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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Children in the Garden

Blithers, I love those succulents but they gave me writers block!



Time for a subject change. One thing that's been dear to me for years is ideas for children in the garden. My girls are older now, one is almost 18 and the other is 13. Still, I'm always looking for ways both conscious and subconscious to have them fall in love with the garden.

Last month my youngest daughter Emily and I walked the garden at twilight. We took along a small bud vase and a pair of clippers and I encouraged her to cut a small arrangement for her night table. Since then I've refreshed that arrangement and a matching one for Lauren's room.

While I simply adore flowers in the garden, I was never one to cut them to bring inside. So my search begins, I'm looking for flowers that have a long life after being cut.

Number one are Hosta leaves. They add class to any arrangement and if you remember to change the water every few days, you will get at least 3 weeks out of those leaves!

Here you can see the leaves that have already been in this vase for two weeks.



I've added a simple white Salvia bloom and cut a stalk of Lychnis (catch-fly).




Finally, I decided to also add a white Tradescantia and Amsonia



Here you can see the finished result on Emily's night table.



While I'll never win a flower show award with this one I still think it's a charming last sight before you turn out the light.

Happy cutting!
Melanie

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