Cut Flower Bouquets

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.

                                                               --Emma Goldman

Yesterday when I was looking for photos of field flower bouquets,

I kept finding photos of cut flower bouquets instead.

Cut flowers, at least according to Google Images,

are those annuals and perennials cut from cultivated flower gardens.

So I'm sharing some of those today.

Isn't this beautiful?

It's a mix of rhudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans), pink zinnias,

blue ageratum, and lime green bells of Ireland, 

which incidentally are from Turkey, not Ireland:

rockyparenting.com

Gladiola flowers always make a statement in a tall vase:

gardenclubbackbay.org

It seems I can't get enough of zinnias this year. 

These orange zinnias look great with the yellow gerber daisies, 

violet phlox, and burgundy celosia plumes:

gardenflowers-renee.blogspot.com/

I don't think it's possible to dislike roses in an arrangement.

This one from My Petal Press blog 

includes yellow lady's mantle and blue delphiniums.

http://mypetalpress.blogspot.com/2011/07/cut-flowers-from-my-garden.html

Cut flowers--surely one of the treasures of summer.

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Wildflower Bouquets

For me, one of the delights of growing up 

was picking wildflower bouquets for my mom.

There were multitudes of wildflowers to choose from.

Daisies, Queen Anne's lace, and black-eyed Susans 

filled the pastures and meadows.

morguefile.com

Purple clover, wild roses, and morning glories 

all grew along the plowed fields.

And there were always dandelions, 

iris growing near abandoned homesteads, 

and along the roads, orange day lilies, blue chicory, and  fox tails--

anything pretty was there for the picking.

Wildflowers in a vase--

nothing is more evocative of summer.

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Bee Friendly Herbs

Besides the annuals and perennials I described yesterday,

there are lots of bee friendly herbs, too.

I love herbs. They are so richly fragrant,

and most of them can add that something special to food and drink.

Following are some bee friendly herbs.

Borage, which has a faint scent of cucumber:

outsidepride.com

    

          Catnip                                      Cilantro                                       Fennel

      cherrygal.com                          marketmanila.com                           en.wikipedia.org

     

        Lavender                                 all the Mints                                       Rosemary

insonnetskitchen.com                       en.wikipedia.org                               motherearthliving.com

                                      

                                    Sage                                                 Thyme

                         piedmontgardener.com                              bonnieplants.com

                                          And perhaps most obviously, Bee Balm, 

                                              which is called Melissa in Denmark.

                                                

                                                                                wqed.org

  

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