This Month in Gardening: January
Plants that Bloom in January
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May 24, 2021Garden VisitsDISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
One thing I love most about Cheekwood is how they showcase art, not just in the mansion with galleries of paintings, but with new sculptures throughout the garden every year. Last year, Chihuly was at Cheekwood, and this year Sean Kenney’s Nature POP! sculptures made with LEGO Bricks are brightening up the gardens at Cheekwood. In addition, local artist Herb Williams has created art around trees and structures with Crayola crayons.
Bald Eagle
I love how there was a concerted effort to include these Lego sculptures in places in the garden where you might see them naturally. For example, the woodpecker seen below (my personal favorite out of all the sculptures) was placed in a heavily wooded area of the garden where you might actually see a real woodpecker.
The deer were placed in a grass clearing where you would typically see deer.
An entire deer family in a clearing
The dragonfly was in the rain garden which would have more water than it does currently after a good rain. It’s been a dry May so far, however. Dragonflies are predatory insects that hang out near freshwater bodies of water and eat insects flying around in the air. I love how complex the textures created by the Legos are on the body and the wings.
Dragonfly
The Lego rabbits are seen throughout the Bradford Robertson Color Garden just like normal rabbits – snacking on the young annuals that you just planted. Not that I have personal experience with that or anything…😑
The lion isn’t exactly in the Serengeti, but the red of the lion makes a nice contrast with the complementary green color surrounding it.
The monochromatic sculptures were just as amazing as the colorful ones, and I love how they look like pixelated images. Reminds me of the early days of video games. I could stare at that Lego dog for hours. This girl perfectly encapsulates the joy and wonder at seeing these Lego sculptures throughout the garden.
Sean Kenney even included an extinct animal in his Lego sculpture collection – the dodo bird. After visiting the dodo’s native habitat of Mauritius, Sean Kenney was struck by “how quickly humans could destroy an entire species.” Part of the exhibition includes signs with information about how many Lego bricks each sculpture took, how many hours to construct, fun facts, scientific information and or artistic information related to each piece. Sean Kenney used this opportunity with the dodo bird to not just create colorful, captivating art, but to also inform children and adults alike about extinction and destruction of animal habitats.
The Polar Bear sculpture used 112,450 bricks and took 389 hours to build, and he said that the layers of blue are meant to emulate the layers of ice of glaciers and also symbolizes the loss of polar bears’ habitat due to melting glaciers. I love that Sean Kenney uses his platform to educate about science, and how humans affect animals’ habitats.
This rose might be my second favorite piece because it looks beautiful but also like it might be one of the more challenging ones to construct. All the animals look pretty solid, but the rose petals don’t seem as thick, and I wonder if it took some trial and error to get this to remain whole. I also wonder if that is why they chose to put this piece inside the visitor’s center near the membership desk with employees that could keep an eye on it. There is a rose garden outside that this would work well with, but this rose might not withstand the elements (and potential prying children) as easily as the other pieces.
Also with a few pieces at Cheekwood is Nashville local artist Herb Williams. When I saw this first piece, I wasn’t sure if it was another art piece, or if it was something similar to the yarn bombing that was popular a few years ago.
Crayola crayon art created by Herb Williams
But then I saw Cheekwood’s Instagram stories, and it showed him installing the two pictured below. I like art that is colorful and uses mediums that I haven’t seen used before.
He even allowed kids to help him place the crayons. They were having such a good time helping him! I love the fun aspect of this art and getting kids involved in the process makes it even better.
Not that nature needs much help being beautiful, but I love how all these pieces enhance the natural beauty already present at Cheekwood and add an extra dose of excitement in the process. I appreciate all that Cheekwood does to keep things fresh and interesting with the art they bring and the programs they have. Make sure to visit Cheekwood so you can see Sean Kenney’s Nature POP! [...]
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March 1, 2021This Month in GardeningMuch like January, there are few plants that bloom in February. Though, in February, quite a few more plants start to bloom, and some that were listed under the January blooms that might not have been in bloom for you should hopefully start to awaken this month. If the perennials, bulbs, shrubs, and trees still aren’t flowering for you, might I suggest the old winter annual standbys –
Pansies and Violas
There’s a few more color options around than the standard yellow, purple or white if you want to change things up. They make more of a statement when planted en masse, and they tend to handle the cooler weather fairly well. You can also keep them around for spring, interplanted among spring-flowering bulbs like tulips and hyacinths to get more bang for your buck.
