Wednesday, November 8, 2017

A Lovely Harvest


Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are 
having a lovely week, with a little sunshine 
to brighten your days. 

Our snow is melted and now we are having more
'normal' weather for November, 
a little sunshine, a little rain and some blustery winds. 

Before all this wet weather set in, 
I harvested some hydrangea blooms
and tansy from my gardens. 


The colors were especially lovely this year. 


This variety is 'Nikko Blue'.
They start out a beautiful shade of sky blue,
but turn amazing shades of chartreuse
 tinged with lavender by October.





I planted these many years ago as tiny 
cuttings and now I have a beautiful hedge. 

This variety (mop-head) are fussy about 
where they live. They can't take too much sun, 
and require steady moisture.

These live under tall trees and get mulched
every fall with fallen alder leaves. 


I love gathering them in large baskets 
and tubs to decorate with. 

Here they are in my bedroom. 


My son gifted me with this wonderful, 
galvanized, vintage tub for my birthday. 


This large vintage basket sits on top 
of my 1920's art deco armoire. 

The desk in the mirror was my dear Mother's 
Ethan Allen from the 1960's.


To gather hydrangeas for drying in baskets,
crumple newspaper to fill 3/4 of the basket
and insert the stems.

If you gather the hydrangeas late in the season
when the blooms feel like paper,
you can simply let them dry in place.


I keep this basket on the stair landing.


I keep a revolving gallery of flower paintings here.

I painted the small cabinet years ago
using petal and leaf shaped stamps
cut from kitchen sponges :)




Hydrangea wreaths are easy to make
out of a coat hanger, floral tape and wire.


I harvested a big basket of tansy, too.

The leaves are stripped off the stems.

I'll divide this into two baskets and let it dry.
I fluff it once or twice a day until it dries,
usually in about a week or two, then I will
store it in plastic tubs until I am ready to use it.


Here it is in full bloom earlier in the season.
This is a tall, lanky herb that will spread if
not contained. Here it has fallen from
 a heavy rain and is sprawled all over.

If it is clipped early in the season, it won't grow so tall.

The button flowers can be dried, also.

If you are interested in growing Tansy you
can purchase seeds Here.



A sketch I made in 2014 that shows the details.


This is a pungent herb that I use to make sachets to
repel moths.

I'll post a tutorial for the sachets in my next post!


Now it's just a harvest of leaves!


Whitey Bear likes to lie in my leaf piles :)
He refuses to move......


Is that a treat? 

I'll move for a treat!

^^
**
 >o< 
U


Kai is looking for squirrels.


Uh-oh little squirrel. You had better run!

xoxo

Today I am linking with:

Floral Passions - Floral Bliss

Won't you join the fun?

41 comments:

  1. My dear Karen,
    such a wonderful and lovely post, thank you for all the lovely pictures!
    Wihsing you a wonderful week, my sweet friend and take care,
    sending love and hugs and blessings, Claudia xo

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  2. Wow!!!
    what LOVELY and DELIGHTFUL harvest dear Karen!

    absolutely enjoyed the basket filled with flowers that i never saw before but really want them as i can see how amazingly you turned them into artistic masterpieces !!!
    loved the inside photos .you 1920'decor wooden framed mirror is so elegant!
    loved the painted cabinet and flowery paintings sooo much.you have such a n artistic soul as i can see these sketches reveals more of your art skills so charmingly .
    how cute and adorable your pets are ,look so happy to play within fallen leaves:)

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  3. Your hydrangeas are pretty both as fresh in the garden and as dried indoors. Your dogs are so cute <3 Have nice autumn days, I have already done my raking...

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  4. Lovely pics as ever,made me smile!Love your hydrangeas wreath!Have a lovely week!

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  5. fun filled, i enjoyed all the information on the hydrangeas. i have so many hydrangea plants and are probably not using the flowers to their full potential. i have 2 mop heads that are fussy like yours!!

    as i read your blog entries, i wonder...is there anything she can't do...is there anything she is not good at??!!

