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!

An unsettled start to August

Posted on August 7, 2021 by Mominthegarden

Hello and welcome to my blog! Here in Ireland, we have enjoyed some glorious weather this summer. Near the end of July we had two full weeks of sun, heat and stillness with no rain. It was amazing (and unusual)! The garden is now appreciating the long drinks of water it has been getting the past week. There is a distinct change in the air, though, that fall is not too far off. The garden is in a constant state of flux, and it is fun to note it with a simple meme of ‘Six on Saturday’, hosted by The Propagator. Let’s see what’s in store this week!

1 – Blueberries! I planted blueberry shrubs in my garden quite a few years ago. From the beginning, it seemed they didn’t really enjoy our garden. They always seemed to drop their berries before turning blue! But it turns out, the birds had more to do with this than I realized. I didn’t mind too much, since to me the plants were spectacular in the fall with their leaves turning from green to crimson. This year, though, with the garden revamp, we decided to spend some extra time to see if we could get some blueberries for us to eat! We first spread out the older shrubs as they were getting quite cramped. Also this season, we added Sulphate of Iron to the soil. I believe it was Laura, from Garden Answer, who suggested it in one of her videos. The third thing we did differently this year was we added netting. Although it wasn’t the pretties of setups, it did the job, and the blueberries stayed on the shrubs until they were blue! I picked two small bowls of blueberries, and a few times I just went out and ate a handful. They were delicious! We will hopefully figure out a ‘prettier’ way to cover them next year.

2 – Garlic! Last October we planted our over wintering organic garlic Vallelado. It is very easy to plant garlic! They should be planted between the end of October and the end of November, ideally. Plant at a depth of three to five inches (7.6 cm) and six inches apart. I harvested mine the beginning of July and they have been drying out in our shed since. The only other thing I did was weed the bed a few times. We also had a relatively dry spring, so I kept it watered. So easy, and so tasty!

lavender and shaved plant — The lavender plant looks like it got a shave!

Dana with lavender harvest — There’s some lavender left on the plant beside me.

3 – Lavender! I’m a bit late on writing about this one, too. Lavender is usually harvested in July. I managed to still cut some in August this year as our growing season was a bit off due to a strange spring. I love working with lavender! I made a few fresh lavender wreaths this year (as opposed to dried lavender wreaths). I didn’t make any Lavender Wands this year, though. (You can check out how I make them here.) There just wasn’t any time. If you do dry lavender, it is worth noting that the flowers keep their scent for years!

Double lilies in rose bed — Lotus Dream Mix

double lilies on deck — Magic Star lilies in a container on my deck.

4 – Double lilies! New to my garden this season are two groups of lilies: I purchased a Lotus Dream Mix of double oriental lilies and planted them in my rose bed. I also added a Magic Star lily to my container garden, on my back deck. These join my ‘double surprise’ lilies, which live next to my largest lavender plant off of the back deck and are neighbors to a plain white variety of lilies that are always last to bloom later in August. I love scented flowers, and these beauties have a wonderful scent that can be noted without having to bend down to specifically smell them!

Perovskia Russian Sage — Perovskia atriplicifolia Little Spire or Russian Sage

5 – Perovskia atriplicifolia Little Spire! I have to confess that when my friend Susan exclaimed how fabulous my Perovskia looked, it took me a minute to realize she meant the Russian Sage. I’m just not very good at proper names. Hopefully now I’ll remember this one! This plant was purchased as a small plant in 2017 and seems to be quite happy. If you like to dry flowers, this one keeps its purple stems for quite a long time before fading.

Pumpkin arch update 7 Aug 2021 with rainbow — The rainbow is quite faint, but can bee seen right over the pumpkin arch in the above picture!

Back of pumpkin arch 7 Aug 2021 — A view of the back of the arch.

Pumpkin arch update 7 Aug with sun — The blue sky backdrop is harder to come by these days. I captured this in a very short window between heavy rain showers! We’ll see if the vines climb any higher.

