A Heart-Filled Vase

Happy vase day! For this week's collection, I knew I had to include some "hearts."



First, I included the heart-shaped foliage of Red Barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum). The foliage is as exciting as the flowers (which I didn't include this time).



Next, Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) is another plant with amazing foliage. In this case, I think the mottled leaves and their deeply lobed structure are even more visually appealing than the flowers (they're not blooming yet). In this arrangement, the leaves complement the foliage of the next plant.



Bleeding Hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis): They're at peak bloom now, they're excellent cut flowers, and they have a decent vase life. Definitely a favorite--in the garden and in a vase!



It's a good year for Wood Violets (Viola sororia). I'm letting them naturalize more than in the past: Why discourage beautiful, native ground covers?



It took a while for the native Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) to settle in to the garden, but it's really coming into its own now. It's been a great fall foliage replacement for the invasive Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) we removed about 10 years ago. And now plentiful spring flowers are adding to the magic! A Chokeberry sprig with a couple of flower clusters added a nice central focal point to the vase.



Finally, the photo at the top of this post doesn't include this last element, but I thought the arrangement needed a "spike" of some sort. So I cut a sprig of budding Korean Lilac (Syringa meyeri).

What a joy to have so many options for cut flowers again! I hope spring is in full swing in your garden, too. For more vases from gardens around the world, visit Cathy's "In a Vase on Monday" meme at Rambling in the Garden.

___________________

On Tuesday, May 5, our book, "A Journey of Seasonal Wisdom," will be released as a paperback, and available on Amazon! It's also available in ebook format.

Fellow blogger, Donna Donabella, and I co-wrote the book, and its readers are truly part of the story. Take a journey with us through the seasons, week by week. We're both so thrilled our collaborative effort of several years is now a finished product! Visit Golden Dragonfly Press to learn more!

It All Starts With the Seeds

How about a little game of seed ID? I've numbered seeds from 1 to 9. Can you identify plants that will grow from these seeds? For fun, jot down your guesses and then scroll to find the answers:

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

No. 9

Now, check the accuracy of your guesses:

No. 1: Cosmos bipinnatus

No. 2: Dahlia hybrids
(framed by Asters in this photo)

No. 3: Tithonia rotundifolia

No. 4: Verbena hastata

No. 5: Asclepias incarnata

No. 6: Zinnia elegans

No. 7: Lactuca sativa

No. 8: Lalab purpureus

No. 9: Alcea rosea

How'd you do?

I admit: I had to be very careful to keep these seeds and photos organized. I'll be planting all of them, and others, this spring. What seeds will you start in the weeks ahead?

February Flowers in the Sunroom

Oxalis vulcanicola 'Zinfandel'

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana buds

Spathiphyllum wallisii

Fuchsia 'Marinka' dried

(It's Wordless Wednesday.)

Peace Lily Cuttings

I have a very simple vase to share for Cathy's wonderful "In a Vase on Monday" meme. These are simply additional cuttings from the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) that I shared in my previous post. I clipped them to rejuvenate the plant and encourage future blooms in the season ahead. And they were pretty enough to plop in a little bud vase. (As they are poisonous, I've placed the vase far from the reaches of the cat and the dog.)

Sometimes simple things are fun. Check out the other entries over at Rambling in the Garden. Happy Monday!

Vignettes for Six on Saturday

For this "Six on Saturday," I'm focusing on plant combinations and "vignettes" that have met or exceeded my expectations this summer. The first is the grouping in the center of the back garden under the middle Oak tree.

At the center, Wild Senna (S.  hebecarpa) isn't blooming yet, but its tall, healthy stalks provide structure. In the pot, the purple Shamrock Oxalis (O. vulcanicola 'Zinfandel') is happy in the partial shade. Patches of lavender Alliums (A. tanguticum 'Summer Beauty') flank the sides, and ground covers and Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) frame the front and back.

My potted plants in this partially shady spot just off the patio are colorful and overflowing, as usually happens by this time of the summer. They get dappled sun, off and on all day. The pots combine a mix of various Coleus, Impatiens, Dracaena Spikes, and Callas.

In the side garden--which gets continuous, western sun all afternoon--the Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Goldfinger') and the False Sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) are performing beautifully this year, with bright and complimentary colors. While I've planted them near each other in the past, they seem particularly happy this summer.

Nearby, the Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) seem happy, too, paired with 'Autumn Joy' Sedums (Hylotelephium spectabile). I had to plant some new Butterflyweed seedlings (Asclepias tuberosa), because the plants in this spot sadly disappeared during the winter (not enough snow cover?). Hopefully, they'll return and fill in next spring and summer. Fortunately, I have other Milkweeds in other locations for the monarch butterflies.

