In a Vase on Monday: A Gardener's Dream

Ever since I can remember, I've dreamed of having a beautiful garden, full of flowers that I can readily go and cut to make beautiful arrangements in my home.  The dream is now a reality (though it still feels like a dream at times).

I feel so fortunate that I can just walk out my door and admire such beauty, and then capture the beauty and bring it inside with me.

Thanks to Cathy, over at Rambling in the Garden, there is a whole meme dedicated to the beauty that we capture from our gardens and put in vases to bring garden delights to other areas of our lives.

For today's vases, I was delighted to gather the following for my arrangements:

Belinda's Dream rose,

white bearded irises,

and ranunculus (as well as rosemary, not pictured here).

On top of that, after a bit of garage-saling last weekend, I purchased a basket perfect for collecting my cut flowers.

With so many cut flowers to choose from, I opted for two floral arrangements this week.

First, the romantic collection of pretty pink roses and pure white irises:

The Belinda's Dream rose was planted last fall and is already covered in blooms.  I'm expecting a lot of pretty vases made from her flowers!  The white irises were a pass along plant from a neighbor last year.  My neighbor forgot what colors these irises were, so it was a pleasant surprise for them to turn out white after the other varieties of dusty pink, dark purple, yellow, and purple with yellow had already bloomed. 

What a wonderful feeling it is to be able to cut your own roses from your garden!

My second vase is a bright and cheerful mix of ranunculus with some rosemary sprigs.

The ranunculus were fall-planted rhizomes that I wasn't sure would bloom, since I haven't had much luck with them in the past, at least in containers.  However, they are doing very well in the ground!

I selected this cheerful mix to take into work this week to brighten up my cubicle.  Out of my two vases this week, this one, with the ranunculus and rosemary, will last much longer than the irises and roses will, making it a good option for my weekly work vase.

Such pretty things!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - February 2015

With the warm, 70 degree days we have been having in Central Texas (zone 8b), there are early signs of spring with the blooms in the garden.

Most notably is the Florida Prince peach tree.  I love the pink and white blooms on this tree, but I'm heartbroken because we have some freezing temperatures in the forecast this next week, and I'm doubtful that my blossoms will survive, which means no peaches for me.

That's the trouble with selecting a peach tree that was not right for my location.  I recently learned at a home fruit seminar, held by the local master gardeners, that we require fruit tree varieties that need around 700 chill hours.  The Florida Prince only needs 150, which is why it blooms so early and is exposed to the danger of freezing its blooms.  Looks like I'll be taking this peach down and replanting a new one this year.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy its blooms while I can.

The veggie garden is also putting on a show of flowers.  Many of the fall and winter veggies have bolted and the bees are loving the blooms, especially on the broccoli.

This is the first time I've seen the arugula flowers - so dainty.

The peas are starting to shoot out blooms - I'm looking forward to some nice pea pods for stir-fry recipes in a few weeks.

The rosemary is a-bloomin' with its delicate violet flowers, which is buzzing with bees.

Finally, with the decent amount of rain and warm temps, the yard has sprouted up with blooming weeds that I appreciated for a moment before my hubby mowed them down.

Thanks to Carol for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th of every month.  Be sure to stop by May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other gardens around the world.