The Winter Bouquet Sans Hydrangeas

Dried flowers and weeds bouquet
Fall and Winter Bouquet

I’ll have to dig out my old photo of some dried hydrangeas I had years ago when I first moved to the northeast. The house we bought had the most amazing plants and shrubs growing all over. It’s where I learned about what grew in the north as opposed to the Florida plants I was used to growing.

The yard had a big wisteria vine covering an arbor. It never bloomed while I lived there (only 2 years), but it was amazing. There was a hydrangea tree which got pretty white flowers on it and they would dry up at the end of summer and become pretty shades of tan and pink. I’m pretty sure it was a Pee Gee hydrangea.

I have a photo of those dried flowers somewhere, but this winter I have to make due with my dried flower bouquet without hydrangeas.   It has some weeds, coneflowers, grass and a pinecone.

I can’t wait to have hydrangeas growing in my yard – and other flowers. I miss having beautiful gardens. It will be a lot of work, but I know that if God gives me the time and abilities, I will make this yard into a stunning showcase! Winter is a time to rest and plan. And I have big plans!

Related articles

She Liked My Hydrangea Pictures!

blue hydrangea photo
Blue Hydrangea photography by P. Carter @ Hydrangeasblue.com
If you have spent any time uploading photos and artwork on the internet, whether for pleasure or work, you have probably run into unscrupulous people who grab your images to use on their own sites.

Sometimes they only want the image to draw readers, because the image is a good one, or related to the writing. I don’t have a problem with that if the writer asks permission or at least links the image back to me. I’ve had a few people contact me to ask to use my hydrangea photos. And I’ve had others simply take the images – usually with links back, but sometimes not.

WordPress offers a “reblog” option where someone can re-blog the entire post from one blog to their own. It can be turned off by the blogger. I have re-blogged from others, but I always ask permission first. Even without permission, it’s a good thing to have your blogpost show elsewhere to further readership, IMO.

The use of images is what bothers me. I’m a designer for an online print-on-demand site and I’ve had my design images stolen and then put up for sale at Amazon by downright dirty rotten thieves. They know what they are doing and they steal from lots of people to make a quick buck. The owner of the artwork must then spend lots of time filing notices to get their stolen property removed. And that doesn’t always work either. I’m betting that I will still find lots of my images for sale on Amazon. I get tired of looking.

Some internet users are simply ignorant of the ways of using images. Pinterest tends to have beautiful images with no links, but that is not the only place.

Bottom line is photos, illustrations, pictures in whatever form, came from someone. Give credit where credit is due. When you see something you like online, make sure it is free to use for yourself. Contact the owner if possible, or better yet find free to use images at sites like Pixabay, where all images are safe to download and share.

Do you like my hydrangea photos? Please do what is right.

Out of The Box And Into the Yard – Mail Order Perennials

New little hydrangea plant
One of The Hydrangea Plants

I was impressed with the packaging of the perennials I had ordered from American Meadows, and even though they were a little droopy, they bounced back.

Both Hydrangeas are planted in the backyard where they will get sun and the forsythia is out front. Unfortunately we got a freak 2 feet of snow the end of October, so they hadn’t been in the ground for long before they were covered. One of the long stalks of the forsythia broke off so it’s pretty small now, and the hydrangeas are droopy and partially broken. (The photo was taken before the snow – which may seem obvious, but the snow has all melted now).

I ordered from an online store because I was anxious to get my gardening started here at my new place, but I have my doubts as to how well these plants will do once Spring arrives. And more importantly, how much will they grow. I will be saving up this winter to buy some local hydrangeas and probably more forsythia so we’ll see how much of a difference it makes as far as growth.

Related articles

Got My New Little Mail Order Hydrangea Plants

mail order hydrangea plants
Mail Order Hydrangeas & Forsythia

I actually received these plants October 11th, but I’ve been busy with renovations to my house and didn’t have time to post.

