This week’s bouquet starts with some golden rod that I nabbed from my elderly neighbor’s yard. Usually it is only found along the road side or in a country field. No one purposely allows this weed to grow in their yard. This year, while she was away, her son’s chopped down every weed and flower growing in her yard, but fortunately they missed her golden rod.
Although a weed, I do like using it for a late summer bouquet and enjoy it’s cheerful color.
Using a gold pitcher and some feverfew, it made a sweet bouquet for the table on the porch.
Once the bouquet was on the porch table, I decided to take a meal out there too.
It was such a beautiful holiday weekend that it seemed a shame to waste these last summer days eating inside.
I know fall doesn’t officially start until September 21st, but in my mind, it always starts the day after Labor Day. So this was an opportunity to use my summer dishes one last time before I switch over to my fall dishes and decor.
These bee salad plates carry me through the spring and summer season with such cheerfulness to the kitchen and the table.
Nothing says “happy” like the combination of bees and feverfew daisies.
I wish I could share a meal with all my friends across the country and the world.
Happy Labor Day weekend!
Sharing this post with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who so graciously hosts every week “In a Vase on Monday”.
It’s a good thing I love the colour yellow – my fields and yard is surrounded by goldenrod – a favourite late summer flower also loved by bees! So perfect for your beautiful table setting!
Thank you Chris! Yellow is not my favorite color in a garden, and really only allowed in the form of daffodils and coneflowers. That is why I love that my neighbor yard still grows it. It really looks stunning against her yellow house.
I love your sunny dishes. We are waiting for the weather to cool down so we can eat outside.
The weather is starting to be “just right” here. Most of the time I get so busy I don’t take the time to eat on the porch. Maybe I’ll do that more when I retire.
One gardener’s weed in another part of the world is a gardener’s herbaceous plant carefully nurtured. Yes I have noticed that the bees love it. Love the combination of this and your plate for your outdoor meal. Have a good week.
I don’t know anyone who considers it a herbaceous plant, but I have seen cultivars for sale at the nursery. I would hope they are a shorter and less invasive variety.
Golden tones work great. Beautiful table setting. Hope you enjoyed a delicious meal outside.
Thank you kindly. I did enjoy a wonderful meal on the porch and hope to get many more before it gets too cold.
It’s not a pernicious weed in the UK Cindy, and people do grow it in their gardens, or a variety of it at least. What did your neighbour think about her sons cutting everything down – did she mind? Yours looks especially lovely in the yellow vase, and your bee crockery is a delight
Thank you kindly Cathy! I think everyone in America considers it a weed, especially those who suffer from fall allergies.
I was worried my neighbor would be upset, but she evidently knew about it before hand and was delighted. She can’t care for her yard anymore and it was totally overgrown with weeds. Her flowers didn’t stand a chance because of all the weeds, and I’m putting up a 6-foot fence to keep the deer out and keep all the weed seeds from coming into my yard. I pull more weeds on that side of the yard than anywhere else.
Sounds like a winning solution then, Cindy!
Right up my alley, I love this wild bouquet, Cindy. And your pretty dishes complete the scene beautifully.
I feel sorry for your neighbor, having all her flowers mowed down. I’d weep if that happened to me. 😉
Thanks Eliza! I love easy country style bouquets best. Nothing fancy, just what is around. Unfortunately I live in the city, and I’d like to find a place to pick some of those very tall purple weeds growing now in the country. I don’t even know what they are called.
My neighbor isn’t able to take care of her yard anymore and I think she was actually relieved to have a clean slate. Although everything will just grow right back. The only thing she cares about and maintains is her vegetable garden and even that is full of weeds, but she continues to try and I think is is therapy for her.
Is it ironweed, perhaps? Just don’t get arrested picking flowers. 😉
One day, I expect I will be like your neighbor, overwhelmed, but still plugging away, until all I have is a window box to garden in!
I just looked it up and it is Ironweed. I’d like to get my hands on some of that. My sister lives way out in the country and maybe she has some.
I too feel sorry for my neighbor. Because of her home and yard going downhill, I always told myself I’d sell my home before I’d sit and watch it get to that condition. Now that I am 66, it is easier said than done, and I keep planning and working as hard as I can to keep active, but I know my day will come too. It will be a sad day when I have to leave my gardens. They bring so much joy!
If you can’t collect seed or plants, you can try here: https://www.prairiemoon.com/search.html?Search=ironweed
Thanks Eliza for the seed information. They get so tall, I’ll have to think of a place where they could go.
I like goldenrod too, although I rarely see it here. I love Tanacetum and have been gratified to find it’s self-seeded in my cutting garden. The two plants complement each other nicely. Your dishes and other table settings complete the picture beautifully.
I don’t see much goldenrod here in the city, but get out on the country roads and it is everywhere. It really is beautiful and I do enjoy it, but I don’t like to let invasive plants in my gardens. Everything must know it’s place.
Cindy, I love Goldenrod and grow it in my garden here. Love the yellows and bee china, so cheerful. Happy Labor Day
Really? I’ve never known anyone who grows it as a flower in their garden, although it is very striking and so cheerful, not to mention that the bees love it.
Look at the UK – it is everywhere and in the Southeast cultivars are pretty popular – Fireworks being one of the most popular, it gets a bad rap for allergies. The one in my garden is a Florida native.
So glad you found some Golden Rod Cindy. It looks pretty mixed in with feverfew. Your plates are so sweet as well! We are going to eat outside today too as it may be one of the last really warm days now. 🙂
Thank you Cathy. It was a fun bouquet to create. Arranging the flowers led to setting the table. I’ll have to try harder to have flowers on the table for enjoyment. I used to do it a lot, but have gotten lazy in my old age. It’s time to slow down and enjoy the sweet things of life.
Who would have thought that golden rod would make such a beautiful bouquet.
I love your decorating style and am anxious to explore more of your posts.
Thank you Robin for your kind comments. Golden rod is a beauty. It’s too bad it has acquired such a bad reputation here in the states.
We have fields full of it around us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it up close, but in the fields, it’s beautiful.
It is well worth a tramp in the fields to collect some. There is a purple wildflower called Ironweed blooming right now that is beautiful too. I have only seen it from a distance, but would love to make a bouquet with it too.