Hi Karma, glad you got some time to pop in. I am impressed, I have had a hydrangea for about 8 years, never a bloom not a single one. I finally transplanted it this past spring and it is much bigger than ever and much bigger than yours and still not a single flower. You have a magical touch and those colors are delightful. Thanks as well, I had no idea they were good for drying, if I ever get one I'll try it. You also remind me that I need to go looking for some new vases, that one is very pretty and I love the rectangular shape.
Flowers from yard to vase
Hi Karma, Nice to see your lovely elegant arrangement! Your containers are looking good, love the little pink Hydrangea too. Thanks for sharing!
The one I got for mothers day croaked!
All you ladies are so sweet :)).
Karma - looks like you are the only one of us here successful with hydrangeas, and thanks for the lovely arrangement. It is one plant that I did not have in my garden. I got a rooted cutting from a roundup a couple of years ago, but it is still a tiny little thing. I finally put it into the ground a couple of months ago and hopefully it will be happier there. "Blushing bride" is a great name - I can see a bride walking down the aisle with a bouquet like your arrangement. Sans the vase of course, though I also think that is a great vase. You say your garden is about a year old - did you just move a year ago?
Candee - enjoy seeing the pictures of your drac - and no, I am not familar with that plant. It is a very striking plant and so healthy under your care. And your yard looks huge - no wonder that you have so many plants!
Thank you Dianne, just 1/2 acre but well endowed with plantlife. Glad you liked the drac it is quite unusual, they are native to Greece.
I love this thread -- and the flowers are beautiful. Obviously a lot of you have green thumbs -- and a talent for flower arranging.
I, too, love to bring the flowers indoors. It feels like such an indulgence to have them in the house. My latest is a flower that I was surprised to find works well as a cut flower -- Liatris/Blazing Star.
Put one large Liatris in a bud vase the other day -- totally modern arrangement. Really surprising. Luckily, I love to see 'something different' once in a while.
If I ever get the time (thyme :) ), I'll plant Baby's Breath again, more peonies (gotta love those), Peegee Hydrangea, Delphinium...
Hi No_Thyme , welcome to the thread! Love your liatris, where's the modern arrangement to go with it? LoL!
I planted some this year, but nothing! I think the squirrels dug them up! Thanks for sharing those.
Nice to meet you no_thyme. Always love to see new faces, be sure to check out the other threads in this forum, we have a great time with arranging.
I just discovered what a great cut flower liatris is as well. I have been growing it for years but never cut until this year when it worked great as a candlestick arrangement. I couldn't believe how long it lasted and didn't even mind when the water was gone, it still thrived a few days. Would love to see your modern arrangement with it as well.
Greetings also, No Thyme. I had liatrus back a few years ago - both the white and purple. They came back the first year, very little the second year, and then nothing the third year. Slugs may have been the problem. They are really neat cut flowers so I may try again. Yours look nice and healthy!
Candee - do you just leave your Drac in the ground to overwinter? In zone 6a, you must get a lot of freezing.
We get a lot of freezing Dianne, but the dracs come back every year. I have had mine for about 8 years now. Tried to pot one for one of the RU's we hosted at the cabin, but it didn't survive. I just cut them to the ground when they are finished and they are one of the first signs of spring that I look for. I love them as they first begin growth as they look like a kind of palm tree.
Thanks Candee. I bought the hydrangeas off the 75% off shelves at lowes last year! Most of the hydrangeas are endless summer hydrangeas, which bloom on new and old wood. Could that be why? Don't know about having that magical touch! Maybe it's the soil. I use the potting mixture that is posted in the sticky of the container gardening forum, and I really swear by it. As for the vase, you can find it at Walmart! Nowhere special.
Terri, thanks! Did you get the florist hydrangeas for Mother's Day? I knew this man who would bring home all the "croaked" ones from the store and plant them in his garden. They must have did well because he would bring the cut blooms to work.
Soils, thank you. My "blushing bride" is supposed to have a little blush to it as I've seen at the stores. Mine have bloomed white, and as the blooms fade, they turn green like in the arrangement. Thanks for asking, I only started seriously gardening a year ago when I joined DG. I lost my home in a hurricane 3 years ago, moved around for a year, had a baby, and finally settled in with my dad 2 years ago. My dad and I sort of have a partnership in gardening.
No Thyme, love your username. If I was clever enough, it would have been my name! I love liatris. Started some from seeds, and got only one to bloom! Welcome to the cut flowers forum. The ladies here are super nice and fun. Hope you stick around.
I don't know Karma, I don't know what some of my plants are doing. The hydrangea has been around a long time and it has always died back to the ground every fall and then in spring looks like a brand new bush, never any bigger than the previous year and never a bloom. We shall see next year as I have transplanted it to another spot and have been putting my coffee grounds on it to give the soil a bit more acid, that in addition to crossing fingers.
