“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in-what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” ~Victor Hugo
With so much rain and daytime temps hovering between 75-80 degrees, the flowers are putting on a show. And the peonies especially are lovely this year, although you have to grab them before the torrential rains make mush out of them.
So instead of doing my Seasonal Celebrations wrap up today, I am postponing it until Wednesday so I can highlight many of the vases I have made the past couple of days. The summer solstice has heralded the start of summer, but it really seems to have been in full swing in many areas for a while already.
There were so many buds on the peonies, that when I cut flowers, I had to take some buds too, but we will see if they open inside eventually. None of my peonies have labels, but these are fragrant except for the single pink peony at the top of the arrangement. I used allium, Knautia macedonica, and the foliage from Houttuynia a lovely groundcover, but a mistake where I planted it. So if I am pulling it why not use it. And it has a wonderful burgundy edge to complement the deep rose-pink peonies.
Another peony vase was a bit tricky to put together. This wooden vase is a favorite for dried or silk flowers, but I wanted to try fresh picked flowers in it. I could not find my square vase (until after I made the arrangement of course), so I used 2 jars that did not sit flat in the wooden vase.
I cut more of the fragrant peonies to fill the jars. Then I filled in the rest of the arrangement with Sweet William, white Bellflowers (Campanula alliariifolia), pink astilbe and the yellow flowers of a “weed”, Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), that has taken over a section of my garden. I have trouble pulling it because it is so lovely, but it is too aggressive so it is coming out. It indicates low fertile soil so we will add some compost to the area once we pull the Trefoil.
In this next vase is a pink, unscented peony with a beautiful long-lasting flower.
My Arancus dioicus or Goatsbeard is in full bloom, and I thought it would make a great backdrop to the peonies. Much like a feather boa, I love this plant in flower. And I wanted to add Lady’s Mantle, Alchemilla mollis, which is flowering now as the lime green makes a beautiful bed for the pink flowers.
This was a surprise vase because I had not expected to find another bearded iris blooming. I love the color of this iris, but it doesn’t flower much because it needs to be weeded and moved. But I didn’t want to miss this bloom so cutting it, and bringing it in was the ticket.
I added one fragrant cream and shell pink peony, Knautia arvensis, Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’, a wonderful plum-colored sage and more of the Lady’s Mantle. I have to keep an eye on Lady’s Mantle as it likes to dominate some shade areas. I really think this turned out to be a stunning vase.
And finally, this little vase features new blooms now starting: Astrantia major and lavender flowers. The little yellow flowers are unidentified so far. They are not love-lived when picked but such a beautiful pastel yellow.
Roses are beginning to bloom along with other clematis and hydrangeas so these will find their way into a vase soon.
I am joining in with a few memes this week as I prepare these vases: Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful meme, In a Vase on Monday, Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles and Judith@Lavender Cottage who hosts Mosaic Monday.
Please join me for Seasonal Celebrations, a way to celebrate the new season. I welcome those Down Under who will be celebrating the coming of winter to join in too.
You have until June 23rd to write a post telling me how you are celebrating the new season. Then leave a comment on this post with your link so I can include your link in my summary post on June 24th.
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Next up on the blog:
Wednesday will be the wrap up of the Seasonal Celebrations posts linked in by bloggers from around the world celebrating the changing of the seasons. There is still time to join in.
I am linking in with Michelle for her Nature Notes meme at her blog Rambling Woods. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every week.
I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.
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