flowers – Page 3 – New England's Narrow Road

Pretty Floral Bouquet in Pink and Green

I love flowers but this is the beginning of the flowerless season, unless you count all the Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus. I don’t know if I will have any Poinsettias this year because of “Mayhem” my new cat. I don’t want her to eat them and get poisoned. Her real name is Skittle, but that is too cute. I have renamed her May (short for Mayhem) because she is a terror.

Anyway, I usually pass right by the grocery store flower shop and consider buying cut flowers and little plants an additional and unnecessary expense on top of the huge amounts I pay for food. But, something recently made me think differently and I bought two small bundles of flowers this past week. I came across a couple of my favorite little vases (yes, I’m still unpacking) and knew they needed to hold bouquets.

The little white pitcher with tiny blue painted flowers was purchased years ago at a yard sale and I used to have it in my beautiful Florida bathroom. I knew I had to use it once again after years of not having a place for it and my small drab bathroom needed some color – so there you go. I think the pink flower is a Gerbera Daisy and the green one is a Spider Mum, but I’m not sure. The rest of the bouquets were put into a pottery vase on my kitchen table.

If having flowers in the house makes you happy, splurge once in a while and brighten your winter days.

Pink, green and bronze flowers in a vase — Daisy and Mum Bouquet

It’s Almost Fall, But I Am Planting To Beautify My New Yard

fence and rock garden — Trying to Beautify the Yard

Well, I am all moved into the new house and I’ve been busy trying my best to get the place fixed up. Some things I am doing myself, such as yard work and planting. I’ve already weeded and made a small garden in the rocks by the driveway and along the old fence which I decided to keep. At first I thought I might paint it, but I’m not sure, and that would be something that can wait anyway.

Fall is a great time to plant perennials so I’ve been checking out the local farms and stores for some to add to the yard. Tenney Farms (one of my favorite places) has a bunch of perennials that are overgrown and not so pretty, but I’ve picked up some good stuff in the past few weeks. I added a red rhododendron to the side yard and a couple of peonies (one is white) to the fence garden, along with tall, red daylilies and little stella d’oros (which I love too), and a white phlox.

I found a great looking Astilbe at the farm too and that is in the front near all the trees. I have a lot of shade in the front from the tall trees that line the road and the sunny, but small, back yard was full of blackberry bushes that I have been pulling out. Not fun! I’ll keep the raspberries which are not in the way, and not as nasty.

I planted a red coneflower and yellow daisy back there which will grow among my veggies next spring. Fall is a good time to get ready for next years growing season so I feel like I am accomplishing something and in the Spring there will be at least some color in this yard.

The only plants worth much that are already here are a few leggy lilacs, and I found two, small azaleas that look like they are barely surviving. I’m moving them into more sunny areas so hopefully they will do better. Already I am looking forward to next Spring, for the first time in years.

This is what I have spent most of my time doing, that and getting my son ready for school which starts next week.

How to Plant Perennials (homeandgardenideas.com)
Planning A Garden: Sunny Spots (hydrangeasblue.wordpress.com)

Pink Peonies and Other Flowers From Long Ago

Pink peonies make me happy. Even if I can only view this picture and it seems like I will never see a flower again. It seems long ago that the yard was blooming and the grass was green, and this ugly time of year always makes me feel this way. Today is gloomy and raining. The cat is bored and goes in and out every five minutes, so he is now locked in the basement. When I look outside (I try not to), I see dirty snow that is covered with old sunflower seed hulls and a messy deck that is worse for the winter wear. I see gray skies and bare, wet trees and of course the mud.
I’ve been trying to get some work done today, but the cat caught a bird this morning and that put me in a bad mood and this gloom hasn’t helped.
So I thought it was time to view some happy flowers. Do you need some sunny thoughts of summer? (Forget Spring) Then I hope my flower photos give you a smile.

Purple Columbine Flowers

The Columbine plant is available in so many lovely colors. I have a red and yellow one and a few “blue” (which are more a dark purple) and light pink.

This Spring I saw some at the Agway that had feathery looking flowers and I almost bought one just because of the uniqueness, but didn’t.

They are easy to grow and the seeds are fun to collect – there will be loads of them! – to plant for next year.

dried seed pods — Tiny Seeds Are Inside These Pods

Find a small jar and collect the round, black seeds in late fall when they are completely dried out or just let them self sow in the garden. Be sure they don’t get pulled up as weeds next year. The leaves will be rounded.