First Bouquet

Our cutting beds are in a somewhat shady spot, so the bulbs we put in are just now getting to the point where they are ready to bloom. Here's the first bouquet from the cutting garden:


There is a pink tulip and some daffodils that came with the house, so I am not certain of the variety. There's also orange ranunculus, which I bought as a transplant from a local nursery. Finally, the greens are sprigs of Jacob's ladder with small, pink flower buds. 

Just as we challenge ourselves to eat seasonally, I now realize that it may be an artistic challenge to arrange flowers just by what is available at any given time. This will put my color schemes to the test. In general, the cutting garden is full of sunset shades: salmon pinks, oranges, yellows. There are also some deep blues for contrast. Hopefully the things blooming at the same time will all complement each other in the vase.   

I am still shopping around for perennials to fill in some spots and tinkering with placement based on the amount of available sunlight throughout the season. I have also tried to start some zinnia and calendula seeds indoors, and plan to direct-sow more seeds to fill in gaps between bulbs (and to fill in any spaces that don't currently have perennials). By Memorial Day the cutting beds should be filled!

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