One of my main goals is to have cut flowers from my garden on a year-round basis. The bonus comes in when the flowers provide beauty to the garden and can be brought indoors to provide joy there. It is often hard to tell from catalogs what plants may look like in the yard, and how they would behave as cut flowers. So, I would love to see what works in your garden. To start, here is one of the earlier bloomers in my yard.
and this is what the hellebore looks like as a cut flower
Great idea for a thread soilsandup!
Very pretty Hellebores you have there in the garden, and they look lovely in the vase indoors. Nice shape!
Do they last a long time when cut?
Thank you! I will be back with a garden picture and an arrangement for indoors soon.
Look forward to seeing more of your garden flowers and arrangements.
Thanks Terri. The hellebores last at least 5 days. I bring them to work - where I am motivated to get rid of the dying flowers. At home, I tend to forget and the flowers sit for weeks on end.......
Here is a photo of my white tree peony - outside
And inside...
WoW! what a beautiful setting. I think Candee has the same white tree peony... I want one too!
The flowers shout out 'look at me' .!!
It's nice you have somewhere set up to take photo's, love the simple vase for such blousy flowers. Nice contrast.
I'll bring something in tomorrow, it's already past my bedtime!
Thanks for sharing. Keep bringing them in... love it!
Hi Terri - yes, it is great to have that setting for my flowers. It is on the second floor landing of a three story building so I get to pass by it a lot. This has been a great year for peonies here - both the tree kind and the herbaceous. Here is a photo of one of my patches. Can't wait to see your photos too.
cut for indoors
Hi soilsandup,
I meant your garden was a beautiful setting LoL! but it is handy for you to have the second floor landing to take pictures of your arrangements!
Your peony is doing really well, so many blooms on it. Is that Azalia next to it? what a vibrant colour. Lovely vase arrangement.
Yellow roses in the garden...
roses indoors.
another view, different background.
This is such a great thread Soils. I love your garden arrangements using just one type of flower. How nice it is to get them from your own garden. I thought peonies only grow well in cold climates, is there hope for me in 8b?
Terri, your roses are beautiful too!
Hi Terri - thanks for the compliment. I can't take credit for the brick planters - they were there when we moved into the house. The pool was put in later. And yes, that is an azalea next to it. And your roses are lovely - and what a difference each perspective gives.
Karmaplace - I do mostly one flower arrangements because I would go out to the yard before work and just snip whatever is in bloom, and then dash out to my car :))). In regards to peonies, since zone 8b is slightly cooler than 9a, I think you should be able to grow peonies. There may be some for sale in your area that doesn't as much chilled days. I know that my sister in southern CA can't grow them; not sure how your zone compares with hers.
Thank you Karma and Soilsandup!
What a lovely setting with that reflection pool. I miss my white peonies already the rains finally took them out, but not before I captured this beauty asleep on my chaise lounge, our first granddaughter Eva Grace.
Whispering........ Oh Candee, she is beautiful, What a precious 'arrangement' from Grandma!!!!!!!! Lol
Thank you for sharing such a lovely pic of Eva Grace .
Oops! Hope I didn't LOL too loud and wake her up!
This message was edited May 20, 2008 11:14 AM
Thank you Terri, I had the pleasure of keeping her a bit as well as Aby while my children were helping with arrangements for Tara this past week and then Steve kept them during the services. They are really something.
BTW, I posted a thread on dried flowers and want to get some ideas there for the memorial flowers if you get time could you swing by the thread?
Here is the yellow tree peony, first the bush
The yellow bloom with slightly red center
Be still my heart. Eva Grace. Absolutely positively lovely. *Sigh*
Thanks friend, she is a little doll as is her darling cousin Aby.
Beautiful yellow peony. *Sigh*
I have a new favorite flower. Great photo Candee.
Better angle of the tree itself
I really like the white one better as I love those huge blooms.
How is the best way to get long lasting cut Daisy, the ones I cut last year didn't last a day?
You will have to wait for one of our experts, I have cut mine over the years and they last a long time in just warm water.
Katherine - I have never planted any Daisies so can't give you any information on that. Alstromerias make good cut flowers. I got this variety of alstromeria from my sister a couple of years ago. It is a very vigorous plant, almost to the point to spreading too much. But, it produces such tall, and sturdy blooms that I am willing to have to dig around it to keep it in check. There are many other types of hybrid alstromeria that produces flowers on very short stalks, and are disappointments as cut flowers.
And here's the flower in a vase. I added a few leaves from my cast iron plant. The coloring goes really well with the color scheme of the building.
Ah, alstromerias, I wondered what those were. I have seen them in bought arrangements and didn't know the name.
Lovely pitcher arrangement, I like the slender vase with the spreading top, nice job with the colors as well.
Trumpet lilies are one of the first lilies to bloom in my area. Below is a photo of "Pink Perfection." This is one of the few plants in my garden that I actually purchased and therefore know the name of it. Many of the plants in my garden are given to me, or I have scavenged from various sources. This plant multiplies freely and have really strong sturdy stems - I gave some to my sister and hers is about 3 feet tall.
Here is a closer up view
Beautiful colors are they actually that lavender or are they rose, either is spectacular. Some of the first to bloom for you and mine are just coming into shape. They make lovely cut flowers.
And finally, the flowers in a vase. This photo was taken when I was learning how to use my camera, so I apologize for the blurriness. The leather leaf fern grows well in the shaded area of my yard.
Nice presentation in that vase, nice contrast. I want to get more ferns started, we have tons at the cabin and they would be perfect for arranging, will check into digging some of them.
Thanks Candee. They do make lovely cut flowers. I only have grown a couple of types of ferns, and I like the leather leaf ones the best. They last forever. Only problem is that they get quite large and can overwhelm the arrangements. I have to search for the smaller leaves. The color of the Pink Perfection is closer to the color in the second closeup photo - a bit move lavender than pure pink.
And one of my favorite cut flowers - calla lilies. Here is a yellow one that I bought as a potted plant from Rite Aid and stuck in the ground.
This message was edited Jun 10, 2008 8:41 PM
and a maroon one that I just planted last year
Since the maroon one is still so young, there was not enough stalks to cut for use as an arrangement by itself. so, I paired the two together.
A scarcity of stalks is not a problem with the white calla lilies. My mom gave me a few tubers 6 years ago. I planted them in 5 different spots, and they thrived in all 5 areas. I have been freely giving them away for years. And to show that I do have arrangements at home sometimes - here is one in the house. Next to the flowers is my son. Photo was taken last year - he just turned 21 a couple of days ago.
What a handsome young man and such lovely callas. Never doubted for a minute that you had inside arrangements, after all what else would we be doing with all these lovely posies.
21, ahhhhhhhhhhh, those were the days, at least from what I recall LOL! Better stop thinking about them, they almost make me faint of heart!
Belated Happy Birthday to you!
