Gardening, I told myself, is the most sociable of hobbies. The very nature of one’s field of activities demands an audience. No one wants flowers to blush unseen or waste their sweetness. ~Barbara Cheney
I do not remember my garden being so predominantly purple in late spring, but when I turned around recently to look at what was blooming, there it was. Purple everywhere….irises, Tradescantia, hardy geraniums, clematis, lupines, Baptisia, salvia. All blooming at once with a bit of orange, yellow and white here and there.
Of course balancing out the purple is the green. Green in every shade filling in every space of the garden and lots of it weeds still looking to be pulled. So I thought what better way to show off what is blooming, than to cut the abundance of purple blooms and make several vases to share. I was surprised it only took me about a half hour to cut and arrange several vases.
I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful meme, In a Vase on Monday where we are challenged to make vases from what is growing in our garden weekly. And as this is the 15th of each month, I am joining Carol@May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
The incredible numbers of irises this spring was a joy. Some came and went quickly especially the bearded irises that did not like the hot, then cold and then hot, wet weather. But many of the Siberian irises and other unnamed irises were wonderful as they lasted for days in the vase. Here and in the picture a the top of the post you can see a couple of iris with Baptisia. I have purple, yellow and bicolor Baptisia, ‘Starlite’ Prairieblues, that also lasted long in the vase.
Ox-eye daisy seems to seed all over from the meadow where it grows prolifically. And it is wonderful in a vase as it is long-lived. Here I plunked it in a vase with purple chive flowers and Korean lilac ‘Miss Kim’. I was going to arrange this more, but liked the way it looked.
And in this small vase is an unnamed iris, salvia, Ajuga flower and clematis ‘Bell of Woking’. Sorry I don’t have specific varieties for these flowers.
The peonies started to just bloom. Mine seemed to bloom later than others around me. I think that is because mine are not in full sun. This fragrant pink bloom looked perfect with just a bit of Baptisia. And the roses began to flower too. The first to bloom is this ‘Rainbow Knockout Rose’. I love the pink, peach and yellow of the flower. I can’t get over how well it is blooming this year. The purple flower with it is Field Scabious or Knautia arvensis. It seeds around adding color everywhere.
You can bet that with the peonies beginning to open I will have more vases starring their blooms next week, as they don’t last long in the torrential rain we have been having of late.
I am joining in with a couple additional memes this week as I prepare these vases: Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles and Judith@Lavender Cottage who hosts Mosaic Monday.
And don’t forget it is National Pollinator Week. You can find an event in so many spots or create your own. I hope to get some great shots of native pollinators to feature later. Don’t forget that pollinators include bees, birds, butterflies and bats.
Big pollinator favorites in my garden now are Baptisia, salvia and chive flowers.
Are you seeing lots of pollinators in your garden? Do you do anything special to attract pollinators?
As I feel summer’s call, and celebrate this new season, I hope you will join in the celebration. I welcome those Down Under who will be celebrating the coming of winter to join in too.
All you have to do is write a post between now and June 21st 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 22nd.
I do hope you will consider joining in the Seasonal Celebrations meme as we celebrate the new season in your corner of the world.
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Next up on the blog:
Monday, I will have another vase. And the Seasonal Celebrations round up will be next Wednesday, giving you a few more days 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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