Easy beautiful flower bouquets from your own garden

By |2020-05-08T08:57:28-05:00May 8th, 2020|Articles, bloom, blooms, cut flowers, cutting garden, daffodils, daisies, day lilies, esperanza, favorite flowers, iris, irises, Mexican bush sage, monarda, vase|

If Covid-19 is keeping you at home, why not bring your garden in with you? Even if you only have a small yard, chances are you have everything you need to bring a beautiful, garden-fresh bouquet into your home.

You may think you need daisies or roses or other traditional cutting flowers to create a floral arrangement.  You don’t.  Have you thought about adding in lantana or salvia or branches from your shrubs?  Landscape shrubs with beautiful stems – whether they bloom or not – can stand alone or provide structure, color, and texture to a vase full of flowers.

I used to have a very small bed that I called the cutting garden.  In the spring it was full of bluebonnets, larkspur, gladiolas, clematis and roses.  Later, it was overflowing with orange cosmos, lion’s tail and zinnias.  But you don’t have to have a special cutting garden to cut flowers to bring inside.

When I wander outside to cut flowers for a vase, I walk through the entire garden. Nothing is off limits as I add pretty blooms to my bucket.  One of my favorite additions, the perennial, Esperanza, also commonly known as Yellow Bells, (Tecoma stans) adds a hot pop of color with an arching form and soft foliage in any kind of vase.  Since they bloom from late spring into fall, I always have something yellow with which to make an arrangement.  I also have several colors of lantana throughout the garden, so I never have a shortage of filler.

Don’t forget about your vegetable or herb garden plants, either.  Rosemary, parsley, sage and basil are regular additions to my vases.  They add beautiful foliage and make the house smell wonderful.  You might even forego a fruit or vegetable in favor of the beautiful bloom it produces.  I always let my artichokes bloom because I’m smitten with the flowers.  I just buy my artichokes at the grocery store.  Consider using the lovely blooms of okra or onions the next time you create a bouquet.

Landscape plants for floral arrangements

Indigo spires salvia
Yellow bells
Lion’s Tail
Mexican oregano
Salvia Greggii
Verbena
Pride of Barbados
Crape Myrtle
Lantana
Rosemary
Loropetalum
Japanese Quince
Abelia
Bi-color iris
Native grasses
Pentas
Ferns
Artemsia
Oleander

Almost anything in your garden can be worked into a bouquet.  Now that you’ve identified some of your own pretty garden flowers that you’d like to put into a vase, how do you start?

First, cut your flowers and foliage early or late in the day, when it’s cooler and their stems are firm and full of water.  In the heat of the day, flowers become dehydrated.  Take a bucket of water out into the garden with you, so you can drop them straight into the water after you’ve cut them.

Plants with multiple buds or bloom spikes, like Indigo or mystic spires salvias or larkspur, should have at least one bud open when you cut to ensure that the remainder will open once in your vase.  Flowers that grow on individual stems should be cut when fully open.

Use clean, sharp tools like a small kitchen knife or floral snips to cut delicate stems and pruners to cut woodier stalks. Don’t use scissors – they will crush the stem and prevent proper water intake.  Cut stems as long as possible to give yourself more options when putting together the arrangement.  You can always make them shorter later.  Make cuts at a 45-degree angle to allow as much space on the stem to drink in the water.  For woody stems, you can also split the bottom inch of the stem with a knife to increase their ability to take in more water.

Removing most of the leaves from the stems, particularly below the water level, encourages water absorption and keeps the vase from being too crowded.  It also helps retard bacterial growth that shortens the life of the flowers and makes the water smelly and cloudy.

Now it’s time to decide how you want to arrange the flowers and in which container they’ll look best.

Any water-tight vessel will work.  Small cream pitchers or mason jars work well with small, posy-style bouquets.  Tall, columnar vases look best with a few long stems or flowers or branches.  Galvanized buckets or ornamental watering cans pair nicely with a wild arrangement of more rustic flowers.  A vase that flares out at the top will allow arching stems to droop gracefully from the bouquet.  I sometimes tie raffia or other ribbon around the vase, and I’ve also added sliced lemons to line the inside of a glass vase.