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  6. One of my favorite flowers. And, I love the basket of them atop the armoire and also the wreath. So pretty.

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  7. Wow! Your sketch and little sachets are beautiful. You really showed the details of that plant. And hydrangeas are my favorite flower. I have a big basket of the dried blooms in our condo in NC. I'm not sure they would do well here in FL. Hugs!

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  8. Tansy and Hydrangea are two of my favorites..love the looks of one and the scent of the other. I also love Sweet Annie which is hard to find anymore. I have a beautiful big hydrangea bush.

    Your sketches and sachets are lovely. You are a talented gal.

    Loved all the Fall in this post- xo Diana

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  9. Dear Karen, I also love hydrangeas. They are growing in my garden and in several pots, too. And I also like to dry it. My hydrangeas from the last year are still beautiful. They belong to my favorite flowers.
    I enjoyed your post and the pictures so much.
    Have a nice day.
    Greetings
    Edith from Germany

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  10. Your hydrangea are so beautiful. My last hydrangea plant died!

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  11. My grandmother used to dry flowers, but I never learned how. The times I've tried weren't very successful. Next year I'll have to try to dry hydrangea from our big bush. They aren't pretty like yours. Do you think white ones would dry nicely?

    Blessings~

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    Replies
    1. Hello, yes, white would dry well, too, but turn a pretty parchment color. Wait until late in the season to cut them and they will dry in place in whatever container you like. If you cut them earlier, either hang them in bundles upside down or keep them in a small amount of water until it evaporates. Hope this helps! xx Karen

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  12. Karen, I admire your creativity and your productivity and your knowledge of what to do with things that grow around you. That hydrangea hedge is amazing. That art deco wardrobe is lovely. Have a great day!

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  13. You sure did have some beautiful blooms on that Hydrangea bush. I had about 6 blooms this year. So I looked up what to do about them back in the summer but I need to look again so I can feed them at the right time and have them blooming better this summer. Funny to have snow one day and then it be all gone the next. I so want one that hangs around a couple of days!Beautiful pics. Hoping you have a good day.

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  14. That is such a cute squirrel Karen!
    Your hydrangea are beautiful. I especially love the wreath!! It's stunning as is your delicate artwork.
    Have a wonderful week. Cuddles to Whitey Bear and Kai xx

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  15. Love seeing the Hydrangea. One thing that I haven't planted here, but I need to!

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  16. I love Hydrangeas too. Ours didn't do very well this year so none were cut and saved.

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  17. I love hydrangeas and I love tansy! Both dry so beautifully! They are so wonderful when they are blooming and adding color to the garden, but the dried flowers are so perfect when the season is done! Your first snow is gone, but I just woke up to our first real snow (we had flurries a couple of days that were gone immediately) this morning! It's beautiful! I hope the roads clear immediately though...we have things to do! :-) It will be a chance to do a first test of our four-wheel-drive and snow tires getting out of the driveway and down our steep cinder road. :-) Lovely post!

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  18. OH! What a wonderful harvest! The hydrangea is beautiful and I love tansy as well. I used to use it a lot in my pieces when I had a dried floral design business...they were always such pretty accents.

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  19. Beautiful - I don't know where to start! Love your sketch! Love your mother's desk - I am a huge fan of Ethan Allen from years past - don't know about now, it's all different. Your hydrangea is dazzling.

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  20. Love these adorable dogs in the pile of leaves. You have been very creative with your Hydrangeas, a wonderful series of photos.

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  21. Love all the products you make with your flowers.

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  22. Oh, I just love the blue hydrangeas. I tried growing them and I got pink tinged with blue. I tried the soil additive but nothing worked. I am captivated by your large full hedge and how pretty they are all over your house. A beautiful harvest!

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  23. Ooh I just love your hydrangeas, Karen, and you have a bounty for baskets and wreaths. I've never smelled tansy, but it sounds very useful.

