This an excellent time to begin planning new garden projects or landscape designs, so you can get things organized and ordered in March and April for planting in May before the hot weather is upon us. I am available for consultation, design and planning work now. Many times my clients wait until spring is well underway before they start thinking about new landscaping or gardening projects. By the time they plan, research best suppliers, get the soil preparation completed, it is already June. The hot weather is then in full swing making it necessary to do almost daily waterings of newly placed shrubs and flowers. Contact me for design and consultation at [email protected]. The snow may only last another month, and as soon as the soil is workable in April, some planting can be done. Morning glories can be planted in April and will survive the last spring frosts. Bedding plants of greens and snapdragons can go into the ground in April here in Northeast Ohio. I always purchase and plant my snapdragons when they are still very small, long before they have bloomed. The flower quality will be far superior. As a general rule, most annual flowers will give you larger, better quality blooms if they do not stay in their small bedding containers too long.
I grow quite a bit of Autumn Joy Sedum, and when the flower heads turn dark burgundy they give a fabulous contrast to lighter colors. I especially like to pair it with roses in white , pink or orange. Sedum makes a substantial filler in bouquets even when it is still green. Here it is paired with white roses, pink zinnias, pink spikes of celosia, some asparagus foliage, ivy and small white mums for a great lush fall arrangement. All but the roses are growing now in my garden
These cheerful native wildflowers bloom in late July and early August here in Northeast Ohio. They are reliable self-seeders, so once you get a good plant going you will find many popping up in late spring the following year. The cultivar is Rudbeckia triloba.
I love them for cutting and like to pair them with sunflowers. They will grow in light shade or full sun but wilt in the afternoon heat especially in dry soil. Often they will reach almost 5 feet in height after the first year of cultivation. I love using foliage from my asparagus for an interesting filler in bouquets. It is especially good paired with hydrangea or roses or any arrangement that has a Victorian feel. Here I paired it with white gooseneck loosestrife, green mums and purple verbena bonariensis. All of these will last a full week in the vase if your house is air conditioned.
This was a surprise. I awoke to find the first bloom on my sunflowers. It is very early to have sunflowers. This is a variety I started from seed indoors in early May. It is a cultivar that is bred for the floral trade that has pollenless flowers, and it yields only one flower per plant. I plant them very close together to give small blooms only about 4" across which makes them suitable for my mini-bouquets.
This week's bouquets feature the last of the peonies and double buttercups. New this week are small pink and red roses and snapdragons! Snapdragons, yarrow and astilbe will be plentiful through June, and there may be some white Annabelle hydrangeas. And there are still a few of the spring-blooming daises.
This week's bouquets feature daisies, double buttercups, yellow yarrow and accents of a deep pink dianthus. And always plenty of fresh mint. I may have a few bouquets with small red roses and rhododendron flowers. To purchase this $5.00 bouquet at the Saturday market go to HeronHillFarm.net and pre-order with your vegetables. Or give me a call or email to [email protected] for special delivery.
By next week, the double buttercups will be gone, but peonies will be in bloom along with lavender-blue catmint, more daisies and some snapdragons! I may be avoiding the Farmer's Market this season due to the COVID19 pandemic, but I have lots of things for sale at my home. For my market customers I am offering this chance to shop with no one but yourself around, and pay by honor system with cash or by PayPal. E-mail me for details and a complete list of available plants both ornamental and edible. Among the edibles I will have pole beans, tomatoes and strawberries. I will also be delivering my bouquets. [email protected]
This planter contains a bright red-orange begonia paired with a trailing lamium with beautiful variegated foliage. The lamium is one of the many plants I am offering now for sale for $2.50 for a 3" pot. It is a perennial and will overwinter in your large containers. If you scroll down through a few pages you will see another photo of this plant paired with petunias. I recently crafted this flower crown and a bridal bouquet. The crown features small mums and small carnations, sprigs of boxwood and asparagus foliage. The bridal bouquet has large white dahlias, some sedum painted purple and ivy leaves, small carnations, small mums and sprigs of boxwood and asparagus.
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AuthorBarbara Eaton, M.Ed. is a Master Gardener, a garden designer and an artist. She works as a professional gardener caring for the gardens of several regular clients. She is a published author, retired educator and a fool for flowers. Archives
January 2019
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