Springtime bouquets for Six on Saturday

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. For those who are new here, I like to create things with my hands – things like flower arrangements, wreaths, lavender wands (not to mention crocheting). I have had so much fun creating bouquets from what is growing in the garden, especially as my garden matures and there is more to play with. My kitchen table has had a bunch of different arrangements this spring, and hopefully there will be more as the season continues. It definitely motivates me to have plants that work together, color wise. Today I’ll be joining The Propagator for his Six on Saturday meme. You can click the link and see some other participating, and beautiful, gardens, if you like.

I so appreciate you stopping by! I hope you enjoy your visit. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

Bartzella Itoh peony arrangement with allium and Siberian iris

1 – Sunshine bouquet (yellow peony flower arrangement). It was somewhat difficult to really capture the look of this arrangement, as the huge Bartzella peony grabs all of the attention. This is an Itoh peony, which is a hybrid between a tree peony and an herbaceous one. This particular shrub had lots of buds on it, so I was happy to use five flowers for this arrangement. The big open one actually opened up a couple days before, so it had a ‘head start’ on the others. It is quite big (bigger than my open hand). To the arrangement I added allium, Siberian iris, some forget me nots, lamb’s ear, and a couple of pieces of ornamental grass. I was really happy with it, especially since I made it on a whim, during my morning walk-about the garden!

vase of flowers with roses, allium, anemone and forget me nots

2 – Small jug of flowers. This small arrangement was made for the kitchen table for a special dinner with family. I especially liked that it was fragrant from the Eustacia Vye David Austin roses and branches from a lilac shrub (Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’). I also added allium, forget me nots, and anemone. It was super easy and quick to throw together, and wasn’t too distracting to have on the dinner table.

bouquet of Dutch iris, peony, roses and a single white calla lily

3 – Tabletop Dutch iris work bouquet. I had this on my desk because the scent from the peony and roses was so lovely! Also included is a single white calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica Arum Lily). This is the first time this plant is flowering for me since I planted it in 2018. This is the third time I’ve moved it, and I think this time it is finally happy.

4 – Allium. These next three flowers go together, and you can see them in these pictures. I’ll start with the Purple Sensation Allium. Now I have to say that the coloring is definitely Purple Sensation, but the very large heads, with the stems spread far apart, are not. At least none of the other Purple Sensation allium that I’ve purchased over the years are like this. I still like them, they just aren’t what I was expecting. This color matches the bearded iris in the background, and also the other allium across the yard. I like the big impact they give with the mass planting. This bed will continue to have flowers after the allium are finished. There are poppies coming up all around them, and I have agapanthus that will hopefully flower later in the summer (new to this bed). Also newly planted here our some Helenium plants. Under the cherry tree you’ll find three strong Annabelle hydrangeas, which should bloom later in the summer.

5 – Lupine / lupin. The color on these spires sure isn’t dull! It is quite a happy, bright pink color and a large, sturdy, and easy to care for plant. It is a stand alone show stopper, if you ask me. The bearded iris used to be in this bed and I had to move them because I didn’t like the clash in colors. I think there is enough distance between them now, though, that they look nice as neighbors. This bed also has a couple of small peony plants, a paniculata hydrangea, lavender, bergenia and pittosporum (Tom thumb).

6 – Bearded iris Benton Storrington. These are the happiest flowers in my garden. They have multiplied many times over! They are a plum color, which is very similar to the Purple Sensation allium. This bed is only a couple of years old, and has something for every season. Hellebores start off the year, then hyacinth in early spring, followed by bearded iris, and then black eyed Susans with Persicaria blackfield (red spire flowers) for summer / fall. I love the white birch no matter what is growing around them.

