Archives for 2022

in the garden – bluestone garden path and patio reveal

10.09.2022 by btslingerie // Leave a Comment

Through the Seasons

Like every garden feature that stays fixed the views evolve and shift as we pass from season to season. This meandering bluestone path has brought so much beauty to our landscape, both functional and beautiful. Since the stones retain heat they often remain snow free during a light snowfall and look absolutely stunning in late fall an early spring. In summer the lush green grass emerges from between them. What a joy to watch a fixed path on a journey through time.

Bluestone path through the seasons. Path runs from garden next to deck. Winter view with snow on the ground and path stones showing through. Orchard of trees and meadow is in background.

Bluestone path through the seasons. Path runs runs along side of house between raised wooden garden beds. Early spring view. Forest is in the background.

Bluestone path through the seasons. Path runs runs along side of house between raised wooden garden beds. Winter view with snow on the ground and path stones showing through. Forest with path is in the background.

Lines of Sight

A path invites you to explore and the turns of the path draw your eye and movement through a garden. Ours leads from the potager to the cut flower garden and back to the front, with destinations and focal points like the picnic table guiding you to experience the garden.

Bluestone garden path runs between raised garden beds, framing patio and picnic table. A grassy lawn and wooded area are in the background

The Texture

A path of stone and grass is very different than a gravel or mulched walkway. These aren’t meant to be a perfectly level smooth path, we have a new build home so adding things that feel like they are old gives the property character and timelessness.

Bluestone path curves around the base of the back deck, wrapping around the house towards the bluestone patio.

Daffodils in a garden bed sit next to the bluestone path. View is from overhead.

When the path ignites a soul,
there’s no remaining in place.

The foot touches ground,
but not for long.
― Hakim Sanai

Follow our journey in growing and share in our experience and lessons learned from nature with more posts from In the Garden

Among the Flowers – Sunflower Symphony

10.09.2022 by btslingerie // Leave a Comment

A large bouquet of sunflowers in an white ironstone pitcher with painted blue flowers sits on a grey deck table. Deck furniture is in the background

Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities in the world.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Symphony of Sunflowers

If you have only ever seen yellow sunflowers you’d be surprised by the myriad of colors and bloom structures. I haven’t grown as many “teddy bear” or double petal varieties but those are on my list for the future. The traditional open structure is a bee magnet, and if you time planting correctly you can have blooms from mid summer through fall. The multi- stemmed varieties will also continue to produce successively smaller blooms all the way down the trunk.

A few of my favorite sunflower varieties

Evening Sun – a blend of different sunset hues
Shock-o-Lat – a two tone sunflower
Chianti – dark purple sunflower
Velvet Queen – a dark red sunflower
Black Beauty – a dark red almost black sunflower
Vanilla Ice – a white sunflower

A sunflower with a blend of yellow and organ blooms in front of a forested and leafy background

A dark red almost black sunflower blooms in front of a grass lawn and forested and leafy background

Growing Sunflowers

Whether you grow them in raised beds, in a landscape planting, or row, keep in mind that sunflowers can benefit from some support or staking, especially when they are multistemmed and their upper blooms start going to seed. The heavy seedheads coupled with cooler/rainier fall weather can lead to bending or snapping. Here you can see them overtaking these trellises and measuring in at well over 7ft tall!

A raised bed garden with a variety of wooden garden beds, trellis, and gravel in the front, a cluster of tall sunflower plants of various colors in the back.

A raised bed garden with a variety of wooden garden beds, trellis, and gravel in the front, a cluster of tall sunflower plants with blooms reach taller than a 7ft tall trellis they are next to.

Seeds can be planted in trays in spring and transplanted out after last frost or direct sown into the soil when the risk of last frost has passed. Plant several successions from spring to mid july and you’ll have sunflowers from late summer through fall. Collect seeds when the seed heads have formed and before birds get to them. Seedlings are vulnerable to wildlife early on (rabbits, deer, groundhogs)

Sunflower starts are laying in a black tray on a gravel covered ground. Small steams and leaves are shown with exposed root balls

Layla standing next to a raised bed full of tall sunflower plants surrounded by grass and a forested background. The sunflowers are several feet taller than she is.

