The garden is still bursting with blooms! But I needed to trim some of the foliage on my potted plants, so I thought it might be fun to do a "foliage only" arrangement. I clipped, clipped away out in the garden, gave it a little thought, and here's what I came up with. The "foliage only" grouping includes: Several mixed cultivars of Coleus (C. scutellarioides) that I grow in pots; The wonderful framing element of Hydrangea foliage (H. macrophylla); A couple sprigs of the sprightly Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima); A fun, squiggly spot of Cosmos (C. bipinnatus ..read more

Lotus corniculatus with Cupido comyntas Echinacea purpurea Lobelia siphilitica Solidago canadensis Trifolium pratense Helianthus spp. Andropogon gerardii Rubus allegheniensis Monarda fistulosa Asclepias syriaca Sorghastrum nutans Erigeron strigosus Cirsium discolor Lotus corniculatus Sorghastrum nutans Verbena hastata Oenethera guara Oenothera biennis Rhus typhina Wordless Wednesday ..read more

Chanticleer is a magical place. I shared a few of my thoughts about it and photos last September, after the Philadelphia Garden Fling. But when I couldn't attend this year's recent Puget Sound Fling, it had me thinking about Chanticleer again. My words and photos can't do it justice, but it seems like a good time to share a bit. I don't have tags for all the varieties of plants in my photos, but I did my best to ID most of them. Mainly, while at Chanticleer, I wanted to simply take it all in at this special place instead of focusing on the details too much. I definitely want to g ..read more

Do you prune your Hydrangeas? I admit I haven't been careful about the timing of this practice in the past, for various reasons. But this year they've been so full of blooms--more than I can remember in previous years. And one of our shrubs is next to the sidewalk, so it must be contained. Some sources I've consulted recommend pruning around August 1 to encourage blooms for next year. So I'm focusing solely on Hydrangeas for this post. I piled a bunch of cuttings in a large glass bowl for display. They make an interesting mounded arrangement. I added the teacup to show the size of the ..read more

Top: 7/31 Bottom: 6/6 ..read more

At this time of year, the options seem endless for floral arrangements. It's such a dramatic contrast to midwinter; although the slim pickings of midwinter help me appreciate the plenty of July. The flowering annuals I started from seed are great companions to perennial offerings. In the arrangement at the start of this post, I used Hosta flowers at the top and back to help frame the collection. I don't know the variety; all Hostas in the garden were here when we moved in more than two decades ago, and they weren't marked. Also framing the arrangement are Glads (Gladiolus grandiflora h ..read more

The blossoms are lush on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. We've had plentiful rain and warm temperatures, and the plants are happy. Once again, I'm limiting coverage here to one area, since there are so many things blooming. Items in this post are found on the sunny side of the house, in and around the potager garden. The Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are plentiful and bright. False Sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) are blooming, budding, and brightening their space along the front porch railing. Meanwhile, other blooms are nearing their completion, but beautiful still ..read more

Here we are at the start of July, and the garden is full of choices for vases. Just on a whim, I toured around and grabbed elements that caught my eye. They're not necessarily elements I'd usually pot together, but they seem to work. The Lily hybrids (Lilium spp.) are beginning to bloom, including this magenta one that serves as an anchor for the arrangement. The ivory Lilies are great fillers, and oh so healthy. I added several foliage items. The mixed Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia spp.) are finished blooming for now, but the foliage is great for framing potted arrangements ..read more

I wish I'd known more about this Rose years ago. It's Rosa setigera, with the nicknames Climbing Prairie Rose, Illinois Rose, Climbing Wild Rose, and several others. While it's not technically native in my county, it's native two counties to the south and east, and it's now found often in S. Wisconsin. Its native range stretches from New York state in the northeast, west to Iowa and south to Texas. I purchased the Rose three years ago to climb on the backyard arbor. It wasn't happy with the drought last summer, but it continued to grow and is really coming into its own this year. Climbin ..read more

Many of the Roses are blooming at the same time this year! They do tend to begin blooming in early to mid-June most years, but generally on a more staggered schedule. I'm loving the deluge and the bounty, probably due to various weather factors. So, I put several in a bowl all together for happy viewing. The star in the middle is the hybrid tea Rose 'At Last,' which is so stunning, fragrant, and disease-resistant. The outer ring includes the prolific and beautiful Oso Easy Double Pink. Also, I included Fred's 'Sweet Mary,' my great-grandfather's hybrid. This Rose is particularly lo ..read more