Nothing easier than a vase full of rhodies and a bit of spirea. The Pacific NW is rhodie country and our garden has five mature specimens.
June is busting out all over the garden. Roses, clematis, alstromeria and much more. There is so much to chose from right now it’s difficult to keep up. Can’t wait to show you what’s in store next.
Lupine, iris, and clematis in a champagne flute
If you go to a local garden store in these heady days of spring you’re likely to encounter pretty much all the colors of the rainbow and then some. But blue flowers, true blue flowers are the least common. Blue flowers tend more to purple in general which is why I grow these lovelies which give me blooms closer to true blue. They are in truth a little more purple than the photo but they are blue enough for me in the plant world of rarities.
There are a few things in our garden that remain as we found them. Rhododendrons that put on their show in May, a snowball bush, some orange azaleas, and an old pink, climbing rose. The rose is in a difficult location. It gets dappled sun in the morning and afternoon and is always stretching to get as much of it as it can. It is not the right plant in the right place. On top of that, it only blooms once for about 2 weeks, as it is an old climbing rose, perhaps as old as the house. Did I mention that its pink? In spite of all this, I love this plant in part because it’s blooms are fleeting. You must enjoy it thoroughly when it blooms, the scent, the texture, the profusion.
Of course I love plants that bloom persistently, that last a good long while, that behave themselves. But there is something so very poignant, so very true about a rose that gives its all for one good flush of beauty. Reminding me to enjoy what comes, when it does, for however long it might.
This somewhat fussy hand blown vase fits these roses perfectly.
It’s lilac season, or the end of lilac season as my lilacs are showing their age. Nonetheless, I thought a vignette featuring lilacs was/is in order. I only wish you could smell them too!
Two elements of the vignette – The narrow green vase with allium, ladies mantel and columbine.
The smallest element, with a white Ornithogalum, another allium, and a heuchera in a small hand blown vase.
The garden is awash with color. Tulips, clematis, Chinese fringeflower, snowball viburnum. Simple purple glass vase.
Right now in the garden, the plant I love to hate — bluebells. They are everywhere, spread somehow (ants?). And yet, this time of year they bloom and I love the skyblue-ness of them.
So featured in a petite bedside vase.
Muscari, bluebells, epimedium, and bleeding heart.
I have a sweet, though small collection of hand crafted, hand blown vases. This is one of them, in sky blue.
We are finally moving into a time of substantial blooms in the garden which means the potential for more floriferous arrangements. This is an 8″ vessel compared to the diminutive 4 incher last week. Hyacinths are highlighted, accented by dogwood branches, horse chestnut branches and acanthus leaves.
I’m halfway through the year with this challenge! And it has been. But also fun.
The first day of spring was Wednesday. I don’t know how it is where you live but from a number of reports, including here in my home zone, spring is a reluctant debutante. Even so I was able to grab a handful of spring out of the garden.
Spring beauties int his bouquet include clematis, muscari, bleeding heart, hellebore, a daffodil and avalanche lily, among others (the yellow on the right is the avalanche lily).
This diminutive blue vase contains a snowdrop, evergreen daphne, white corydalis and rosemary.
Small vases like this are wonderful at a bedside or grouped for a table display.
This week our plum began blooming. I have a lovely cherry bark vessel that I thought would be a good match. And so it was. The lone tulip was from a bought arrangement.
I went out to do some pruning and my sweep of the garden when the hellebores caught my eye. In my other blog Travelindigo, I have a picture of a swath of these. Hellebores are a very short lived cut flower but create lovely long lasting stands in the garden. I am always surprised to see them in wedding bouquets because of their tendency to wilt…perhaps they are only in the photos!
Picking various things during my stroll led to this woodland bouquet for which I could find no suitable vase. This vintage silver coffee pot, from my mother-in-law’s mother, seemed to fit the bill. One year we used a mix and match collection of silver like this, provided by the bride’s family, to create personalized centerpieces for a wedding. A small bouquet like this would also be lovely for a woodland wedding and a bride that wants a quieter statement.
The hellebores are subtle beauty:
The fuzzy bits in the middle, the stamens, turn into the seedpods. For most long-lived cut hellebores, cut the flowers when that has happened* and immerse them in warm water for a bit. But don’t expect longevity. If they last overnight, or even a few hours, count yourself lucky.
*You can see a subtle example of this in the middle photo of the hellebores.
Rooms in Bloom 