Perennials for the Farmer/Florists Garden

Black Knight Butterfly Bush, Cone flower, Knockout roses,  and Prairie Sun.

 Today's bouquets are all about what's in season RIGHT NOW. Whether you're designing with your own flowers or, sourcing blooms locally it's all about finding and using things that are unique to your area, and more specifically to your garden site. Not sure what you want to plant? Take a visit ( or several, it's still early)  to your local garden center and do a walk about. Talk to the nursery staff and tell them what you're day dreaming about. I like to get my plants in one gallon sizes or larger when I'm planting a new garden boarder with perennials and shrubs.  I just don't have the patience to wait for them to fill out! 

 Here in southern New England there are several perennials that I love to grow and use in my design work.  

 Here a Butterfly Bush blossom is right at home among some old fashioned zinnias.

Below I have Lemon Queen Sunflower ( pictured above) arranged with Black- Eyed Susan and annual sunflowers with grass plumes.

This bucket of late spring flowers is a mix of herbs, perennials and Forsythia shrub branches.

 

 Sedum and Ornamental Grasses are some of my favorite perennials to grow because you can use them all season long.  Not only do they They add year round interest to the garden but

they add unique colors and textures to the bolder shades and shapes of summer annuals such as Dahlias and Zinnias. 

 The Shasta Daisy is such an early blooming flower that reminds of summer picnics and backyard BBQ's. 

Shasta Daisies

Cone flower

The possibilities are truly endless and that's what makes growing and designing so much fun. You'll never run out of color, textures and fun shapes to work with and just by adding a handful of new plants to the yard will give you new ideas and material to play with.

I hope you'll give these easy care, sun-loving perennials a try and experiment with them in flower arranging too! 

 Here's a little perennial planting tip:

Plant your perennials in groups for masses of color in one or two seasons.

Hint: Instead of planting three plants, plant 5 of the same variety and plant them closer together than recommended. You can always go in and thin them out in a few years and then you can pot some up to share with friends and neighbors too!

Re-Claimed Raised Beds for FRESH Flowers and Produce

One of 8 raised beds (filled with dahlias) made from re-claimed stone tiles

 Raised bed gardening and the creative ways people utilize these unique micro-garden spaces continues to grow! As more people get bitten by the gardening bug raised beds provide a much needed solution, especially in small spaces. One or two 4x4 or 4x8  raised beds will provide a small family with seasonal fresh herbs and veggies all summer long. 

It's not too early to start thinking about your growing spaces for this spring and summer! All that snow will be melted before you know it! If you've got a barn, garage, garden shed or car port you can get started on the construction now!

Below is a photo of our raised beds " under construction" three years ago. We happened to have quite a stash of 12x12 discontinued tiles stored in our basement ( from when my hubby sold imported stone) that came in quite handy for creating the 'walls' of the beds.

Here are my guy's attaching the L brackets to the two sides of 2 x 4 x 12 lengths of board and the two 4' end pieces.

 

Once the frames were built they attached the grade stakes to each corner and drove them into the ground. No need for digging up turf or soil. Simply lay down cardboard or newspaper over the ground and water it slightly or cover it with leaves. We did all three before we added the garden soil. Laying down paper vs garden fabric creates an invitation to worms which you want plenty of in your garden soil! 

CORRECTION: We used 2x2 grade stakes instead of 1x2 for more stability.

 If you are a frugal gardener like me, building your raised beds from re-claimed materials is a great way to lighten your footprint on good old mother earth and keep some extra dough in your wallet for those high quality GMO FREE seeds you'll be purchasing. I love the idea of using metal roofing material for the sides too!

The list of what you can grow in one 4x8 raised bed is limitless, really. You can grow annuals, vegetables, herbs, perennials, even roses and shrubs!

You control the amount of sunlight by where you site your raised bed and you also have control over the soil. We placed all 8 our ours in the largest, sunniest place in our backyard for maximum growing potential for my cut flowers, herbs, and veggies. I purchased a mix of 50 % loam and 50% organic matter. It took nine yards of loam to fill them all the first year. When the soil level drops, you can easily order in some more fill and top them off!

Here they are sprouting with new life in Mid June! 

If you're just starting out with flowers,choose easy annuals such as zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos. All can be sewn directly in your raised bed after the danger of frost ( in your garden zone ) has passed. 

