I think if it follows you home from the garden centre, you have a moral obligation to look after it.
Category Archives: Plant
Book review: Growing Heirloom Flowers by Chris McLaughlin.
Growing Heirloom Flowers – Chris McLaughlin (2018, Cool Springs Press, The Quarto Group, Minnesota)
This has got to be one of my favourite gardening books of the year so far! And it’s not just the eye candy aspect, although that’s a huge part of it – Nadeen Flynn’s photographs are absolutely sumptuous and I can’t stop flipping through the pages in wonder. It’s the inspiration that practically drips from every page, making me want to rush out to try everything in my own garden.
Beginning with a definition of heirloom flowers and notes about seed saving, Chris McLaughlin launches into detailed chapters covering cutting flowers (dahlias, larkspur, glads), fragrant flowers (nicotiana, lilacs, bee balm), flowers for handcrafting (calendula, lavender), and traditional cottage flowers (blue flax, cosmos). A few recipes and beautiful DIY projects make delightful additions. This is a gorgeous, informative book I know I will keep returning to.
(The Quarto Group very generously provided me with a copy of Growing Heirloom Flowers but, as always, my opinions are 100 percent my own).
Flowery Friday.
I sneezed the whole time I was there, but it was absolutely glorious!
Lilacs on a grand scale at the Reader Rock Garden, here in Calgary, last week.
Flowery Prose turns 8!
Well, Flowery Prose The Blog turned 8 years old a little while back and I meant to write a little something to celebrate, but somehow it was overlooked, and here I am, a few weeks-ish late. I would like to offer a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who generously and kindly gives FP a read, and/or stops in to comment – you all rock and I’m very grateful to you!*
Just for fun, I thought I’d share my top three favourite posts I’ve done so far – I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.
The Don’ts of Bird Photography. Timing is very important when taking bird photos. You’ll see what I mean. (Be sure to click on the image in the link for full, glorious effect).
Bookmarks. Since I wrote this post (and transferred to another library branch in the city), I am delighted (bewildered?) to add a child’s pink one-piece swimsuit to the list. I am not joking.
Fun with Search Terms, Flowery Prose Edition.
Why not celebrate with me and put a link to your favourite post that you’ve done on your own blog in the comments?
*even if things get supremely busy and I don’t get around to replying for weeks on end and then pretty much the season is over and done with or whatever I’ve written about is completely irrelevant and yet you are still so patient and wonderful and I truly appreciate it
Flowery Friday.
I didn’t quite realize it before we moved in last summer, but our new home is situated on a property containing a delightfully large number of apple trees. There appears to be several different cultivars. I have no idea what they are (it’s a bit easier to narrow the ID on them when they fruit!), but what a treat to see them blooming right now. The sight – and lovely sweet scent! – makes me smile each time I head out the door.
Which fragrant flowers in your garden are your favourites?
Flowery Friday.
One of my favourite sights of spring: larch trees in flower. The upright pink ones are the elegant, showy females in their rosy party dresses – the males are the compact pollen-bearers, in tidy yellow-brown suits, clinging to the undersides of the branches. You can see a couple of females and a male in this photo I snapped late last week.
Tuesday tidbits.
A lightning round of links to explore this week:
- Crazy Plant Ladies through the Ages: Women Naturalists, Botanists, and Horticulturists Who Made History – I’d argue the “crazy” but it’s an interesting article nevertheless.
- Daffodil Insights – Some fantastic information about these beauties.
- Embroidering Electronics into the Next Generation of “Smart” Fabrics – Amazing technology with a ton of useful (and creative!) applications.
- Microscopic Images of Seeds – Very cool stuff!
- A Few Fun Facts About Pollen – Fascinating and yes, fun!