Just as with planters, for most floral arrangements, you’ll want to include thrillers, spillers and fillers.  The height of your flowers should equal about one and a half times the height of the container.  Start by adding some stems of your filler – these could be foliage or more delicate or smaller-sized blooms.  Then add your focal point.  This could be a single bloom or 3 to 5 blooms, depending on the size of your vase.  (Using odd numbers of blooms will be most visually appealing.) These might be the largest or most unique blooms in your arrangement, and should be taller than the filler.  Then add your accents – smaller than your showstopper, in complementary colors and textures.  You can choose to go with a monochromatic collection of blooms, or vivid, contrasting colors.

I sometimes find it’s easier for me to “build” my arrangement in my hand, starting with the focal point and turning the collection with each addition and lowering the height of the stems as I work my way around.  There’s no right or wrong way; these are just tips to help you create a beautiful balanced arrangement.  You can also make dramatic, exotic asymmetrical bouquets, tightly combined cube or fishbowl vases, or floral foam arrangements for shorter centerpieces.

The best way to ensure you get the longest life out of your arrangement is to add a ready-made preservative like Floral Life.  These contain the right amounts of nutrition, cleanser and citric acid.  Change the water daily and remove spent blooms.  You can also cut the stems again to help lengthen bloom life.

Design definition and texture in new landscape garden bed

By |2020-04-28T16:38:11-05:00April 28th, 2020|2020 Garden, daisies, datura, erygnium, gomphrena, Iochroma, Lantana, rose campion, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|

I’m on a roll.  Gardening is good for the soul, and for the exercise and creative outlet it provides during this stressful time.  My free time is often spent surfing the web for the perfect plant since I’ve been avoiding nurseries.  As fast as they arrive in the mail, I’m expanding garden beds to contain them!

Since the move last summer, I’ve been lonely without my recommended daily allowance of blooms.

There were a handful of hastily pre-sale planted impatiens in the front of the house, but nary a flower anywhere else.  I couldn’t even make a tiny posey for my desk.

It was sad.

Having filled the new beds that I created along the dry creek, I decided I needed some more plants.

I turned to my winter sources, searching for my favorite plants online.  I’ve slowly been planting in front of the creek above of the sidewalk.  I’ve been digging out multiple 6-inch circles to plant individual plants, leaving the grass right beyond that!

Having filled the new beds that I created along the dry creek, I decided I needed some more plants.

I turned to my winter sources, searching for my favorite plants online.  I’ve slowly been planting in front of the creek above of the sidewalk.  I’ve been digging out multiple 6-inch circles to plant individual plants, leaving the grass right beyond that!

Last week, I finally got help to get the whole bed dug out with room for a lot more plants!

Here’s the before photo. When we moved in, there was little to no grass because of dense shade of over gown trees.

We pruned the trees heavily last summer and watered the grass, but this area is still a little shady, so it would be perfect for the part-shade and part-sun plants I love.

In the new bed I added salvia, rose campion, datura, daisies, lantana, gomphrena, iochroma, and eryngium. When the universe opens back up again, I’ll be in search of a very large turquoise pot to put on top of the large rocks at the top of the hill before the oak tree.

I can’t wait until all of these lovelies are in full bloom.  I’m hoping it will be a bouquet of color, texture and form every single day!

Mix colorful garden edibles into your landscape

By |2020-04-23T13:45:53-05:00April 23rd, 2020|artichoke, Articles, cabbage, edibles, Uncategorized, vegetables, veggies|

Want to expand the plant palette in your landscape but having trouble finding just the right plants?  Consider mixing edibles into your ornamental garden beds.  Many families are working on growing Victory gardens during this Covid-19 crisis.  Even if you don’t have a designated veggie garden, you can still start growing them.

