Flower Gardener

When we think of flower arrangements and bouquets, we too often think of just perennial or annual flowers. There are, however, shrubs that can make great contributions to your bouquet or arrangement.

One such shrub is the hydrangea. Many different hydrangeas are on the market, but they all tend to have similar qualities. Whether the bloom is flat such as in the mop head hydrangeas (Hydreangea macrophylla), or elongated as in the oak leaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia), they are composed of many smaller flowers. Groups of individual flowers can be clipped apart, in a similar fashion to dividing a cauliflower head into florets. Additionally the flowers, when they dry, hold the same as color when picked, be that pink or blue in the case of the common hydrangeas, white in the oak leaf, and a dusty pink/beige color when the bloom has matured. So these flowers can be used from summer all the way through to fall, and the dried material throughout the winter too. This feature makes them a bonus for dried arrangements as well as fresh ones.

Childhood memories. There is nothing stronger. Remember the red and white decorated Valentine Box in your classroom with your name on it? Remember breaking and wishing on the turkey wishbone after Thanksgiving Dinner? Remember making May Baskets? Each spring, as I grew up, our class made May Baskets. When school was out for the afternoon during that first week of May, we carried our baskets home, trying to hide them from parents or siblings. Then we spent fun hours hanging them on neighborhood front doors. We would knock or ring the bell, then run and hide. It was so much fun to see the door open and our neighbor or family member find the little hand-done basket of flowers left just for them.

As our society grows further and further from daily communion with nature, it comforts me to see how words and phrases in our language still contain evidence of a time when we lived closer to the earth. They are proof positive that we, in large number, used to know plants, animals and weather like the back of our hands (hmmmm, have to look that one up next). What does this train of thought have to do with lilies? The other day, while thinking about this article, I ran across this phrase - "her reputation was lily white."

There is a notion among many gardeners, that herbs should be grown in a bed devoted to just herbs. The idea is possibly from growing culinary herbs close to the back door, so that the seasonings could be reached quickly. However, culinary herbs constitute only a small number of available herbs. There are many other lesser-known herbs that make great perennial plants.

Features that make a good perennial are many, and may vary dependant on who you ask, but good perennials have several characteristics in common. A major characteristic is how the plant behaves in the garden. A thug will run rampant through the perennial bed and smother anything along the way. A good perennial will stay in one place and grow without fuss. A good perennial will produce a flower for more than one week. Ideally the bloom will give one major flush of flowers, plus several further weeks of continuous bloom.

I imagine many of us begin to think of our plants as comrades in the winter months. Like a beloved pet, those not too large come indoors and spend more time with us. The cold is locked outside. The green brings life inside. And when the darkness comes and the drapes get closed the plants in that sunny window get to enjoy the warmth the house provides.

Recently, my daughter and I were spending time together talking. The subject went to gardening. She is just beginning to plan her first garden for her new family’s home, and she wants to include her children in the process. I understand completely, because I love it when she comes to our house and wants to stroll the yard to see how the flowers and vegetables are doing (even at the expense of many mosquito bites in the summer!). It is fun and deeply satisfying to share tomatoes, cucumbers, Daylilies, and Hydrangea bouquets with her. When I pull into her driveway, it makes me smile to see her pretty Impatiens and Marigolds planted neatly in a flower bed.

We who visit this site are primarily gardeners and farmers, people who care about the environment, and lovers of nature. If that is not fertile ground for great holiday gift giving, what is? We may even want to surprise an urban gal or guy with a garden gift that would change their life! After all, ‘tis the season. Santa just might hear what you want and surprise you too! So let’s make a list and check it...you know.

Autumn is here! So many things about that word bring vivid images to mind. Nippy, breezy weather. Colorful leaves. Homefires burning. Time spent in a cozy kitchen, watching twilight usher in a night fit for quilts. Even here in the Deep South, I love the fall more than any other season. Fall leads me into a time of thinking and planning.

Right now we are planning our winter garden. This past weekend was absolutely picture perfect and we got the broccoli planted. We prepared the soil and also “beefed” up the soil in all of our garden plots. We still have peppers growing and producing and my tomatoes are looking happier with the cool nights. Maybe, just maybe, they will give us some fruit! And so, sitting on the back porch this past Sunday afternoon, I wrote all of this in my garden journal.

In the first Flower Gardener column I wrote, I extolled the virtues of visiting and buying garden plantings from local nurseries. It is certainly a joy. But this time, let’s talk about the joy of sharing. In regard to plants, sharing is a favorite pastime here in the South. I imagine the same is true everywhere when people love the gardens they have made, and friends who visit ask, “What kind of flower is that?” The only natural response is, “Would you like a clipping to take home?”

Within walking distance from my home, along a busy but beautiful road, is a little piece of paradise. It is our local plant nursery, the oldest in town, crafted by a local family who loved their own garden so much it grew into a business. That was in the 1940’s, when the road was not busy at all, and the business still thrives. I am sure you can sense that this is not at all like the places we all see where one can almost feel the plants calling out for help, piled alongside a big box store and surrounded by asphalt and chain link. The entrance to this nursery is lined with huge and ancient Live Oak trees draping gracefully over the drive. The frontage area of lawn is replanted for each season. The signage is low key, woodsy and boasts “Since 1938.” It is a retreat. I go there a lot.