The Flower Market

Nothing makes a house a home quicker than fresh flowers.  My grandmother, Louise Thornton taught me many skills growing up, but flower arranging was an art that eluded me well into my fifties.  I finally came to realize that the perfectionist in me did not lend itself to flower arranging but recently began to pay attention to my own garden and the natural configuration of how plants grew there.  I have always loved an "English Garden" for more than one reason, not just a love of all things British, but of the delightful way things just seem to spring up in a wild sort of fashion.  You can also cheat and let a weed or two or three grow and no one will be the wiser! All of my garden spots here are "English".  I throw and plant lots of things and what grows, grows. I rarely pull up unknown volunteers and am surprised at what the birds, bees and squirrels have contributed over the years.  Last year I decided however that  I wanted to do my own arrangements with the Flower Market in my own garden. I started with large simple containers and just cut the stems, depending on the vase and natural bloom height.  I plopped whatever was blooming at the time in the pot or vase, rearranged a flower or two. and walked away.  Resist the tendency to make it uniform.  I found that if I went about my other daily duties and gave it a look see every couple of hours, it took very little to make a beautiful NATURAL arrangement.  Of course for special events as I always tell folks, the one thing you have to have is an amazing florist. My designer is Bettyann Fortune of Flower Fashions in beautiful downtown Bowling Green.    

My version of the summer arrangement above. The last blooms of summer and late Fall, Daisies, Salvia Chrysanthemums, Marigolds, Celosia and a volunteer purple wildflower with orange center that grew tall in the garden this year, about five feet.  Does anyone know what it is?

Cut your flowers in the morning, re-cut at an angle and change the water daily and you won't have to add flower food.