I have  been thinking abut flowers. Seems the heat of summer has made me long for our wonderful early spring and all of the beautiful flowers we enjoyed when it wasn't 100 degrees and humid.

Earlier, I posted how much I liked Charlotte Moss's hydrangeas. Well I looked back at mine and realized they weren't too bad either! This was a banner year for hydrangeas in Virginia. We are not sure if it was the mild winter or the perfect early spring but May, June, and July were great months.

These are 2 types here, the lace cap hydrangea has the larger purple leaves. I just love them all.



In July I went with a friend to Pharsalia Plantation and we took a class on arranging peonies and spring flowers with Foxie Morgan. It was an amazing class and I learned a lot. We also got an up close look at the gardens of Pharsalia. That was a joy. Such beautiful rows of flowering  plants and shrubs. We cut flowers for our arrangements and then went back for lessons. It was a great day.The luncheon  was delicious. It was in the dining room of Pharsalia; good food freshly prepared in a beautiful setting. I hope I can go to another class this fall.  See the web site and the range of classes and events.
http://www.pharsaliaevents.com

Here are some of the arrangements we made.

The salmon poppies were so lovely.

These dark pink peonies with chestnut tree leaves were grand!

We used a variety of greens ( and pinks) from the gardens to fill in around peones. As you can see it added a lot to the beauty of the arrangements. This led me to think of greenery around my garden I might use in the future.

When I got home seeing the garden in a new light, I was pleased we had such a fine spring!

I cant wait for Spring 2013 when the Ajuga and Lily of the valley will be blomming again!