Chalking it Up to Celebrate the Red, White and Bloom!

I’m celebrating the Red, White and Bloom in the Potting Shed and chalked up my door in celebration!

Our hydrangeas are covered in blooms now, a welcome sight in contrast to the few flowers we had last year.

Ball jars are filled with a red, white and blooming combination of Endless Summer Hydrangeas, Queen Anne’s Lace, the red foliage of Lorapetalum, and a few coleus stems snipped from my containers, for a patriotic bouquet.

 I’m waving the flag, step-by-step on my ladder, joining red watering cans, a vintage scale and blue transferware.

And weighing in on love of the Red, White and Blue!

White for purity and innocence, Red for valor and hardiness, and Blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

Queen Anne’s Lace is free for the picking, growing in the field next to my Potting Shed.

I filled my red watering can and pot with Queen Anne’s Lace to celebrate the bloom!

I found seed catalog graphics available from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Digital Collection to grow my vintage seed box. The graphics and content have no copyright restrictions and are available for download for personal, educational and other non-commercial purposes.

1898  Vaughan’s Seed Store Catalog featuring Red, White and Blue Collection of Christmas Hyacinths: Their beauty of form, elegance of color, fragrance & ease of culture commend them to every flower lover.

Gardening is an employment for which no man is too high or too low.

The cover of the 1889 catalog of the Iowa Seed Company catalog, “Seedsmen to the American People,” features the Washington Monument and White House as a backdrop and “Old Glory Geraniums” on the front for a patriotic salute.

You can find the Smithsonian Institution Libraries catalog collection and 500 images, here. Search by cover art image~ flowers, fruit, vegetables, or catalog name.

Have you tried the ‘alum-dipping method with cut hydrangeas? I was thrilled to discover it works to keep cut hydrangeas from wilting.

Cut your blooms the first thing in the morning when the flowers are fully hydrated, immediately placing them in a bucket of water.

When arranging them, cut each stem at an angle for maximum water intake and dip ½ inch of each stem in alum powder, found on the spice aisle at the grocery store.

Place your dipped hydrangea stems in your vase of room temperature water (the temperature it runs from the tap).

For best results, remove the leaves from the hydrangeas since they cause evaporation loss and take water from the head of the flower. Change your water every day or every other day to keep the bacteria down. You can add some floral preservative to the water or make your own preservative to help your flowers last longer.

Mix one part lemon-lime soda (regular, not diet) to three parts water, along with 1/2 teaspoon of bleach. The citric acid in the soda help the water travels up the stems to the flowers more rapidly, while providing food in the form of sugar. The bleach helps fight the growth of bacteria, allowing the flowers to stay hydrated and fresh.

Keep flowers cool for longer life and avoid exposure to heat and direct sunlight. If your hydrangea blooms begin to wilt prematurely give them an emergency bath and submerge them in cool water, flower heads and all, for 45 minutes. Give the stems a fresh cut and redip in alum and place in a fresh vase of water, letting the blooms air dry.

Are you ready to celebrate the red, white and bloom?

Long May She Wave!

Thank you for your visit!