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In a Vase on Monday 7.13.20

Jul13

7855C079-1667-4D01-AEE0-F9C2F8C52B9CSelf seeded sunflowers were planted the year my daughter married. She asked me to grow sunflowers for her. It was a magnificent season, the garden burst with lemon, yellow and maroon sunflowers from July through September. I let them grow and leave them for the birds now. Every summer I am delighted again and send photos to my daughter. A legacy of love.

Shasta Daisy was planted three years ago and is happy in the corner spot of the garden. I like the way the white and yellow petals balance  each other .

Tricolor Salvia is a favorite of mine in bouquets. It is subtle but adds color and shape to the mix.

Mint fills the room with its aroma and gives the house a pleasant undertone.

Purple Clover, Meadow  Daisy, and Black Eyed Susan all perennial flowers returning every summer to dance in the field with the wind.

#inavaseonmonday

#2020GardenBuddies

In a Vase on Monday 7.3.17

Jul3

Flower songs in my vase this morning…

This land is my land, no one can stop me as I go walking the Freedom highway, this land was made for you and me.  

I carry that hope and believe we shall come together to wield the hammer of Justice, ring out the bell of freedom, and sing songs about love all over this land. 

Fourth day of July sun so hot, clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky….from sea to shining sea, 

Please say a prayer, it’s Independence Day.

Seeking beauty and turning toward joy is a choice. Red, white and blue flowers–sweet William, larkspur, Daisy, radish flower, borage flower and zinnia sitting on the old hay rake.  

Gathering the cut hay with the antique equipment was an adventure.  It was a two person job, one on the tractor, the other riding the rake.  And truely dangerous.  The rake could uncouple or hit ledge and you could end up rolling down the hill backward on a hay rake–no brakes, but the tines would slow it all down eventually.  


The overhead view balancing between the framework.  The larkspur is from early starts from saved seed.  The self sowing larkspur hasn’t flowered yet.  

As I prepare my offering for Rambling in the Garden weekly gathering of vases, I’ve been thinking how hard it is to set aside the time to be in front of a screen, when I’d rather be outside with Harry in the garden.  

The reason for the blog still motivates me.  I want to share my summer of growing flowers and food with my family and we are so far flung–scattered all about.  

With gratitude, with love, with joy.

Not Fade Away…

In a Vase on Monday 6.19.17

Jun20

For this weeks vase, I have my first Zowie Zinnias, Shasta daisy, Harry’s roses, and Colorado yarrow leaves placed next to Nana’s garden cherub.  She was one of my flower garden teachers.  She taught me to put a nail in the ground next to the hydrangea so it will turn blue. She said always plant cosmos because they are easy to grow and have lovely color.


The Zowie zinnia are new to me.  They are a winter flower catalog seed dream and so far I am saying wowie zowie what a zinnia. Harry prefers a more traditional zinnia palette, but I am easily swayed by seed catalog descriptions and fancy photos.

Harry’s roses will bloom until the end of fall.  They have a heady aroma and Harry will harvest the rose hips for winter tea.

I planted the Colorado yarrow when my son was there for school.  It will have a rosy flower when it blooms.  The ferniness of the foliage appeals to me.

“I’ll give you a daisy a day dear, I’ll give you a daisy a day. I’ll love you until all the rivers run still and the four winds we know blow away.” (Jud Strunk)

It’s a daisy kind of flower power love.  Can you dig it?

The top view is taken out by Harry’s nettle patch. 


Take a flower journey over at the Rambling in the Garden blog. It is my motivation for my Monday vases. 

In a Vase on Monday 5.29.30

May29

Lilacs have arrived! Just in time to join the only tulips of the spring and one last apple blossom. Oh the sweetness! I bury my face in the lilacs, breath deep and am infused with the heady essence. Lilacs are one of my oldest and dearest fragrance memories.


As a young child I gathered lilacs to make flower crowns to dance with my fairy folk friends in an imaginary land I would visit. 

