Each Little World

IVON: Bathroom bouquets

This little bouquet in Mark's bathroom is on its second week. I removed the faded flowers but the foliage is attractive enough to stand on its own.

I went out Friday afternoon as the temperatures were falling and the wind was rising to make a few bouquets before our anticipated first frost of the season. It got quite cold Friday night but most things were still standing Saturday morning. I couldn't resist this last stem of hardy Begonia, though I believe these are seed capsules and not flowers.

I moved this vase from my bathroom to the living room mantle for better light. Plus we just redid all the artwork in that room and I thought my bouquet would work with the infusion of red art. 

Mark bought this little folk art figure last year. He's perfect for Halloween.

The last Heuchera flowers added a lighter note.

The Begonia leaves are dramatic even without the sun shining through them to highlight the red underside.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Gard who hosts this Monday meme to see what other gardeners have put in a vase today.

IVOM: Prunings

My fennel plants were spending more time on the ground than upright so I clipped a number of stems with seed heads for a vase. They're joined with a Cimicifuga seed head and those of Kirengeshoma palmata Koreana group. 

I love how the Kirengeshoma seed heads look like fat flower buds about to explode open. 

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this long-running Monday meme. 

Toad lily season

Toadlily (Tricyrtis ssp.) season! I'm loving this long, warm autumn and so are the toad lilies. A number of them are full of buds but haven't even begun to bloom. Since there does not seem to be a frost in the near future, I should still get to enjoy their flowers in October.

Tricyrtis formosana. This plant has a tall, narrow profile so I am trying to create a "hedge" of them along the back of a border. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Lightning Strike' with striped foliage. It's another narrow, vertical form. Every time I went out to cut a few stems of this for a vase it was full of bees and Monarch butterflies. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Tojen'. I thought this had died after our bad winter of 2018/19, but a stem has reappeared in the garden!

Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki' has substantial flowers, less delicate and orchid-like to my eye. 

Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki' has an arching form. The stems curve outward and don't flop like 'Tojen'.

Tricyrtis hirta 'Lemon Twist' is short with speckled leaves and lemon yellow flowers. The flowers are quite large compared to the overall size of the plant. Their size makes it hard for the stems to stay upright.

Tricyrtis macrantha has deep golden flowers with brown speckles on the interior.

Tricyrtis macrantha is a wonderful variety to grow where it can flow over a wall. Even when it is blooming, most visitors to my garden never guess it's a toad lily. 

Since rain was forecast for Sunday and much of this coming week, I cut some of the yellow 'Lemon Twist' toad lilies for a vase. 

Since they have short stems, this is an easier way to see the interior of the blossoms and to enjoy them. 

In a vase on Monday: Soggy September

We had another two inches of rain yesterday morning, so I was not able to go out and cut a bouquet for Mark's bookclub who were meeting at our house. I did, however, manage to make Anna Thomas' "Cheese and Onion Pie" from an old favorite cookbook, "The Vegetarian Epicure."

This morning it was still too wet to do more than cut a few things hanging over the path or fallen onto the ground. This little bouquet has been in my bathroom for a week. This morning I just refreshed the stems of Italian parsley and Toad lilies (Tricyrtis). 

Toad lilies bloom so late that some years we have a killing frost when they are still in the bud stage. This year we are having perfect temperatures for me to be able to enjoy them. 

This is T. formosana which grows with a nice vertical stem that is quite narrow. Though the flowers look like delicate little orchids, this is a workhorse plant and well-worth growing if you are able.  

This arrangement includes a big fuzzy leaf from Bergenia ciliata, a maple-shaped leaf from Kirengeshoma, fallen oak leaves from the driveway and a stem of Cimicifuga whose flowers are going over to seeds. 

Be sure to visit Rambling in the Garden to see what other gardeners have put in a vase today. 

IVOM: A late summer bloomer

This last week we've had a few more visitors stop by to see the garden, so I wanted to freshen up the Tea House flowers. The orange lily stem that I featured for our recent big tour group had given up the ghost. But I wanted to keep the lichen-covered stem and the glaucous Hosta leaf.

My garden is almost empty of flowers at the moment; lots of things in bud but not much blooming. I added a trailing berry branch that I clipped before it took root in my garden from my neighbor's big patch. 

Arrowhead (Sagitaria latifolia), which grows in our pond, was about the only flower available but it proved up to the task.

To see what other gardeners have found to put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this long-running Monday meme. 

Just before the tour: The Tea House in its garden

Large wood-fired ceramic plates by local potters adorn the west end of the house. The stepping stones lead to the deck and the pond while the pine needle path runs between the west side fence and the back wall of the Tea House

The garden on the berm surrounding half of the Tea House is mostly foliage with some Martagon lilies and spring ephemerals. 

