There is so much more blooming in the garden this week as spring is flowing into summer. The cool days are most likely behind us now, with summer heat and humidity in full swing. This week’s bouquet is a collection of all my favorite garden colors.
My favorite color in garden flowers is pink. There can never be too much pink in a garden for my tastes. I don’t use it much in decorating or clothes, but I spread it around extravagantly when it comes to gardening. It is a color that makes me happy. And of all my pink flowers, Ragged Robin is my favorite.
It adds such a nice touch to an arrangement.
Nepeta adds softness wherever and however it is used, and is one of my top five perennials.
Nepeta flowers look as if they have little faces that are laughing and having a conversation.
A new addition to my garden this year is a late blooming lilac, ‘Syringa Pre Donald Wyman’, that was the foundation of this bouquet.
Next in, was fuzzy Lamb’s Ears, adding a touch of texture and gray.
Ground Elder, my chief garden thug, is tolerated only in small portions . . . just for it’s delicate white umbel flowers. After blooming, I dig it out at every opportunity. But it is persistent, and is soon back to torment me.
And lastly, I added a few Siberian iris and white Spiderwort to round out the bouquet.
Linking with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for In a Vase on Monday. Be sure to stop over to see more beautiful bouquets from around the world.
Lovely. I love the rich range of purples. that first image is nice with the Nepeta hovering above the lilac.
Thank you kindly. Right now I have so many shades of purple and pink blooming in the garden, it was hard to know what to choose. Sometimes I think two colors make the best arrangements, so that each gets it’s chance to shine.
I love it! Pink is also my favorite flower color. One winter I was making up a list of flowers I wanted to grow the next spring, and suddenly realized that everything I had chosen was pink! 😀 Your close-ups of the Nepeta blooms are great. I never noticed those faces before but am sure I’ll always see them from now on! 🙂
Thank you Joanna! I never noticed those faces either until I took the photos. They look so happy or startled, or something.
Pink is my favorite color in the garden and I enjoy mixing the purples and blues with it. I’m not so big on the hot colors, but they are beginning to grow on me. But . . . they stay isolated and are never allowed to hang out with the pinks.
Oh is that a cultivated variety of ragged robin, Cindy? It is a very double one. You have chosen a lovely selection of material to join it in a vase – what a great addition the fuzzy stachys leave is, something I must remember for my own vases
You know, I planted it 3 summers ago. I had never heard of it before, and looked for it all weekend at the nurseries, but couldn’t find it. I just love it!!! I think I heard it grows wild for you in the hedgerows, so maybe this is the cultivated variety. I don’t know it any other way than what I have, but I sure would love to find more of it. It’s the most delightful little flower ever.
Yes, the native form is just a simple single bloom though
Turns out the Ragged Robin’s official name is ‘Petite Jenny’. I’ve been looking online and haven’t seen any seeds for it, but I’m sure eventually I’ll be able to order the plants. The one place I was going to order from, it is out of stock right now. Looked like it was available in several countries on different websites. I like the ‘Petite Jenny’ version better than the single bloom version.
It’s a lovely combination of blooms, Cindy. The Ragged Robin is cute. I looked it up and may see if I can grow it from seed in my cutting garden next year. I’d love to have Nepeta too – and in fact almost purchased a few small plants last week – but the neighborhood cats (otherwise invisible) seem to have a nose for detecting them upon arrival. Those I planted a few years ago were eaten to the ground within days.
You know, years ago, when I tried to grow Nepeta, my cats would eat it to the ground too. The last cat I had never even went near it. This cat will sometimes chew on the tips of it, but never destroys it. Maybe it depends on the cat or their sense of smell. Or maybe different varieties aren’t as strong as others. Wish I could tell you which variety this is, but I’ve had it for years. It reseeds itself around the garden occasionally. I think it’s worth a try. It is one of my top five perennials simply for the soft look it brings to the garden.
I’ll have to look for seeds too for the Ragged Robin. I can’t find it anywhere here to buy as a plant. Cathy thought maybe this was a cultivated variety with a double bloom.
What beautiful soft colours in your vase – and of course in your garden! I love pink too – all shades! I love ragged robin too , but as others have said, I only now the wild version we have in the UK. You can buy a packet of seeds here http://www.scotiaseeds.co.uk/shop/ragged-robin/ Scotia Seeds might be able to post them to you! My jam jar vase this week is all wild flowers, including a new one on me, which I came across last week for the first time!! Amanda
https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-wild-vase-on-monday.html
Thank you for your kind comments and for taking the time to find the seeds for me.
I’m going to look for the seeds and try to grow them for next year. The foliage is so insignificant, that if it’s not in bloom, it would be an easy plant to overlook at a nursery. And I have no idea where I originally bought them. They are the sweetest little things. I wish they bloomed all summer.
Lovely vase Cindy. Your ragged robin is beautiful – different to our wild ones but very pretty. Oh, and the ground elder is my old enemy too and gets used in a vase now and then to justify its presence. If you ever find a way to eradicate it, let me know! 😉
So lovely and delicate, Cindy. I’ve never seen double ragged robin before – it’s a keeper!
Lovely bouquet Cindy! My first thought when I saw your ragged robin was the same as Cathy. But it’s such a lovely flower, it deserves to have a garden version. Your colours are perfectly in harmony and speak of spring.
Thank you Cathy!
The version I have is called ‘Petite Jenny’ and I’m going to try to order a few plants online. It’s such a pretty little thing and will be worth the effort to find more of it.