Another combination I've planted together in the past pairs Tropical Impatiens (I. hawkeri) and Angelonias (A. angustifolia). This duo is SunPatiens 'Compact Purple Candy' and AngelDance 'Violet Bicolor' Angelonia. The colors are luscious, and the plants are great companions in the pot.

Finally, I added 'Summer Beauty' Alliums (A. tanguticum) around the mailbox a couple of years ago. They've filled in, they're VERY happy in this spot, and they're covered with pollinators of all types. More on that later...

Thanks to Jim for hosting the "Six on Saturday" meme! To join, head on over to Garden Ruminations.

Six on Saturday in the Sunroom

My garden is currently "reset" on winter, after one storm dropped more snow in one day than during the entire month of January. I admit it's prettier, and the plants now have a white blanket of protection. I'm joining in Jim's "Six on Saturday" meme at Garden Ruminations, but I hope it's OK if I focus on my indoor garden in the sunroom...



I'm thrilled to see that some shoots of the 'Canova Rose' Canna Lily (Canna x generalis) are breaking through the soil in their pot. (If you see lava rocks in my pots, it's to protect the plants from digging squirrels and chipmunks when the pots are moved outside during the growing season. The rodents don't like to dig through the tough lava rocks.)



Fuchsia  'Marinka' (F. hybrida) is putting on more buds.



And there are plenty of edible Fuchsia fruits, too!



The potted Passionflower (Passifloria incarnata) vine that I bring indoors for the winter is budding. I have another Passionflower outdoors, and I hope it survived the bitter cold of January with no snow.



Flaming Katy (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) is full of buds, too. When open, the blooms are a beautiful bright yellow.

Purple Shamrock Oxalis (O. triangularis) is happy all winter in the sunroom. Its companion in the pot is variegated English Ivy (Hedera helix).



And the Gerbera Daisy (G. jamesonii) is the brightest star in the group. I have to smile when I see these happy faces.

So much to celebrate (in the plant world) indoors and out. Happy Six on Saturday and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Winter 'Bulb' Storage Made Easy

Do you regularly grow plants from bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes? Do you bring them inside for the winter (the non-hardy ones) to use the next growing season?

I've found over the years that growing these plants is a lot easier than I used to think. I'm sharing what I've discovered from experimentation here in my zone 5b climate and with my choice of winter storage. It might work for you, or it might not. You might live in a gardening zone that allows these plants to remain in the soil outdoors year-round. And if you have other methods that have worked well for you, please share them in the comments.

In addition to spring-flowering bulbs, like Tulips, Daffodils, Snowdrops, and others, I also grow many more that bloom in other seasons. In this post, I'll focus on Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia spp.), Cannas (C. species), Dahlias (D. species), and Gladiolas (Gladiolus spp.). In my experience, they all have slightly different growing and storing preferences/requirements. I referred to several sources on proper reference to bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers. This source is helpful, too.



First, let's take a look at Dahlia tubers. What seems to work best for me is to lift them from the soil after the first hard frost. I let them dry, then separate them, and place them in a paper bag with peat moss mixed with perlite. I slightly mist the contents, and repeat the misting about once a month until it's time to plant them. For the past couple of years I've planted them in pots in March to begin growing the plants for the new season.



The yellow Dahlia at the beginning of this post and the pink one above tend to bloom in August.



Next, the Canna rhizomes: I simply wait again until the first hard frost or freeze, and clip off the tops of the stems and foliage. I bring in the pot, store it in a dark corner and stop watering until spring. I don't dig them up.



In springtime, I place them in a sunny window in the sunroom, and begin to water the potted rhizomes once a week.



After the last spring frost, the pot goes outside for more growth. They bloom later in the season; here shown in the budding stage.



I use a similar method with Calla Lilies, though they seem to collapse and go dormant a little earlier than the Cannas.

Though I start watering them about the same time as the Cannas, they seem a bit slower to break the surface and grow in their sunny window.

Once outside in May, they quickly develop buds and bloom in early summer.



Next, Gladiolus corms: I dig them up, let them dry, and place them in mesh for winter storage.



In spring, I stagger their planting in the garden, starting in late April or early May, and adding a few to the garden each week through mid-May. They bloom in late summer for several weeks.

All flowers shown in this post are great cut flowers, too. I'm linking this post with Cathy's "Week of Flowers" meme at Words and Herbs. Happy planning, dreaming, and planting in the months ahead!