For those with smaller gardens who want to grow their own food, working vegetables into the landscape makes the best use of precious space.  No longer relegated to huddle in a hidden corner of the yard, edibles can stake their claim throughout the garden and open up a whole new group of plants to help you spice up your ornamental landscape.

Edibles aren’t just for eating anymore.  They also add color, texture and scent to the garden. Spring is the perfect time to evaluate your needs and incorporate veggies and herbs into the landscape.  Unsightly holes left by annuals or perennials that didn’t survive the winter can be welcoming spaces for edibles if the conditions are right.  Just make sure the light and water needs match those of your existing perennials and evergreen plants.  Most vegetables want six hours of sun and need consistent moisture.  Many herbs are drought-tolerant and will thrive with less water.

One of my favorite plant color combinations is the chartreuse, burgundy and ice blue colors often used in the Pacific Northwest.  With far fewer burgundy choices in our climate, I was stumped trying to incorporate those colors into my Austin landscape.  I had loropetalum, non-invasive nandina, and black scallop ajuga in my garden, but wanted more burgundy options. So, I turned to the vegetable and herb section at my local independent nursery.  Purple ruffles basil, red acre cabbage and red Russian kale proved excellent choices to tuck in between my contrasting perennials.

Many edibles also provide interesting contrast by adding unique texture and form into the mix.  Artichokes, with their large, spiky leaves and brilliant lavender thistle-like blooms make stunning sculptural focal points.  Thick-veined and curly greens stand out when planted next to smaller, softer border plants like zexmenia, purple skullcap or damianita. Feathery dill plants give the garden a wispy element to include next to woody perennials.

Plant herbs among your ornamentals for the scent they bring to the garden.  Instead of hidden away in a vegetable bed, rosemary or lavender along a path will release its fragrance every time someone walks by.  You’ll enjoy spicy aroma of thyme if you plant it around stepping stones.

Adding vegetables and herbs into your ornamental beds will also attract more pollinators.  Scatter a few bronze fennel, parsley, thyme, and chive plants throughout the landscape to provide both food and habitat for pollinators.  Unlike pests that eat other herbs, when swallowtail caterpillars defoliate my parsley, I know I can soon look forward to watching the emerging butterflies flit around the garden.

If you have a deer, rabbit or other animal problem, working edibles into your plan may prove more challenging.  Critters know no boundaries when it comes to foraging.  Deer will stay away from many aromatic herbs and velvety or spiky plants like artichokes.  Animals also generally leave the onions, garlic, leeks and chives to us.  You’ll have to experiment to determine what works in your garden.

Some years I have bunnies inside the fenced back yard, and some years I don’t. Last year I discovered a nest of three fuzzy baby bunnies under the oversized artichoke plant inside my fenced vegetable garden.  Needless to say, I left them there where they grew up enough to enjoy my 15 newly planted strawberry transplants next to the artichoke.  I guess that’s the definition or gardening for wildlife.

Whether you want to eat them or look at them, including edibles in your ornamental landscape can be both filling and fulfilling.

Step into your garden to shake off stress

By |2020-04-21T15:22:57-05:00April 21st, 2020|Articles, Austin American Statesman, health, meditation, wellness|

There’s a lot going on right now, and I’m sure you’re looking for some stress relief, escape, and distraction.  Luckily, you only need to look as far as your yard for a place to meditate, exercise, and get your hands in some healing dirt. Studies demonstrate that spending time in a garden can improve our well-being – both physically and mentally.

Shake off the stress

Our lives have been upended.  Working and learning from home is stressful. The strain of uncertainty looms into the future.

According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association, spending time in nature reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and relieves muscle tension.  Being in the garden or completing mindless and soothing garden chores help us fight tension and reduce ‘attention fatigue.’  Studies show as little as 30 minutes of gardening a week can improve self-esteem, reduce anger and ease depression.  And, gardeners are more energetic and less anxious.

