A Fall Bouquet

The last flower has faded. All the leaves have fallen from the trees. And the frost has been on more than just the pumpkins.

It's time once again for the final fall bouquet.

This has become an annual tradition for me. I'm the only member of my immediate family who doesn't live in our hometown, so I always spend Thanksgiving at the house of a relative. I usually make this bouquet as sort of a host/hostess gift using dried materials from my garden.

(Of course, there have been several years when I've forgotten the arrangement in my rush to get out the door, but I try to tell myself it's the thought that counts.)

Finding good quality materials in the garden wasn't as easy this year, courtesy of the drought. I started with the old standbys --  hydrangeas, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'), coneflowers (Echinacea ssp.) and Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum). I threw in some seed pods from sweet coneflower (Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers') and some cattails cut from a roadside ditch.

Then I added some dried Queen Anne's Lace. Yes, the same wildflower/weed that spread rampantly in my garden, causing countless hours of back-breaking labor. It does look nice dried, however, with its starburst-like seedheads. Anyway, I figured it was pay-back time.

Finding some color proved to be my biggest problem. With last year's warm, extended fall, I could use some brightly colored leaves from my trees and shrubs. Not this time. The only bit of color I could find was a slight red lingering on my sedum's seedheads. I quickly snapped those up.

Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and visit a craft store where I bought some dried yellow flowers plus some seed pods with a slight lavender tinge. Pricey, but definitely worth it.

So there you have it. I hope you'll try making your own version. You don't need anything fancy. I used a Mason jar filled halfway with river rock to hold all the stems upright. A bit of raffia tied in a bow added a final touch.

Don't sweat the details. After all, this bouquet will be fleeting, one that will quickly give way to holiday greens. It is, however, a good way to share some of your garden's bounty with your family on a special day.

Here's wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

By Karen Geisler

Tussie Mussies

A tussie mussie

You don't need flowery language to impress your sweetheart this Valentine's Day, especially if he or she is a gardener. And you don't necessarily need to bust the bank for a dozen long-stemmed roses either.

Take a cue from the Victorian era, when romance was in full bloom. Try a tussie mussie.

These small bouquets, usually made of fragrant flowers and herbs, have been around since medieval times. The spelling varies, with either a "y" or "ie" at the end, and they sometimes are called a nosegay or posy.

No one's quite sure where the name came from (although just pronouncing it makes me smile). One guess is that "tussie" comes from an Old English word for a knot of flowers. "Mussie" is thought to be a reference to the moss that probably was used to keep the flowers fresh.

Tussie mussies originally were used to keep the nose "gay" or happy at a time when the standards of public sanitation and private hygiene were much lower than today. Their fragrance protected the bearer from bad smells, which were thought to cause disease.

Then along came the Victorian era, which took tussie mussies to a whole new level. (Dim lights, play romantic music.) They used floriography -- the language of flowers -- to convey a secret message in their bouquets. The color of the rose you picked, for example, showed your true feelings.

A pink rose was for grace and beauty; yellow, friendship; white, innocence and purity; orange, enthusiasm or fascination; light peach, modesty; and purple, enchantment. A red rose? That was for romantic love, of course, a meaning that persists to this day.

Other flowers and their meanings include rosemary for remembrance; oregano, joy; sage, wisdom; purple heather, admiration and beauty; hydrangea, devotion; and baby's breath, everlasting love.

Traditionally, a tussie mussie had one main flower in the middle surrounded by filler plants and herbs, and came in a special metal bouquet holder. The concept has evolved over the years, though, and you can now find a large variety of shapes, sizes, styles and containers.

While most use fresh flowers that can be left to dry naturally, some incorporate silk flowers or dried materials. Ribbons, lace or even a vintage Valentine can be added, depending on what you think the object of your affection might appreciate.

So this Feb. 14, go for something a little out of the ordinary. Make your message more personal and interesting with a tussie mussie.

-- Chalet Nursery will have fresh tussie mussies available starting Saturday, Feb. 11 for a limited time. They are made by Kate Rice of Grayslake, IL.

By Karen Geisler

The Final Fall Bouquet



From the fall garden

The frost is on the pumpkin and the last blooms of summer have faded. You still have time, though, to bring a little bit of the garden inside. Use dried flowers, ornamental grasses, colorful leaves and seed heads from your border to make a long-lasting bouquet.

Hydrangeas, of course, are the most obvious choice. These work best if you plan ahead. Cut them in September, strip off most of the leaves and put them in a vase. Add water once and only once. Let the water evaporate and the flower will dry out slowly. If your hydrangeas are still on the shrub, don't despair. These will be a bit more brown, but they can still be used.

Ornamental grasses also are a must-have. While almost any variety will do, I'm especially partial to switch grass (panicum virgatum) because of its light and airy seed heads plus the thin narrow leaves. Prairie dropseed (sporobolis heterolepsis) also is a good option.

Other than that, let your imagination run wild. Anything that you might cut as part of a fall clean up is a possibility. In the bouquet shown above, I've used stems of cone flowers, sedum, ornamental oregano, perennial geraniums, panicum, veronicastrum and Queen Anne's lace as well as leaves from spireas, maples and abelias. Other candidates that may be in your garden include rose hips, black-eyed Susans, yarrow, clematis and grapevines.

Once the colorful foliage fades, consider replacing it with lotus pods, curly willow, bittersweet vine or even floral picks with some fresh flowers in them. Ribbons or raffia tied around the container can dress it up when company comes.

Don't fuss over the arrangement too much, though. The purpose of a fall bouquet is to celebrate this past year's garden. Enjoy!

(If you want to see where the phrase "the frost is on the pumpkin" originated, click here.)

By Karen Geisler