July 29, 2018 - Moulin Rouge Sunflowers

Sadly - I am on a public terminal and I can't retrieve pictures - later when my internet is up and running, I will update this blog with pictures.

I love tall flowers so that I can cut a few stems and plunk them in a large vase to make a statement.  My home requires a showy arrangement on the kitchen table to scream for attention in the large open kitchen/day room area.

Think VanGogh - the painting with the sunflowers.  That is where I am coming from. This week's arrangement is with Moulin Rouge sunflowers.

What does it costs?  A little bit of your time to go out and snip something and fill a vase with water and "tickle them up" a bit. [Tickle them up is a Southern phrase I learned at Horn's Home and Garden in Forest City, North Carolina - here in town.  At that shop it means adding a sleeve and a bow to a potted plant.  In other local shops it might mean putting a gift in a gift bag and adding colored tissue paper and a bow.]

I bought the seed two years ago from Johnny's Select Seed and the first year I only planted half a dozen.  But, this year I planted the rest of the packet and they are spectacular.  We have had heavy wind and rains and a few have fallen over which is good news for me - I cut them to bring in.  Yes, I should stake them - but part of me likes things unstaked so that when the wind or rain knocks them down, I have the perfect excuse to save them from the mud, cut them, wash them off and bring them in.

In spring it is usually daffodils and then tulips quickly followed by Iris then the Bleitta orchids.

In May the Peonies make a grand arrangement followed by Gladiolas in June and the week of Fourth of July I always have the "explosion" of the orange Tiger Lilies, followed up by the fragrant white Casablanca lilies.

Next will come the purple Zinnias or Cosmos and later on I will cut some beautiful large Caladium leaves to admire up close and personal.  By then the Peacock Orchids with their exotic perfume will fill the house.

Toward the end of summer, I will treat myself to a bouquet of Ageratum and then the finale will be weeks upon weeks of all different Chrysanthemums.

The objective of today's blog is - if you've got them - cut them and bring them in to admire up close and personal.  Haven't you gone to all the trouble of growing them to admire them, but do you really admire them out in the garden?  If it is too hot, the answer is no.  If it is raining, the answer is no.  Don't let the beauty of your garden pass you by just because of the weather.

Large or small flower arrangements strategically placed throughout the house are a simple country delight.  On an end table near your TV watching chair, on the corner of your desk, on the vanity in the bathroom, on your bedside table, near the kitchen sink to admire while you are washing dishes.  Any place you will be is where flowers should be placed so that you can take a moment here and there throughout the day to admire God's handiwork and your gardening prowess.

And, if you have enough to share . . . an impromptu bouquet delivered to a friend is a delightful surprise that is cost free.

Trust me, they won't care if it is delivered in an old Mason Jar tickled up or