Currently viewing the tag: "flowers"

“Helping You Find Plants That Work”

by Ana Morlier

Display the Season With an Autumn Bouquet

The season of pumpkin spice, REASONABLE temperatures, corn mazes, and hot drinks is upon us. It’s finally September, folks! Aside from all of the fun activities and tasty food available in the fall season, the Catoctin Mountains have one of the best views of the color-changing trees. Even with the plants slowly transitioning away from the vibrant emerald colors of summer, we can still look forward to the warm saturation of leaves and flowers.

While taking in the beauty of fall is delightful, sharing the charm of autumn fauna will give you more warmth than any pumpkin spice latte can. Give from your heart—and your harvest! Gift someone a bouquet made out of the flora and fauna listed below. Plants like hellebores, hostas, mums, asters, hydrangeas, daisies, and chrysanthemums grow back again and again. If you do not have any of the plants suggested below, just stick to the basics and use whatever you have available. Your bouquet will still look fabulous!

Bouquet Basics

Choose flowers that are either complementary colors (ex: yellow/purple, red/green) to each other or are generally the same hue.

Extend the life of your bouquet with water and treatment. You can find floral food packets in most grocery stores near the plant and bouquet section. Jill Brooke of Flower Power Daily even recommends Sprite or Clorox! Her secret recipe is: “1 quart water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of bleach.”

Recut the stems at a slant every other day so that the flowers can absorb adequate amounts of water.

Finally, place your bouquet out of the sunlight in a cool, dry place.

Making Your Bouquet

Start your bouquet with twigs and other sturdy, woody materials as a frame, placing them around the circumference of the vase. These do not have to be a uniform length, just as long they are one to two times the height of the vase.

Integrate greenery, such as leaves (myrtle, eucalyptus, etc.), ferns (shield, leatherleaf, cinnamon), ivy, twigs, and grass, into the bouquet, filling in the empty space exposed in the frame.

Add “foundation flowers” or flowers with hefty blooms that are cut short enough to cover the negative space and lip of the vase. Some examples include hyacinths, small clippings of azaleas, Autumn Joy stonecrop, yarrow, phlox, etc.).

Now insert the flowers that are the stars of your bouquet. These may include dahlias, lilies, chrysanthemums, black-eyed susans, coneflowers, helenium, and/or whatever you want to show off!

Finally, add flowers that have weaker stems to fill in any leftover gaps.

And, there you have it! A beautiful, meaningful bouquet. Who knows, maybe you’ll get a bouquet as well!

Have an amazing autumn, everyone!

From: FTD by Design, Clever, BON APPÉTIT, Maryland Grown Flowers, Meredith Swinehart (Gardenista), Veranda, We Love Florists, Caroline Bologna (HuffPost),Jill Brooke (Flower Power Daily), and The Gardening Dad.

My own novice bouquet is made out of ferns, pampas grass, marigolds, azaleas and a dahlia.

Misunderstood but Beautiful

Christine Schoenemann (Maccabee)

In a very real way, flowers are a lot like people. Fragile, they are born vulnerable, and if fortunate to receive the proper care, will thrive and bear much goodness. However, many people, like flowers, are misunderstood. Some of us are late bloomers and get cut down while struggling to grow, while others of us may express ourselves in the wrong way, or the wrong place, and are criticized.

True, it is about the world of plants and flowers that I mostly write, but the connection between humans and the natural world being what it is—ever constant and essential—is often times impossible to separate the two. Many of our greatest writers and teachers refer to nature, recognizing the wisdom that is to be gained if we but open our hearts and our minds to it. Many of these people have been misunderstood as well.

Four of my very favorite wildflowers are the lavender bergamot, rarely seen anymore due to mowing; the shy blue chicory; the wild asters, of which I have four species on my property; and the tall rarely seen white and yellow wild sweet clovers (which look nothing like clovers, but are in that family). Both chicory and bergamot are blooming profusely right now here at my Mystic Meadows, and I can never see them enough. The wild bergamot has cross-pollinated with its relative, the gorgeous red monarda, creating two new shades of purple and maroon. I am blown away by their beauty and their usefulness. Standing very still by each large cluster of flowers, which are shoulder high, the hundreds of flowers seem literally in motion with the activity of hummingbird, moths, various butterflies, and bumble bees—large and small. Of course, even a hummingbird cruises by for a nip on the way to its favorite mimosa tree. Sadly, I see very few honey bees this year.

Chicory is the most tenacious wildflower I know. It tends to grow right up against the country roads people drive down in their early morning rush to work or school, gracing our journeys with their joyful blue color, brightening our moods if we but see them. Even when mowed down, they grow right back, undeterred. If permitted, they will bloom right through the summer into fall, providing nectar for bees and, later, essential seeds for small birds like finch. They usually close their blue petals during the heat of the day, and so are seen as ugly by most people as they have tiny leaves and look spindly when their petals are closed. But oh, when the day is cooler and the flowers are open, behold the powdery blue profusion!

Wild asters spend the entire summer growing slowly into tall, elegant plants full of elongated leaves. There are four varieties which I grow throughout my gardens, and the reward for my patience is a glorious, end-of-summer show of tiny, daisy-like flowers, a final burst of white and purple beauty which goes well into the fall. These plants, besides being a welcome source of inspiration for me before the long, cold days of winter, serve as essential nectar and pollen for our bees. Without these wildflowers, the bees could easily starve in their hives. Goldenrod, which I will write about in a sequel to this article, is also significant for bees, and even butterflies, to stave off starvation. It is and has been mostly misunderstood as well.

Many years ago, I was enjoying the beauty of my back road where, unfortunately, the white and yellow wild sweet clovers were growing embarrassingly close to the road. They are somewhat guilty of looking gangly, like some people I know, and were very tall. I knew they would eventually be mowed, so I decided to cut them with more care by myself. So, I went home and came back, laden with an arsenal of cutting tools, only to loose my resolve when I put the blade to their stalks. I thought to myself, What is more important, the flowers or the road? I had observed very few of these particular flowers being permitted to grow anywhere, so I put down my weapons and joined the ranks of the misunderstood. After that day, they moved themselves to a safer place. They now grow, undisturbed, in various spots on my property. Plants come to me that way, and I welcome them with open arms!

I love the late bloomers and the misunderstood ones, be they human or flower. Perhaps our biggest challenge in life is to embrace these ones, to accept them as amazing creations on this miraculous planet, which is full to bursting with diversity. I leave you with an ancient Indian quotation I love that reflects the awesomeness of it all: “Flowers are the footprints of the dancing steps of God.”

Now, off I go to enjoy the rest of this glorious summer!

Christine is a Master Naturalist in the State of Maryland. She welcomes any questions and feedback at songbirdschant@gmail.org.