This is one of my favorites fall combinations in the garden: Sedum ’Autumn Joy’ and Heuchera ’Green Spice’.
I’ve planeted it in a raised bed that gets 6-7 hours of sun which is on the lower side. Sedum loves sun and would benefit from more. If you can, put it in the sunniest and driest spot possible. The heuchera likes sun to part shade.
The pink sedum has been blooming for a few weeks now and will carry on for a few more. In the winter it will dry but keep its structure creating lovely winter interest, especially combined with the semi-evergreen Heuchera.
The dark purple center of the Heuchera goes beautifully together with the pink flowers
I got my hands on a bunch of succulents for half price. I’ve been making arrangements and touring them up because they just didn’t look right.
After quite a few failed attempts I realized what the problem was: most of the succulents were dark green – there wasn’t enough contrast and the arrangements looked dull.
I needed whites, reds and yellows. The colors that just happen to be fall colors. Luckily I keep a box full of fall decorations for fall wreaths. They came quite handy!
Det är enkelt att torka hortensia och att använda blommorna som prydnad i hemmet. Blommorna gör sig fina i allt från kransar till torkade buketter. Eftersom de står sig länge är de himla tacksamma att använda som dekoration i hemmets mörkare hörn där vanliga växter sällan trivs.
Här visar jag hur du enkelt torkar Hortensia. Jag utgår från en Hortensia Limelight men det går lika bra med andra sorter så som Little Lime eller Annabelle.
Hortensia Limelight torkar fint
Steg 1: Klipp av de grenar och blommor som du vill torka
Klipp ovanför en uppsättning blad
Step 2 – Plocka bort bladen
Plocka bort alla blad, de brukar se trista ut när de torkar.
Remove all the leaves
Step 3 – Gör ett nytt snitt och sätt direkt i vatten
Gör ett nytt snitt i mellan två noder, dvs mellan där bladen brukade sitta. När du har gjort snittet är det bra att sätta grenen i vatten med en gång. Jag brukar ha en vad förbered med ett par cm vatten i botten. På så vis kan jag snabbt få ned grenarna.
Då var det klart! Allt som återstår är att vänta ett per veckor på att hortnesiablommorna ska torka. Du behöver inte göra någonting mer än att låta dem stå ifred i ett mörkt hör. Räkna med att vattnet i vasen tar slut efter några dagar och fyll inte på nytt.
Aster novi-belgii ‘Early Blue’ blooms from July to October
Asters are a great perennial for if you need late summer and fall color. The ’Early blue’ variety starts blooming in July and goes on all the way to October!
Full of buds!
They get around 10-12 inches (30-35cm) tall and prefer full sun. In my garden they get around 7-8 hours of sun and they do really well.
Flower bed with Aster novi-belgii ‘Early Blue’, Peonies and Lady’s mantle
One flowerbed – three seasons
It’s almost hard to believe that this is the same bed! Early spring this bed is full of tulips. In June the peonies put on quite a show and late summer to fall belongs to the Asters.
I got my hands on some Heather (Calluna vulgaris) and decided to make a wreath.
You can make a this wreath with pretty much any plant that does well when dried. Lavender would be my favorite.
Step 1 – Get your materials
You will need:
a wreath form (I used a 20 inch metal form but any type and size is fine)
floral wire
wire cutters (I used scissors. It would but I would’t recommend it ;-p)
Step 2 – Make bundles
Separate the Heather into bundles and wrap them using the floral wire. You will need around 20-30 bundles, depending on the size of you wreath form.
Adjust the size of the bundles based on the size of your wreath form. Bigger forms require wider bundles – smaller forms do better with narrow bundles.
Step 3 – Tie the first bundle
Tie the first bundle to the wreath form. Make sure it’s tight!
Step 4 – Tie the remaining bundles
Continue to tie the bundles to the form on top of each other. Do every second one facing slightly inwards vs slightly outwards.
Step 5 – Check your wreath
Have a look at your wreath and make sure it looks symmetrical. Prune branches that might be sticking out or add an extra bundle to any area that might need it.
