evening lit bouquet

leftovers from my blue arrangement and carnations from two weekends ago.  i'm starting to think that the recipe for a good looking bouquet is some inky tones combined with some muted tones as the base and then you're free to pick either a bright or subtle tone.

sunday blues

i wanted to do a little color study on blue, mostly inspired by the japanese delphinium that i found in the market.  i'm somewhat sad the peony season is over, but relieved as well.  peonies can distract me from using other flowers and it's nice to move on... particularly to some blushing bride proteas!  there are winners every season.

i tried to do a step-by-step for you, but i failed.  it's hard to do solo and i tend to get carried away (excuses, i know).  i did capture the backbones to the arrangement -- chicken wire (bent to an 's' shape) and some clear floral tape to hold it down.  bending the chicken wire into an 's' form provides two layers to hold the stems.  i find that top heavy stems tend to fall out if held in place only at the top, which, for example would happen with a simple tape grid.  floral frogs can do the trick, but are costly and i hate dealing with floral putty.  another cheaper option is to get some chicken wire and bend it.

can you see the two layers of chicken wire?

i used 42 stems for this arrangement:
- 6 hydrangeas
- 5 gardenia leaves
- 5 ageratums
- 4 white garden spray roses
- 5 blushing bride proteas
- 4 black pearl lisianthus (i'm not a huge lisianthus fan, but these are so pretty!)
- 7 white lysimachia
- 1 japanese delphinium
- 5 proteus clematis

my first layers were the hydrangeas and gardenia leaves for the overall structure and then added the ageratums for pops of blue.  spray roses went next; i opted for spray roses rather than full on garden roses because the heads are smaller.  then filled with lisianthus and blushing bride protea.  for both fill and whimsy, i added the japanese delphinium and lysimachia.  finally, for movement, i added the clematis vines. and then went back to fill in with some more gardenia leaves.  i think i could have done with less but this arrangement was for me.

maybe next time, i'll get a photographer to take pictures as i make.

garden june 2014

peony garden planted last year with a dozen peonies

garden update of the season.  dahlias are in, all 235 of them across 60 or so varieties.  the bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley came and went in a short-lived but glorious burst.  the poppies are reaching peak.  zinnias and cosmos are coming up.  peonies are about to open.  clematis are climbing and blooming.

'bourbon' clematis

the clematis are having a great time, with bourbon being the most vigorous out of my 6 varieties.  but a few others are really trying to put on a good show.  i've been drenching them with an aerated tea of compost, kelp and fish.  my fingers smell like fish for days afterwards, but worth it.  the plants seem to love it.

my strawberries that i planted yesterday are definitely bearing the fruits of my labor (quite literally).  they were pitiful little things but look at them now!  i think i messed up with planting them last year; buried the crowns too deeply.  perhaps that delayed fruiting last year; no matter, this year's crop seems to be making up for it.

yeah, it's a constant struggle with sweet peas.  really i need a cold frame to properly raise the seedlings.  these don't look bad but it's a gamble as to whether they'll bloom before it gets too hot.

i have poppies on the left and cosmos on the right.  well, next year i've decided to do an entire bed of poppies.  i bought pint size 'champagne bubble' poppy plants from a wholesale grower in town.  plan to do the same thing next year, but this time i hope to snag a pink one.  this year, i seem to have only white, yellow and orange, which are great and all but a little more color variety would be nice.  the cosmos are doing well.  not much to say other than they're fairly easy to germinate.

close up of the peony garden.  they're about to blow!!!

dahlia beds 1 and 2, same ones as last year.  the weeding shouldn't be so bad this time around.

dahlia beds 3 and 4, new ones.  our plan is to wait until the weeds get a little taller and then start yanking them out and cover with mulch.

sensation lilacs

sensation lilacs with champagne roses, mock orange, ninebark and parrot tulips

spring in nyc seems to turn into summer within a few weeks time and the transition feels even faster now that i'm older.  i suppose that's the benefit of having a garden further north; at least we get to hold onto spring for a bit longer.

i was perusing the flower market over the weekend, mostly to prepare for a wedding later this month.  with my eyes full of hope, i stopped shop after shop asking whether flowering branches (any other than mountain laurel -- color doesn't work) would be around.  give me something, people -- viburnum, spirea, lilacs (no hope of that)!  all i got is check in two weeks beforehand.  boo!  i have a back-up plan but flowering branches make large arrangements so effortless and so good.

i couldn't walk away empty-handed though.  there were bales and bales of beautiful lilacs from canada and i had to grab a bunch.  and then i had a moment with my lilacs.  i pressed them against my nose and i took a deep yoga-style inhale.  their perfume is so perfect.  these sensation lilacs are sensational.