I’ve always enjoyed picking herbs from my garden. But I typically just pick what I need for mmmmm for culinary use. I’ve been harvesting more herbs this to dry and save for medicinal and beauty uses this year.
Scroll on to see what’s been in my herb basket this year.
I’ve always had a hard time cutting flowers from my garden. I just never seem to want to ruin their beauty by taking them from their natural state.
I’ve been experimenting this year though, and I’ve found which flowers last well as a cut flower and which ones don’t. Some, like Zinnias even put on more blooms when you cut them.
Here’s a summary of my summer bouquets.
Long-Lasting Cut Flowers: Zinnia, Coreopsis, Salvia, Cosmos. Hydrangeas can be long lasting as well if you wait to cut them when they are beginning to feel papery on the stem.
Flowers that Fade Quickly: Echinacea, Black-Eyed Susan.
A gallery of my fall blooms from this year.
A volunteer chrysanthemum by my mailbox. Isn’t it beautiful?
Sedum Autumn Joy
Purple Dome Aster
Chrysanthemum Daisy Rose – a very reliable bloomer.
Aster Bluebird
Aster Purple Dome again.
Another volunteer chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum Daisy Rose again.
Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit sending up some late fall blooms.
Chrysanthemum Whippoorwill
Chrysanthemum Grandchild
The volunteer chrysanthemum all opened up and exploding with blooms.
Some of my best blooms this summer! Hope to do even better next year. I’ve already got my next years garden planned out and order with plants arriving for fall planting.
Here’s what has popped up in the last couple of weeks and what I’ve planted in the last few days. We’ve had a rainy week, so I took advantage of it to plant my annuals and the last of my perennials for the year.
For annuals this year, I chose mixed green begonias, lavender vinca, white alyssum, and mixed impatiens.
In the perennial category, I added a few chrysanthemums, gaillardia, daylilies, ajuga, more lamium, and my new recent favorite, several varieties of agastache.
New to bloom since I posted last are perennial geranium, iris, more azaleas, honeysuckle (which I forgot to take a picture of), and the peony is so close to blooming.
So, let’s get on with the pictures.
Red azalea – such a bright, beautiful color in the front flower bed. (Also pictured, tulip foliage, iris and chrysathemum daisy rose.)
Shocking Pink Azalea – my favorite azalea color I think.
Purple azalea. My grandmother grew azaleas this color in her front yard.
Light pink azalea.
A new baby azalea to match the large shocking pink on the other side of the flower bed.
Flower box outside our front window. Pink begonias and white alyssum.
Pink begonias, white alyssum, lavender vinca on the bottom.
Annual lavender vinca.
Our pansies and orange impatiens grown from seed. They were hard to start so I’m pretty proud that they grew.
Bushel basket filled with a white begonia, white alyssum, and three mini chyrsanthemums from Trader Joe’s, one which we overwintered.
Red geraniums and white alyssum.
Begonias green basil, and purple basil in the large pot. Two lavender vincas in the little one.
Annuals – red begonias, white alyssum. Perennial – aster coming up in the center of the pot. I transplanted the aster out of the flower bed last fall.
Red pot includes annual begonia and white alyssum. Perennials pictured from behind the red pot moving clockwise are iris, Echinacea Tomato Soup, Agastache Summer Glow, salvia, fading muscari, lamb’s ears, Daylily Holiday Song, Chrysanthemum Daisy Red. In the center of the bed are Coreopsis Moonbeam, Chrysanthemum Mickey, Agastache Rosie Posie.
Annuals – begonias and white alyssum.
Pictured clockwise from the mailbox are iris, red azalea, Echinacea Pow-wow, lantana, fading muscari, lamb’s ears, wooly yarrow, Sedum Pachyclados, white alyssum, lavender vinca, lavender, rudibeckia, Agastache Champange. In the pot are begonias and white alyssum. In the center of the bed are red perennial salvia, begonias, chrysanthemum daisy pink, and annual lavender vinca.
Iris.
Perennial geranium.
The peony is so close to bloom.
Clockwise from top: Echinacea Mama Mia, Agastache Rosie Posie, Liatris, Gaillidaria Arizona Sun, Chrysanthemum Daisy Red. Pictured on the left side are the edges of the peony leaves.
The big clump is Black-Eyed Susan, peas and tomatoes along the side, and minature roses in the front.
Begonias, lavender vinca, white alyssum, and on the far right a sprig of transplanted Chrysanthemum Rose Grenadine.
Excuse the mess, we’re preparing to build a sandbox for the kids. Along the edges I’ve planted Ajuga Burgundy Glow and Ajuga Bronze Beauty as a ground cover to fill in the dirt under this shade tree.
Clockwise from top left: Pulmonaria Dark Vader, Astible Plumila, Tricyrtis Tojen, Ajuga Burgundy Glow (bottom right), Impatiens, and Fern (center of bed). Two other ferns and cyclamen are planted in this bed too but haven’t woken up yet.
From right to left: Daffodil foliage, Helleborous Pink Frost, Lamium White Nancy and Hostas across the front mixed with annual Impatiens. Far right is Lamium Orchid Frost. In the back are Spanish Bluebells and Bleeding Heart.
Hosta, Lamium and Impatiens.
Clockwise from bottom left: Phlox Amazing Grace, Rose Quietness, Cosmos and Carnation seedlings, Sweet William Cherry Jolt, Yellow Sedum, Lavender Vinca. Center: Sedum Firecracker, Sedum Autumn Joy.
Annual basket I received as a gift full of petunias and verbena.
Purple pansies.
Our pansy and orange impatiens seedlings with our little spring bird decoration and a sweet little girl for cuteness.
Remembering Maggie Lane 