Those tied-and-crossed bamboo canes keep visitors off narrow work paths. 

A wider view of the berm garden. 

I bought this large Japanese shop sign for one of Mark's milestone birthdays. At some point he realized it was the perfect size to hang across the Tea House. 

The view looking down from the top of the stone steps leading up to the front entrance of the Tea House. 

The door is very low so you have to humble yourself and crawl in on your knees. 

I suggested Mark add a full size door for those over age 65!

Both door are visible in this shot. 

We bought these cushions from an antique dealer from Japan who had a pop up shop in Madison for three summers. 

We also got a few lovely Ikebana baskets at Jake and Yuko's shop. The tea bowl is by the late Wisconsin ceramic artist, Don Reitz.

We decided to keep our multicultural display with the mix of African, Asian and American objects. 

The upper pool is right outside the Tea House.

There are plants growing in the water and all around its edges. 

IVOM: Heuchera flowers

I am not particularly crazy about Heuchera flowers. They flop or are not very big or an interesting color. But when you have a swath of one or two varieties, you can get enough flowers to make a statement. I've divided and moved so many Heucheras over the years that there are very few I can identify anymore, including these. The plants were growing on along the back of the driveway border so I knew that cutting them would not make a noticeable differnce/ 

They're in a cranberry glas vase with leaves from one of the plants. The bouquet may be composed of delicate stems but there are enough of them to hold their own with the statue of the Lohan. 

I like the way the little baubles of color relate to his casual necklaces. 

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this weekly Monday meme. 

Happy Fourth of July

Yesterday I was in the checkout line at the grocery store and noticed the bouquet of red and white flowers in the cart of the shopper ahead of me. They made me realize I had flowers in those colors blooming in the garden. So I went home and made my own display. The flowers are Astilbe 'Fanal' which has been increasing in my garden once I found the right spot for it and Tanacetum parthenium (Feverfew). The flags are decorations from various 4th of July gatherings. The vase is dark blue glass and almost impossible to photograph.

Our big American flag is the one we ordered from our then U.S. Senator Bill Proxmire; it flew over the U.S. Capitol on the day we were married. 

We got a half an inch of rain overnight and everything is glistening. The temperature is only 72°F. but the WeatherBug says the humidity is 100%. It's not raining but there is so much moisture in the air it almost looks foggy. Perfect weeding weather if the mosquitoes don't eat you alive. 

This photo was taken standing in our driveway near the house and looking east across neighboring yards. Our 'Forest Pansy' Redbud is looking particularly beautiful. Hope you have a pleasant 4th!

IVOM: Posies for the party

Each June the Friends group of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at UW-Madison host a High Tea. It's part fund-raiser, part social event and often is held at the home of someone who collects textiles and has them on display for the event. I was unable to attend this year, but sent along five small bouquets to put on end tables as my contribution. (I'm on the board of the HLATC Development Committee). I put them together in the basement by the laundry sink, using the top of the washer and dryer as my work surface; so not the most romantic backdrop for pictures.  

These needed to be rather small bouquets so I used empty jam jars. I always keep an array of small jars and bottles with my vases to use to bring small gift bouquets when we go visiting.  

I wanted these to look a little more finished, so I wrapped them in garage sale hankies, held in place with a rubber band at the neck of the container. I also wrapped large leaves around the inside of the container for one of the larger jars. 

As for flowers, I just randomly grabbed a bit of everything. Three were arrangements in shades of red and pink and two showcased yellow flowers. 

I used my go-to method for transporting bouquets: a sturdy box shallow enough that the flowers will mostly be above the edges. I stuff bubble wrap in between, so nothing moves and no vases touch each othe. Then I set it on the floor of the car. I have a box with bubble-wrap on a shelf in the garage that is always ready to go. It makes me much more likely to put a bouquet together quickly if I don't have to think about how to deal with it in the car. 

To see what other gardeners have put together this week, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this meme. 

In a Vase on Monday: The last Peony

I knew our weekend of heat and wind, followed by rain and cold was likely to put an end to the flowers on my remaining Peony. When I brought P. 'Soft Salmon Joy' indoors, it was loosely closed and covered in raindrops. I'd barely got it into this blue gray tea bowl before it opened so wide I thought it might lose its petals. 

It didn't, which gave me time to add Heuchera foliage and Tulip stems to the Tea bowl. It has been sitting on the mantle partnered with this vase by the same artist, so I thought I should fill the vase to let them remain a pair. 

I used more of these Tulip stems which I discovered by accident out in the Traffic Island garden, where I'd forgotten to cut the dead flowers off. I love their curves and the green color fading into cream and pink. 

The vase includes Peony foliage and two stems of Heuchera 'Blackberry Crisp'.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what other gardeners from here, there and everywhere have put into a vase today.