Posted on by Donna

A Bloom Day Bouquet for Mom

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“The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”  ~William Morris

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day is almost here, and I had a special post all set.  I was going to have my mom pick her favorite blooms, and highlight them for Bloom Day.  Instead she was unable to visit due to illness, so instead I spent time in the garden to find plants I think she would have enjoyed had she seen them.

So I am putting together a special bouquet of these flowers, and I hope you enjoy them.  Join Carol@ May Dreams Gardens on the 15th for other blooms around the globe.

 

Mother’s Bouquet starts with her favorite, gladiolus (pictured above).  These were planted last year, but with the drought they did not bloom.  Some bloomed as a surprise this year as they are not cold hardy.  Glads got their name from the Latin word “gladius,” meaning sword. They do look like a sword.  Glads Language of Flowers meaning deals with strength and moral integrity, as well as infatuation.  They are also the August birth flower.

 

 

 

 

Mom always loved lilies, especially Easter lilies so I want to share some of the best of the many that are in the garden this summer.  Lilies have been dated back to 1580 B.C. where they were part of ancient mythology.  The name comes from the Greek word “leiron,” which refers to the white Madonna lily that is revered by the Greeks. Lilies are the May birth flower which was new to me.

In the Language of Flowers, white lilies stand for chastity and virtue, and pink stargazer lilies represent wealth and prosperity.

 

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I don’t remember daylilies in our garden when I was a child, but I think my mom would love the many colors of these dazzling flowers.
The botanical name, Hemerocallis, comes from the Greek ‘hemera’ meaning ‘day’ and ‘kalles’ meaning ‘beauty’ referring to the flower lasting only one day.  Daylilies were brought to Europe from China via traders.  Daylilies have long been used as food and medicine in China and Japan, and by the Romans.

Daylilies are said to have found their way to our roadsides as they escaped from colonial gardens.  These are just a few of the many daylilies still blooming.

 

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I am also highlighting some outstanding foliage from the August garden that I think my mom would have loved.  I am joining with Pam@Digging for her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd.

 

 

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 I believe this is a Japanese Silver Grass.  It grows to over 6 feet off the pond.  I love the early morning light on the garden grasses.

 

 

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Northern Sea Oats has grown even bigger this year and is in full bloom already.

 

 

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 The baptisia is still looking great especially as the sun rises over the back garden.

 

 

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 I have really fallen in love with the feathery foliage of the bronze fennel.

 

 

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I promised to show the ‘Diablo’ ninebark in mid summer.  It still retains its color all summer long, and the berries have formed.  I had not seen many berries in years past, but there are lots this year.  I wonder who will be chowing down on these berries.

 

 

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The seed pods on the milkweeds are forming.  I am excited to collect them, spread them and share them.  Check out how you can donate extra milkweed seeds at Monarch Watch’s Bring Back the Monarch Campaign.

 

 

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“Ring the bells that still can ring,

Forget your perfect offering.

There’s a hole in everything,

That’s how the light comes through.”

– Leonard Cohen

 

 

 

Summer is waning and fall will be here soon.  I hope you will join me for Seasonal Celebrations starting September 1st.  Read more about it below.

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Come Join Us:

Seasonal Celebrations is a time for marking the change of seasons and what is happening in your part of the world during this time.  I hope you will join in by creating a post telling us how you celebrate this time of year whether summer or winter or something else.  Share your traditions, holidays, gardens and celebrations in pictures, poetry or words starting September 1st.

And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth and her Lessons Learned meme.  What lessons have you learned this past season of summer here in the North and winter in the South.  Then tell us about your wishes, desires and dreams for this new season.The rules are simple.  Just create a post that talks about lessons learned and/or seasonal celebrations.  If you are joining in for both memes please leave a comment on both our blog posts.  Or if you are choosing to join only one meme, leave a comment on that blog post.  Make sure to include a link with your comment.

Beth and I will do a summary post of our respective memes on the equinox (the 22nd of September).  And we will keep those posts linked on a page on our blog.  Your post should be linked in the weekend before the equinox to give us enough time to include your post in our summary.  And if you link in a bit late, never fear we will include it on the special blog page (which I still have to create).  The badges here can be used in your post.   So won’t you join in the celebration!!

