In a Vase on Monday: Pink, White & Blue

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Mominthegarden

Delphinium, shasta daisy, Dusty Miller Lychnis Coronaria

Delphinium ‘cobalt dreams’, shasta daisy, Dusty Miller Lychnis Coronaria

Just recently I found myself looking through my past blog posts. My husband and I had a discussion and he felt I’d strayed away from my original ‘blogging about the garden’ plan since this past year I mainly posted on Mondays for the meme ‘In a Vase on Monday’. I saw his point in that I certainly need to blog more about what is going on in the garden. But I loved looking through what flowers I was able to create arrangements with during the different months.

close-up of that pretty blue!

So I will continue to join Cathy on Mondays at Rambling in the Garden https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/in-a-vase-on-monday-baby-face/ for her ‘In a Vase on Monday’ meme, and I will set a goal of having at least one other post per week. Start out small and go from there! 🙂

Our pewter water goblet. Can you see the picture of the ‘stamping of the grapes’?

This week my delphinium ‘cobalt dreams’ had one stem that was broken. I bought three of these plants just this past month and they are doing so well. They are quite showy! I think the blue and white are lovely. So I was happy enough to use the broken stem.

Dusty Miller Lychnis Coronaria

The dusty miller Lychnis Coronaria is just going crazy in my garden this year! It has taken over half its bed. All of this is from one small plant two years ago! I will have to move some (a lot?) of it to another location where it an spread without getting in the way of other plants.

Daisies and Delphinium

The above picture shows my blue delphiniums and my not yet blooming shasta daisies (to the right of the delphiniums)! That was taken late last week and they only started to bloom yesterday! They were divided early this spring, so they’ll be in two places along the ditch-wall garden.

a very ‘red, white and blue’ look

A rather simple arrangement, with an almost red, white & blue hue! Maybe you’ll join the meme? Or at least visit to have a look-see at what others have created? I hope you will.

Happy summer!
Dana

Winter Blooms in my Irish Garden (An anemone steals the show!)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Mominthegarden

Mr. Fokker Anemone

When I think of winter certain things come to mind: snow, cold temperatures, skiing, sledding, ice skating, hot chocolate! Living in Ireland has changed that idea a bit for me. Our winters are usually fairly mild, with only a quick cold snap. Snow is unusual. Cold is cold, but not like what I’d be used to while living in Central New York. And the winter is short. Really short if I look back to my days of having snow around until March! I do miss the snowy side of winter. But the tradeoff is having flowers in my garden even in January.

A frozen anemone

We had a deep freeze the other day: -5 degrees Celsius. I took some pictures in the morning, and by the afternoon the rain had come and everything thawed out!

First morning light over the frosty field

This close-up of the crystals is my favorite

Today was yet another mild day, 8 degrees Celsius, and sunny. I am not complaining, I just hope it has been cold enough to keep the slugs at bay! My garden has a few flowers which are blooming. The anemone have multiplied over the past few years. They don’t seem to mind that it is January. Also giving some color in the garden are a few daisies and a black-eyed Susan plant! I think they are simply confused. The primrose are a lovely bright color. There is also a lot of green in my ditch wall garden from poppies. Lots and lots of poppies!

The day after the frost

This is flowering in January.

A sunny winter day

January in the garden

Dogwood plant has lovely red branches

Our area has really been very fortunate with the weather. Even just seeing the sun for a bit of the day is refreshing to the soul.

Evening view from the front yard

The very last rose.

Do you have any flowers growing in your winter garden?
Happy winter!
Dana

End of July Garden Tour featuring Brussels Sprouts and Globe Artichokes

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Mominthegarden

Brussels Sprouts & Pumpkins.

The garden is really looking full! The Brussels sprouts plants are getting huge! The stalks are just starting to produce itty bitty teeny weeny little sprouts!

Brussels Sprouts (teeny weeny ones!)

Yeah, well, maybe you can’t see them on a compressed picture. You might just have to take my word that they are actually there! Every day there seems to be just a bit more growth.

Brussels Sprouts’ large purplish colored leaves.

Brussels Sprouts are a new adventure for us. We started our garden three seasons ago, and every year we have expanded and tried something new. I love that! But I really think we need to add another bed for next year. My pumpkin plants are squished! I think I want a nice big bed just for pumpkins. 🙂

The veggie beds.

Here is a look at the other side of the garden. The potatoes are doing well. We’re still eating “last year’s” potatoes! The peas are almost ready for picking.

Peas.

Garlic, carrots, swede (turnip), parsnips, beets, rainbow chard, and more pumpkins.

Here’s what I’ve learned this season: Swede need their own bed since their leaves will cover up everything around them! Carrots need to go in the higher beds to avoid carrot fly. We could never plant too much beet root (not enough of them germinated this year). Planting onions from seed is easy. That sticking extra pumpkin plants into one half of a tiny little veggie beds was a crazy idea. I think a big bed right next to those veggie beds is just the thing! Now to convince my husband 😉

A very busy picture! My focus was on the Sweet Pea at the front of the garden.

We planted some sweet pea at the top of our fruit garden (well, it is mostly fruit). I wanted something fun to brighten it up. I think they’ve done a good job. We were quite late in planting them, so they aren’t in all of their glory just yet.

Sweet pea change color as they age.

Sweet pea.

Different shades of sweet pea.

It rather felt a bit like cheating when I bought a globe artichoke plant this year. Isn’t that silly? I have a few packets of seeds, but just never got around to planting them. But in the end, I’m delighted that I did buy the plant because look what I have now:

Globe Artichoke plant.

This is one rather tall plant! I have counted 5 baby artichokes on it!

A few of the artichokes.

Artichoke up close.

When do I confess that I have never had a fresh artichoke??? I love canned ones though! Nothing ventured, nothing gained! (Guess who will be searching the internet looking up how to cook a fresh artichoke?)

The front garden with a globe artichoke plant.

I have the globe artichoke in one of my flower beds. I’ve seen them in gardens before and I found them to be a showy plant, and here is where I wanted mine to perform.

Flower garden with a globe artichoke plant and a view.

What simple pleasures! How lovely to be able to plant food and flowers and enjoy their beauty and their taste! Have you planted something new this year?

Dana

Some of my Shasta Daisy 🙂

Beautiful Poppies from July through October!

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Mominthegarden

Late blooming poppy.

I planted poppies from seed this past spring. I had my doubts that they were going to take. It seemed that they took forever to bloom. But once they started blooming in July, they have kept at it for the entire summer and continue even now during the first week of October! I don’t really know the different varieties. I’d say these are pretty plain. I planted Poppy Flanders/Corn American Legion, Poppy Iceland Nudicaule Blend, and Poppy Oriental. None of them describe a white center, though, so I don’t know what kind the flower above might be. The deep red ones are the American Legions. Poppies are such a delicate flower. I’ll admit their stems can look a bit messy up close. These guys are at the back of my garden though, so I can really enjoy their color without seeing the mess! I’m so happy with them.

Right next to the poppies I’ve planted some Shasta Daisies. My father-in-law started them from seed for me in his greenhouse. I planted them as seedlings. I think they fit nicely next to the poppies.

Moving right along the ditch wall, I’ve planted Rudbeckia hirta, Black-eyed Susans. They were given to me from a friend’s garden. She is a very special friend!

Finally, you’ll see some horrible cardboard. I’m killing some more grass/weeds along the wall. I’ll have a big job ahead of me this winter, as I’d like to uncover a lot more of the hidden wall!

What is your favorite flower for prolonged blooming time? I hope you have lots of color in your garden!

Dana