Casual Gardening and Living in the Suburbs
What to do when it is dreary, cold and snowy outside and no inspiration is to be found. Plus the roads are a mess, so it’s hard to get anywhere. Time for Peggy to go back to Meijer’s, pick up a few staples and see what’s in the flower section.
Photos by Peggy (in Michigan)
After my last RED post, my son’s cross country team went on to win the IL State Championship for the first time in team history. And when it comes to sports, I am one of those weirdly superstitious people who think that, somehow, something I’ve done makes a difference in the results. So, I figured I had better do another post in support of their trip to Portland for the Nike Cross National (NXN) Championship Race. They made it to the Championship Race as an at-large team, so there was a lot of nervous waiting the last two weeks until the committee decided who those teams would be. We couldn’t be more excited for them. This is such an honor and hopefully not a “once in a lifetime event” for the team. So, to offer my support again, here’s some more fabulous RED pictures.
Credit for first five photos are to Photos by Peggy
Gladiolas are one of my favorite flowers to have around the house. They are just so dramatic, colorful and cheerful. With so many colors to choose from, it’s usually hard to decide. If you’ve ever seen a field of gladiolas, it’s quite a sight!
My local farmers market has a wonderful local fresh flower vendor. While maybe a little more expensive than the grocery store florists, the flowers are always super fresh and last longer in the vase. They also give wonderful flower care advice. This is this week’s purchase and some of their advice.
I have three peonies in my garden that have thrived in dappled partial shade under a River Birch tree. Some years the flowers look great, others, they get wiped out in one the frequent thunderstorms that rumble through here in the Midwest. I used to try to put the little peony “fences” around them to help them stand straighter, but I found that first, you need to get them fenced in before the plant gets very big, and secondly, it really crowds a full grown plant. Now I just let them grow and they look natural and beautiful.
I’ve never had much luck having blooms last very long in the house. I usually cut a pretty bloom and within a day, the petals have dropped. But, I learned a couple of tricks this year. First, I cut the stem with a bud almost ready to burst into flower, put it into a vase, and by the next morning I had beautiful blooms that last days. The second trick I learned was from a Fine Gardening Quick Tip on how to save peonies to bloom later on. I was skeptical, but it actually worked.
Cut your flower bud and wrap them immediately and place in refrigerator.
When you want to have them bloom, take them out of the refrigerator. I let mine stay in for four days. It looked pretty wilted and I had my doubts, but I unwrapped it and put it in the vase.
Within a few hours, the leaves started to perk up and by the next morning I had an absolutely stunning flower that went on to bloom for days!
The refrigerated bud is the bright pink bud in the center of the arrangement.
The stunning flower the next day was no worse for the wear!
