joene's garden » Queen Anne’s lace http://www.joenesgarden.com Gardening thoughtfully in south-central Connecticut Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:05:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Focus on Flowers: Mid-summer bouquets http://www.joenesgarden.com/2009/07/27/focus-on-flowers-mid-summer-bouquets/ http://www.joenesgarden.com/2009/07/27/focus-on-flowers-mid-summer-bouquets/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:27:48 +0000 joenesgarden http://www.joenesgarden.com/2009/07/focus-on-flowers-mid-summer-bouquets/
mid-summer bouquet 7-09
Bring mid-summer's bountiful blossoms indoors to take full advantage of their unique scents and beauty.  With the exception of the orange gerbera daisy focused at the center of the flower arrangement here (it came as a visitor's gift – my gerberas are pink), all the greens and blossoms came from my gardens.  Hosta leaves provide the base structure of this bouquet. Use three or five, depending on the size of your vase.  Perennial sweet pea vines and blossoms fill center space in this vase and their wayward growth and tendrils help hold heavier, straight-stem flowers, such as the lilies, upright in a vase.  White, round blossoms of Queen Anne's lace pick up the white variegation of the hosta leaves and the white centers of the lily blossoms, and give the whole bouquet an airy feel.  The dark sweet-pea flowers help highlight the lighter pink lilies, while the lighter pink sweet peas match and balance the lily color.  Blue anise hyssop blossoms contrast the vibrant orange and pink of the other blossoms and make the brighter colors pop.

Mid-summer bouquet close up 7-09
Flower arrangements such as this one need only take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.  Choose your vase and its intended location.  Take a bucket of cool water outside and with a good sharp knife slice the blossoms and greens you want to use.  As you walk through your gardens, choose the blossoms you want to build around, then cut the supporting cast as you wander.  Generally try to cut an uneven number of the lead blossoms – note three lilies in the bouquet above – as well as uneven numbers of support greens and flowers.  Be daring.  Choose flowers with different shapes, colors, sizes – a pink gerbera in the center of the arrangement above would not have been as dramatic.  Not feeling dramatic?  That's okay too … a pink or white gerbera would have easily blended into this bouquet.

hydrangea bouquet 7-09
When time is limited, one of the easiest summer table arrangements can be created by five hosta leaves and three large hydrangea blossoms as in the photo here.  Use a short vase.  Cut the hosta stems so the base of the leaves sit on the rim of the vase. Place the hostas in the vase so they edge the entire rim – the stems will criss-cross in the vase.  Cut the hydrangea stems so the lower portion of the blossoms will rest on the hosta leaves.  Ten minutes, tops, gives you a simple, beautiful, and dramatic display.

You can also create simple, beautiful flower arrangements with fresh cut flowers from a local farm stand (search BuyCTGrown for those near you)  Simply use greens cut from your own bushes and perennials as your supporting cast.

Related posts:
Bloom Day – July 2009

Categories: Focus on Flowers.
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