I have tried to grow it from seed a few times without any luck. Starters were a bit hard to track down, but this year I found some at my local nursery and devoted one of my raised beds to them. I just let them go wild and they have been surprisingly successful and low maintenance to grow, with the help of lots of rain and hot summer sun.

Apparently the seeds are self-sowing when the pods are left to mature, so I am hoping that this bed will return next year and propagate as easily as they have grown this year.

I am looking forward to watching the flowers turn into pods, which I think are just as stunning as the flowers themselves, if not more so! I want to find some other varieties and colors…this feels like my biggest success in the garden this summer, Hooray!

Nigella, coral bells and delphinium in LZD insect jugs

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers. I started planting them in my yard some years ago and they have now reached a stage where they are large and full and can be relied upon to put on a spectacular show. I love them for their fullness and delicate beauty both in the yard and in a vase. Because they are so ephemeral I sometimes find it hard to cut them down, though.

Happy pre-rain peonies

This summer I volunteered to donate a number of my vases filled with bouquets for a local event. As it happened, my peonies where in bloom so I gladly gave them for a worthy cause.

The next day we had a heavy rainstorm and it was a peony massacre! I wished I had cut them all down and filled my house. I suppose these are the big choices you have to make when it comes to gardening! The take away? Life is short, so enjoy the flowers while they bloom. Sharing them is even better.

Event bouquets

Lone Crow Bungalow in Bend, OR is one of these wonderful retail partners. Owner Karen Letourneau and her staff are so fun and easy to work with, and their store is just as warm and friendly as they are.

Lone Crow's April shop window featuring our Handmade Blackbird Collection.

"Treasured objects remind us of paths we carve through the world, and milestones we cross in our lives."- Karen Letourneau

Lone Crows beautiful shop display of LZD pieces!

The Lone Crow aesthetic is inspired by the 1920's American Bungalow Era and they carry handcrafted home goods and curiosities with a focus on beauty, function and connection to nature. Lots of Arts and Crafts patterns and the mellow earthy color pallets that goes along with them. They make an effort to buy American handmade crafts too, which I certainly appreciate!

A night time view of the shop In downtown Bend, OR.

I love following them on Facebook because they feature "nest of the day" photos of the most beautiful Arts and Craft style bungalows, and I just pine over them. It's such an inviting architectural style. But the goods at lone crow aren't limited to decorating the gorgeous homes in those pictures. Karen says “Our style is eclectic as much as it is classic, making the shop compelling for nests of all kinds. We mix in art nouveau, Asian, folk, and northwest lodge elements, demonstrating our love for the many influences of the American Bungalow Style.” When in Bend, take a gander or check out their gorgeous website, lonecrowbungalow.com.

It’s the end of June and my perennial beds are in full bloom. It is always a great show and some of my all-time favorite blooms are the alliums. Part of the onion family, there are many of these large purple globes in my garden, and the way they bloom a

longside the smaller chives makes a beautiful early summer garden composition. They are like tall stemmed, giant lollipops lining the back of my beds!

I bought the bulbs from our local grocery store, of all places but they have never failed me and last for a few weeks. Even after the brilliant color has faded they make for 

beautiful dried flower arrangements. If you want a dramatic flower for the back of your beds allium is a great choice. Because they are bulbs it's best to plant them in the fall, so put them on your list!

I am still learning how to time my garden so that something is always in bloom, and figuring out how to plant so that larger plants don’t crowd or overshadow smaller ones. That’s one of the beautiful parts of gardening though, there is always something more to learn and experiment with next year.

Alliums in black bird bottle set.

I'm excited that most of my seeds are coming up in my raised beds, so stay tuned!

I had always wanted a garden but in San Francisco a patch of dirt was hard to come by. Now that I have two acres of fertile ground I took it upon by self to learn how to make garden. I started by asking questions like, “what kind of flower is that?” I moved on to, “how do I keep the critters from eating my vegetables?” Now I am wondering why I can’t seem to keep lavender alive!

This year I have declared détente with the critters in my yard and decided to let the local professionals grow my vegetables, I joined a CSA.My new plan is to focus on the flowers and combine my desire to become a better gardener with what I think of as the “carrot at the end of the stick”, flower arranging.

I have made a little challenge to myself this summer too; I will only use the flowers I’ve grown in my own garden and other foliage from my yard to arrange my bouquets. I have perennial beds that I started 3 years ago and I add to them every summer. I bought some starters from my local organic nursery to put in my raised beds.I started some seeds inside and have planted more outside. 

Quince blossoms on the tree.

 I will connect my gardening to my work by using the vases, pitchers I make along with any other vessel that will hold flowers to create these different bouquets. Each week I plan to take a photo of my homegrown bouquets to share with you on Fridays along with the progress in my garden. Here's what I came up with this week.

Black tulips in beetle jars

Quince blossoms in nigella jar and various bud vases.
My son's artwork circa first grade hangs above.