TALL BEARDED IRISES and ITOH PEONIES -- Never-ending floral arrangement possibilities

After the tree peonies bloom, and before the herbaceous peonies bloom, another variety of peony, Itoh (e' toe) peonies, make their appearance in the garden. These stunning flowers combine the best of tree peonies and herbaceous ones, having magnificent big blooms, and an easy growth and care feature.  Pictured here is "Hawaiian Pink Coral" peony. Paired with it are Tall Bearded Iris 'Eagle's Flight," and three different purple globe alliums in various sizes. I like the coral pink color combined with the lavender of the alliums.

Alliums are best planted in the fall. They come in all sorts of shapes, colors and sizes, as you can see in the picture. They dry beautifully and add a nice interest in the fall garden.

The lupine is just starting to bloom, and it also comes in a myriad of colors and combination colors. An interesting thing about lupine is that they readily self sow, but are not true to the parent plant, so you don't know what you're getting until they bloom, They are easy to transplant when young seedlings, but have a 95% failure rate when transplanted when they're a young full plant or older plant. Lupine are great combination plants for tall bearded irises, peonies, and poppies. Their tall spikes withstand high winds and they do relatively well in both full sun and part shade.

When cutting for a floral arrangement, cut in the bud stage, Lupine start to bloom from the bottom up, so lower ones can be in bloom, but give the top a good measure of buds for long-lasting blooms in your arrangement. By the 2nd or 3rd day, the buds should be in bloom, as you can see by the photos below. I always use a floral preservative for maximum vase life.

Because peonies and irises come in so many colors, the composition of your arrangements can be endless!

SPRING TULIPS, DAFFODILS AND EARLY TREE PEONIES -- Perfect for colorful arrangements

Blooms that were available for the April 5th arrangement were some of my favorite single Triumph tulips-- Bright, dark rose, 24" 'Don Quichotte' and 26" bright yellow 'Big Smile.' My earliest tree peony, 'Sugared Silk,' with it's light pinkish buds open up to huge, white, silk-looking blooms with dark centers. Daffodil 'Mount Hood' a large, pure white award-winner with a lacy cup, and has long lasting blooms. Double daffodil 'Ice King' has a ruffled white petals and a fully double sulfur-yellow cup with white highlights. The flower container was a fun find at a local thrift store for 50 cents. I frequent the thrift stores to check out vases and have found some very nice finds. As always, cut flowers after the sun is down, or before it comes up.  Use a floral preservative, and cut stems on an angle for maximum water absorption.  This arrangement will last a week to 10 days.

ORIENTAL POPPIES - Easy to grow and maintain

Oriental poppies in the spring garden

Royal Wedding

Harlem (reblooming)

Raspberry Queen

Ruffled Patty

ORIENTAL POPPIES are one of the easiest and problem free plants in my garden beds. These beautiful, crepe paper-like beauties only increase in beauty from year to year.  They are long-lived and tolerant in many growing conditions. Some of my favorites are pictured here--Goliath, Queen Alexander, Harlem, Miss Piggy, Royal Wedding, Ruffled Patty and Raspberry Queen.  They like evenly moist, but not wet soil, and full sun. Plant something close by, as after they've bloomed, their foliage yellows and dies out.  The empty place they leave can then accommodate other plants.  I have daylilies, lilies, zinnias and garden mums (plants that mature and bloom later in the season) planted in those areas.  In late summer/early fall, the beautiful bright green foliage starts to grow and forms a nice clump that stays through the fall and winter.  By early spring, a full poppy plant is ready for spring bloom. Raspberry Queen is 8" across--unbelievable!  Ruffled Patty and Miss Piggy are beautiful, cut-petaled varieties.  I have found them to be very hardy, pest-free and easy to grow.  Easy to propagate, just dig down and get a long piece of an outside stem, plant immediately, keeping soil moist, but not wet, until the plant root is established.  Little side shoots are always available and I find it's easier to replant these. Varieties vary in their size and height.  Some, when in full bloom, have long stems approaching 4-5 feet, while others bloom closer to the plant, at 2-3 feet. Poppies are definitely on my list of top 10 plants in my garden.  With about 20 or so of these gorgeous plants, the hardest thing about them is trying to figure out where I can plant more in my garden!

Miss Piggy

FYI:  For other perennials, just type in a plant for posts on many other plants

GLADIOLA, LILIES, ROSES and ZINNIAS--This week's summer arrangement

This week's arrangement is a mixture of what was blooming in the garden.  Shades of pink and red gladiola, zinnias, lilies and roses make a cheery statement.  The more zinnias I cut, the more they bloom.  They will be blooming through the rest of the summer and until the first frost.  The second flush of iris I planted are on, with 2 or 3 more flushes to come, putting their blooms into early fall.  The roses are just beginning their 2 flush, and the oriental lilies are on their way out, sad to say.  The arrangement is very fragrant because of the lilies and roses.  As always, cut after the sun goes down, plunge into water and recut stems, arrange in water with a preservative.  Keep in a dark, cool room until ready to display. 

DAYLILIES, ZINNIAS, LILIES, AND GLADIOLA BLOOMING TODAY

The summer blooms are well underway in the garden. Bright blooms of DAYLILIES and STATE FAIR ZINNIA are always a welcome sight in the flower beds, as well as the sweet aroma that fills the air from all the OT, ASIATIC and ORIENTAL LILIES.  Some of the OT LILIES are 5 feet tall, with 21 buds for blooms in their second year!  And, even if their bloom lasts only a day, the DAYLILIES bring a much welcome kaleidoscope of color. And, the GLADIOLA are in various stages of growth--some blooming, some just breaking through the soil, and  a couple of different stages in between that.  The bright blue bush delphinium is still going strong, making the yard colorful, as well as roses, daisies, love-in-mist, petunias, lavender and a few garden mums.  It's a nice time of year.