HALLOWEEN ARRANGEMENTS -- VOTIVE HOLDER USED AS A VASE

This votive holder lantern makes a great vase for a fall floral arrangement. The flowers are in an orange vase and placed inside the lantern.

Dinner plate dahlias were used for the Halloween arrangement. "October Sky," the orange/peachy one is actually grown on the same plant--the flowers have variable colors--no two blooms are exactly the same.  The rosy purple one is "Thomas Edison."

This arrangement was made on the 30th of October. And, as you can see, the flowers are big and beautiful. They will continue on that way until a killing frost--usually in November. And, like I've mentioned before, the more stems you cut, the more blooms you'll end up having.

HALLOWEEN ARRANGEMENTS -- USING BAGS FOR VASES

Using gift bags for vases is an easy way to make an arrangement without the expense of an expensive vase. I put a simple glass jar inside the bag for an instant vase.

The three flowers used in the arrangement were the lacy white spider mums, golden yellow State Fair zinnias, and the lovely, fall-blooming Monkshood. 

I've talked about the zinnias and mums recently, but not the Monkshood.  Monkshood is a fall blooming perennial. It is tall, so should be at the back of the bed.  It spreads by rhizomes, and increase well.  It needs moist, but not wet, soil, and should be grown in shade to part-shade for best results.

HALLOWEEN ARRANGEMENTS -- USING DECORATIONS FOR VASES

This Halloween jack-o-lantern decoration has a glass jar inside, holding the floral arrangement.  I'm always on the look out for decorations I can use for them.

The fall dinner plate dahlias are the perfect flower to use in this October arrangement.  Used are rosy purple "Thomas Edison," yellow-orange "October Sky," and red "Envy."

Dinner plate dahlias take approximately 90 days from the time of planting to harvest. However, the wait is well worth the wait!

Nurseries have plants already leafed-out to plant in your garden, but I always buy the tubers and plant in spring, after the chance of frost of over. For zone 6, that's the day after Mother's Day.

GARDEN MUMS -- RUST-COLORED AND BEAUTIFUL FOR THE FALL

I love using these 'carved-out' pumpkins for Halloween arrangements. The first year I made an arrangement in a pumpkin, I used a real pumpkin. By the end of the week, mold was growing in it, which was not good, so I hunted around and found these. They not only look realistic, but they don't rot. I've used this particular one for 6 years now, so they are durable as well.

These dainty rust-apricot colored garden mums will last up to 4 weeks--unheard of! Garden mums are hardy perennials, coming back each year larger and more beautiful. They keep a nice round mound shape, too, which I love.

They form a dense cover, on a woody stem. I pinch mine back earlier in the year, when they are about 6-12" tall. They can be pinched back until the 4th of July. This keeps them manageable and ensures they don't fall over.

Garden mums come in all sorts of colors and grow from small mounds to tall plants, that might need staking. They are hardy, and easy to propagate or divide. They bloom in the fall and are among my last blooms of the year here in zone 6.

OCTOBER ARRANGEMENTS -- CELEBRATING IN THE SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN

White spider mums, golden yellow garden mums, and bright orange State Fair zinnias give this 'Halloween-themed' arrangement a festive air.

Displayed in a black ceramic container, these bright orange State Fair zinnias 'pop' with color. 

The spider mum is one of my favorite garden mums. The lacy, spider-like mum has an especially long vase life--keeping for almost a month!

The trio of bright colors compliment each other nicely, and will stay nice for a couple of weeks.

FALL MUMS - 2014

CHRYSANTHEMUMS are one of the most durable plants in the fall, even when temperatures drop to near freezing.  These colorful flowers come in  13 different classes and range from 1 to 5-plus feet tall, with blooms as small as a button to the huge florist mums that can be as big as 5-6" across. Among many things I love about them is their long vase life--they can last as long as 4 weeks and look fresh in your arrangements. This year they have been especially beautiful. I have several throughout the gardens.  No fall would be complete without a variety of these beauties in the garden. 

HALLOWEEN ARRANGEMENTS - Using my first reblooming tall bearded iris, fall mums, dahlias, and zinnias

This weeks arrangements use the fall flowers that are still blooming:  dinner plate dahlias, mums, hybrid tea roses, state fair zinnias, delphinium, and, to my surprise--a reblooming tall bearded iris "ECHO OF SPRING," my first-ever, which was a rhizome that I just planted a few months ago. It was a prize for a winning entry in the 2014 AIS photo contest. These flowers, with the exception of the iris, will continue blooming until a hard freeze. The roses are especially bright, fragrant and huge, and the mums will last 4 weeks or more in the vase.

HALLOWEEN ARRANGEMENTS USING FLORISTS MUMS

This week's arrangement uses the fall mum PROM KING.  This Class 8A Anemone flower is characterized by a single flower with the center having florets, or a disk, elongated and modified. These fine cut flowers are excellent for show or garden and grown to sprays or disbudded for show.  The plant was grown to a spray this year, reaching 5 + feet tall, with hundreds of blooms.

PROM KING is a stunning apricot bronze sport of Prom Queen holds its color well, and is very long-lived in the vase.  It blooms late September to Mid October.  This arrangement will last 3 or more weeks.

FLORIST MUMS FOR FALL ARRANGEMENTS

The florist mums have started their bloom. They typically bloom here in the top of Utah in October through November. If the weather permitted, they would continue blooming through December, but, in all my years of growing them, this has never happened. If forecasts predict a hard freeze, I harvest the buds, keeping them in a bucket of water with floral preservative added. These buds will last up to three weeks or more, and the blooms are still well-developed and full. They are the longest lasting flower I use in arrangements, and a mature bloom on size A cultivars can reach 8-10 inches across. Cultivars are grouped by the National Chrysanthemum Society (NCS) by bloom size and class. The letter A, B, or C indicates the size of the bloom, with A being the largest. There are 13 classes, which determine their form. I choose the earliest blooming ones to ensure their bloom before a killing frost. 

Regular Incurve Florist Mum
DEREK BIRCUMSHAW 3B