This past weekend was the Swedish Midsommar (Midsummer) festival, which is one of my favorite events of the year! There are lots of festivities all weekend, but especially music and dancing, and gathering flowers to decorate the Maypole! My sister and I are a part of the music group, which we call "The Swedish Meatballs". But I have also been celebrating all week long by simply enjoying both the flowers in my garden and the surrounding fields and woods. It has been very enjoyable...I've brought in armfuls of leaves and blossoms almost every day, some of which I wanted to share with you today! Lupines bloom wild here in fields and along roadsides. For some reason they are the flowers I associate most with Midsummer. Tasha Tudor claimed that Alexander Graham Bell planted all the wild lupines in New England. He was so fond of the flower, he kept an arsenal of seed in his pocket and scattered them wherever he went! I gathered some seed while on a kayak trip on the Aroostook river a few years back and introduced them to my garden. Their one fault is that they don't last long enough, but they are so lovely! Close-up of Cow Parsley which grows almost everywhere here in early summer. I know it's a weed, but I've always liked it and it does make a nice lacy filler! My sister suggested I add some forget-me-nots. They are getting to be pretty "leggy" now, so they did actually fit in with the taller flowers. Donna at Garden's Eye View had a bowl of floating pansies last week, and it was so lovely I just had to try it myself! :) I added some columbines and rose petals as well. And then I gathered a basket-full of flowers for pressing. I love tucking these into letters and between the pages of books! Someday I'm going to make myself a real flower press. But for now, one of my favorite books serves the purpose! Gathering roses...these will be dried for potpourri. I am thinking about making rose water one of these days, too! The Guelder Rose was discovered on one of my woodland rambles. I brought home a few branches to study, and was surprised at how lovely they looked in a simple jam jar! Our push mower wasn't working for awhile so the ditches got a little weedy. When I finally got to mow them, I saw these little daisies and picked them first! And just for the fun of it, here's a video from our concert Saturday night. This polka is one of my favorites to play on accordion! Maybe this is why I associate lupines so much with Midsummer! This lovely bucket of flowers was on the stage where we played, and every table was also decorated with them! I wish one and all a very happy and fruitful summer! As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the lovely vases shared today at Rambling in the Garden!
14 Comments
6/25/2018 09:21:43 am
Oh my goodness look at those flowers....I am swooning at each beautiful display. What a beautiful festival I wish we had. And your floating pansies were so exquisite....you took the floating vase to the next level. I can't wait to try more floating flowers myself. And thank you for the mention.
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Nancy
6/25/2018 01:44:23 pm
Oh my the pansy bowl is breath taking. I have the perfect bowl to try this.
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AuthorI am a passionate gardener and seed-saver, who also enjoys playing the violin and accordion, running, spending time with my 4 golden retrievers, keeping chickens, photography, and reading. Archives
March 2019
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