How often have  you complained about not having enough time? Now is the perfect time to restore balance and routine to your life.

Can’t go to the gym?

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), “Gardening is an excellent way to get physical activity. Active people are less likely than inactive people to be obese or have high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, depression, colon cancer, and premature death.”

The CDC recommends being active for at least 2 1/2 hours per week, and including cardio and muscle strengthening activities.  Gardeners are also more likely to exercise — about 40 minutes longer on average than those who walk or bike.  We know what that means – we set out to tackle one gardening chore, only to get sucked into pulling just a few more weeds or deadheading just a few more flowers.

Gardening can also help people who are recovering from physical illness by strengthening muscles and improving balance and coordination. Be sure to start out slowly if you aren’t used to this kind of activity and always check with your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you to undertake.

Design your own garden workout routine at home.  Gardening chores are excellent exercises and offer anything from soothing stretches to serious cardio. Did you know raking leaves for 30 minutes burns 225 calories – and provides weight training and tones all the major muscles groups in your body.  Choose your chore, from raking, pruning, digging or hauling bags of mulch.

While tackling all the oak sprouts popping up this spring, not only am I clearing out a bed, but whacking at them with the hoe releases pent-up anxiety and helps me achieve a sense of control and accomplishment.

Before you head out to garden, do some stretches to warm up and loosen your muscles.  Remember to bend and lift properly when you’re gardening. Be mindful not to twist while pulling hoses or reaching.

Practice mindfulness in the garden

If gardening isn’t your style, you can still find solace outdoors.  Take your phone or your computer outside and set up a space to meditate or follow online yoga.

Make a plate and eat your lunch outside and listen to the birds.

Now more than ever, we can seek hope and healing in nature.  Gardens inspire us. Beneath the surface of beautiful blooms and stunning structure lies a hidden gem that can also become a vital component of a healthy and balanced lifestyle at this difficult time.

Vision and creating a new garden or landscape bed

By |2020-03-31T14:32:47-05:00March 31st, 2020|Dianella, dry creek, Escondido Cove, maggie rose, Mediterranean, Mediterranean fan palm, new bed, new beds, rose, roses, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|

Starting a new garden is scary.  There.  I said it.  Whether you’re gardening in a completely different space, creating a new bed, or just revamping what you’ve got, it can be daunting.

All sorts of things clutter up my brain.  What’s the soil like here?  Will there really be enough sun in that spot?  What if I change my mind later or come up with a better plan?

Realistically, these are all the questions any time we go into the garden, aren’t they?

I’ve given myself some time to sit in this new space, observe it, think long and hard about what I really want and what will bring me joy.  (Thank you, Marie Kondo!)  I wanted new beds immediately.  But creating new beds is an investment and I didn’t want to be rash and then regret my choices later.

I made lists of plants I love – shade plants, sun plants – evergreens, perennials, annuals, bulbs.  NO vines!  Never again.

Go back through a few posts and you’ll see that our current yard, trees and house  are being eaten by not just ivy, but Asian Jasmine, English ivy, Virginia creeper and trumpet vine. And what wasn’t covered in vines, was eroding and lifeless.

Grass originally lived in this area, but the overgrown trees reached across the street and made this full shade spot too dark for healthy grass.

Following my own consulting/design advice, I started by evaluating my goals.  Then I looked at physical/site issues like sun and drainage.  I measured and sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil.

I’ve posted pics of the whole new bed, stretching from under a massive oak along a new dry creek and down to the other end of our property.

Making my list of most-loved plants, I knew that I wanted a rose.  One of the first things we did at the house was prune the lot full of overgrown trees.  That gave us some sunshine along the street, and conditions that I hope will be enough for a Maggie rose.

I had two of them behind the pool at the other house.  They loved the sun and I loved having them.  But it wasn’t the right place for them – I couldn’t ever reach them to prune or care for them.  So, I pulled them out.  But I missed them.

Now I’ve made a special spot for a Maggie in my new garden.