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  24. Hi Karen what a wonderful post i love those hydranges and they look fantastic in the baskets and what a great idea you use the tansy for.
    Omg your fluffy dogs are gorgeous,love them,hope you have a lovely day my friend xx

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  25. Hydrangeas are one of my favourite flowers, so beautiful even as their colours fade xx

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  26. Karen, I love hydrangeas. I've never dried them before. We planted some this last spring and I hope they flourish! I'm not too familiar with tansy. I look forward to your sachet post. And love the pups in the leaves! xo

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  27. I love your method for drying flowers-I get so many instructions, I can't keep them straight. I think you have shown me something I've actually tried, which has worked with hydrangeas, as well as peonies.

    Oh, your dogs are so, so beautiful! With that white fur, do you have to bathe them often? Milo is white and he always looks pristine, too. He's short haired though, and I thought that played a part.

    We are 22 degrees tonight, I think it's the end of my mums and pansies!

    Thanks so much for your really sweet comment on my blog yesterday! :)

    Jane x

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    1. Hi Jane - always nice to have you visit :) To answer your question about having to bathe the dogs often - surprisingly no! They have a type of fur that seems to shed water and dirt. Of course, not smells, though, so that determines bathing times! - haha! xx

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  28. A lovely post to start my day. I too am a hydrangea fan. Tried to grow blue ones this year but without success, we just don’t have the right soil but my pink ones do really well. Must pick some of the remaining blooms and dry them. B x

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  29. Hello, your hydrangea arrangements and the wreath are beautiful. I like the tub. Your dogs are adorable. Cute squirrel. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  30. Karen, your hydrangeas are so pretty. The wreath you made is lovely. The basket of hydrangeas looks charming on top of the stairs. My brother has a huge bush in front of his house, and when I visit, I always take pictures of it. The color looks similar to yours. Look at those cute dogs playing in the leaves. Their white fur really stands out against the Autumn leaves. You didn't have your snow post up for long. I must go back now and see it again. : )

    Have a restful weekend, Karen.

    ~Sheri

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  31. Hydrangeas are wonderful aren't they, your hydrangea wreath looks lovely.
    Good to see your dogs enjoying the Autumn leaves ... and that squirrel is cute!

    Have a lovely weekend

    All the best Jan

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  32. Nothing makes me smile quite like a post filled with beautiful Hydrangeas! How lovely they look scattered in the rooms of your home, Karen. Love the Hydrangea wreath.

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  33. I love hydrangeas. I have seen them in shades of blue, white, green and lavender. We are having cooler days and rain off and on.

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  34. Hello Karen, your hydrangeas are truly wonderful, they are my favourite flowers after the roses...
    I love when they change in colours. You are a truly talented painter,
    Wishing you lovely days,
    Ida

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  35. Dearest Karen,
    First of all, you did have a glorious harvest of huge, full buds of hydrangeas. Here you are very lucky for keeping them alive, let alone having such full heads.
    Love the smell of Tansy and miss it for 34 years since we moved here from The Netherlands.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  36. I like to dry hydrangea flowers too. Didn't get many this year. I'm drying my Chinese lantern pods of orange. So pretty! I've not grown tansy. What is their fragrance? We've got leaves all over the place. Much has fallen off our tree in the side lawn. It's been an interesting weather week, not sure how warm each day will be and there's been some rain! Guess I'd better get ready to go on a walk soon. Nice post!

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  37. Your blooms are just gorgeous and so nice that you are able to dry them to have them around a little longer. I so love the wreath, that is beautiful! Your landing is so sweet with all the touches of flowers both real and pictures. Wow your drawing is amazing, another talent you have!

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  38. Good morning dearest Karen and thanks most sincerely for sharing another lovable and enjoyable post about the wonderful corner of the world you call Home!

    Wishing you a beautiful Monday and new week,
    I’m sending blessings across the many miles

    XOXO Dany

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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