Happy Mother's Day

-
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers our there and happy birthday to my mother, who is 72 today! It has been a beautiful weekend. Michael cut some flowers yesterday and made this arrangement. It has roses (Alba Meidiland, Marjorie Fair, Tradescant, Lyric, The Fairy and Lamarque), peonies, hydrangea, spirea and oakleaf hydrangea. I think it so beautiful. I don't why I don't cut flowers more often.




Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

Anonymous said…
BEST WISHES FOR YOUR MOM !!! My mom has the birthday on the same, too ! Her name is Stanisława.
Have a nice day. Bye! Kate from Poland.
May 8, 2011 at 11:55 AM
Eve said…
SO beautiful!! It really was a special day!
May 8, 2011 at 6:16 PM
serial tiller said…
You are lucky to have your mother still. You are a smart son to spend today with her. Did Michael tell you Glen and I visited your garden today? Sorry we missed you but Michael made us feel welcome. I took a few cuttings of things that I still desperately want to propagate (Buff Beauty and Veichenblau to name 2). When are you ever going to come see my garden and carry home some of my stuff? LOL I didn't want to bother Michael (he was busy sewing) when we left. Thanks to you both for being such nice garden people.
May 8, 2011 at 7:54 PM
sweetbay said…
Michael arrangement is beautiful.

You asked about the rugosas... The rugosas do like it here in central NC. The soil is very acid and the summers don't bother them. I have alba, rubra, Foxi Pavement, Hansa, and Sir Thomas Lipton. We gave STL to my MIL a few years ago and I was able to root a cutting from it. (Clotilde Soupert genes must have helped with that, as I didn't think rugosas rooted well in general.)
May 9, 2011 at 9:52 AM
scottweberpdx said…
So gorgeous...ver, very charming!
May 9, 2011 at 11:19 AM
Lisa at Greenbow said…
Thank you Phillip for sharing your Mom's arrangement. It is gorgeous. I know your Mom appreciated the effort.
May 9, 2011 at 1:55 PM
rebecca said…
Oh Phillip! I just read and saw what you had to do to that beautiful tree!!!!!!!! I'm so sorry!

Happy Birthday to your mom.

Rebecca
May 9, 2011 at 7:18 PM
Dirt Princess said…
what a gorgeous arrangement!!!! You should cut more flowers, enjoy them.
May 9, 2011 at 8:08 PM
Anonymous said…
The arrangement is beautiful. Michael is very talented.

Pat Moore
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
May 9, 2011 at 11:45 PM
Anonymous said…
Like you, Phillip, I find it hard to cut my flowers. But that arrangement is GORGEOUS! Was it for you or Mom? Sorry about losing your tree, it must be sad. Will you replace it, or fill in with flowers? You are right, our lawn is indeed lush. That's my hubby's pride and joy, but remember, we are WAY above normal for rainfall, so it's especially green this spring.
May 10, 2011 at 4:49 AM
Phillip Oliver said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
May 10, 2011 at 6:28 AM
Phillip Oliver said…
Thanks Kate, it is exciting to see someone here on my blog from Poland!

Jennifer, I e-mailed you!

Sweetbay, I think Hansa and FJ Grootendorst are the only rugosas I have at the moment. They have always done really well.

MsRobin, the arrangement stayed with us. I took my mother a chocolate cake instead!
May 10, 2011 at 6:29 AM
Les said…
I hate having anything cut out of my garden to bring in the house, so it has to be a special occasion. I guess Mother's Day would be reason enough, or if a forecasted storm was going to cause a beat down. I hope you mother had a delightful birthday.
May 13, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Annie in Austin said…
After all, Phillip... it's much more sensible to carry the chocolate cake to your mom and not try to transport Michael's gorgeous flower arrangement! How fun that your mother's birthday fell on Mother's Day.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose
May 16, 2011 at 9:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pruning & Transplanting Clematis (and other plants)

-
Image
Ah, the clematis, one of the most beautiful and frustrating of plants. I counted five books on my shelf devoted to them, and I still have to consult them every year when it is time to prune. This year I'm doing something new - moving a few that are obviously not doing well (lack of sun, more than likely). I'm worried about one of my favorites - 'Jackmanii Superba'.  First, I had to dig it up when the new gate was constructed. This clematis was massive, and the bottom stalk looked like a small tree. I divided it to give a piece to my neighbor. Somewhere along the way, it was cut back all the way down to the trunk . I'm still asking myself how this happened.  Only time will tell if I've killed the poor thing.  It has been replanted, and so far, no signs of life. Others that I decided to move were not subjected to that abuse and were moved immediately after I dug them up.  This is 'Etoile Violette'. This rampant variety was along the front fence and it alwa...
Read more

Winter Projects

-
Image
Pinus contorta 'Chief Joseph' I was really too harsh in my last post concerning the weather. It has actually been a very mild winter, and looking back, I see that I have completed several projects. The first, back in November, was a redo of the twig fence. This has been an ongoing project that has left me unsatisfied. At the beginning, I just piled the twigs up, along an existing chain fence, and soon realized that they would never stand on their own. Critters (squirrels!) continually knocked twigs out of the arrangement, but over time, it was simply gravity that caused problems. I used various methods to try and keep the twigs in place, including using wire to tie them and fence posts to brace them. All temporary solutions. Gravity always reared its ugly head.  At the end of summer, I decided on a different approach. The sheer weight of the twigs made a deep wall impractical, so I decided to construct a shallower fence and secure it with a stronger support.  This is how it l...
Read more

Ruby Tuesday's Strawberry Tall Cake

-
Image
Much to my dismay, I have cut back on sugar consumption. Difficult, because I love sweet treats, but on the other hand, I want to be a healthier person. I still like to bake and I've just discovered  "Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen"  on You Tube and enjoying it very much. That said, I normally make a dessert at least once per week, but I try to have only a piece or two, and share the rest. Going through some of my cookbooks, I came across a series of books by Todd Wilbur, who reproduces recipes from popular chain restaurants.  In the first volume, I saw the Ruby Tuesday Strawberry Tall Cake and remembered that it was a favorite of ours. I haven't visited a Ruby Tuesday in ages and I don't know if they still serve this. I decided to give it a try and it turned out pretty good. The photo I took doesn't show the cake layers and is not a very good representation, but you get the idea. Actually, we thought the best way to eat this was in a bowl, kind of like a t...
Read more