We’ll have to see if she gets enough sun there.

There are some more branches I can prune in the trees directly above if she needs a few more golden rays.  I’ll have to see what happens in the summer sun.

For now, she’s small and spindly.  I ordered her from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, so I know she’s a healthy plant.  She has some buds and I’m babying her for now. With the backdrop of a Mediterranean fan palm, variegated dianella and some neighboring trailing white lantana, I think she’ll be very happy there.

And I’m happy to have her.

Building beautiful borders in the garden

By |2020-03-31T07:19:41-05:00March 31st, 2020|Articles, bulbine, catmint, Daimianita, dwarf Katie ruellia, lyre leaf sage, skullcap, Swedish ivy, zexmenia|

Successful, well-designed and attractive landscapes include beds with layers of plants and a variety of shapes, textures and color.  Strategically placed anchor plants, evergreen foundation shrubs, medium-sized perennials, and small border plants, all work together to create a pretty palette.

But many gardeners ask, how do I know which plants to put where?  How do I select the correct size for my space?

Plants grow, and some of them grow a lot once they’re out of that tiny pot you bought and nestled in your lovely garden.  Planting too close together creates more work later as you struggle to prune all the time or are forced to remove plants to allow enough space for them all to thrive.  Believe nursery tags and nursery staff and follow the guidelines in your research.

The plants in the front of your layered beds will be ground covers or border plants.  For most gardens, these plants typically don’t get much bigger than about 18” tall.  There are, of course,  exceptions, depending on the overall scope and proportion of the landscape, whether it’s a very small space or a sizeable piece of property.  The true test is how they will look in comparison to the next line or area of plants behind them in the bed.  Border plants should provide a contrast in size between layers and should look good together, combining different colors, textures and shapes.

How do I pick border plants?  The first order of business is to determine the amount of sun or shade that your border gets.  When the sun is at different points in the sky in the winter, it’s not a true reflection of how plants will fare when heat stressed. I try to consider conditions in the worst of summer, because those days are so intense.

The terms full sun, full shade, part sun, part shade are associated with specific amounts.  Full sun means a site gets at least 6 full hours of sun most days.  But, here in Central Texas, some plants labeled full sun may still struggle if that’s all blistering afternoon sun.  Do your research to determine if there are any limits on tolerance that might apply.

Full shade doesn’t mean no sun at all.  Labels calling for full shade conditions refer to less than 3 hours of sunlight each day, and filtered light the remainder of the day.  In the Austin area, those 3 hours simply cannot fully expose plants in the heat of the day.  A little dappled morning light and good afternoon shade is a much better guide for us.

Part sun or part shade are sometimes used to mean similar conditions, with slight adjustments leaning in either direction.  Generally, these designations refer to between three to six hours of exposure most days.  Part sun  means plants will need the minimum sun requirements to set flowers and bloom.  Part shade also means protecting your plants from the intense afternoon sun, allowing them some sun at other times.  As always, discussing your situation with nursery staff can provide more detailed information.

Some beautiful border plants for Central Texas include:

Agave (some varieties)

Ajuga

Aztec grass

Batface cuphea

Blackfoot Daisy

Bluebonnet

Bulbine

Catmint

Evening primrose

Creeping germander

Dalea

Damianita

Dyckia

Four nerve daisy

Ice plant

Lamb’s ear

Liriope

Lyre leaf sage

Mexican feather grass

Mexican heather

Monkey grass

Pigeonberry

Plum yew

Purple heart

Dwarf Mexican Petunia

Lavender cotton

Sedge (some varieties)

Skullcap

Society garlic

Verbena

Winecup

Yarrow

Yuccas (some varieties)

Zexmenia

Border plants don’t have to be planted in a straight line.  You can also cluster plants in sections according to size, color or texture.  Place them in drifts in front of the next section of larger plants based on which ones look best together.

Many annuals also make excellent border plants, adding color and interest at specific times through the year and allowing you to change out your look with the seasons.

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