6 – Pumpkin Arch update! The arch has two different types of squash growing on it: Jack O’Lantern pumpkins and Red Kuri squash. The pumpkins are growing quite large. I usually grow baking pumpkins which are medium to small size. These guys are getting huge. I’m not exactly worried, but I think it would be better if they didn’t get so big! The Red Kuri squash start out yellow and then change from orange to a reddish color. They are medium sized. Some have started to change color already. You can’t really see any of that just yet since all of the leaves are still in the way! I will have to try and get some close up pictures so you can see the squash and pumpkins. I’m wondering if it won’t grow any higher, either. It doesn’t seem to have grown ‘up’ this past week, although the outside vines of some of the plants are still growing out. We’ll see. It certainly is getting plenty of rain this week.

That’s my garden update! I hope you are enjoying your summer, no matter what the weather is like. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

The time for playing with lavender is now!

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! At this time of year I am usually too busy to stop and write a ‘how to’ post about lavender and the different crafts I make with it. But by the time I do get to write about it, with ‘how to’ instructions, it is a bit too late! So this year I am providing links to all of my previous posts about lavender in this blog. That way, if you want to make a lavender wand, or a lavender wreath, you can do so while the lavender is still available!

12 seems to be the number of lavender wands that I enjoy making in a season. I make those 12 really quickly, and then I don’t have any interest to make more. I looked at possibly trying some different styles this year, but honestly, I like mine best (says she, trying to be humble about it). I did make one change for the last few that I made this year – instead of using 25 stems, I used 35 – 41 stems. They were really thick! I’m not sure if that is better, or just different. You can read how to make lavender wands here, or watch a video here.

I did get a bit of a head start on my wreath making this year. That’s because for the first time, instead of waiting for the lavender to dry, I made a fresh lavender wreath. I usually make wreaths with dried lavender, and attach the lavender with floral ‘u’ pins. This wreath was made using fresh lavender and the lavender was attached with one continuous piece of floral wire. It has a very different look! It hangs in my kitchen, and in the past couple of weeks it has grown on me. I now like it very much! You can see some of my past wreaths and how I made them here, here, here, here, and here .

There are quite a few lavender plants in our garden. They are at different stages of maturity and their blooms develop at slightly different times. I’ve gone through and cut most of the mature stems over the past two weeks. They are now drying out – in my house. It’s a bit tricky this year! I usually dry them in our ‘sitting room’ which isn’t usually used. But this year, the ‘sitting room’ is my husband’s office and my son has started playing our piano, which is also in that room. So if my husband isn’t in the room, my son is! Instead, the lavender is drying in our front hall. Some people hang their lavender. I hang my roses and other flowers to dry them, but I just haven’t managed to figure out how to hang the huge amount of lavender I have, yet. The lavender dries out really quickly – a few weeks, tops. I still have two plants with immature blooms, that should be ready for me to use next week (so I could make more wands if I wanted to!).

I will start making dried lavender wreaths in the next couple of weeks. Again, it is a bit tricky this year as the table I usually use for my crafts is now my work desk. It means that I’ll have to start and finish the task over the weekend – including cleaning up the mess! Boy do I miss the use of the ‘unused’ sitting room where I could come and go to craft, and just close the door to hide my mess until I was completely finished.

I hope you find the tutorials helpful! It is fun for me to look back on all of the different styles of wreaths and different colors of wands that I’ve made over the years. My lavender pages are by far the most popular pages on my website – I’m not alone in my enjoyment of making things from the garden! It is such a bonus to be able to enjoy the relaxing fragrance of lavender while working with it. 🙂

Will you make any lavender crafts this year?

In Peace,
Dana

July 10 front gate garden — It is traditional to post a picture of this bed! It has 2 lavender plants, Incrediball hydrangea, hydrangea paniculata, Lychnis Coronaria Rose Campion, Pittosporum Tom Thumb, Bergenia, and Syringa v. Beauty of Moscow.

Bunch of lavender wands — This season’s lavender wands in front of one of our lavender plants. The stems are a bright green when they are first cut, but will dry to a dark green over time.

lavender wands in lavender — Lavender wands are easy to make and mostly involve weaving ribbon through stems.

Lavender display — The easiest way to display lavender is to simply throw it in a vase (no water required)!

basket of lavender — This basket full of lavender is from part of one plant.