Pansies and violas are a sure way to provide color in the winter
Perennial Bulbs
There are several bulbs that flower in late winter or early spring, as mentioned previously. This month brings the addition of daffodils towards the end of the month.
Crocus
These bulbs are early-flowering, so should be making an appearance in many gardens during the month of February. There are a lot of color options available and there are also several different species of Crocus – vernus, biflorus, chrysanthus, etruscus, minimus, olivieri, sieberi. Vernus tends to flower later than the other species of crocus, so if you are looking for earlier flowers, those are the way to go. They are also called Species Crocus or Snow Crocus if you are looking online. Crocus vernus has larger flowers and is also known as large-flowering crocus, giant crocus, or Dutch crocus. Really, any variety of crocus will get you some later winter/early spring blooms and will be a welcome sight in your garden.
Classic purple crocusCrocus ‘Orange Monarch’Crocus ‘Miss Vain’
Eranthis hyemalis
As mentioned in the January blooms post, Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite) is another early-flowering bulb to include in your garden for blooms in January and February. They’re a little less common at fall flower bulb sites (and you definitely won’t find them at stores). I found mine at Dutch Grown. They look beautiful in large drifts. See below for such an example.
Photo credit: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Their performance in middle Tennessee, however, can be a little touch-and-go. I thought that perhaps it was just me that struggled to get winter aconite to take hold, but as you can see below, even Cheekwood doesn’t seem to have the conditions that will produce large drifts of winter aconite either. Here are a few in their garden:
Winter aconite at Cheekwood
I don’t feel quite so bad after seeing their failure to take hold at Cheekwood. I had some in my garden. A handful bloomed in the first year, but looked pretty pathetic. The next year only two bloomed and they were even more pathetic. The year after that they were all dead. 😪 They like humus-y well-drained soil, neither of which Tennessee is particularly known for. I’m not sure if it’s worth it for me to try again. I might just go with more crocuses.
Galanthus
Galanthus elwesii, Galanthus nivalis, and Galanthus woronowii are three varieties of a flower known as snowdrop. This is another flower that can be pretty unimpressive when there is just one or two scattered around like below:
It looks cute here, but can be easy to miss in the landscape
They are so beautiful in huge drifts. Here are some at Cheekwood that are doing a bit better than mine. Suffice it to say, you probably want to plant more than 5-10 snowdrops if you want to make a statement.
Narcissus
Daffodils are a crowd favorite, and some early-flowering varieties start to bloom at the tail end of February, though if not in February, definitely in March. They are super tough, easy to grow, and put on a beautiful show every spring. Purchase some early, mid, and late spring bloomers to lengthen the season.
Herbaceous Perennials
There are a couple herbaceous perennials that flower at this time of year as well.
Iberis sempervirens
Iberis sempervirens a.k.a. Candytuft has a fairly long blooming period. Some of mine started blooming in January and continue to bloom into March. It’s a great plant for the front of borders or, as you see below, on a rock wall. I have started to see these at garden centers (Lowe’s specifically) in the early spring for sale so you shouldn’t have too difficult of a time finding them. If not there, there are plenty of online retailers that sell it, like American Meadows and Bluestone Perennials.
Helleborus
I can’t talk about winter flowers without mentioning hellebores. There are so many varieties on the market and they are becoming increasingly popular, so you should be able to find them at most garden centers. Though, some of the big box chains haven’t quite figured out how amazing they are, so you might try garden centers/nurseries if you are striking out at Home Depot and Lowe’s. Helleborus niger typically blooms the earliest, but there are many Helleborus hybridus that could bloom earlier or later depending on what the crosses were.
Hellebores come in many colorsThey brighten up the winter gardenThey also provide a nectar source for bees
Another cool hellebore variety is Helleborus foetidus a.k.a. Stinking Hellebore. It does not stink, in case you were wondering. 😆 The flowers are a beautiful light green color, and brighten up shady corners of the garden. The foliage is also unique.
