Today is a bit of a different What’s Blooming post. My garden club (which meets once a month) met today at the home of someone who sells cut flower bouquets at farmer’s markets. They actually just moved into this property 6 months ago and have already done a ton to it to get it ready for the season. It’s a giant property. I was totally jealous.
Here is a view of part of the cutting beds:
She just grows long rows of flowers for cutting. Just to the left of these beds by the shade is the Battenkill river.
I about died from jealousy LOL. What a great thing to have at the end of your yard. The house actually sits up quite high, so it is high above this.
These are all brand new beds and look really good for being so new. Doesn’t it just look hot? We were back up to 90 degrees and I thought I might burst into flame, so I headed back to that shady river.
She grows a lot of zinnias and says that they are her big money maker. The buds are really cool looking.
These are the buckets of flowers that they had cut this morning to make bouquets with. This gray flower is call Ammi. It is the gardener’s version of Queen Anne’s Lace. It doesn’t lose all the little petals like QAL does – and looks a little fuller.
Mostly zinnias.
She talked about how to arrange flowers in vases. Start with tall backbone greens like ferns or tall stiff flowers. Then do a mid layer, then tuck in the smaller accent flowers. Use the flowers in sets of 3 or an odd number for a better look. She did these so fast! This vase took 5 minutes.
So pretty. I rarely bring in any flowers from my garden inside because I don’t want to cut into my plants! I like to sit on the porch and look at them.
Here’s another fun tip – if you have a vase of tulips, add a shot of vodka to the water. Apparently this really helps the tulips last longer!
Sigh…. I need more property. Back to my little garden.
Here is my nicotiana:
I don’t know if these are *ever* going to do anything. They should be taller and blooming by now. Guess that was a garden fail – but, could end with a nice fall show.
I am officially declaring love for sweet potato vines.
These have been fun to look at this year. See how we need to paint the porch? My August goal. When it gets cooler…
My sedum is in full “broccoli” mode now.
It’s even starting to turn color a bit.
It’s going to be a hot weekend. It’s also John’s birthday on Saturday and he gets to be king for a day!
Stay cool!
Lovely blooms…and a river right by the house. That is sweet!
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Birthday to John!
Your garden looks great! I love sweet potato vines, but the purple ones with the delicate pink flowers. Our top must have when we move to Virginia is a generously sized property with plenty of sun so I can try and grow veggies again and have a cutting garden, I love having flowers in the house.
Wow, she has quite the water feature for her property – and no electricity or water bill with it:) Happy Birthday to John.
My dream is a small cabin beside a river/stream like that with a distant view of the mountains! Tell John “Happy Birthday” from us!!
HAPPY BDAY JOHN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have fun!!!!
Lori – your garden is beautiful!!! Me, I need to won a house first! 😉 I am bad with the green stuff anyway so I need to win the lotto, buy a house & hire a person to do the garden for me! 🙂
Your club member has a beautiful home for sure!!!!
PS: No vodka in this house so… 😉
How fun! Almost like a guest post on your blog! Well, when you are sitting on your porch enjoying your garden, just remember that if you had a big garden like that, there probably wouldn’t be time to sit and enjoy it.
I love those kind of flower arrangements.
Looks like it was a fun afternoon even if it was hot! I love the colors of those cut zinnias. I like zinnias because they seem to last forever. Happy Birthday to John! Hope to see you both tomorrow sometime.
Did the sweet potato vines totally take over the petunias i think you had in there? I thought they might…they did that to me…Its hard to put them with anything cause they just totally take over. I just love them too. Hugs! deb
Lovely, Lori!
My favorite part of our downtown farmer’s market is the Vietnamese zinnia farmer’s booth. I almost didn’t buy any because I didn’t want to take away from the display. 🙂
Hope you’re having a great weekend, Lori!
Just popping by to say “hello”…haven’t forgotten about you…trying to catch up…Impossible!
Gorgeous flowers!
Dawn
Wow, that is a beautiful place…but then, so is your garden, and you have such a lovely porch to enjoy it from! I love flower arranging, and took an evening class awhile back. Boy, was that fun! And we love zinnias, but so do the gophers…I might try some more potted ones.