Lavender wreath in progress collage — It was a little bit challenging to make the wreath with one continuous piece of wire. But it was a lot faster than my usual method!

Wreath on playhouse collage — I used dried peony flowers (Sarah Bernhardt) as an accent.

lavender wreath inside collage — This is where the wreath lives now – in my kitchen.

A fresh lavender wreath hanging on our playhouse door.

Mom in the Garden with lavender — Sunny, blue skies are every reason to smile!

I hope your summer is sunny and full of fun for you 🙂

Things will get done when they get done

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Mominthegarden

Lavender wreath in the making - first round

It starts with a straw wreath frame, some floral ‘U’ pins, and groups of 12 stems of lavender each being pinned into place!

There are lots of good things about getting older, and one of them is knowing that things will get done when they get done. Are you smiling? I hope so. Because isn’t it the truth? I definitely used to fret more when I was younger, worrying about when things would get done. Now, a bit older and (hopefully) wiser, I see that life is so full, and most of us are always in ‘go’ mode which makes it really difficult to slow down or even rest. I’m learning that it is perfectly O.K. to stop and take some time out, because things will get done when they get done.

Section by section the lavender is pinned in place.

Lavender Wreath + fuschia roses side view

A side view shows that the wreath frame is completely covered in lavender, with an accent of roses and hydrangea.

Lavender wreath + fuschia roses + hydrangea full view

This design has the lavender go in one direction, ending with flowers.

This leads me to my lavender story. You see, I needed a rest. I’m used to going ‘non-stop’ and this past year I’ve just had to slow things down a bit. With my lavender this meant that while I harvested it in July, and even made some lavender wands, after I laid it out to dry, I just left it. One wreath was made ‘on schedule’, but then … nothing. I have no reason, and 100 reasons. There was a little progress as the summer shifted into fall and chilled into winter, and the little progress kept on going and bit by bit the wreaths were made. I needed that extra time to not rush through and make them just to make them. I wanted to enjoy the process and be present when I did so.

Lavender wreath + Rosemary and Rose focus - in progress

This wreath has Rosemary and roses in the design.

I really like the green of the Rosemary when it is first cut. Everything is attached with the floral ‘U’ pins, except for the roses, which are glued on with a hot glue-gun.

Rosemary from my garden.

Lavender Wreath with Rosemary + roses complete

I’m glad to have someplace to make my wreaths – and not worry about the mess!

I can be somewhat impulsive, and when the mood strikes to create a wreath, I just go with it, gathering up whatever materials tickle my fancy that day. This is the first year that I used up nearly all of my dried lavender from this season. The wreaths were so full of lavender!

Lavender wreath in progress roses on top

This design was rather unusual. I worked the lavender in three rows around the frame. I have to say that this was a bit tricky to work through.

Close up of the dried roses.

lavender wreath + roses on top + ribbon on door

The finished wreath embellished with a ribbon.

Repeating designs is not really something I like to do. I prefer to try new ways of making things. Sometimes this works well, and sometimes I think ‘I should have stuck to the original plan’! It’s a learning process. This season my dried roses really kept their colors, which I think adds a nice contrast to the shape and color of the lavender. I do like to work with greens, too, so the Rosemary was a nice addition – although sadly, it won’t keep that pretty bright green color. This is the first time that I worked a very tiny amount of hydrangea into the lavender wreath, too, just to try something different!

This is my lavender basket, which is now nearly empty.

I am now finished with making lavender wreaths for this year, and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed the process (and I like the wreaths, too)! And it is so true that things will get done when they get done.

In Peace,
Dana

Lavender wreath + Rosemary + roses outside

Lavender, Rosemary and Roses

Lavender wreath with roses and a ribbon

Lavender wreath + fuschia roses full view

Lavender wreath with roses and hydrangea

Step-by-step instructions to make Lavender Wands

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Mominthegarden

Lavender, Hydrangea Incrediball in evening sunlight

Lavender, hydrangea Incrediball, hydrangea paniculata in mid-July

Hi there! What a summer we’ve had! The weather didn’t always cooperate, but we managed to get out, get moving and have fun just the same. I sit here now, looking back on all of the pictures I’ve taken and the summer seems to have passed in a blur! I vaguely remember making some lavender wands during a short window of opportunity, and noting that I wanted to blog about making them, but then moving on to a million other ‘summer’ things. So here I am writing the blog post for you to use *next* summer! 🙂

My main lavender bed with mature plants in mid July, amongst hydrangea, lilies, a vase of daisies and some annual plants. The tall yellow plants in the background are fennel plants.

