A Nod to Elizabeth Lawrence
A Fresh Idea on Flower Arranging
Ah, fresh flowers in our presence gives so much pleasure. When friends come to share a meal or conversation, fresh flowers usually tops the list of preparations for a festive evening. Often times, I’ll fill a vase with masses of billowing flowers either one of kind or an arrangement of different flowers. They were always pretty, but really served no purpose other then being pretty.
Through fresh eyes, on a pretty spring day, I learned a simple lesson about flowers. I was having lunch with my good friend, Lindie Wilson, at the former home and garden of Elizabeth Lawrence. On the dining room table at the window overlooking Miss. Lawrence’s stand of bamboo, I noticed little clear bottles and vases on the table filled with fresh flowers. Just one flower filled each vase. It made the most simple and beautiful arrangement. They were all different with no apparent thought to a theme of any kind. When I asked about them, Lindie explained that was how Elizabeth Lawrence used fresh flowers. She would fill the little bottles and vases with flowers blooming in her garden. It was a wonderful conversation piece. The flowers were cut from her garden. Not masses of blooms, but rather a single snip of what was blooming then.
Dining room of Elizabeth Lawrence's home
It was also fun to move the bottles around seeing how one flower looked with another. The simple tactile pleasure of moving the bottles around sprung ideas as to how they would work in the garden.
Now, as I prepare to entertain, I snip flowers from the garden and fill little vases. Without fail, the conversation goes to the flowers, not just how pretty they are, but what they are and what they represent – the conversation is about the delight and wonder of what’s blooming in the garden now.
Helen Yoest
Gardening With Confidence
Lily and Aster were at the Y camp in Arapahoe, NC this week. After my husband returned from dropping them off, he visited our friend TD. We are usually rewarded with crabs after visiting. As such, here are the remains of breakfast Monday morning. You can take the girl out of Chincoteague, but not Chincoteauge out of the girl.
There is a lot of talk about zonal denial, micro-climates, and changes in our zones due to global warming. If you are a risk taker and know your garden well, then by all means push the limits with your gardening zone. In my garden, Helen’s Haven, Zone 7b in Raleigh, North Carolina, I no longer take these risks. I’m perfectly happy in the zone I own. I know plenty of folks that plant zone 8 and even zone 9 plants in our zone 7b gardens and are thrilled with their success, even if it may be short lived. I use to, but don’t anymore. I find it is even risky planting plants on the zone’s edge. Ideally, I like to wrap a zone around a plant, putting me into choosing plants for zone 7a, but not always. This year, I will be replacing a Clematis armandii, zoned for our 7b gardens. But, alas, we had a particularly hard winter.
We need to accept the soil we’re dealt or be prepared to amend. I have yet to garden in perfect soil, and still, I find gardening success. I’m a heavy amend-er and believe in the power of mulch. In our area of the Piedmont region of North Carolina, there is clay and sand. In the heart of Raleigh, where I am, it is all clay. As you move outside of Raleigh, you’ll find sandy soil. So when I read a plant label that recommends planting in well drained soils, I know they are not talking to me. But planting these plants in my garden is a risk I’m willing to take. Why? Because here I have some control; I can amend my soil. I have amended all my garden beds, one planting hole at a time. Adding composted leaf mulch or other organic matter to the hole and blending it with the clay with some added insurance of a permanent clay buster such as PermiTil, I can make my sticky clay soil friable. In any garden soil type, you cannot go wrong adding more organic matter. Then top dress the garden beds with a lush, thick layer of mulch each year to moderate the soil temperature, suppress weeds, retain water and generally tiding up the garden. By doing so, you’ll have a happy garden.
The last thing I want to do is deny myself is a plant based on watering needs. But I’m also prudent. I garden water wisely. By that I mean, I have my gardens grouped into three watering zones: Oasis, Transitional, and Xeric. I’m also fortunate in that I have most sun types covered in each of my watering zones. When I garden shop, the plants watering needs are a high priority for me. But because my garden is designed in zones, it narrows down where I will plant it in the garden. This also makes my garden purchases easy. I wont waste money on a thirsty plant requiring shade if the only area in my Oasis zone is sun. Also, it allows me to have a mental map of my garden with me at all times. I do not want to spend any more time than I have to on watering. The thought of dragging a hose around, past 10 drought tolerant plants to reach one thirsty plant is not part of my makeup. I’m way smarter than that.
