Starting in February we can pick garden flowers for indoors.
Many gardeners collect tiny bottles and vases so that they can display the flowers of small bulbs. Winter aconite, snowdrops, crocus, scilla, and other small bulb flowers with short stems are a treat to pick for the house each spring. One does not need many of these tiny blossoms, just odd numbers of three, five, seven, or so stems, and perhaps a small leaf or two to tuck in.
The hellebores are best in float bowls as they last longer that way than when their stem is in a vase. Snip them with hardly any stem and they will look up at you as they float in a bowl of water, and a few leaves can also be added to these.
Remember to pick any daffodils that have been knocked over and have mud on their faces. Just wash it off and drip dry the blooms in a vase, and they will last well.
Any flowering shrub can also yield blooms for bouquets. One bloom per stem will last the longest, but clusters of flowers will also work if you remove any leaves that will be below the water and pound the woody stems so that they take up more water in the vase.
Also, in early May remember to pick the fragrant lily of the valley blooms and leaves. It usually blooms in time for the Kentucky Derby parties. Change vase water daily to add to the life of your flowers and try to limit the number of blooms per stem.
This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on spring bouquets.
Many gardeners collect tiny bottles and vases so that they can display the flowers of small bulbs. Winter aconite, snowdrops, crocus, scilla, and other small bulb flowers with short stems are a treat to pick for the house each spring. One does not need many of these tiny blossoms, just odd numbers of three, five, seven, or so stems, and perhaps a small leaf or two to tuck in.
The hellebores are best in float bowls as they last longer that way than when their stem is in a vase. Snip them with hardly any stem and they will look up at you as they float in a bowl of water, and a few leaves can also be added to these.
Remember to pick any daffodils that have been knocked over and have mud on their faces. Just wash it off and drip dry the blooms in a vase, and they will last well.
Any flowering shrub can also yield blooms for bouquets. One bloom per stem will last the longest, but clusters of flowers will also work if you remove any leaves that will be below the water and pound the woody stems so that they take up more water in the vase.
Also, in early May remember to pick the fragrant lily of the valley blooms and leaves. It usually blooms in time for the Kentucky Derby parties. Change vase water daily to add to the life of your flowers and try to limit the number of blooms per stem.
This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on spring bouquets.
