well if I had more time this morning I would have had an iris in a vase...
my lovely flower spike snapped off at the base.
We had ferocious wind gusts this morning.
I don' know how iris does as a cut flower but it would have been nice to try rather than having to leave the poor fallen stalk just lying there to wither.
Blasted bus didn't leave on time anyway so I would have been ok if I had stopped for a moment to try rescuing it.
Yard to vase - Fall 2009 series
typing that reminds me I spotted a real blooper on the front page of our local rag this morning...
referred to an apple 'stork'.
No not a new bird - they meant stalk.
How bad is that!
I cut iris alot for cut flowers and take to work, because I am at work more than home during the week. They keep a few days and I am usually pulling the old blooms off while new blooms are opening. Mine smell and if I cut very many I have to put them out in the main office because the smell gets really strong...LOL
It might still of been good when you got home, they are pretty tough.
well the iris was still lying there so I figured what the heck...
put some nemesia in as filler & stood them in front of my other arrangement.
Is that cheating ^_^
Boy your other arrangement is holding up well. Those flowers are just beautiful. Love the iris with it. The other bud should open up for you. I am going to get some of those white and purple ones if they are hardy in my area.
Update, Lions tail is still trying to make it. We have had 3 hard frost, the last I looked the other day they were a little droopy, but has since stood back up except for the very tip looked nipped. Two days in the 70's this week so fingers crossed I get blooms before it freezes.
Lovely dalfyre -
Fingers cross happ, are you expecting high 60's the next few days like we are? If so bet you beat the freeze.
and here we have it the next morning...
I am glad I took the advice to try & save them!
close up of the iris bud fully opened.
Those blues sure go together well with the white. I also started using irises in my bouquets last year - it looks fine as long as you pinch off the wilted blooms regularly and let the closed ones open as Happgarden noted too.
Happgarden - good luck with your lion's tail. It sure is taking it's sweet time to open up loL.
I need to go out and pick some flowers before they all disappear.
I just love iris, I live about 4 miles from an iris farm with about 20 acres of iris and in the spring you can go see them in bloom, beautiful. Beautiful bouquet, the flowers seem to belong together.
We have had an unseasonably cold summer and rain every two or 3 days and I think that is why the lions tail is taking so long, just no sunshine or heat. Nov has been warmer than Sept ever thought about. It is planted on the west side of the house so it doesn't get sun until late, probably not good on my part.....but there is always next year, and maybe this year.
Lovely blues. Nice setting for the vase as well among your photos!
Here is my yard to vase, not much in bloom, just working with sticks, pods and such.
That is a very nice fall arrangement. Very creative. I don't have imagination like that.
Checked on the lions tail and they are still standing, I guess it is possible I missed them blooming......but they have little orange knobs that look like they are growing.
SO many beautiful photos! I can't wait to play with flowers again. I am feeling better finally after 6 months. I have a long way to go though. Keep up the good work!
Candee - what a neat arrangement - I like seeing how you can put non-blooming items and make a great display.
Sally - I didn't realize you were feeling poorly. I am glad to hear that you are better now. Looking forward to seeing what you have in the months to come.
Thanks everyone, it is dried astillbe, wheat, cattails, siberian iris pods, a bit of fall foliage from my azaleas and a lotus pod - if you were wondering.
Sally, you just take it easy and enjoy what we are making for you and you can return with your creations when you are 99%!
OK! I will enjoy!
I decided to try again with an iris & anemone arrangement & then added some blue ranunculus as well .
I love it, love the blues and white!
Very soft and homey feeling, makes you want to just stop and smell the flowers!
certainly brightens the room & helps distract from the lack of recent dusting... ^_^
That is such a beautiful color combination. They look so delicate and soft.
Here are some blues from my garden - blue asters. I moved my patch earlier this year, so this is thinner than usual. Hopefully it will fill out next year. When I first planted them, I did not know that they were going to be so tall (about 4 ft) , so I had to move them further back.
In a vase....
Then decided to experiment by adding a few more items - still had some white Japanese anemones blooming, and the Tulbaghia fragrans is just starting to bloom.
Still not quite right, so I added some white roses.
Beautiful as usual. I have asters but they never do well for me. Usually the leaves end up curling and turning crunchy. I don't know if I have them planted where it is too dry or I have a diease of some kind.
Thanks, Happgarden. Sorry about the problem you are having with your asters. The place where I have the asters do not get too much water, so some varieties do tolerate a certain amount of dryness. I hope they do better for you next year.
Dianne that is an arrangement that truly keeps getting better and better, started out nice but became beautiful! The rose really set it off.
love the blue asters with the Japanese anemones...
I have the anemones, and I have seen asters growing around here so know they would survive in my garden.
I just need some white roses to go with it, have mainly reds & pinks.
I was deadheading & decided to cut my white peonies.
I think they stand a better chance indoors the way the winds have been here!
I didn't want to waste the leaves I trimmed so picked some white nemesia, there was one solitary pale lavender one that I didn't notice until it was in there.
I decided to find some more of the pale lavender, by the time I added more nemesia I needed a bigger vase.
not a very good shot of the peony buds, they will look better once they open.
Just a thought, but how bout you cut those peonies back shorter and get rid of the leaves and put them in a shallow vase or in several individual bud vases in a grouping?
Those nemesias sure are versatile. I still need to get myself some.
Here is my last dahlia for the year. This is Earl. The main bloom had already fallen off - these are the two secondary blooms.
Here it is in a vase. I added some variegated mock orange leaves to it, but I think these large dinner plate dahlias are better appreciated in the yard than in a vase.
My first dahlia bloomed in June, this last one in November. So, as a plant type, you can get a variety of dahlias blooming over a very long season.
if the peonies are true to form they will open into quite big heavy flowers & I don't have any sturdy enough bud vases to cope.
I do have an idea for using a bowl but need the flower open to do it...
I am glad I cut them because today was wet & nasty.
Stunning - I know my dahlias would have bloomed a long time too except we had that one bad frost and zap!
Cant wait to see them open dalfyre.
gift flowers, don't know what they are...
the lady that brought them in said you don't see much of it around.
All the pictures are just stunning.....
dalfyre those are really pretty. I have seen those before but can't think of the name. Don't remember them being that eye catching on the plant tho.
What a wonderful gift you have received. Just in time for the holiday season. I don't know what they are but they are lovely.
Dalfrye - those flowers look awfully familiar, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the name.
Nerines are always a dependable fall bloomer. My only complaint about this plant is that I cannot seem to get it to multiply. I have about a 80% return rate every year, so in order to keep the patches that I have, I have to buy some every 4 years or so. Here is the darker pink ones.