Helleborus foetidus will brighten a dark corner of your garden
Wildflowers
So far, all of the plants mentioned have been non-native, but never fear, there are a few native wildflowers that bloom early in the year. Though not easy to find through garden centers or online plant sellers, there are a few early-blooming wildflowers that could brighten up your garden. These early bloomers also aren’t the most impressive flowers, but that seems to be true of a lot of the other early flowers as well when compared to some of the mid to late spring (and beyond) flowers.
Claytonia virginica a.k.a. Spring Beauty is one of the earliest blooming spring ephemerals. I’ve seen some on my hikes in Edwin Warner park as well as in grassy fields by the neighborhood pond. You can’t tell in the picture below, but they have pink stripes on the flower and are so cute! They are diminutive, but in large groups are quite nice.
Spring BeautyHarbinger of SpringCutleaf toothwort
Erigenia bulbosa (Harbinger-of-Spring) is another wildflower that is a bit unimpressive, but when there are few other wildflowers to speak of, it’s nice to have something!
Cardamine concatenata or Cutleaf Toothwort reminds me of a snowdrop, but it has more flowers per stem. They are a little larger than the Erigenia bulbosa, so they stand out a bit more. They make a nice native alternative to snowdrops to include in your garden!
Shrubs
Another great source of flowers in the garden, particularly for pollinators, is flowering shrubs. There are a couple shrubs at this time of year that start to make their appearance.
Mahonia
There are a couple varieties of Mahonia that are flowering at this time of year. Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ has nice bamboo-like foliage. Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ is a hybrid variety that you can find at many garden centers. Mahonia aquifolium is native to the western United States. Mahonia bealei is invasive in some parts of the U.S., so do a little bit of research before purchasing a Mahonia to make sure you’ve got one appropriate for your area.
Mahonia’s bright yellow blooms cheer up the garden in winter
Edgeworthia chrysantha
Edgeworthia chrysantha or Paperbush starts to put out its flowers in February. They open up more throughout the month and really put on a wonderful fragrant display in March. Not a native shrub, but is well-behaved in the garden and provides blooms when little else is flowering.
Edgeworthia blooms continue to open up throughout March
Chaenomeles speciosa
Chaenomeles speciosa (Quince) starts to flower in February as well, but really makes a full display in March. There are a lot of quince varieties on the market now, including some double flowering varieties from Proven Winners.
Quince will continue to bloom through snowy weatherAnd really puts on a show
Trees
There are a few trees that bloom this time of year. Two mentioned in January continue to bloom in February – Chimonanthus praecox (wintersweet) and Hamamelis (witch hazel), pictured below. There are several different Hamamelis species that are more commonly available – Hamamelis virginiana, Hamamelis vernalis, and Hamamelis x intermedia (hybrid of mollis and japonica). Hamamelis virginiana and Hamamelis vernalis are both native to the United States.
One that may start to bloom at the end of February if your winter is warmer is the cherry blossom tree. There are many Prunus species and varieties, so look for ones that are considered early-flowering.
Fragrant WintersweetWitch hazelOrnamental Cherry
Cornus mas
Cornus mas, or cornelian cherry, is a dogwood originating from Europe and Asia. It has pretty yellow flowers that start in February, and continue through March.
Weeds
And, if nothing else, there are a plethora of common garden weeds to provide flowers at this time of year, like Veronica filiformis, pictured below.
The bees don’t care that they are considered weeds!
Anything blooming in your garden? I’d love to hear from you in the comments with your garden location and zone! [...]
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January 19, 2021This Month in GardeningIf you want to have flowers in January, it’s not impossible! When I first started my garden, I wanted to always have something in bloom. If you want to do the same, you have to be intentional about plantings for the cooler months like December, January, and February. There are a few key plants to include in your garden: cool weather annuals, early-flowering bulbs, hellebores, Camellias, and early-flowering trees. I’ll show some examples of each January bloom to get you inspired!
Cool Season Annuals
The most well-known flowers for the winter month of January are the cool season annual flowers violas and pansies. I like the dainty look of violas, and they are a bit more uniform in color than pansies. They can provide a pop of color in the landscape during the cooler months, and look good planted en masse.
