I love that yellow Ox-Eye! What's the specific flavor?

YOU ARE A NATURAL born arranger! LOve what you have done,,,perfect for a p
rairie flower arrangement! See, the spike of white is just the finishing touch on it! I also love your colors together. Beautiful, soul touching flowers!
Liza

Steve - wow again! What is the pink spike? It looks like a version of verbascum...??? I'd hire you to do my arrangements!!
Wendy

Here's what's in there. The yellow ones with the yellow centers are the Ox-eyes(Heliopsis helianthoides), the skinnier purplish pink spike is Hoary vervain(Verbena stricta), the fatter purple spike near the center is purple prairie clover(Dalea purpurea),the orange clusters are the butterfly milkweed(Asclepias tuberosa), the Black Eyed Susan is the native rudbeckia, the little strawberry looking white flower in a cluster of green unopened flowers is Prairie cinquifoil(Potentilla arguta), the white spike in the middle is White indigo(Baptisia luecantha), and of course the rest are Zinnias.

Steve

They are gorgeous Steve! Thanks for posting the names too. I particularly-- well I like them all really- but I wanted to know the ID of the two lavender spiky ones for sure. Am kicking myself as I let seeds go of my mom's heliopsis and didn't get it in the ground. Maybe next year.
Continued happy growing and arranging. I think you've got the talent and touch too.

Love the glowing sunny colors...the essence of summer in a vase...very nice! josh

Steve,
There's nothing wrong with your flower arranging abilities! I think it looks great, and so would any florist in town. I remember when my zinnias looked like that last year. Good job.
Cheryl

I am growing more and more natives in my yard and I love them. There are a lot of wonderful flowers that are available and provide wonderful bouquets as you demonstrated very nicely.

I think your bouquet looks absolutely wonderful and I am sure that your wife received lots of compliments.

Sharon

I wish I had that much arranging instinct! You're way better than I was before I started to concentrate on learning how to arrange. Nice combination of flowers, too.

What is the bloom timing on the helianthus? I'm sort of considering planting some but already have lots of double and single rudbeckia, which are happy and hardy here and keep producing for 2-4 years. If the helianthus blooms before rudbeckia (does it??), or is a longer-lasting perennial (how long does it last?) I can really use some. I've seen lots of sources.

Jeanne

Jeanne,

Mine starts to bloom about the 4th of July and then, because I have so many, blooms for about 6 weeks. The stems remain stiff even after they are dead. I've gotten 3 weeks vase life if you cut right after it opens but before it starts to get pollentated by the bees, conditioned as well.. You can expect 2 weeks if you cut any time. My field is now 6 years old and still is going strong. If you planted a 10x10 plot and kept it mowed to about 12 inches your first year the next year you will have blooms.

Send me your address privately and I'll send you some Rattlesnake Master, Heliopsis, and butterfly milkweed seed after the harvest.

Steve

Gorgeous! I love your use of complementary colors, and your sense of space--

Valerie

Steve --- The flowers are beautiful........but lets' talk about your house and barn, plus those beautiful chairs!!!

I take it -- it's a 1890's Queen Anne farmhouse?? With southern yellow pine trim??? How is my guessing??

We are currently (constantly) in the restoration stage of a similiar house. Another good PBS show to catch or book to read --is "Death of a Dream" It is about the farmhouses of the upper Midwest. I think it would suit your taste.

Love the white Indigo! What is its bloom time??

Cathy

I agree with everyone - I like your arrangement also! I am partial to natives myself. I have the Heliopsis helianthoides in my garden, but my flowers are not nearly as big--maybe a slightly different gene or ? here in Missouri...Mine are probably 2" at the max.

Clink you big teaser! I want to hear about the house and barn too! There was a photography link at the another forum who had absolutley haunting photos of rural life or fading rural life, with a few stories to expound on some of the photos.
If I can dig it up, I'll post it here. Not sure how many flowers were involved, but if it's OT, I'll label it as such. I love a good barn myself.

Cathy,

We have been in a constant sate of renovation for 15 years. It was actually built in 1874. It's a two story with a huge attic which is going to be my guy's room someday(I have three daughters). It has and old limestone foundation, so the basement is good for nothing but the furnace and such. We could really use some storage space. It's 2300 sq. ft. but only has two closets in the whole house. Once the attic is finished that will add anohter 600 sq. ft. but I'm sure half of "my" room will become storage. All of the trim work was painted when we moved in and the hardwood floors were carpeted. We have stripped all of the trim and pulled up the carpet.

Our large barn is in dire need of a new roof and foundation. My wife has been like a dog on a bone lately to start fixing it up. The other two barns are in good shape and I use them for my machinery and to clean my prairie seeds.

I have seen that PBS special, very good!! The White Indigo blooms from early June to late June. That stem was regrowth on a plant I cut earlier, I'm trying to find out if you can cut more than once and still have the plant make it back the next year.

I think I'm cathing up to you, it has now been nearly 4 weeks without rain. By the time sunday gets here we will have had 90+ degrees for 9 consecutive days, that hasn't happend since 1988. I have been watering my shrubs with soaker hoses and my annuals with a sprikler 24/7 for a week now. I've been concentrating on the shrubs because I have large finacial investmetn in them. My suns and Zinns look o.k. but they are definately stressed.

Well, I'm off to do my rain dance in the moonlight.

Steve

Yo Steve,

Looks great.I like the white indigo.

Tim