Artichoke Past its Prime

By the third week of October, most anything left standing in the garden is fair game for bouquets. I scavenged just before the rain set in, fighting my way past the spider webs to harvest these final flowers: hydrangea, Northern sea oats grass (Chasmanthium latifolium) with its flat, reptilian-like blooms, a re-bloom of grape colored penstemon, sneezeweed, and an artichoke so past its prime that it was topped with a fringe of purple-buzz cut.…..I’ve mostlly been away from the garden for weeks, traveling and then busy in the city. In my absence, the spiders took over, wrapping shrubs and perennials in their sticky, dew-drenched masterpieces.

Are spiders the sign of a healthy garden? If so, mine is doing great….the dahlias had a boost from a few days of warm weather, as did the sneezeweed….love the hot orange of 'Fortnett’s Furnace' dahlia, with yellow centers that inspired the choice of vase…The green tomatoes tell the story of a chilly summer or perhaps fall arriving a couple of weeks too soon (doesn’t it always?) and the purple grape leaves turned burning red play off the intense color of the dahlias….

 

Comments

[Riz Reyes]

OOooooh, what a riot of autumn color! What fun, Val!

[Jayme Jenkins]

I just read your Seattle Times Article about garden books. Great read! Then I came across the your blog link and here I am (starting to sound like a spam comment...).

The artichoke looks amazing in your fall bouquet. I love it even more that you added a vine of green tomatoes! I'm experimenting myself with fresh from the garden arrangements. The other day I snipped some stems from my physocarpus 'diablo.'

[valerie Easton]

Hi Jayme,
I bet the dark leaves from Physocarpus 'Diablo' looked great in a vase - they'd be a perfect contrast to the plentiful supply of green tomatoes we've got this year...
Val

[London escorts]

Here all these flowers are looking really very amazing it is plentiful and having the perfect contrast. These all are great to know about it.