Dainty little violas
Pansies don’t have to be boring. There are a variety of colors and patterns to choose from. I can’t help but think of the pansies in Alice in Wonderland. I see their bizarre faces every time I see a pansy. They can also look great when interplanted among spring bulbs.
Pansies don’t have to be boring!There are many pretty varieties out there!
Early-flowering Spring Bulbs
There are a couple fall-planted bulbs that flower earlier than others in the spring, and some even flower in January. This will all depend on the weather and what zone you live in. I live in zone 7, and have seen all of these flower in January, albeit most of them at the end of the month. I have seen other gardeners post pictures as well that live further north than me, so it is still possible!
The most easily found is the crocus. I have seen these flower in late January and early February. The next easiest to find is the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis, Galanthus elwesii, and Galanthus plicatus). They are more common in Europe, but when I set out to have flowers year-round, this was a must to include. I have seen these flower in gardens north of Nashville even earlier than they flower here. The last one is even less common, but you can find it at online nurseries that specialize in bulbs. It is called a winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) and flowers in late January/early February as well. This one is a little trickier to grow than the crocus or the snowdrop, or at least it was for me. I planted quite a few, but only a couple came up the first year, and then only one or two the year after. Tennessee might not be the best place for them seeing as the consistent moisture year round, and do best in well-drained soils, something a lot of Tennessee is not known for.
Purple crocusesGalanthus elwesiiEranthus hyemalis
Now let’s get into a couple other perennials.
Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens)
These are not super common at garden centers. I have seen them at Lowe’s before, so you might be able to find them there. The plants in my garden I started from seed from Swallowtail Garden Seeds. I was not successful the first year I tried them, but the second year, I was much more successful. They are also a great groundcover or rock garden plant.
Candytuft blooming in January
Hellebores
If you don’t have any hellebores in your garden right now, then what are you waiting for? Seriously, though. There are so many amazing cultivars out these days. I have seen these for sale at Lowe’s as well as my local garden center. Helleborus niger blooms earlier than Helleborus orientalis, and typically comes in white. The common name for Helleborus niger is Christmas Rose, so it typically blooms around Christmas. The common name for Helleborus orientalis is Lenten Rose, so it tends to bloom around Lent or Easter. However, a lot of the hellebores on the market now are hybrids, so they may bloom in January or they might bloom in March/April.
Helleborus niger ‘Jesko’
Helleborus x ericsmithii tends to bloom in January, February, and March. Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Shooting Star’ is particularly floriferous. It is PACKED with flowers every spring and it has expanded since first planting it. They do not take well to transplanting, so make sure you find a good place for it and let it do its thing.
Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Shooting Star’
There are a lot more color options available with the hybrids, and the flower form tends to be more upright rather than the drooping, bell-like straight species hellebores. There are pinks, magentas, purples, yellows, and combinations of those colors as well.
Helleborus ‘Bloom1st’
There are single-flowered cultivars and there are double-flowered cultivars. I personally like the single-flowered form over the double-flowered form. I like that the petals are rounder whereas with the doubles they come more to a point. The bees also seem to prefer single flowers over double flowers because they provide more nectar and pollen, and it’s easier for them to get the pollen.
Helleborus ‘Vavavoom Pink’Helleborus ‘First Dance’
So, if you don’t have any hellebores in your garden, there’s no time like the present! You won’t regret it.
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Camellias
The camellia is another STUNNER that you want to include. In my opinion, they’re better than roses, and they provide flowers when not much else is flowering. There is an amazing variety of camellias, and if your local garden center doesn’t carry them, there are some online retailers that carry a considerable variety of them (Wilson Bros Gardens, Lots of Plants, and Plants by Mail to name a few). If you’re looking for a certain variety, those online retailers are more likely to have them as stores only tend to carry a few varieties.
There are varieties with pale pink, bright pink, or deep pink flowers. There are variegated flowers. There are single, semi-double, formal double, and fully double flowers.
The two main varieties of camellia are Camellia sasanqua and Camellia japonica. Camellia sasanqua tends to be a little shorter (but still gets four to six feet tall) and more shrub-like. They tend to flower in the fall. Camellia japonica can get around eight to ten feel tall or taller. You can use them as a hedge or as a small statement tree. They tend to flower in the winter and spring. Camellia sinensis is the plant that is used to make tea and can be grown in the landscape as well.