If you're limited to one or two raised beds don't forget about vertical gardening! Cucumbers,

pole beans, snap peas will provide you with fresh veggies at little garden-space expense!

Just be careful who you let in to your tomato patch!

Your Weekly Dish: Roasted Taters With Rosemary

Hot out of the oven!

 I love being in my homestead kitchen this time of year. It feels great to be able to turn on the oven again and be comforted by the smell of a hot, home-cooked meal. One of our favorite side dishes for any kind of meat is roasted taters with fresh rosemary. And, I love the ease of tossing together what ever root veggies we have on hand. I've used small red potatoes with white or golden potatoes as well, but what makes this recipe unique is the added flavor of sweet potatoes. 

Before baking.

We came up with this winning combination when my hubby needed a quick recipe to contribute to a Boy Scout camp pot luck. Naturally, I wanted to show you this dish cooked, but I think it looks so appetizing and pretty with the rosemary tucked in just before going in the oven. 

 Here's the recipe!  It's organic, of course!

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes 

 5 or 6 medium potatoes
1 or 2 large sweet potatoes ( yams)
1 medium sweet onion
4 -5 small sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil

1  fresh clove or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375
Wash and pat dry all potatoes then cut them into bite-sized chunks and place in a mixing bowl. Quarter the onion then slice crosswise for small chunky sized slivers. Add to the potatoes. Pour olive oil on the veggies and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.* We like freshly ground sea salt and pepper corns for full flavor.
Place in a 13x9 baking dish and add insert rosemary cuttings in between the potatoes. Bake for 45 minutes or until desired roasted tenderness is achieved.
*Delicious served with a simple garden fresh salad and an old fashioned pot roast, roasted chicken or pan roasted fish.

The smell while it is baking is heavenly! What are some of your favorite root veggie combinations for roasting?

Abundant Arrangements

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”

~ Claude Monet

 One of the things I love most about growing cut flowers is experimenting with different arrangements using what's in season from all areas of my garden. The more I play with my house flowers the more I realize the possibilities are endless!

Today I'm sharing two different flower arrangements, both very different but abundant with the seasons offerings from our backyard gardens.

This side features the deep reds and hot pinks of some of my smaller dahlias.

 This  vintage tarnished water pitcher is spilling over with fresh dahlias, sedum, sunflowers, red wine vinegar basil, hydrangea and feathery plumes from the ornamental grasses in my largest perennial bed.

While this side is brimming with some of my larger dahlia varieties. along with some of my deep red sunflowers and faded hydrangea blooms.

 This medium sized glass floral vase is  roomy and sturdy enough to handle large dahlia blossoms

as well as a few sunflowers and zinnias!

TIP:  When making your own flower arrangements, forget about what you think it should look like and just play! Try adding fresh herbs as fillers in your arrangement's. They add an element of surprise and a delicious aroma to your bouquets.

Baby Bird and June Blooms

 Howdy friends, 

I love this time of year in the garden. Things are looking lush and green and the overall gardening season looks promising here at Dandelion House. I've been wanting to make some garden markers for my raised beds, but just haven't had the time to do it. Maybe now that everything is planted, I can plant myself long enough to make some! In the meantime, I picked up a cute garden marker for my herb section. I just love the little crow perched on top.

 

 The dahlias are really thriving in this dry weather. They don't like it too wet out and we are having a particularly dry June this year. So much so, I'm having to water everything else by hand every couple of days. On the upside, I haven't spotted one slug in the garden so I haven't had to treat for pests, yet.

 This yellow loos strife is in glorious golden bloom right now... I love the burst of sunshine it brings to the early summer garden.

 The Knock Out Roses are in full bloom and will stay that way until frost... I'm addicted to them and would love to add several more to my largest boarder... Maybe I'll look for some on sale in September... That's a great time to shop for shrubs at a discount and  an ideal time to plant them. As the days get shorter and cooler it's less stress on the plant, but they still have plenty of time to " settle in" to their new digs before winter comes. 

A small sampling of the petite wave petunias growing in the window box on our shed.

 And last, but not least in the wonders of gardening. We had a nest in our clematis trellis this spring with three or four baby birds in it. I captured this sweet baby bird only a day before he/she flew the nest!

I'm ready for mid-summer blooms, fresh cut flowers, and some fun vintage garden projects!

How about you? How's your garden shaping up this year?

Wishing you a yard full of your favorite bloomers! 

Love, Deb