First things first: What is a lavender wand? A lavender wand is a whimsical way to preserve the lovely smell of the lavender flower. A quick description of how to do that would be to bend the stems of the lavender over the flower head and weave a ribbon around the stems! I’ll give more detailed instructions below. But first we need some lavender. The lavender I grow is ‘Lavandula angustifolia’ (English lavender). I have found that it is perfect for making wands, wreaths, and drying for sachets. It also looks really nice in the garden. It is easy to grow, too. I have plants that get only morning sun, and I have plants that get full sun. They are all happy, and don’t require extra watering. The plants spread and grow bigger over time. The 10 year old plant in the picture above is more than 3 feet across.

There is a one to two week window to make lavender wands, which is the time when the individual blooms just start to open. This time is best because the stems are still pliable, which is necessary in order to bend them without breaking them. As the summer goes on, the stems get more stiff and will break when bent. The established plant will have new stems (referring to the green part) every year which are quite thin with a smaller flower head, while ‘returning’ older stems will be thicker and longer, and the flower heads will also be much longer than newer ones. The thicker stems are the ones you want to use, to have ‘full’ wands.

Wider ribbon is easier to use, and helps the weaving to go much faster! I prefer 3/8 inch (9 mm). 60 inches (152 mm) of ribbon will cover one wand.

Tie a ribbon at the base of the flowers (not too tight or you’ll break the stems).

I use 25 stems for my wands to keep them nice and thick, and because inevitably, a stem or two will break, and starting with 25, the wand will still be full looking. I tend to cut my lavender long, cutting 2/3 of the stem, and then after grouping the 25 stems together, I will cut them to a shorter, more manageable length. Clear the length of the stems, taking off any green leaves or tiny side-blooms. The odd number is necessary to properly weave the ribbon through the stems. Sometimes the last group will have three stems, but this really doesn’t matter. After I’ve gathered the 25 stems and lined-up all of the flower heads, I tie the ribbon around the stems and make a knot just at the base of the flower heads. Using wider ribbon is easier to weave with – I prefer 3/8 inch (9 mm). Approximately 60 inches of ribbon (152 mm) will cover one wand.

After knotting the ribbon around the base of the flower heads, carefully fold the stems over the flowers

The next part is probably the trickiest: while holding the 25 stems in your hand, carefully bend the stems over the flower heads, keeping them tidy for the next step of weaving the ribbon. The next step is simple weaving: I group the stems in twos, just to make it easier. Weave the ribbon over and under each group of two stems, pulling tightly after each one, but not too tightly as to break a stem, or to bunch up the ribbon.

A (slightly blurry) top view of a lavender wand being made.

Here’s a top view of the lavender wands after they have fully dried, in late August

Weave the ribbon around two stems at a time, covering the lavender flowers.

Can you see the inch worm on the green stem just under the ‘Mom in the Garden’ tag?

I prefer my wands to be nice and full. That means there will be a lot of flowers to cover! It helps to evenly space out the stems. You might still have some stray flowers poking out after you are finished. I think those are nice to see, especially when trying to explain to someone what exactly a ‘Lavender Wand’ is! 🙂

I’m just having fun with this picture. Still a bit more to go!

It’s good to keep the ribbon nice and tight, because as the lavender flowers dry, they shrink in size. A tightly wound ribbon will ensure a neat and tidy wand even after it dries. Weave until just past the bottom of the flower head. I like to have ribbon on the handle, too, and I found a website with pictures of the neatest way to cover the lavender handles. The site is called ‘How’s Robb’ blog. The thing is, they didn’t explain how to make the knots! But it really is simple, and I posted photos of the process here. You make a knot, turn the ribbon in the opposite direction, wrapping it round the stems and make another knot under the previous knot, all the way down the stem. I also did a video tutorial here. Sometimes I like watching videos to learn something new, sometimes I want pictures, and sometimes I want text. So now I have it all covered!