Camilla Professor SargentI love the prominent yellow stamenBeautiful variegated flowers
Camellias mostly prefer shade, which is great for those who are looking to add more color to their shady garden areas. Camellias are winter hardy from zones 8-10, while many are winter hardy in zone 7, and a few are being cultivated to be winter hardy in zone 6.
Ruffly white camellia flower
Camellias can be pruned to take many different forms. Keeping them closely pruned can form a hedge. They can be allowed to grow and may resemble a tree. They can also be pruned to form an espalier, like the example below which is trained to make a circle around a sign.
An camellia espalier
Camellias fulfill so many needs in the garden, they are definitely worth considering!
Early-flowering trees
Lastly, there are a couple trees that flower very early in the year. Witch Hazel and Wintersweet are two trees that flower very early, sometimes in January. Their flowers aren’t the most impressive thing you’ve ever seen, but when the tree is full of these blooms, it can make quite a statement. Especially since no other trees are flowering at this time.
Witch HazelFragrant Wintersweet
Well that’s all the flowers I have for January. Are there any I’m missing? Do you have anything blooming in your garden in January? I could love to hear from you in the comments! [...]
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February 16, 2020Garden VisitsLooking to do a day hike with my parents, I searched for a state park halfway between us. Burgess Falls was one of several state parks with waterfalls that fit the bill. The deciding factor was that Burgess Falls had a Native Butterfly Garden. So, I was sold on Burgess Falls for Butterfly Garden and of course the actual waterfalls.
When we pulled up and met my parents, we weren’t sure where the butterfly garden actually was. After wandering around for a little, we found the butterfly garden in the middle of one of the parking lots. It’s kind of easy to miss. I guess, like me, most people wouldn’t expect a native butterfly garden to be in the middle of a parking lot. However, once you stop to observe, it becomes more obvious. I saw all sorts of creatures buzzing around the garden, not just butterflies.
At first glance – it’s not that impressive
I saw several dragonflies and damselflies. Dragonflies have shorter, fatter bodies, while damselflies have long skinny bodies. At rest, dragonflies’ wings are extended. Damselflies keep their wings together at rest. Burgess Falls State Park even has a checklist for dragonflies and damselflies so you can check off which ones you see. Here is what I was able to identify – correct me if I’m wrong!
Widow Skimmer DragonflyEastern Pondhawk DragonflyCommon Whitetail DragonflyBlue-ringed Dancer (?) Damselfly
I of course saw several butterflies, some even sharing the same flower. Burgess falls also has a checklist. I was able to capture several species on my visit. The pearl crescent particularly loved the coneflowers (Echinacea), and the skippers were all over the bee balm (Monarda). Butterflies seem to prefer flowers that have a “landing pad” so they don’t have to struggle to hand on while getting their nectar. I saw some remnants of milkweed, so I am sure there were even more butterflies earlier in the summer.
Pearl Crescent ButterfliesSpicebush SwallowtailSilver-spotted SkipperLittle glassywing Skipper
The bees were certainly able to find the last of the milkweed. They are more easily able to fly and climb on/around/in flowers. And of course the bees love bee balm too. Pretty much everything that the butterflies like, the bees like too.
Though I came for the butterflies, (and who doesn’t love butterflies), I was treated to an even rarer sighting – hummingbird moths! They are super fast, and look kind of like a large bee at first glance, so you might have seen one without realizing it. At first I just thought it was a big bee — most are yellow and black. After googling variations of “big bee” with other descriptors, I finally found pictures that resembled what I was seeing. It is called a Snowberry clearwing moth or latin name Hemaris diffinis. The first picture below is for scale. Zoomed in, they look a lot larger. They are about the size of the central part of the monarda flower. Next time you’re by a big bee balm patch, stop and wait for a while. You might see one!
As I was taking pictures of these hummingbird moths like a psycho paparazzi, a man cautiously came up to me. He waited for me to take a break to ask “Is this the butterfly garden?” I wanted to say, you see me taking pictures like a madwoman, right? Instead, I kindly said, “Yes.”
