A stroll in your garden on a cool Sunday morning with secateurs and a glass of water is a very peaceful thing. A reprieve from the heat and for a short time, a reprieve from all of life’s woes.
The zinnia bed is coming along well. Most of them have had at least one bloom, but the time has come to cut them all off so they can spread their wings and bring forth abundantly.
While the bed is filled with multicolored zinnias from a generic pack of seeds, new to the zinnia patch this year is ‘Envy”. She is a lovely shade of acid green.
A little stool I found in someone’s trash one day while walking the dog, becomes a short table where I can dip the stems in water while cutting. And the perfect seat for me when trying to steady myself for taking pictures down low.
Next on to the Alchemilla Mollis (Lady’s Mantle) patch, which has just come into bloom. Its acid green flowers will play with ‘Envy” very nicely.
Then the fun of arranging bright colors that bang on your eye. Not my usual preference of soft, sweet pastels this week.
Bright, bold, and yet airy describes this vase.
A small arrangement. Really too small for the too large table. But small things can make big statements. And this is one of those times a little bit, a little pop of color, brings joy and brightens everything around it.
Linking again this week with Cathy from Rambling in the Garden for “In A Vase on Monday”, where you can see a multitude of beautiful arrangements from around the globe.
I have turned a little green myself, seeing your lovely zinnias and lady’s mantle! My zinnias are still very much seedlings despite all the encouragement I have been trying to give them! If they ever make into a vase on Monday it will be a miracle. But then miracles do happen, so watch this space – or that space! Love your vase. Beautiful. Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-rosy-glow-in-vase-on-monday.html
Thank you Amanda. I planted my zinnias in February, far too early for our climate. With all the weather extremes we’ve had this spring, they have needed a lot of babysitting and tender loving care to get to this point. I will know better for next year. Once they start spreading their wings, they will be a sea of color and a delight to the bees, butterflies, and me. That is what I’m waiting for.
Lovely bouquet, Cindy! I love alchemilla flowers as a filler – its color complements the pop of orange so well.
Thank you Eliza! I’ve never had zinnias this early before, so it is a treat to pair them with the alchemilla.
Did you pinch them out as well as cutting the stems, Cindy? I am never sure whether to do this as they don’t have a clear ‘tip’ to pinch. I sowed mine at the end of Feb but had to make second sowings as they were badly affected by aphids, They are at least a month away from flowering I would imagine, so it’s lovely to see yours, and the alchemilla mollis is a great filler for your vase. Thanks for sharing
I pinched them several times while growing them inside from seeds. They never seemed to respond very well, but the parts I pinched, very easily became new plants by just putting them in rooting hormone, and then in potting soil. They looked a little whimpy for a few days, but they all went on to become new plants. I have grown them in past years and never pinched them and they always went on to become 4-foot plants.
Despite all the pinching, they still look leggy in the garden, but I know cutting off the flowers will keep them spreading out. I think it just takes longer than I expected. I’ve never had my zinnias bloom until at the earliest July, so this is new for me. Starting this early, I sure hope they make it until frost in October cause they are such a delight in the garden. I’ll have to make sure to fertilize them to keep the flowers coming on, which I’ve never done before either. I usually just stick them in the garden and they are on their own. These are the most pampered zinnias I’ve ever had. Time will tell if it makes a difference.
It’s a sweet arrangement, Cindy. Your zinnias are well ahead of mine, some of which are just now germinating and others still seeds sitting in their packets while I wait for space to put them in my cutting garden. Despite the best of intentions, my seed sowing and bulb planting was later than I’d have liked (again) this year. I wish I could grow Alchemilla but it really doesn’t appreciate our dry conditions but your post had me thinking I could create a similarly frothy feel using Euphorbia ‘Dean’s Hybrid’ – I’ve stored that idea in the back of my mind for future reference.
Thank you Kris. It seems rare to find something you can’t grow that we do. Alchemilla is quite drought hardy and I am rather surprised it won’t grow for you. It does well enough here, reseeds itself around, but never seems lush and full.
I started my zinnias in the house in February. I’m always late starting things, so I started early this year – too early for zinnias. They sprouted in 2 days and it was a long hull keeping them happy until they could safely be put outside. Even then I had to put a hoop and plastic over them, and place a heater inside with wool blankets over the plastic to get them through a couple nights below freezing in May. Can you picture all that? Anyways, they survived me and the weather, and I know better now not to start so early.
Beautiful! I can’t believe you have zinnias in flower already! Stunning combination in your glass vase. 😃
I don’t usually have zinnias until July or August. I only have them this early because I started the seeds in February. So, they have already had a long life. I’m just hoping this early start won’t mean they will end early. They will usually bloom until we have frost in October. I’ll have to keep them in plenty of water and fertilizer all summer. These are the most pampered flowers I’ve ever grown.
My heart leapt when I saw your arrangement. So gorgeous. Zinnias are one of the few flowers I’ve always grown from seed. I planted some two weeks ago and the seeds came up in two days. Yay! Checked them every day and this weekend saw the rabbits had eaten almost every last one of the special cactus ones. Despair.
Rabbits and deer can eat your crop down to nothing. And squirrels can dig everything up. Fighting animals seems to have become a full time job. I recently had a 6-foot fence put up on the last side of my yard to keep the deer out. They still jumped over the side gates, so now I have closed them up too. Put in a new short picket fence with a gate along the front side of the back yard and used chicken wire to close in between the pickets. I think now, the only thing I can’t keep out is squirrels and raccoons, so destruction has become a lot less. It’s a lot of work and expense to keep them out, but it is worth it in the end. They all still have full access to the front yard, but at least some of it is protected now. All you can do is do what you can, and hope they go nibble in someone else’s yard 🙂