Completed lavender wands

Some brightly colored ribbon really makes the wands stand out!

At this stage, I’ve used just about every color and style of ribbon on my wands. My favorite type is a shiny ribbon, 3/8 inch, and bright colors. Lighter colored ribbons tend to stain green from the stems, which isn’t ideal. I think this year I liked the plum color best.

I like using all different color ribbons, but the purple shades are probably my favorite!

Lavender wands are just fun to have, and even more fun to give away as gifts. Honestly, mine last for years. To enjoy their scent, I just place the flower head part of the wand between both of my hands and rub back and forth a few times! You could bang it against something, too, but that might break the handle 🙂

This scarf, from a friend in Japan, was a perfect backdrop to use for taking pictures of the wands!

The stems change color as they dry. This picture was taken at the end of August of these wands which were made in mid-July.

So next year, just when the lavender flowers start to bloom, I will repost this post so we can all make beautiful lavender wands!

Here’s to getting things done, even if a little late. 🙂

In peace,
Dana

(Another?!) Lavender Wreath

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Mominthegarden

our front gate garden with hydrangea, lavender and lupin in early July

Well hello there! Welcome to my blog where I am hanging on to summer with both hands! It’s true, I am frantically working in the garden, and out, trying to get all of the summer jobs done before, well, summer ends. How does time fly by so quickly? (Thankfully, this is a true sign of enjoying ourselves!)

our front Gate garden with hydrangea, lavender in late July

our front gate garden with hydrangea and lavender in late July

July is the month for Lavender here in Ireland. The best time to make lavender wands is just as the lavender comes into bloom, in early to mid July. I made a few this year, because they are just fun to make!

Mom in the Garden with this season’s Lavender Wands

Mid July is also the time when I harvest my lavender. I cut about 2/3 of the stems (including the blooms) and lay it flat to dry. It usually takes a couple of weeks to dry. So typically, I’d then use the dried lavender to make wreaths in August. I’m waaaay behind with that this year, and I have just made one wreath so far! But my lavender is at least all bundled up and looking pretty in some baskets. 🙂

Basket of Lavender

This is where I dried most of the lavender this year – on the floor of the room my daughter uses to practice her Irish dancing. She was away for 3 weeks at the Gaeltacht (Irish camp) so it worked perfectly!

I’ve made several lavender wreaths over the past number of years (Have you checked out my ‘Wreaths of all Varieties‘ page? The link is at the very top of the Mom in the Garden page.) I like writing about wreaths because they are so easy to make, and really, anyone can do it! There are a few basic things I need to start with: “u” pins / floral pins, secateurs / garden shears, a straw wreath frame, floral wire to make the hanging hook, and dried lavender. Extras include dried roses, Spanish moss, some ribbon and some coffee (decafe, of course).

Lavender Wreath set up with straw wreath frame, floral pins, garden shears, dried lavender and roses, and Spanish moss

I love saving flowers from the garden. I’ve spray painted artichokes and created Christmas arrangements with them! If you cut artichokes and allium at the right time, their purple stays purple for a very long time. ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’ anyone?

vases of dried (and painted) flowers including allium, artichokes, bells of Ireland, barley, roses, and hydrangea

This year I’ve set up an old table in our ‘sitting room’. We rarely use this room, and I can make as big a mess as I’d like and it won’t be in anyone’s way. It has great lighting too.

floral pins, straw wreath frame, and hanging hook

getting started: the basics: making the hanging hook, floral pins, straw wreath frame

The first thing I do, after gathering all of my materials, is make a hanging hook. You can see in the picture above that I’ve used some floral wire which I doubled to make stronger. I wanted to know how many floral pins I’d need, so I started with a box of 50 – which covered about 1/3 of the wreath. So I needed about 150 pins! I use a 12 inch (30.5 cm) straw wreath frame for my lavender wreaths.

