of my favorites simply because the colors are so striking (more so when having two complementary colors). And I could not resist cutting some of my sunflowers. What a collection of colors there are!

I do hope your summer is going well. It is flying by much too quickly. I’m joining the Propagator for his ‘Six on Saturday’ meme. You might see some flowers from last week (different pics, of course!) – that means they are my favorites!

Enjoy the tour!

bowl of blueberries and bouquet of delphinium Shelby and Blue Ocean

1 & 2 – Blueberries and Delphinium Shelby (in the center, light color) and Blue Ocean (darker color) and Kitty. What a difference it makes to cover your blueberries to protect them from the birds! We have never had so many blueberries to eat ourselves. 🙂 Poor birds, but lucky us! The delphinium are in pots on our deck. I love their colors.

3 – Dahlia Café au Lait. What a stunner this one is. I have a few different tubers and one produces pink-tinged flowers and one produces cream-tinged flowers. If I were to critique them I’d say that they’re a tiny bit too big, and would be more ideal a little bit smaller – for arrangements, at least. But I do still like them very much! These are in containers on our deck. The dahlias in the ground are *almost* ready to flower…

4 – Lily Magic Star. At least that’s what I bought! I’m not sure it looks like magic star, but it is very pretty. I love scented flowers. Love, love, love them. This is also in a container on our deck and is really putting on quite the show.

5 – Gladiolus Pink Parrot on the left and Rose Supreme on the right. I have to correct my post from last week as I named Rose Supreme Pink Parrot. These are in pots on our deck (I sense a theme here). The deck flowers provide a beautiful sea of color for me to look at when I am in our kitchen. It’s my favorite view from inside the house!

vase of sunflowers yellow, brown, burgundy in sunshine and at sunset

6 – Sunflowers! Wish I could tell you exactly which varieties these are, but since I switched and swapped and tried quite a few at the start, I’m not quite sure. The brownish ones are Clarets, I think there are some called ‘sunny flowers’ and some called ‘Waooh!’. I like them because they are smaller and manageable for vases. Each stem has many flowers on it at every stage – from tiny buds to mature flowers. For this reason, I don’t really like cutting stems. But I do have a lot this year, so a few vases now and again is fine (right?). The top two pictures were taken in the evening, right after I cut them and about 15 minutes apart. The sunset lighting really changes everything. The bottom full photo is from the following day, and it was so windy that my husband is actually holding the vase for me! All to get the perfect picture 🙂

Thank you for stopping by! Which was your favorite flower?

In Peace,
Dana

‘An abundance of summer’ flower arrangement

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I created another flower arrangement, and this one is filled with summer blooms! I was under some time pressure when I made it (flower arranging wasn’t on my ‘to-do’ list that day, but I squeezed it in), and it’s quite possible that the time pressure pushes me creatively. Because once I finished, that was it and I didn’t want to change it. 🙂

The sunflowers are still blooming. They are one of my favorite annual flowers to have in a summer garden. A flower that I didn’t think I’d see this summer has proven me wrong. My clematis has bloomed. This poor plant gets way more wind that it would prefer. But I love the color and it is a fun addition to flower arrangements.

I’ll be joining the Propagator’s meme ‘Six on Saturday’, if you’d like to have a look at the other gardens.

Enjoy the tour!

a summer flower arrangement with hydrangeas, gladiolas, salvia, alstromeria, astilbe, Japanese anemone

1, 2 & 3 – Summer flower arrangement. The before picture took three handfuls to hold all of the flowers! Here’s a view of the front and back. The main star for me is the dahlia. I was impatient and didn’t wait for the other dahlia’s to bloom, which would have been nicer (next time!). This arrangement has: Hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’ Paniculata ‘Renhy’, hydrangea incrediball, gladiolus ‘Pink Parrot’, astilbe, salvia, alstromeria, Japanese anemone, Russian sage, calla lily, dahlia ‘Café au Lait’ and a few sprigs of sweet pea. Again I used some chicken-wire and some floral frogs to keep the flowers in place (and again, probably because I was under time pressure, I forgot to tape it!). It was amazing to be able to go around the garden and collect all of these flowers. Is it a perfect design? Nope. But it works for me! 🙂

4 – Sunflowers. The top two pictures are of the same plant, focusing on a different flower in each. That plant is in the Rainbow garden, and wasn’t planted by me. I presume it is from my compost. The other two pictures are from the sunflower bed.

clematis Purpurea Plena Elegans (Viticella Group)

5 – Clematis ‘Elegans’. Isn’t that a great color? This flower doesn’t look too beat-up by the wind. I’m sure my plants would prefer that I create a big sheltered area for them!

6 – Incrediball hydrangea and hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’ Paniculata ‘Renhy’ at sunset. These are the most blooms I have seen yet with these two hydrangeas. The difference this year is that I have been keeping them well hydrated. They are much happier that way.

And that’s my six (or there-about). Have I inspired you to create your own flower arrangement, yet? It’s easy and fun! I’d love to see what you create, too. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Category Archives: Six on Saturday

Enjoying a beautiful winter color palette

The magical lighting of fall

Is pink the new color of fall?

A mild and sunny September

Take note: the weather has been amazing!

A garden transformation with a ‘before’ and ‘after’

Sunflower bliss (continued!)

Summer flower seed success

This isn’t an Irish summer!

‘An abundance of summer’ flower arrangement