So, how can a garden be so chock full of pollinators but yet people miss it? Well, most people think of very, neat, manicured flower beds, where each plant stays in its own lane. They don’t think of tattered flowers, browning leaves, and subdued colors. Pollinators prefer native flowers. There are so many vibrant cultivars now that people don’t realize what the native original species look like. They also like a garden that’s a little messy or wild. Pollinators need shelter, and having a garden that is at least a little unkempt allows pollinators to make their home there.
You also wouldn’t expect to see a butterfly garden in the middle of a parking lot loop. But what I love about this garden is that it illustrates you can have a garden teeming with pollinators — butterflies included — with very little space almost anywhere. You can also create this garden at very low cost — less that $10 — even free. Buy some milkweed, coneflower, aster, and bee balm seeds. Or, check out your local library. Many have a seed exchange program. Davidson County and Williamson County Public Libraries have seed exchange programs. There are also local plant swap and seed swap groups on Facebook that are always welcoming to new gardeners.
Take this as inspiration to create a pollinator garden with whatever space you have! [...]
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February 10, 2020MiscellaneousDISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.
A Year in Flowers is the flower arranging book that I’ve been looking for for years. Floral arrangements and the people who make them have always seemed to be part of some closed-door secret society. It felt like floral designers were just born with some innate ability to arrange flowers beautifully. When describing floral designers, people say things like “they have a gift” or “they have an inimitable artistic vision.” And if you didn’t have that gift, I guess you are out of luck. Creating floral arrangements never seemed like something you could learn. And, if you wanted to try to learn how, you had to pay out the ear for workshops or seminars most of which still seemed to leave you with one bouquet and no actual knowledge of how to arrange flowers. So, us mere mortals were left to either buy arrangements from grocery stores or florists at huge markups, or attempt to make our own by just throwing random stuff together, or looking at Instagram and poorly attempting to imitate. In walks A Year in Flowers.
Not just pretty pictures – this book is full of quality instruction on floral arrangement techniques
I’d been thinking for quite a while about how I wished garden design and flower arranging books would be more like cookbooks. An endless line of people have made recipe books that clearly outline how to make a wonderful dinner. Sure, chefs and recipe writers can “have a gift” and have incredible creative vision. Yet, they can still write a list of ingredients, some easy to follow steps, and anyone can create that delicious meal. Many cookbook writers discuss substitutes – what ingredients you can change out for similar ones. They also might note when ingredients are fundamental to the dish. They can take something that is difficult for many – cooking a meal – and break it down in easy to understand components. So, if you can read, and you can follow directions, you can make a meal that tastes just as inspired as when the chef first made it. This is what Erin Benzakein and the Floret Flower team have achieved with A Year in Flowers.
Supplies
Like any good cookbook begins with necessary cooking equipment for the recipes ahead, Erin begins with the necessary tools and supplies for making floral arrangements. From pruners to twine to pin frogs (a new one for me) to vessels, she takes you through what you need and why. She discusses sources for flowers (hint – it’s not the grocery store) and how to care for flowers once they’re cut. There is an ingredient list in the back of the book which has every flower and foliage mentioned in the book as well as tips for harvesting and vase life.
A look inside the Floret studio – with vessels galore. Photo Credit: Chris Benzakein
Design
Once you are set up with supplies to make the arrangements, Erin takes you through design. I like that she mentions modifying ingredients if part of the ingredient doesn’t fit the overall design. Like recipes, if I don’t have something on hand, I’ll swap it out for something similar. Or, you can use only part of the ingredient if, for example, the foliage works with your design, but the flowers don’t and vice versa. I appreciate that she is teaching you how to cook, rather than just be able to make one recipe.
The first element of design she describes is color, and she begins with the difference in warm vs. cool tones in both flowers and foliage. She goes on to talk about the importance of limiting your colors to one or two main tones when you are first starting and then incorporating color bridging to marry colors farther apart on the spectrum.
