A request for California Poppies came today. I’d say I’m pretty lucky that a few small ones were blooming because poppies prefer cooler weather. Some poppies, like Iceland poppies can last a week once cut and brought inside, while California Poppies and Shirley Poppies are two varieties I grow that have a short vase life of only 3ish days. Although each individual flower doesn’t last long, they have several flowers per stem so as one flower finishes another will bloom in its place so you can be lucky to get a week of vase life from these pretty poppies.
Since I don’t ever cut and use these in design work, it was a treat to include them in the arrangement along with other flowers that do last well in the vase, including my favorite lisianthus. I always wish I would have planted more lisianthus come July, which is exactly what I thought today as I harvested them.
Purples and pinks with some whites and some greens
Summertime flowers from the abundance of the garden + a few from the store
Why do my pictures of this arrangement look so much brighter and warmer-toned than in real life?! I’m not a photographer so I need your help to figure out what I should do differently.
My biggest thought is that I should wait for some natural light, but with youngsters, who has time during the day? Plus my friend was awake at 9:30pm so I was able to run them over fresh to her!
These are half flowers I’ve grown and half purchased flowers. What a great mix, in my own humble opinion.
Spring flowers, with a hint of some flowers that will soon be blooming in my own yard. I’m ready for roses and sweet peas. They look stunning with all the other spring beauties.
I think I love the miniature single daffodils more than the big fluffy doubles. And then, I see the doubles and I can’t resist the layer upon layer upon layer of gorgeous petals. Then I hear the birds chirping and I’m officially in heaven. 🐦
I have to know… which is your favorite?
It’s time to think about winter sowing your cold-hardy plants. Cold-hardy plants include things like Iceland poppies, campanula, snapdragons, pansies, sweet peas, and many more.
Cold-hardy plants do best when planted in the fall with enough time to get established before winter. The second best time to plant them is as soon as the ground can be worked.
I love winter sowing into milk jugs (or other containers) for its speed, ease, and low cost. You’re only paying for the seed starting mix and your seeds with your container being recycled. You save time by putting your soil into one big container (with holes in the bottom) and placing all your seeds into it. With sweet peas, you make sure they’re covered with a half inch of soil, make sure they’re well watered, and make sure they don’t get light until they’re sprouted. You can keep them outside and in a couple of weeks to a month you’ll have some sweet peas ready to transplant.
I have a blog post all about starting sweet peas that includes a break-down of three ways you can start them. Go to my website and give it a read to see which way will work best for you so that you can have these gorgeous sweet peas in your life! Good luck 🌱
You can get your seeds now for so many cold-hardy flowers at True Leaf Market, another local company.
#wintergardeningwithtrueleaf #localsupportinglocal @trueleafmarket #wintersowing
I got a green vase that I thought would just pop with the spring bulbs that will soon be blooming. When I saw it next to some extra flowers and a poinsettia plant from Christmas I just had to test it out. I think it is the perfect vase for both Christmas AND spring!
Did you know poinsettias can be used as cut flowers?! The trick is searing the ends with a flame (ie candle or lighter) so the white sap stops flowing. They are actually a long-lasting cut flower. But did you know the red “flower” is actually the plant leaves.
Poinsettias are such a cool plant and one of my favorite things about them is simply saying the name. Say it with me, “Poyn-set-tea-ya”. See, isn’t that fun?!
The flowers I had on hand:
Grevillea
Golden feverfew
Alstromeria
Poinsettia
and a single Mum…
