We should enjoy this summer, flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one we’ll see. – André Gide, French author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
On this winter solstice, yes, I’m posting about summer bouquets. They’re a buried memory, dampened by required winter rains. But I couldn’t let the year end without posting my bouquets of the summer season. It was my last year of donating weekly bouquets for Korematsu Middle School. Now I’ll be delivering bouquets to unsuspecting friends throughout spring, summer, and fall. For now, remembering this past season’s bounty. Enjoy!
Ah, my spikey dahlias!
The dramatic, dinner plate-size white dahlia.
The reliable, early spring through fall alstroemeria.
The pink and magenta version of alstroemeria.
A new-form favorite – flowers that are taking flight like the love-in-a-mist, yellow butterfly-like columbine (aquilegia), and red geums, anchored by my favorite striped Chomley Farran dianthus on the left.
Another version of this taking-flight bouquet.
I decided to use this celery-type greenery along with wild-growing purple flowers (upright). I’m forgetting their name.
Up-close view of the yellow aquilegia, Chomley Farran dianthus, and a white straw flower in the middle, supported by love-in-a-mist and light purple scabiosa.
A stuffed dahlia bouquet.
I love how the pale yellow dahlia petals curve out and spike, while the white dahlia is more fluted and layered.
Close-up of the fluted petals of this cream-and-orange (like a creamsicle) dahlia.
A stringy but beautiful flower sprung up, and I became an opportunistic gardener! I love the pink, blue, and purple colors of this bouquet.
Dahlias, Cupid’s Dart, scabiosa, love-in-a-mist, and Chomley Farran dianthus.
White and blue scabiosa frame this bouquet, but the star is the delicate, pointy-petaled pink-and-cream dahlia.
Ah, my short-lived Orlaya grandiflora “Monoan Lace.”
The grand dame white dinner-plate dahlia.
Dahlias, Cupid’s Dart, aquilegia, and alstroemeria.
These miniature lilies have been growing in the side yard for years. They play well with the alstroemeria and dahlias.
Yellow dahlia fireworks along with lilies, alstroemeria, and other dahlias.
This gladiola tops this bouquet.
My beautiful, fragrant sweet peas!
The most beautiful colors and deep perfume. I kept them on my desk all summer long.
The purple color turned to this beautiful cornflower blue.
Even when the sweet peas were expiring, their colors were still exquisite.
I made a lot of monochromatic bouquets this summer, much to David’s chagrin.
I used stems from some of our bushes to add variety to the bouquets.
The white scabiosa, with its pinpoint centers and ruffly petals.
Mixing up yellow and blue flowers in a bouquet.
The peach-colored gladiolas are naturalizing in our front yard. Lucky me, lucky bouquets.
The red geums have also been proliferating in the front yard this year.
The beguiling blue scabiosa. I’m mesmerized by this close-up. Such delicacy and detail.
The purple dahlias didn’t come up as much, so they were at a premium when they did, and much beloved in a bouquet. And I’m still in love with the cream-and-orange, fluted-petal dahlia.
A couple of years ago, a gardener thinned out her garen of bearded irises. We planted a lot, but our landscape architect’s work thinned ours out! So when the two or three plants bloom, we rejoice.
And we worship the multi-bloom purple iris.
The joy of cutting flowers, including the purple and white echinacea, which looks beautiful throughout his blooming from straight petals to lowered petals and bulbous centers.
The rare red dahlia, paired with the white dahlia.
Dahlias and alstroemeria.
Fuchsia dahlia.
Orange zinnia, fuchsia and yellow dahlia, and Cupid’s Dart.
Blue scabiosa nestled in-between an orange and yellow alstroemeria. Look at the stripes of the alstroemeria up close. Amazing!
My cherry brandy rudbeckia wasn’t as hardy as it has been in past years. But here’s a beauty.
A tight dahlia bouquet.
The reliable red-and-white dahlia, below a wispy white scabiosa and fuchsia dahlia.
I planted this new flower in a pot in our side yard. What a delicate beauty, a beautiful blue color with little antenna tipped in white, almost like straight sewing pins. But they look like they belong undersea.
A big sprawling bouquet with everything in it.
Ready for two deliveries!
Flower gathering before making bouquets.
Zinnias, rudbeckia, and Cupid’s Dart grace this end-of-summer bouquet.
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