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Next up on the blog:  I have an interesting Garden Book Review coming next Monday followed by a combined Simply The Best-Herbs and Wildflower Tales.  Hopefully in September I will find a bit more time to write additional post.  And September means Seasonal Celebrations and  a Blogiversary.

I am linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme.  It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.

I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. See my most current post now.  Most recent post is up.

As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2013.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.
 
 

 

 

78 Replies to “A Bloom Day Bouquet for Mom”

    1. I forgot where I planted them as many had disappeared. It was a joy to see them and they brought back fond memories. I know mom will be in her glory seeing these.

  2. Great round-up of what is happening in your garden in the middle of August (who can believe we’re already close to September). Thanks for joining in GBFD again, I’ll link back to this post when I write my post. I love the colour of ‘Diablo’; I have this too, mine tends to turn to a deep muddy green by mid summer.

    1. Ninebark is a native shrub here although ‘Diablo’ is a cultivar. I wonder if it has to do with rain and seasonal changes Christina.

      I think I was more enamored with the foliage in the garden recently, but the later blooms are beginning to show.

      Thanks for the link later this month.

  3. hope your mum is better soon, Donna. That first closeup photo of the gladiolus petals are amazing, a bit like a butterfly. I’m trying to imagine that Japanese Silver Grass growing 6 feet high! Like a jungle, and perfect cover for wildlife. I love the feathery foliage of the bronze fennel too – keep meaning to grow it, it grows wild all over the place here.

    1. She is doing so much better Catmint thank you for asking. When I saw this glad blooming I was transfixed and felt blessed it chose to bloom now.

      I will have a couple of pictures in the monthly wrap up at the beginning of September of the Japanese Grass. And how lucky to have bronze fennel growing wild. It is just starting to bloom here.

    1. Thank you Tina. She is feeling so much better and still hopes to visit soon if her health continues to improve and stabilize.

  5. Donna – glad to read in your comments that your mum is feeling a bit better. She’s going to love those blooms you’ve picked out.
    Diablo is a gorgeous plant. Always the expensive cultivar over here. They do well in my garden – I grow 3, useful shrubs but have never noticed berries before. It will be interesting to find out who will enjoy those berries.

    1. The berries have been sparse in years past Angie, but this year the shrubs were a mass of white flowers I think from all the rain and then warm weather. I’ll let you know what we see.

  6. Good to hear mom is doing better – I’m sure your beautiful bouquet helped! Thanks for the info on the Milkweed/Monarchs. Will try to do better in planting for them in years to come…

    1. Thanks Anna….flowers always do lift the spirits. I am hoping that some monarchs will emerge and make the trip South…maybe doing a little more to plant milkweed will help.

  7. Glad your mom is feeling better and hope she can visit you soon. Glad too for Glads. They are one of my favorite old fashioned flowers from when I was a kid. They spread the joy too.

    1. I had planted hardy glads but they did not show. Instead the annual ones did. So I will go back to planting bunches of annual glads again. I would miss them too much if I didn’t.

      Thanks for the well wishes too Donna!

  8. I hope you mom is feeling better, Donna. The bouquet you “picked” for her is lovely. Your foliage shots look great too, despite – or maybe because of – all the rain you’ve received.

    1. Kris welcome. I am so glad you enjoyed the bouquet. And I think you are correct that the rain has made the foliage splendid this year.

  9. Hi Donna, What a nice post. So sorry your mother was ill and I hope she is feeling better now. I like glads too. And stargazers, ooh la la! The fragrance! I love the special effects on your middle collage photos! By the way, hemerocallis are another favorite of mine. I like your spider, your center photo choice, your white, and your orange ones. Have a blessed day, Donna.

    1. Beth thank you for the kind wishes for my mom. She is better. The collages were fun to create, but choosing which daylilies would be pictured was hard as I have so many different ones. Glad you enjoyed the bouquet.

    1. Glad you liked the flowers Frances. I will see her hopefully for Thanksgiving which is in late November but unsure she can make a trip here much before next summer. Still hoping though.

  11. I love these flowers and I love your mosaics. I hope your mum feels better soon. I am going to check out some of the links that you mentioned. Especially the one that starts on Sept. 1. thanks for sharing them and for visiting my blog.