And that is the end of today’s tour! What was your favorite part? Mine is the Sunshine bouquet! 🙂

A Simple ‘Six on Saturday’

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Mominthegarden

Hi there, and welcome to my blog! Although I have not posted here in a while, I have indeed been working in my garden. So much has been growing! Honestly, I didn’t know what to write about first since there’s been so much going on in the garden. I therefore thought it would be fun to join in on The Propagator‘s meme of ‘Six on Saturday’, to get me back into the groove. You can check out lots of ‘Six on Saturday’ posts at The Propagator’s site, where we all list our links in the comments. I’ll be screeching in to the end of it at this late stage of the day! Here are my six:

Pink lupine. This huge bunch (almost looking like a clump) of pink and yellow flowers has provided the most lovely display for a number of weeks. It is just fabulous, and I’m so happy with it. This contrasts with a pink and white variety, which I originally preferred because of the coloring, but was lack luster with its blooming.

Full pink lupine plant early June — Pink and yellow lupine on the left (vs. pink and white on the right)

2. Plum colored bearded iris: Benton Storrington. I transplanted this bearded iris late this past fall, in a new bed that was created after planting some birch trees. I wasn’t sure how they’d do, given how late in the year it was. Thankfully, just about every plant flowered and bloomed. They are really quite pretty!

Benton Storrington Iris full sun — Bearded iris: Benton Storrington

Pink lupine and Iris Benton Storrington early June — Pink lupine and plum colored bearded iris Benton Storrington

3. Siberian Iris: Shirley Pope. This sweet little flower joined our garden way back in 2017. Unfortunately, it was in a bed that had very poor quality soil (the lavender does great in there). It has never bloomed until this year! What a beauty it is. Worth the wait.

Siberian and Bearded Iris with Birch trees — Siberian iris Shirley Pope in front of birch trees with Iris Benton Storrington in the background

4. Cream colored David Austin Roses: Lichfield Angel. I love roses. Sure what’s not to love? These in particular have centers that remind me of swirled piped icing on cupcakes! They are super ‘ruffly’ with a seemingly endless amount of petals. I believe my area has ideal conditions for black spot, though, and this rose would suffer from it. I do my best with my milk/water combination spraying, which is fine by me. They are so beautiful that I think they are worth it.

Lichfield angel hand bouquet — A hand held bouquet of Creamy white Lichfield Angel David Austin roses, with a backdrop of James Austin roses.

Lichfield Angel David Austin Rose end of June — The centers of the Lichfield Angel David Austin roses are what I find intriguing!

5. Pink Paeonia lactiflora: Sea Shell. Last year during lockdown, through one of my retail therapy sessions (almost all of which were garden related, by the way), this gorgeous peony joined my garden from Leamore nursery. It is pink, delicate and simply lovely. Funny enough, I had to move it this past spring, and it still bloomed!

6. Last, but not least, coming in at number six, are my six chickens! The big news is that three young hens have joined us over the past month. They are Daisybell, Maran, and Bluebelle varieties, and are just lovely. They join my three Rhode Island Red (hybrids), who are really not happy about the newcomers. They were separated by a fence for a week, but still the pecking order has to be established. That is still ongoing, unfortunately. I’m hopeful that they will all get along well one day soon!

The Daisybell, Maran and Bluebelle chickens joined us this month!

4 Rhode Island Red chickens — This picture is from November, when I had four Rhode Island Red (hybrid) chickens. They are now bossing the new girls around!

I hope you have enjoyed my ‘Six on Saturday’! It was a great way to jump back into blogging again! Have a lovely week!

In Peace,
Dana

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

Gardening – it’s worth the effort!

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Mominthegarden

Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’

Hello there! It is a rather funny name for the post today, but as I was working in the garden most of the weekend, it seemed apt. Maintaining and growing a garden *is* a lot of work, and I think even more so when you do it organically. This is worth it to me, though, as I absolutely love being in the garden and seeing how it is transformed and how it brings such beauty into our lives. And when things start to not balance out, it’s time to change things up and find easier plants to maintain!