Next Erin covers the fundamental ingredients to creating lush seasonal arrangements. She classifies them as structural foliage, supporting ingredient, textural ingredient, supporting flowers, focal flowers, and airy accent. For each ingredient type, she lists, along with Chris Benzakein’s pictures, possibilities for that ingredient in each season. I think it would be really helpful to take those pages out and hang in your workspace for an easy reference of examples of each ingredient. Of course I wouldn’t dare take apart this beautiful volume!
From there, she walks you through the different types of flower arrangements: statement piece, centerpiece, vignette, posy, hand-tied market bouquet, bridal bouquet, and en masse. Once Erin has walked you through each technique with a description of what it is, when you would use it, and how to do it, she moves on to the big focus of the book – seasonal arrangements.
One flower arrangement technique – hand tied bouquet. Photo credit: Chris Benzakein
Seasonal Bouquets
For each season, she covers each one of the above techniques with flowers and foliage elements available in that season. She also covers a bonus technique for each season – a flower crown for spring, a wrist corsage for summer, a foraged wreath for autumn, and an evergreen wreath for winter. With these bonus techniques included, Erin has covered just about every type of arrangement you could ever want to make. Except maybe kokedamas, but who really wants to do that anyway?
Eager to try one of the winter arrangements with ingredients from my own garden, I opted for the “Rose and Plum Posy”. I have hellebores at their prime, purple kale that has somehow lasted through planting it last spring, tons of nandina in the neighborhood, and some other possibilities for the other ingredients. Like I do with typical recipes, if I didn’t have a particular ingredient, I tried to find something similar. I didn’t have the supporting flower Poinsettia ‘Freedom Marble’, so I used various heuchera leaves in its place. Since the colored part of Poinsettia is actually foliage, not flowers, I figured that would substitute well. I also didn’t have the Viburnum called for in the supporting ingredients section, and I couldn’t really find a suitable substitute. But, the arrangement was looking pretty good without it, so I didn’t worry about it.
Here is what I ended up with:
I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. I would never have thought to include so many foliage/structural elements in the arrangements, but they really pull it together and take it to the next level.
I was worried when all the people with advanced copies were talking about how pretty the book is, and don’t get me wrong – it’s beautiful. But, I wanted a book that actually delivered on how to arrange flowers. This is just the book I was looking for. A Year in Flowers de-mystifies flower arranging techniques and breaks it down like a recipe so that anyone can follow it. From key ingredients to clearly delineated steps you will be on your way to making beautiful arrangements in no time. I can’t recommend it highly enough! [...]
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January 31, 2020InterviewsI’ve been following J. Paul Moore and his incredible moss lawn for over a year on Instagram (@jpaulmoorephoto). He is known by many as the Moss Man for his unique moss lawn in his back yard and his extensive knowledge of moss. Not just known for his moss lawn, Paul has been in the photography business for over thirty years photographing gardens, landscapes, nature, and architecture. His photography is stunning, and I love how he always finds an original way to capture the nature around him. He also used to own and run a garden center with his parents. Paul has a host of native plants on his twelve-acre property and has an educator heart, frequently giving garden tours and talks.
My husband (also named Paul) and I went to visit this moss lawn at its prime – moss apparently looks best around January – and were treated to a tour of the garden. Here is part of that tour and conversation, lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
The moss garden looks so vibrant and alive, even in winter
We began with a moss garden that Paul started to showcase different types of moss. You’ll also see a fetterbush, fern, and a stone face made by his cousin. One thing I am immediately struck by in his garden is how much green there is. As we go further on the tour, despite how many deciduous trees and shrubs and herbaceous perennials he has, there is so much green that the garden is still beautiful in the winter. Filing that away for later.
One particular kind is called tree moss because it looks like a little conifer tree. “You can trim the tips and distribute them and they’ll sprout up.”
Tree moss (Climacium)
Getting to the main moss lawn, Paul pointed out that it is seven years old. “I started with the first patch – pulled up what dead and dying grass was there that summer and just keep the debris off of it. Moss does not like competition.”
“If you go hike in the woods here, and this is a prime example, see that little hump? A lot of times in the woods a tree will fall and rot and it’ll leave that hump. The leaves will fall off of that, and moss is the first thing that will grow. See, there’s not really any competition. Any place you have bare soil that stays bare for any length of time it’ll get the moss.”
Shelly: So do you take patches and transplant them?