Starting with the Spanish moss on the outside, and dried roses on the inside

I like to put Spanish moss around the outside of the wreath – just to make sure I don’t have any straw showing when I’m finished. Confession time: I actually made this wreath a tiny bit backwards (oops!). I started with my dried roses at the bottom, and I think it would have been much easier to add them last. I’m making a note here for next time! 🙂

I filled in the area around the roses and then went to the top of the wreath and worked down

each group of lavender has 7 to 10 lavender stems, and I cut the stems about a thumb’s distance from the blooms with sharp secateurs and ‘pin’ the group of stems into the straw wreath frame with the floral pins

I filled in the area around the roses first. Then I had a bit of an ‘ah ha’ moment and realized I should be starting from the top. I’m sure there are lots of different ways to do this, but I find that going from the top down makes it easier to cover the stems as you go along.

Starting from each side at the top and working down is a method that works well to cover the stems easily.

I think one thing you do need to have is patience. It is time consuming. The lavender smells so lovely as you work with it, though, and it definitely relaxes you!

Lavender Wreath in progress

Piece by piece, the frame gets covered with lavender.

One last little section to cover!

The bow I made by playing around with the ribbon – like tying a shoelace over and over again!

ta-da! Finished lavender wreath!

I had some video of my making the wreath on my Instagram stories the other day. Did you see it? Let me know what you think! The roses are also from my garden. I usually cut the first 20 or so roses at the very start of the season so that I’ll have them for wreaths. I cut them when they are still closed, as they dry best that way. And not to worry about the bees, I’ve left lots of lavender in the yard for them!

This bunch of lavender was left for the bees

I hope I’ve inspired you to try your hand at making a wreath! It’s really not hard. I’m glad I made (another?!) one!

In peace,
Dana

completed lavender wreath on our playhouse door

Probably my most favorite time of the year!

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Mominthegarden

Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ bouquet July 9th

Well hello, and welcome to my blog! There is something about summer that creates a feeling of being carefree, don’t you think? The bright evenings and, when we get it, the warmth of the sun energizes me. The all too busy family schedule takes a bit of a breather, which is a welcome reprieve. Best of all, we get to spend more time with family and friends. The garden, on the other hand, is full steam ahead!

Peony bouquet up close Sarah Bernhardt July 9

Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ bouquet July 9th

The peony season was fantastic this year! The very last of my peony (two ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ plants) finished blooming just this week. Oh they were so pretty!

Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ July 9th

Also coming to an end this week were the poppies growing in my rose bed. There were hundreds of flowers! I was surprised how strong some of their roots were, which I discovered as I pulled them up. One ‘two handed pull’ had me landing on my backside when it finally came free! 🙂 They were pretty, but the downside was that they didn’t allow any air circulation around my roses, which I think was quite unfortunate. I will have to thin them out next year, and not allow them to take over the bed!

Purple Poppies in full bloom in the Rose bed – Where are the roses?

Just a couple of blooms of the Purple Poppies left in the Rose bed

the Poppies I pulled from the Rose bed

A look at the Rose bed just after pulling the purple Poppies (and after a bit of weeding)

I did manage to get some pictures of some very pretty roses (ones that weren’t hidden by poppies!). Over the past few years I have planted quite a few David Austin roses. All of them are scented, some more so than others. Sometimes their blooms can be so heavy that they face down, and therefore are harder to photograph (if you see me crouching on the ground, this is why!). But other than that, I think they are absolutely wonderful!

David Austin ‘Olivia Rose Austin’ Rose

David Austin ‘Teasing Georgia’ Rose

David Austin ‘Boscobel’ Rose

The hosta are in bloom with tall lilac colored flowers. Hosta would prefer shade, which I have very little of in my yard. For now, they seem to be doing OK.

Hydrangea, Lilies, and Hosta in bloom

Lilies in a pot, Hosta flowers in bloom

The area in the background of the above picture was originally all brambles and weeds. Over the past two years, after clearing the area, I’ve added some really hardy perennials to see if they will overtake the weeds. This year looks pretty good! The perennial geranium, bergenia, and Lychnis coronaria (rose campion) came back and are doing well!

Lychnis coronaria (also known as rose campion) is a real eye-catcher in the garden!

There are different varieties of hydrangea in the garden, and the Incrediball is just now coming into ‘color’ bloom (creamy white), which you can see in the picture below. The pink lupin (or lupine) to the right of it is just about finished, and there is some Lychnis coronaria (also known as rose campion) in there, too. The hydrangea paniculata is still forming its blooms, with no color just yet, while the lavender is perfect for harvesting (to dry) right now!

Our Front Gate Garden July 18

Front Gate garden hydrangea lavender lupin

The same Front Gate Garden the week before: with pink lupin (or lupine), hydrangea ‘incrediball’ and lavender

Lavandula angustifolia – Lavender July 18th and ready for harvesting (for drying)

Phew! There is so much going on in the garden! And the lavender is just calling me to do something creative with it. 🙂

I hope you are enjoying your summer, too!

In peace,
Dana

Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ fully open July 9

Wreath making in the height of Lavender Season

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Mominthegarden

One of my lavender plants (lavandula angustifolia) nestled between Pittosporum Tom Thumb and Hydrangea Incrediball

I have quite a few lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) plants . They thrive in my yard, and I am quite happy about that! About mid-July, depending on the weather, I start to “harvest” the lavender. I cut it as it just starts to bloom, cutting about 2/3 of the stem (or a bit more). Then, this is the fun part, I lay it on the floor around my house; in my sitting room, in my bedroom, in any free space that I can find, because it is a lot of lavender! I try and lay it flat, to help it to dry out as quickly as possible. A couple of weeks usually does the trick (as long as it isn’t wet when I cut it). Thankfully, we don’t really use the sitting room, so at least it isn’t a problem to use the entire floor of that room!

This one is my favorite lavender plant (Lavandula angustifolia) in bloom

There are a few things I do with the lavender. If I have time when I cut it, I will make lavender wands (the stems must be fresh though, so they don’t break while bending). I also make lavender sachets, which involves taking the lavender off of the stems after they are dried, and then sewing up little pouches. You can click here to read and see more about wands and sachets. But my favorite craft to do with lavender is to make wreaths.

I took apart one of last year’s lavender wreaths. Here’s what came off of it! (Lavender, Rosemary, Roses, Spanish moss)

It is a time when I can be creative, work with my hands and just have fun. I love it! Depending on the wreath, it takes about two hours to make, give or take. Aside from the plant materials, the main items which I use are: floral straw wreath form, floral “u” pins, and secateurs. I try and use some kind of different plant material every year, and this year I used poppy seed pods, and an artichoke. I made three different wreaths, each a bit different. Here’s a look at what I did!

This is how it begins: a bunch of lavender, and a wreath form!

I start with grabbing a bunch of dried lavender and any other plant materials I’m going to use. The above wreath is only going to have those four roses with the lavender. I attached the roses first and then worked around them, starting on the top right. I tend to work out from the top, first going right half way around, and then working from the top again and going left.

I cut the lavender a bit more than one width of my finger space from the flower.

It can be a tedious task, as it takes many, many bunches of lavender to fill the wreath! The up-side is that the room smells wonderful while working with the lavender!

I love my GelPro classic gel mat, especially when standing on tiles for so long! (I also love my sparkle Birkenstocks)

It takes patience, but it is lovely to see how it fills in and of course the smell is wonderfully relaxing!

One little bunch at a time!

The next wreath had lots more plant material! I didn’t use the artichoke which is in bloom on the table, as it was too big. I did use a tiny one, though.

The lavender in the center of this wreath is actually from last year. You can see the difference in color when I add the outside layer.

close up of the roses, poppy seed pods, Rosemary and artichoke

It was only after taking the close-up picture above that I realized that the wreath would look better with another layer of lavender. It just looked like it was missing something.

Filling in an outside layer of lavender.

Ah yes, you can see it now, can’t you? The inside layer is definitely lighter! 🙂 This is where the two plus hours comes in…

The third lavender wreath will have poppy seed pods and roses.

My third lavender wreath had roses and poppy seed pods. I started at the top left for this one, and placed the roses on the right.

Pinning the roses on.

The roses are also from my garden. I try and cut as many as possible early in the season so they will be dried enough for the wreaths. I think I’ve finally decided that it is best to cut them while they are still closed. They will still dry even when opened, but the color stays darker when they are closed.

The poppy seed pods were neat!

I really like the poppy seed pods! This is my first time using them in a wreath. I know they dry brown, so I’m not sure how it will look in a few weeks time. I’ve also learned NOT to turn the wreath upside down as millions of teeny tiny seeds will go everywhere! 🙂

I LOVE making lavender wreaths! I had to stop at three because I don’t have any more wreath forms and I can’t seem to get my hands on them here! Please let me know if you see where I can buy them in Ireland!

Plain and simple with LOTS of lavender.

A little bit more than “plain and simple”, but still LOTS of lavender!

Over the top! A lavender wreath with yarrow, roses, poppy seed pods, rosemary, and one globe artichoke. Oh – and LOTS of lavender!

Whatever lavender doesn’t get used in the wreaths will be taken off of the stems and stored in containers to be made into sachets (eventually). The lavender stays fragrant for a very long time!

There is lavender growing around our playhouse, too!

I have not harvested all of my lavender, as that wouldn’t be fair to the bees! No, there is still plenty for them. I will have to trim those plants later in the season, after the bees are finished with them.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I create my lavender wreaths!

In peace,
Dana

A Summer Wreath of Lavender, Rosemary & Roses

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Mominthegarden

lavender in the garden

I love having scented plants in the garden. Three of my favorite scented plants are lavender, rosemary, and roses. I also like to dry roses and lavender because they really keep their scent and they are so easy to dry.

this is how we hang

I dry my roses early in the season knowing that I’ll want to use them before the end of the summer. I’ve learned that the dark pink ones dry best, and I need to cut them before they start to open too much. I was experimenting with the yellow roses in the picture above. They have such a beautiful sweet scent, but they dry a rather ‘brownish’ color that isn’t pretty.

this is what we start with

Lavender is usually ready to harvest in the middle to end of July here in Ireland. I LOVE to work with lavender! I’ve made wands and sachets and wreaths before. You can read and see about those here, here and here.

Step one: Spanish moss

Making a wreath is so easy. I use a straw wreath and floral u-shaped pins to attach everything to the wreath. The Spanish moss is a great filler.

rosemary as the base

I like to have green in with the lavender to brighten it up. We have a rosemary plant that doesn’t get used enough in cooking so it is getting rather big. I gave it a super trim and had quite a lot to work with then.

one bunch of lavender at a time

I did not have any design in mind when I started (ahem, probably not the best way to start!). I just went with the flow and put things where they seemed right to put. 😉

just need the roses now

The roses are the most delicate. It was helpful to have the moss to use to help pin them in place.

My hands smelled so good while making this! I’m not sure which I like more – the rosemary or the lavender!

My gladiolas ‘the dark knights’ and some of those sweet smelling yellow roses that tend to droop!

lavender wreath on our playhouse

This is our playhouse. I’m slowly creating a tiny garden around it and I’ve started with lavender.

wreath on the playhouse door

lavender, rosemary & roses wreath

Tadah! It was so quick and easy to make and I love the result. It didn’t require that much lavender, either, which means I still have loads left to work with!

Summer Wreath 2016

My wreath from last summer needs some freshening up, but I still like it 🙂 Are you making anything from the garden this summer?

In peace,
Dana

A Simple Garden Wreath

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Mominthegarden

everything you need!

I love wreaths. I love using plants from the garden. I love making things with my hands. (that’s a whole lotta love!) What a great start to my day to be able to make this wreath! I dried all the flowers this season and it was so easy to put it together.

My video is not a “how to” but more of a summary. I wasn’t sure how the wreath would come out so I didn’t video me making it. Next time I will!

Super easy to make!

We’ve had some much needed rain, but now the sun is out and it is just glorious.

Enjoy the video, and enjoy your weekend!

In peace,
Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: Lavender

The magical lighting of fall

An unsettled start to August

The time for playing with lavender is now!

Things will get done when they get done

Step-by-step instructions to make Lavender Wands

(Another?!) Lavender Wreath

Probably my most favorite time of the year!

Wreath making in the height of Lavender Season

A Summer Wreath of Lavender, Rosemary & Roses

A Simple Garden Wreath