Flowers for my Pumpkins

I am in love with Ghost Pumpkins,

and these two came in such unusual colors

that I had to snag them.

I am hosting a neighborhood Relief Society

Gratitude Breakfast tomorrow and

wanted to put these on the two tables

outside.

For the past three years we have been 

donating water for a garden in the empty

lot next door so one of the neighbor girls

and her friend can plant a garden.  I

went over today and picked the cabbages,

flowers, and herbs from the garden to decorate

my pumpkins.  I used a little Oasis floral cage

that I had soaked in water, and then secured with

toothpicks into the top of the pumpkin.

You can find these on Amazon, or at craft

stores.  They have all shapes and sizes.

Of course, the tiny cabbages were the focal 

point.  What pretty fall flowers.  

I even grabbed the dried heads of some sunflowers

to use in the arrangements.

We have a couple of space heaters out on the deck for those

who want to sit outside tomorrow and enjoy the fall

colors on the mountains, as we share things we are

grateful for!

Sharing on 

Anything Goes Pink Saturday

In My Pretty Garden

In my pretty garden the flowers are nodding.

"How do you do?" they say,

"How do you do today?"

In my pretty garden the flowers are nodding.

These are the words to a song I sang in

Primary when I was a little girl.  I always think of these

words from the song, "In The Leafy Treetops", Anonymous,

when thinking of my garden.

Yes, I am in love with flowers and only wish I had more

space for them and that they would last longer.

These are the last of the spring flowers - beautiful 

yellow and purple and deep dark purple iris blossoms.

These blossoms are so dark they are almost black.  I love the

way the camera captured the edges of these and put them

in focus while it softened all of the rest of the picture.

The placesetting is simple today because I want to focus on my 

pretty plates all done in grayscale with just the purple flowers

in color.  

These subtle plates complement rather than compete with the

fresh flowers.

Aren't the colors of these iris blossoms fabulous?  The table is

strewn with the blossoms.

Just a purple charger and cream flatware on my favorite

outside tablecloth that is such a great neutral backdrop 

for my outdoor tables.

My amethyst salad plates sit off to the side.

Each of them is topped with purple napkins and a crystal

flower napkin ring.

My amethyst goblets are more delicate than some of my other

goblets so they don't come out as often.

I love this purple ceramic I got last summer.  It will be wonderful

for a salad.

It has a rustic classic charm to it.

Other little floral posies are placed in the pretty lavender glasses

my daughter in law gave me for Mother's Day.

I want to enjoy the out of doors as much as I can before 

the summer heat comes.

Posting with

Let's Dish

Tablescapes Thursday

Flower Garden Chair

Take a rusty iron chair and add some

sheet moss, floral foam and fresh roses

and you have a fabulous garden piece.

I bought two rusty chairs years ago from my local 

garden center

 and almost every year I have some kind of shower

or garden party that I deck out the chairs for.

It is especially nice to be able to do them when the roses

are in bloom in the garden, but I have purchased

roses before.

A little ivy draped along the legs and top help to soften 

the chair.

The sheet moss will last all summer and the chair has a large

garbage sack under the moss to hold in the water.

The roses can be wound into the ivy but because they aren't

in the water they won't last as long.

I showcased three kinds of roses in the chair today. 

They are at their peak.

This view shows the moss covering the plastic and

the floral foam.

The chair was made for garden arrangements as it has a bottom

and a lip. I lined it with a clear 33 gallon trash

bag cut down to about 6 inches high.  Floral foam 

then fills the bottom and water is added to keep the

foam wet.  The flowers and greenery cover the foam.

I just twisted the ivy around the chair.

And I tucked roses and alyssum into it.

You could use any flowers you have.

It only took minutes to transform and the flowers can be replaced

when they wilt. 

Ready to move into place.

 In this shady side of the deck they lasted

several days.

Enjoy your flowers!

I will be posting with

Metamorphosis Monday

Peonies in Blossom

What a glorious time of year with all kinds of blossoms in

my garden.  

The peonies are beautiful this year. These are more of those

blossoms that just don't last long enough.

I think one of the prettiest color combinations is

one found in nature's flowers - pink and green.

I brought together some of my botanical bowls and plates for

this outdoor table celebrating Mother Nature's bounty of flowers.

Aren't these fun?  I found these last year at Tuesday Morning.

The elongated leaf plate has a small pink strawberry at the end.

I also found the little pink cabbage bowls there on a

separate trip.  

These are especially striking viewed from the side.

I wanted to showcase my peonies, but accented them with a variegated 

hosta and some ivy.

Soft green tones are everywhere on the table.

The peonies take on a casual look with an embossed tin bucket.

Casual plaid napkins are paired with pink satin napkins and

tucked into the green bubble goblets.

Everything creates a fresh look for a summer day.

Just another little touch of ivy to ring the bottom of the stemware.

I just love hostas and these are my favorites.

The textured pale green plates are a perfect simple backdrop

for the other dishes.

How I love to spend time in my back yard.

Get outside and enjoy eating alfresco.

I will be joining these parties

Let's Dish

Tablescapes Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday