Tip of the Week: Late Summer Flowers, Herbs for a Vase
Posted in Gardening Tips on September 7th, 2010 by Sonia Uyterhoeven – 1 Comment |
Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. Join her each weekend for home gardening demonstrations on a variety of topics in the Home Gardening Center. |
At this productive time of year, borrow some of the beauty from the garden and from nature to adorn your dinner table. Look around your garden as well as farmers markets to see what interesting flowers and herbs are available to fill a vase. Ornamental grasses and interesting foliage from woody plants will add wonderful touches to your arrangements as well.
Recently I was at the Union Square Farmers Market perusing the vendors and admiring the kaleidoscope of cut flowers. I saw for sale bundles of sages, from culinary sage (Salvia officinalis) with its pungent, soft, fuzzy, silvery foliage to the ubiquitous mealy cup sage (Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria’). Silver is a great color to add to bouquets since it picks up light and creates drama. Gray intensifies other colors, making them glow. I love the combination of silver with red and orange. The intense blue of the Victoria sage is another good companion for autumnal colors providing wonderful contrast.
In my own garden I grow a beautiful and bountiful sage that is sometimes referred to as hummingbird, Texas, or scarlet sage, (Salvia coccinea). It also makes a nice cut flower. I often grow ‘Lady in Red’, ‘Coral Nymph’, or ‘Snow Nymph’. This ornamental sage produces an abundance of wispy spires of flowers up to the first frost. read more »