Disclaimer: At this point I realised that I wanted the bundles to start at the bottom and go upwards on both sized (not around in a circle). I redid all the bundles on the right side and had them facing upwards instead. It took some extra time and was was a bit of a pain but still worth it. It would have bugged me if I hadn’t fixed it .
Step 6 – Add decorations
It’s time for the decorations! It’s completely up to you how and how much extra stuff you want to add. You could just go with a nice piece of lace and be done with it.
I chose rowan-berries and hydrangea blooms since I had them in my garden.
Rowan-berriesHydrangea ’Little Lime’
Tuck the decoration into the wreath. Use wire if needed. I just poked the hydrangea and berry stems in between the Heather and messed around with them until I liked the way they looked.
Hydrangea ”Little lime”
Purple and orange contrast each other
All done!
Hang your wreath in a spot where you can see it every day and enjoy!
Simple yet so pretty – the Mum. It’s a sign that fall is coming when these show up in the stores. I picked mine up for just a few bucks while getting groceries.
Deep red Chrysanthemums ’Hardy Mum’
It has just a few flowers but is packed with buds that are about to open. That is exactly how you want to get them to get the longest blooming time out of them. If you buy it with lots of blooms already open it will bloom over sooner.
Red Mum, Brunnera ’Jack Frost’, Agastache ’Purple Fortune’The color of the Heuchera ’Palace purple’ reflects the color of the Mum’s flowers.
Min konvaljbuske blommar och doften som sprider sig över hela trädgården är fantastiskt. Konvaljbusken är alltså en doftande buske som dessutom passar bra för skugga. Den är grön, lummig, frisk och lockar till sig fjärilar. Ja, fördelarna är många med denna prydnadsbuske som av någon anledning finns i ganska få av våra trädgårdar.
Blommorna från en Konvaljbuske doftar fantastisktMina tre Konvaljbuskar, Stjärnflocka och Hakonegräs
Ett tips är att plantera dem på en plats där man ofta går förbi. På så vis får man ofta njuta av den härliga doften. Mina buskar står nära altandörren ut till trädgården så jag möts av dem varje gång jag går ut.
Om Konvaljbuske
Blomningen kommer nu i augusti och håller på länge, i hela 4 -6 veckor. Buskarna blir 1-2 m höga och något smalare. De trivs i halvskugga eller skugga och bör planteras i Rhododendronjord. Dessutom trivs de även i blötare jord så har du en plats i trädgården som är blöt och skuggig och där andra buskar inte trivs så är Konvaljbusken en god kandidat. Läs mer om Konvaljbusken här.
Som en liten bonus på moset så är blommorna omtyckta av fjärilar =)
Blommorna på KonvaljbuskenKonvaljbuske (Summersweet), Aluntrot ’Palace purple’, Hakongräs, Kopparlönn och Stjärnflocka
Late summer is my favorite time of year for container arrangements. All that beautiful color both in blooms and foliage!
Purple Chrysanthemum, Sweet potato vine, Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) and Hebe ’Zea’
This year, I’ve planted up quite a few containers to bring the late summer feeling to the entrance of the house.
Purple Chrysanthemum, Sweet potato vine, Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) and Hebe ’Zea’
A simple design trick to make an arrangement look great is to pick just a few colors and to repeat them. In this case the Hebe’s yellow and green foliage is repeated in the potato vine. And the pink edges come again in the blooms of the Mum.
Both the Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ is a perennial and will come back next year. However, it’s always risky to winter over plants in containers so I might plant them in the ground in a month or two, just to be sure they make it though the winter.
Coleus ’Chocolate Mint’ in the foregroundColeus, Begonia and Dichondra ’Silver Falls’
Dichondra ’Silver Falls’ is one of my favorite plants for late summer and fall containers. It brings contrast to the arrangement that makes the other plants pop.
Dark coleus brings a dark background to the pink begonia.
Carpet Bugle ’Burgundy glow’ is a perennial ground cover but does just as well in an arrangement.
Coleus ‘Winsome’, Sweet Potato Vine and Creeping Jenny
Coleus ’Winsome’
Rudbeckia Fulgida ‘Goldsturm’, Coleus ’Chocolate Mint’, Carex ’Evergold’, Chrysanthemum, Dichondra ’Silver Falls’ and IvyHow it all came together