I wanted to share this photo, Terri and Sue saw it at the cabin as it is all around the pond. It is joe pyeweed and I have just learned it is great when dried so will be cutting lots the next trip to the cabin. The plants are huge about 5-6' tall and just grand heads of blooms. Hope they are still going strong in 3-4 weeks as we won't be back up for a while.
Candee, do you remove the old branches? If you do, then maybe that's the reason. Your hydrangea might be the kind that blooms from old wood only. I leave mine even though they look dead. Come spring, leaves will start coming out from them.
Nope, never pruned it as a matter of fact it was in a spot where I almost never even saw it, just really happened upon it again this year and decided it was time to place it elsewhere. Perhaps next spring will have a return on my moving investment? Thanks for the info though so I will not touch it this year.
solidago
Sunflower
Using a vase with holes in the sides for the solidago.
Sunflower in the top, nice for a low coffee table!
Very cool vase Terri, I need to go find some more interesting vases for my stuff. You truly are an inspiration.
Thanks friend! as sweet as Candy!
Hi Terri - that is a neat arrangement for a coffee table setting as you pointed out. You always have such unique ideas. I have a short snail vase with holes in it - have not yet figured out how to use it. I'll take a photo of it and maybe you can give me some hints????
Thanks Dianne, yes lets see the vase!
Here's the one I used, without the lid.
There is room for water under the holes.
A stone is holding the stems down!
Well that is just too cool!
I am gonna have to go home today and search for some neat stuff, sort of a treasure hunt?
This message was edited Aug 11, 2008 1:26 PM
Cool Terri! Great use for that container. The solidago looks like rays of light.
Thanks Karma! It had pot pouri inside when I got it.
I made something else today Dianne, but then I realised the flowers I used were from a florists not my garden!
Will have to find somewhere else to put it. LoL!
Thanks Candee! Found any treasures yet?!
Not yet!
I chose a new grouping for the house this evening, I just love the zinnias and dahlias. I like this color combo as well.
A close up - I really like using the bloodgass, it keeps a long time as to the zinnias and dahlias. The colors go real well in our dining room.
Nice arrangement, Candee. You sure have a nice variety of colored grasses and leaves.
I haven't looked at my "treasure" that I picked up at a flower garden show for so long that I had forgotten what it looked it. It is not a snail, but more of a conch shell. It has holes in the body, so it is more like a frog. The inside is hollow so the way it works must mean that I have to put the shell in a bowl of water. But, I figure if I added flowers to the holes, the shell holder would be all covered.....so, I have not used it yet. Any suggestions??
view from the top
and view of the hollow inside
Hi soils and all. I would use long stems in that shell, with oasis under of course, and yes, I guess you would have to put a container of some sort under it. Good luck.
Nice flowers Candee. I wish you'd shut up about the blood grass, as I have still to source it here! I even went to a nursery trade show, and they had all the same old, same old plants! I wish they'd get with the times and keep up with the trends!
Woo hoo, Terri!
Sue
PS, I'm not picking flowers as there is only a bit left in the garden, and I have visitors arriving next week.
All right already Sue, nuf said, I'll keep it to myself LOL! Have you checked out the other grasses (not bloodgrass) in my arrangement on the outside arrangements? You are not gonna like that one any better!
I am sure your company will be astounded at the wealth of blooms and growth in your lovely beds.
Diann, thanks, I do have a variety to choose from and it makes a nice backdrop to the flowers.
That container is great, where do you find these things? I gotta keep my eyes open and think outside the box more. Sue is right oasis under and some sort of dish or tray underneath. Becareful with the tall stuff as it may have a tendency to tip in shallow oasis but will look stunning. Perhaps start out tall and then get short quickly with a big bold contrasting color. Then you could put a few more shells or stones on the plate beneath.
Candee, nice arrangement. I love the bloodgrass and the complimentary foliage at the bottom. I made a trade with a lady on here for bloodgrass. Spent over $8 on postage to send her irises and haven't gotten my bloodgrassl. It's been over a month now. :( I decided I'm not ever going to trade again. It's probably cheaper to buy it somewhere.
Sue, could you order it online? Would they ship to Australia?
Soils, neat conch. I haven't thought of anything yet. I'm sure what you come up with will be great.
Karma, I can send you some if I can keep the roots wet enough in wet paper bags and could try the same to aussie land if you want me to Sue, why don't you 2 dmail your addys to me.
I'll do whatever I can to get Sue off my back about this stuff LOL!
This message was edited Aug 13, 2008 2:24 PM
Nice arrangement Candee, lovely colours.
Dianne, that is a tricky one! both suggestions sound good. It could be placed in the bottom of a clear vase and filled up with water.
Thank you Candee!