I ordered two hydrangeas, a forsythia and some other perennials and bulbs from American Meadows (link on my sidebar) and the hydrangeas and forsythia came in pots wrapped in little cardboard boxes, which you can see in my photo here. I just took the boxes and “unwrapped” them from around the plant. It was a pretty cool way to ship them with little damage showing.

On the left, is the Limelight hydrangea which has greenish flowers. In the center is the “All Summer Beauty Hydrangea” which (as the tag says) is a hardier cousin to the Nikko Blue.

They were in pretty good shape and it rained for days after they arrived so I set them out on the deck to get watered and adjust to the outdoors during that time. Then I dug big holes and mixed in some Bonemeal with the dirt and watered them well. I planted the All Summer Beauty next to the porch steps and the Limelight at the side yard next to my new red, rhododendron.

All the plants are doing very well and I’ve finally finished planting all my tulip, daffodil and hyacinth bulbs.

Are you a mail order person or do you prefer to buy local – or maybe a bit of both.  I have written a page on Buying Perennials about my thoughts on this subject with pros and cons as I see them.

Related articles

Edible Nasturtium Flowers Are Easy to Grow

Certain flowers can be grown and used to add flavor and goodness to food. The edible nasturtium flowers are easy to grow. The plant is an annual, but if you allow it to go to seed it will replace itself each year in the garden. Or collect the seeds and store them overwinter.

So how do you know which flowers are okay to eat? One way to begin growing edible flowers is to buy a book with accurate information.

Red and yellow Nasturtiums are edible plants
Pretty and Edible Nasturtiums

Edible Nasturtiums

Last year I began adding Nasturtium flowers and leaves to my salads, but I hadn’t grown nearly enough of them to last long.  I love their peppery taste and plan to grow lots of nasturtiums in my new gardens this next Spring.

This salad photo below includes the seeds of the nasturtium, which I have never eaten.

nasturtium salad flowers seeds greens
The flowers and seeds are part of this salad

Growing Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums are easy to grow and all you need is one or two plants as starters. At the end of the growing season, let the seeds dry on the plant and then collect them to use the next season.  These are great flowers for kids to grow because the seeds are quite large and easy to handle.

Leaves are green or variegated (Alaska variety) and flower colors are usually red, yellow, and orange. Read more at this master gardener site.

nasturtium plant with variegated leaves

They come in a variety of colors and are easy to grow by planting their big seeds after the last frost.  Don’t fertilize them or you may get only big bunches of leaves and no flowers!

holding nasturtium seeds
The seeds

Heading Into Fall and Not Doing Much Planting

Extinct?
Image by Chiot's Run via Flickr

The New England Fall season brings us a new set of circumstances to deal with and probably not many people are thinking about planting anything.  They are thinking about chopping, splitting and lugging firewood and maybe buying a new or used wood stove.  They are concentrating, like I am, on the cold season that is coming all too soon.

Fall is a great time to plant perennials and get them established before snow to bring beauty to the landscape the following year.  I have mail-ordered some hydrangeas and other things – I can’t even remember what – that should be showing up on my doorstep any day now.  Or maybe it’s October that they ship?  The problem with mail-order is that I tend to forget.  I have too many other things to worry about and when the arrive I will worry about planting them.  I have the bonemeal, a shovel, work gloves and spots selected in the yard, so I am ready.  I think.  As long as they arrive in decent weather.

In the mean time, I will be waiting for my wood delivery to arrive and after the new wood stove is broken in (I have to do a couple of low temperature burns) I’ll be getting my wood organized before it’s covered with snow.  Then it will be time to rake the abundance of leaves that will surely cover my yard.

I enjoy Fall tremendously, but it’s a busy time.  For me, it’s the whirlwind before the calm.  Once the snow falls, it seems that things calm down and people stay inside as much as possible unless they ski or drive a snow plow.  Winter brings it’s own chores that are not nearly as enjoyable and there will be no planting going on then.