Playhouse garden with yellow lupine, Iris ‘Benton Storrington’, and bleeding hearts

The weather hasn’t been great recently, so I haven’t been keeping up with the weeding. It reached the point this weekend, though, that my husband even pointed out to me that “those flowers would look much nicer if there weren’t so many weeds! How sweet of him to notice 🙂

early stage pears

You’ve heard me say it before, and it remains true, that we like to grow what is easy (to grow and maintain)! Our fruit trees are a prime example. We’ve been very fortunate with an abundance of pears and apples the past few years. We’ll see how it goes the rest of the season, but as of right now we have a bumper crop of pears! All of this with just composting on a regular basis and light annual pruning.

Iris ‘Benton Storrington’

I try to add some new flowers every year. This Iris was added in 2016 and has done really well in my yard. I started with just two rhizomes, and last year we divided what had developed into a huge clump. I was actually trying to find spaces around the yard to fit in the divided plants! We planted several rhizomes around the yard, all of which are now ready to bloom.

Purple Sensation allium

The Purple Sensation allium is a new addition which we added into two beds last fall. Actually, I bought “Purple Sensation” allium years ago, but it most definitely was not Purple Sensation as the color is quite light, which you can notice in the picture below.

Purple Sensation allium and NOT Purple Sensation allium

a view of the main rose bed to the right of Abies Koreana (Remember when I planted those boxwood plants? Spring 2018)

The longest blooming flower in our garden is the rose, so we created a second rose bed a few years ago, and filled it with David Austin roses. The empty space between the roses was filled in no time with poppies (I didn’t plant them here, they “moved” from different beds in the garden, and possibly from my compost!).

Rose bed filled with Poppies (with a few allium “popping” up!)

Poppies love my yard. I’m not sure if I’m going to be 100% happy with them in this rose bed. They’ve grown incredibly tall, but thankfully they are also sheltering my rose plants from the harsh wind we’ve had recently. Pity you can’t really see the rose plants here though!

David Austin roses (the far side of the poppy invasion)

David Austin Standard Tree Rose Princess Anne

My first Standard Tree rose went into the garden last fall. It is rather tall and the roses are bright pink and very much visible!

Poppies in the Rainbow garden

The Rainbow garden is filling out even more with the addition of two varieties of Iris last year. Poppies are definitely hogging the stage at the moment, though.

Iris among the poppies

A full view of the Rainbow garden (with one chicken)

the chickens love to roam the garden!

Hawthorn trees in bloom (Weigela florida ‘Alexandra’ is the bright flowered shrub) + chicken about to jump!

this flower bed at our front gate is filled with Hosta, Sedum, Iris, Roses, Asters, Lavender, Bergenia, and the White Lilac is visible from the other side of the fence. We added the Bergenia (at the very front) last year.

front gate garden today

This little ‘Front gate garden’ has Aster, Sedum, Foxglove, a new Climbing Rose, and two new Primula capitat subsp mooreana, Woodlander (thank goodness for plant tags!). They are right on time for blooming now and should go until July (we’ll see!). My one variety of peony has just finished blooming – the blooms usually fall through from the other side of the fence and give a splash of color here (you can just see the spent redish flowers on the other side of the fence).

Primula capitata subsp mooreana, Woodlander

I’ve already made many “new flower/plant/tree” purchases for this season! Hopefully, everyone will settle in and adjust to our garden (and not be eaten/dug up by the chickens). There is just so much going on in the garden! The next flowers to bloom should be the rest of my peony plants.

Garlic beds with sweet pea planted in the middle.

Oh! and I almost forgot that we’ll be harvesting our garlic in July! I’ve planted some sweet pea down the middle of one bed, and sunflowers down the middle of the other. I’ll find out soon enough if that was a good or a bad idea!

So the main point I make to myself, on a regular basis, is to keep a balance. I can’t spend all of my time in the garden. I’ve learned to be O.K. with weeds – I’ll get to them eventually. The garden is a long term project for me anyway, no point in rushing! 🙂

I hope you get to spend the perfect amount of time in a garden and enjoy every minute of it!

In peace,
Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: lupine

Springtime bouquets for Six on Saturday

A Simple ‘Six on Saturday’

Probably my most favorite time of the year!

Gardening – it’s worth the effort!