From Garden to Vase

Most sunflowers are what florists refer to as messy flowers – they do shed pollen so keep that in mind when using them for arrangements. They bloom in the fall and have a much longer vase life than peonies or dahlias if harvested at the correct time.

An sunflower bloom of yellow, orange, and red is centered with leaves and garden in the background

A bouquet of sunflowers, goldenrod, and other flowers is seen in an ironstone pitcher on the center island of a kitchen. A basket of apples is in the foreground with kitchen counters and cabinet in the background.

Want to find all my favorite flowers in the garden? You can find the whole series at link below
Among the Flowers

Among the Flowers – Delightful Dahlias

09.25.2022 by btslingerie // Leave a Comment

A large assortment of dahlias of different varieties and colors is laid on a grey-colored wooden picnic table.

Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower

-John Harrigan

Dahlias Delight

I don’t think many people need a reason to grow dahlias, and for those of us that love them in colder zones like New York where they don’t overwinter it’s a labor of love to grow, store, and plant them year after year.

For a glorious few months in the late summer and early fall they pour out blooms as fast as you can cut them, but for much of the year they are dry tubers stored in a basement or just green foliage emerging from the soil.

A few of my favorite varieties

Hollyhill bewitched & black beauty – a deep purple red almost black, and white/deep almost black
Creme de Cassis – a beautiful creamy ivory face with deep purple edges/backs of petals
Bacardi – magenta and deep purple
Penhill Watermelon & Dark Monarch – dinnerplates with twisted petals in salmon pink/peach and complex pink/purple gradient
Big Brother – dinnerplate with twisted petals in honey/orange tones
Chewy & Crichton Honey – two ball varieties with pink/peachy colors, the blooms change with different temps
Snowbound – beautiful large white blooms
Platinum Blonde – white single ring of petals surrounding a creamy white pom center

A large assortment of dahlias of different varieties and colors is laid on caftan blanket draped on an Adirondack chair

A large assortment of dahlias of different varieties and colors is laid in a basket on a grey-colored wooden picnic table.

Planting & Storing in Colder Zones

A note on ordering tubers – with almost every supplier and every order I have gotten incorrect colors/blooms not matching what I ordered. It’s so hard to get some of these varieties, so proper storage is the safest way to get them in your garden from year to year. I have been so sad when a variety I loved didn’t survive storage because they often are sold out before spring and then it’s at least two years before you even have a chance to see that flower again. So feel free to practice and perfect growing and storing them for a year or two before you invest in expensive varieties.

Planting in the spring

Remove and inspect tubers for damage – do not plant any that have rotted, tubers should feel like a potato dry but firm not squishy
Planting is relatively straightforward, but for the first time grower they often arrive as individual tubers or clusters
After all chance of frost has passed, plant them just below the surface (if there is a stem facing up) but if just a single tuber lay it on its side and their sprouts will grow towards the light. If it’s later in the season you may see an eye or stem emerging. If you have stored them or want to make sure they are viable you can wait until this emerges to plant knowing it may delay bloom time (which is tragically short in some regions)
Slugs are the main pest as new green growth emerges I sprinkle slug bait to prevent them
After slugs overwatering is the main concern, and later flowers are vulnerable to thrips and others pests depending on your area. Some gardeners bag the blooms to prevent damage but I find the pest pressure has always equalized by that time for me.
They benefit from cooler temps and water only once their green growth and feeder roots have established.

Process to dig and store dahlias at the end of the season

After a frost has killed the blooms and foliage you can cut back the stems and carefully dig up your dahlia clumps. I use a hori but some people use a garden fork.
After you have lifted them out of the soil, rinse, inspect and trim broken or damaged sections
If you choose to divide them now give them time to dry and heal
Organize and label – this part is so important if you want to group like colors or heights. I use cut up sections of yogurt containers with sharpie to add labels in bins and transfer to the soil. If i need to rewrite them I use alcohol to wipe off sharpie
Add storage material like wood chip bedding or peat moss and store in a cool/dark place like an unheated basement. It must not go below freezing or tubers will not survive

Raised flower beds next to the house with a stone path running down the middle. Foliage has been cut back.

From Garden to Vase

I tend to display my dahlias individually in vintage glass bottles or vintage milk glass bud vases. I sometimes add them into arrangements but find they have a much shorter vase life than other blooms and prefer to be able to change them out quickly.