I would sing “Let’s go dancing with the fairies wearing lilacs, pretty lilacs, lilacs in my hair.”   There was twirling and magic fairy dust involved.  It was an enchanted time for me. 

Over 50 years later, I hum that very same song to myself as I gather lilacs. If I am inspired to twirl a bit as I take in the deep lilac magic aroma, I sometimes spy in the corners of the whirl, my fairy friends calling me to place the lilacs in my hair again and join them.


The top view of my offering for In a Vase on Monday, a delightful weekly blog.  I super enjoy viewing all of the arrangements and variety. 

In a vase on Monday 5.15.17

May15

This vase started with a flowering grass bouquet Harry brought me in from the yard during the Mothers Day drenching!  We marveled at the soft purple tint of the seed head and its determination to regenerate.  The Sorbet and Penny pansies with Durango marigold looked so sweet that I put them in the vase too.  The vase is a little shot glass we use for tiny blooms and bouquets.  Deadheading pansies and marigolds is a regular task now. It’s a joy for this Deadhead mama, just “skimming through rays of violets” in my “sunshine daydream.”
And the view from the top:

II do enjoy preparing a weekly arrangement and post for In A Vase on Monday.  It’s a garden “meme” hosted by the Cathy at the Rambling in the Garden blog.  I look forward to the other blog posts and seeing their arrangements, flowers and reading about them. It’s my online garden club!

In a vase on Monday 5.8.17

May8

 I had to run outside early to gather the Nanking cherry blossoms before the general drizzle started up again.  They are a happy heartsong every spring. The wee little red maple leaf caught my eye on the way back to the house. It’s the last hurrah for Narcessi. The tiny yellow trumpet hiding in the center is super cunning to me. I call the others my frilly daffy down dilly.  Durango marigolds and Sorbet pansies in the window box.


The Nanking cherry bush in full spring glory. When the blossoms cover the ground they look like pretty pink snowflakes.  I also cut early branches and bring them inside to extend their flowering season. It’s been here since 2002, another FEDCO addition to the landscape.

Mamma Maple setting out her flowers. The trees are waking up and showing soft color before going green. The sickle bar mower has been parked for a couple of years now. 

A full vase of sweet frilly daffy downdillies I picked for the supper table on Friday. 

The new growth on the cactus has been amazing to watch. 

I’m posting “In a vase on Monday” with other garden bloggers on Rambling in the Garden. Check out the variety of colors, textures and glorious presentations. 

What shall we say? Shall we call it by a name?  Let it grow!

In a vase on Monday 5.1.17

May1

It is certainly daffodil time on The Hill. Daffodils are a joy to me. I find them cheerful. The fields start greening up and the daffodils pop out in glorious shades of yellow.  I started with a bag of FEDCO daffodil bulbs I picked up at Common Ground Fair in 2001 and now have a number of daffodil clumps on garden edges and around the yard.  I like to look out the window and see daffodils.

But look, look quick– the old grand maple behind the house is waking up too!  Welcome to May sweet Mamma Maple.  I’m so glad to see you.

The flowering marigold in the window box is a Durango marigold from Johnny’s Selected Seed  It’s my first time growing marigolds for containers. They are one of the main container garden flowers for the Green Love Renaissance garden and are supposed to be edible as well.  

I’m thinking of creating a Green Love container salad for the Court of Cannabia. The plants for the salad could include a Garden Peach tomato from my saved seed, Durango marigold and Sorbet pansies.  I’m on search for beautiful lettuces that grow well in containers now.

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden blog for her weekly blog call for “Flowers in a Vase” every Monday. I look forward to looking through all the posted flower vases on Mondays. 

In a vase on Monday

Apr24

Pansies are blooming in a wide variety of colors and sizes.  I have Majestic Giant, Sorbet and Penny from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. And do you spy the first calendula bloom? 

I’ve been inspired by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden blog.  She hosts a weekly gathering of “Flowers in a Vase” every Monday.

“I sing you songs of the rainbows and whisper of the joy that is mine.”