    1. I am pleased you visited and I hope you might join the Seasonal Celebrations meme that starts Sept 1. Enjoy your visit and come back anytime! 🙂

  12. You have chosen some beautiful flowers for your mother – hope she’s doing better now Donna. I really love the Northern Sea Oats. Lovely photos with the morning light.

    1. She is Cathy…thanks for asking. The Sea Oats have been outstanding this year, and I cannot take enough pictures of them. As they sway in the breeze it is as if a necklace is twirling.

  13. I can see we love many of the same plants: bronze fennel, milkweed, northern sea oats, Bapitisia. I also love lilies but I have to plant new ones this fall as the old ones died. A very lovely bouquet for mom! Hope she feels better.

    1. Indeed we do love many of the same plants especially those native ones…your gardens are an inspiration Jason. It is funny how we have to replant many lilies after a few years…here I think it is due to the voles or deer.

  14. I love the multi-color gladiolus in the first photo. Hope your mom feels better soon!

    Can’t believe it’s almost time for Seasonal Celebrations — summer is going fast. Will be sure to participate 🙂

  16. What a lovely idea and a wonderful tribute to your mom. So sorry to hear that she has been ill, and I hope she gets better soon. How nice that you still have Lilies! Mine (Asiatic and Daylilies) are all done. We hit a dry spell for a couple of weeks, so all the Hostas and Lilies petered out for the season. Love the Sea Oats! Happy (almost) Bloom Day!

    1. They are just finishing here Beth. I think they would have lasted longer but we just ended a 2 week dry spell although the temps were in the 70s which helped.

      Glad you enjoyed the post and bouquet!

  18. Don’t you have deer in your part? So, how do your daylilies survive? Ours do not even survive for a day — they go into the stomach of deers :-). What a lovely flower that gladilous (spelling mistake) is. Does it smell nice? Beautiful capture of all the images.

    1. Yes we have lots of deer here but they have left the garden virtually untouched so far. They love to munch on daylilies until they flower and once they do, they seem to leave them alone. I spray them and other plants weekly with Deer Out repellent. It does not have any chemicals and no pepper so it just leaves a bad taste in their mouth or they don’t like the bad smell.

      I spray it more often if we have a lot of rain. The deer seemed to be tending their babes right now although we have rarely seen them.

      As for the gladiolus, I have never smelled them but I will have to let you know. I do know the hummingbirds love the nectar.

    1. So glad you enjoyed the collages and effects Jennifer…mom is resting and mending. Too bad she is so far away or I would bring her flowers to enjoy.

  21. Beautiful flowers, Donna! I miss seeing mine.
    I just read an article today that stated the Monarch Butterfly population is greatly diminished. That really worried me. We have lots of milkweed, but as of the time I left for Hartford, I haven’t seen a Monarch. The article was in the Boston Globe – the Boston monarch butterfly garden has only seen a couple of them this year.

    xo
    Claudlia

    1. I have only seen one here…it is greatly concerning Claudia as I usually see so many. Starting last year we saw a handful and no caterpillars due to the severe drought. Then this year with all the flooding and other issues we have seen one. It is a serious issue that is endemic of the environmental and human issues that are severely limiting these stunning beauties.

      I hope my flowers gave you a bit of a pick me up until you see yours again.

  22. Stunning images!!! I remember when I was first married and had nothing in the line of decorating our Christmas Tree…I went out and collected milkweed, sprayed them with silver spray paint and added glitter to the inside of the open pod!! It really made a dazzling tree that year!!!

  23. Lovely flowers! I wish I had some milkweed growing here. I have not seen a single Monarch in my yard this year. Usually I see some around my butterfly bushes. Thanks sharing your beautiful gardens and flowers. Have a happy week!

    1. Eileen there are some wonderful milkweeds for any kind of garden you can grow and the monarchs would love it. We have had one this year. Very sad.

    1. Thank you Michelle. She is better but is still having some side effects from her hospital stay. Hoping we can get her strong again.

  26. Beautiful photos. I love baptisia and I meant to plant it this year, but didn’t. It’s on the top of my list for spring. I have a lot of milkweed going to seed, but haven’t had a single Monarch this season… 🙁

    1. Baptisia is a strong plant once it gets going…even my voles can’t kill it and they have tried. To hear so many others have not seen any monarchs is very upsetting…so sad for these lovely critters.

