for beautiful gardens
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Favorite Flower: Make successive sowings over the summer.
One of my favorite flower annuals is the basket flower (Centaurea amen-cana) and it's hard to understand why more fuss isn't made over this plant. This American wildfldwer is interesting in bud and splendid in bloom. Each flower sits alone on a 4-foot stem and opens to 4 inches across. The color is a light rose, and the flower resembles an open thistle without thorns. The common name refers to the unopened head, which is surrounded by soft, spiny, strawcolored appendages that overlap and give the distinctive appearance of tiny woven baskets. Basket flowers require no special soil but grow best in full sun.HERE ARE some favorite flower herbs that are grown more for their decorative appeal than for culinary reasons. Lavandula angustifolia, commonly known as lavender, is a well-known herb used mostly in the flower garden. It has spikes of purple flowers and small, gray-green leaves, and is highly fragrant. For a splash of color, the pot marigold, Calendula officinalis (annual), is a good rustic-style backyard plant with vivid orange-yellow flowers, each with a dark eye. Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, is another favorite flower plant for rustic-style backyards. It has deeply cut leaves and small yellow flowers held on tall stems. There are many other colorful ornamental herbs to brighten up the flower garden, including the nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus (annual). This has bright heads of scarlet, red, orange and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and leaves that are rounded in shape. Bergamot, Monarda didyma, has spectacularly colorful flowers of red, pink, white or purple and the whole plant has a delightful fragrance. See Also Subtle Flower Pattern:Borders, patterns and pretty flower motifs give these walls masses of Moorish interest. A base coat of a burnt saffron colour, washed over walls with a big brush for a slightly uneven finish, is adorned with a graphic flower pattern and a border of black, terracotta and blue. A fretwork pattern that's pure North-African style is stencilled below, for a look that's atmospheric, but subtle.In a room that's predominantly cream the window dressing does need to match, but using a fabric with touches of other colours in it is i a good way to introduce some variety without spoiling the coordinated look. Here, an elegant Roman blind, made from quality fabric with a subtle flower pattern, introduces some soft green and mushroom tones. The horizontal lines of the Blind folds also match the lines on the unit doors -a nice touch. On The Other Hand See Plants Will Flower From:Propagation and growing: sow seed in late spring, in well-drained, rich soil. If seed is not required, remove the flower stems as they appear. Self-sown seedlings will grow freely if the plants will flower from are allowed to flower; if not, propagate them by dividing the parent plants will flower from approximately every three years or so. The seeds are ready to harvest when they have turned a gray-green color and have hardened. Cut off the whole flower head and dry slowly indoors.Paper moons (Scabiosa stellata 'Drumstick') are a new garden flower cultivar. When the plants will flower from are in bloom they look like a rather washed-out scabiosa (the pin-cushion flower), in an unattractive shade of blue. But they soon ripen into bronze-colored, round seed heads that look more like coral fossils than plants will flower from. Stems reach 40 inches in length. Space the plants will flower from 8 inches apart. They are hardy annuals. |
