Why I Oughta...

The blooms keep coming, but this time I'm back posting about the Disneyland Roses.  A few days back, I shared photos of all the blooms on the shrubs and then posted about the large growth some of the new ones experienced this year ( one of the Disneyland Roses is four-feet-tall and probably four-feet across ).  In the photo below, you can see some of the flowers that I 'farmed' (get it...flower farming??) and put in this weird, tall glass.  It has a pedestal and I wanted something long and skinny, so I fished this out of the cabinet and pressed it into service.   One of the big differences that I've begun to observe in cut flowers is how different flowers act differently once in the vase.  For the most part, Dahlias mostly stop changing, once they're cut and put in an arrangement.  But, these Disneyland Roses? They keep changing.  Opening up and becoming prettier every single day they are around.  Until...they start to drop their petals....

A few days ago, I posted some photos showing the big peony arrangement that I successfully stored in the fridge for about a month and talked about how peony blooming season is so short.  In addition to cutting and storing some peonies for later this Summer, I also cut and put out on the counter a couple of vases full of peonies when they were blooming.   I've been working on the Disneyland Roses a bit more this early Summer, too.  Paying attention to them water-wise.  And, spraying them with both an insecticide and fungicide as often as I remember to do out there.  That's produced Floribunda rose stems that are *knock wood* holding more leaves and having less pests than last year.   One of my 2025 goals was to continue to have countertop arrangements with cut flowers .  Here's a round-up of a number of cut flowers we've had on our counter the past six weeks or so. We have white double 'Duchesse de Nemours' peonies in the back .  And some...

This four-plant Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia just jumped right off the nursery tables at The Growing Place on my last visit.  It was tall, full of blooms and the colors were just in my wheel-house:  salmon, peachy.  See below for the as-bought state of this colorful cut-flower annual: Floret describes the Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia in a way that made me want to buy even more : This gorgeous novelty is one of the most prolifically blooming zinnias I’ve ever grown. Its petite, double blooms are a warm mix of salmon and peach and combine well with anything. Long, strong stems and small flower size make them a winning summer crop and wonderful bouquet addition. After bringing it home (only one, because that's all they had), I wanted those 'prolific blooms', so I knew that I had to cut it back.  Or...pinch it back - as some people say. This has four stems that were shooting way-up.  I counted up three full-sets of leaves and lop'd off the tops.  Below is a before-and-afte...