Paul: This one I let all fill in on its own.
S: You just let nature do its thing?
P: It’s slow. But, you can buy moss. Here, I’ve patched all this in. This is fern moss (Thuidium delicatulum). You can see they look like little miniature ferns.
S: Do they all grow and spread at roughly the same rate, or do you find big differences in the types?
P: It’s all pretty slow. This one is faster than most I guess but there’s a variety in here called Brachythecium. It seems to be a little faster. It’s got a beautiful texture to it and almost has a variegated color to it. This variety here is called Bryoandersonia illecebra. It looks like little worms.
P: Here I’ve filled in some different kinds because I’m doing this to experiment. I brought a bunch of samples in for my talk at Warner Park, so I just took the trays and planted them in there. I keep the screen on it to keep the critters out of it. And these are some where you can tell I’ve patched in some other varieties.
Under the screen are the varieties from his Warner Park talk. On the right, where the moss is darker, he patched in a different variety.
P: My soil up here is naturally acidic soil, which you don’t particularly have to have for the moss because the parks are full of it and that’s alkaline soil.
S: Does it take much foot traffic?
P: Yeah, you can walk on it all day, you just can’t scuff your feet or play football on it. It actually likes to be walked on. It breaks the little stems apart and helps spread it. Sometimes I’ll be out here and I’ll turn a certain way and it’ll twist up. I’ll just pack it right back down because moss has no roots. It has these root-like structures called rhizoids — they just kinda stick to the ground.
P: My daughter has a health consulting business and they did yoga as part of one of their programs. We did moss yoga up here during the summer.
I could do yoga here
Shifting gears from the moss lawn, we talk about some of the plants he has around the outside of his home and on his property. Most of the plants on the property are native plants, and we walked around identifying the various specimens — sometimes having a sniff of the stem or leaves. I’ll save those for another post when they’re at their peak bloom! Right now, one of the few green things besides the moss is the pachysandra behind his house.
P: For the first time ever the deer got up here and ate the tips off the pachysandra.
S: They must have been hungry!
P: It’s been here for thirty years and they’ve never eaten it. People say why do you have this if you have native plants? I say well this is one of the first things I planted before I really knew about natives, and secondly this is where my box turtles go to cool off in the summer.
P: The box turtles come up and they get in those bird baths to cool off and they’ll come in here to get out of the heat and breed in there.
S: So they just come up the hill?
P: I’ve seen them, they can travel a pretty good distance. I recognize the shell markings — they’ve been coming up for years. I call the other bird bath on the other side, which is a little deeper, my box tub — box turtle hot tub. I’ve seen four or five at a time in there.
The “box tub”
S: Do you have a lot of wildflowers?
P: Oh yeah tons of wildflower. This whole area is filled with goldenseal, lots of bulbs –let me see if this blue-eyed mary is up. I’ve got an endangered species over here. All these little leaves are blue-eyed mary — a beautiful little blue and white flower. It just carpets the area over here. It’s easy to grow but it’s hard to find to get a start.
Blue-eyed Mary coming up
S: Did you plant a lot of the wildflowers?
P: I planted almost everything up here on this hill. Spring beauty, a tiny little wildflower that carpets the ground in the spring it has that, and toothwort, two very common, but not very impressive wildflowers in terms of profusion up here. But every other wildflower pretty much I’ve planted. we’ve been here for thirty years. We’re registered now with United Plant Savers as a botanical sanctuary.
S: Did you apply for that?
P: Yeah you have to apply, tell them what you’re doing. You have to commit to doing education, and garden tours, which I do anyway. I’m not doing as many full-fledged garden tours because of the time and money involved. When I had my garden center business I was pretty much here all the time and working on it, but now to get ready for something to the level of my satisfaction requires about $1000 worth of labor to start whipping things into shape. You know, mulching paths and all that. You know people say “we don’t need you to do all that” and I say that’s like inviting someone to your house and your house not being cleaned up. That just doesn’t work in my world.
P: We’ve got twelve acres here so nobody can build anywhere near us which is nice. It’s hard to believe how much it transforms when the leaves come out and everything starts happening. It’s a little bit of paradise for sure.
Indeed it is. [...]
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