  28. Mom is a lucky mother, I am sure she will get well soon with those beautiful blooms. And your foliage are lovely too, plus this is my first time to see the pod of milkweed. Maybe nobody thought it is lovely, but i sure do love it specially that photo. By the way do caladiums pass as foliage for the Foliage Follow-up? I haven’t joined it.

    1. I love the pod of the milkweed and it is highly prized by many for its decorative ideas. Many will pick and decorate them or decorate with them. I think that foliage is perfect Andrea…your tropical foliage of any kind would be perfect! Join right in!

  29. Hi Donna! Lovely post! You have outdone yourself with those beautiful morning shots of the grasses and baptisia! The glads and lilies are also beautiful and I love lilies too. I have some pretty ones this year. Thank you for sharing the photos of the flowers your mom would choose, I think it is a nice way of showing you are thinking of her!

    1. How sweet your comment….I am trying to send my mom happy, healing thoughts as she continues to heal. I am pleased you enjoyed the pictures of morning light on the garden.

    1. Thanks so much Karen…I am hoping she comes this fall but her healing is taking much longer so I may have to wait until spring….I can wait knowing she will be stronger.

    1. Lee I love your blog and thought I was following and wasn’t…I am now. Thank you for your lovely comment! Happy GBBD!

    1. I cannot wait for her to see these blooms in person. I hope when she does visit it is for a couple months…she needs time in a healing garden.

  33. Sorry your Mom wasn’t feeling well. I hope she’s better by now and wish her a speedy recovery.

    These blooms are gorgeous. I’m sure she’ll be really happy with your picks. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

    1. Thank you Amy for visiting. I wanted you to know I love your blog and all those yummy recipes. I am pleased you enjoyed the flowers!

  34. What a lovely “bouquet” of flowers! I hope your mother is feeling better. Most of my daylilies have finished blooming, so it’s a treat to see all of yours. ‘Stargazer’ is my daughter’s favorite, and I love the white ones. Thanks for the link to the Monarch campaign; I’ll have to check that out. Happy Bloom Day!

    1. Wonderful Rose. I hope you might some good info at that link. And I am so happy I could bring a few daylilies to you again. It has been a wonderful Bloom Day! Happy GBBD to you too!

  35. Hi Donna,

    Lovely blooms!

    I don’t have any Gladiolus left in the garden, but I am tempted to get some when I move. Especially as there’s such a wide variety now I’m sure there will be some I love!

  36. Your flowers are lovely, I have a couple of Glads blooming now, but no bicolor ones. My daylilies are over. It’s strange, east coast deer eat daylilies but west coast ones where I live do not. But they go after roses, I grow them all behind wire except Rugosas which they don’t bother. They nipped my Baptisia again, I’m wondering if I will ever see it bloom. I tried to grow some milkweeds from seed but they didn’t make it through the first winter, now I bought a plant which hopefully will do better, though it is rather small. Monarchs don’t range here though. The lilies that did best for me were Mediterranee but after making a big clump one year they just didn’t come back. Trumpet lilies have been the best for returning for me.

    1. Deer eat my roses but not the baptisia. Funny how they get a taste for something and don’t let it go. So many lovely lilies to choose from these days. But I notice many do not return here as well.

      So glad you enjoyed the post Hannah!

  37. Can’t believe you still have so many daylilies in bloom! Gorgeous. Ah, northern summer gardens!… I do love northern sea oats when backlit. And if you’d like to blow a few milkweed seeds a few hundred miles south, my garden is ready to receive them 🙂 I saw no monarchs in the garden this year. A fall project will be to remove some shrubs and vegetation that have little wildlife or aesthetic value (e.g., massive junipers) and replace them with perennials for birds and bees and butterflies…

    1. Sheila so glad to give you a bit of the northern garden. I hope to harvest butterfly weed, swamp milkweed and common milkweed soon. Happy to send some seed your way.

  39. Ah yes, I love those grasses too — sea oats and silver grass. I have the variegated silver grass, which grows well here in part shade and really brightens it up.

    1. They are essential here for winter interest in all our snow so they brighten up the garden all year…glad you enjoyed the foliage and thanks again for hosting Pam.

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