Saltwater Sounds: August Mornings and a Basket Full of Flowers
Welcome To This Week’s Saltwater Sounds…
A collection of ideas, tips, and inspiration. Here, I share everything happening in the world of Shiplap and Shells, what to look forward to on the blog, and the inspiration I’ve found throughout the week.
This Week at a Glance
There are mornings in the garden that remind you why you do all of this.
This was one of those weeks.
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A Morning in the Garden
I headed out early one morning with my basket and clippers, and of course Jax and Ollie followed along. They always do.
Jax supervises from nearby, and Ollie wanders around being Ollie, sniffing everything within reach and looking very important about it.
I cut yarrow, statice, celosia, and strawflower to hang in the pantry and dry. It’s that part of late summer that feels like putting something away for later for the quieter months ahead.
A few bundles hanging in the pantry are one of my favorite things to look at right now.
I also harvested some vegetables while I was out there.
There’s something so gratifying about a morning like this.
The garden is still cool, the dogs are nearby, and the basket is filling up with things I grew. It doesn’t get much better.
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In the Garden
Cottage Garden
The daisies are gone.
I cut them all back last week, and the garden already looks different for it, a little more like August making its way for something new.
We’ve put in a lot of hours this week deadheading and cutting back spent perennials.
It’s one of those August tasks that feel endless and satisfying at the same time.
I filled the compost pile faster than I expected, which probably shouldn’t have surprised me.
The garden in August grows as fast as it fades, and keeping up with it is a full-time job.
The mums are here, making everything feel like the season is turning, even when you’re not quite ready for it.
The sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is deepening in color.
The black-eyed Susans give the biggest pop of color to the entire garden.
The cream panicle hydrangeas are beautiful right now. That soft transition from white to the first blush of pink is what I wait for. Soon. I’ll be bringing them inside to dry for the fall and holiday seasons.
The purple coneflower and blazing star together are one of my favorite combinations in the whole garden this time of year. If you’re looking for bumblebees and butterflies, you’ll find them among these pollinator favorites.
The lavender looks so pretty alongside the black-eyed Susans and the sedum. This little grouping is a corner of the garden I always stop to look at.
Cut Flower Garden
The cut flower garden is full of pastel and fireball zinnias.
Gold and dusty rose celosia.
And marigolds in orange and yellow.
Garden Supplies and Tools
Check out my favorite garden supplies and tools for the growing season. Whether you’re looking for potting soil or deer repellent, you’ll find what I use in my own garden.
The Dahlia Design Summit
I shared the Dahlia Design Summit with you last week, and a few of you reached out with questions, so I wanted to bring it up again.
Here’s the simple version: if you grow dahlias and you’ve ever stood in the garden with an armful of gorgeous flowers and thought “now what do I do with these”, this summit was made for you.
It’s a five-day virtual event running September 13 through 18, with farmer florists, floral designers, and floral photographers all teaching you how to design, arrange, and photograph the dahlias you grow. You watch on your own time, and there are live Q&A panels every evening so you can ask questions in real time.
Whether you grow 12 plants or 1,200, it was built for growers at every scale.
By the end, you’ll be able to arrange with more confidence, put colors together that actually work, take photos that do your flowers justice, and start developing a look that feels like yours.
I can’t wait to learn more from all of these fabulous experts!
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Around the Cottage
I haven’t shared the inside of the cottage for so long. All garden and boating, all summer… which felt right, but the house has plenty to share as well.
Next week I’m sharing the living room and kitchen. I haven’t decorated for fall yet. I’m trying to hold onto summer indoors a little longer. There’s still too much color outside to start pulling it in yet.
On the Blog This Week
How to Make an Easy DIY Iron Pipe Pot Rack for Your Kitchen
If your cabinets are overflowing and your kitchen is short on space, a hanging pot rack solves two problems at once. It gets your pots and pans out of the cupboard and turns them into something worth looking at.
4 Easy Options for Overwintering Your Geraniums
Your annual geraniums don’t have to be a one-season purchase. They can live through the winter and come right back to your garden by summer, and it’s easier than most people think.
15 Ways to Prepare Your Garden for the Fall Season Transition
There’s still so much the summer garden has to offer this time of year, but the first frost is coming, and a little prep now will make all the difference.
Coming Up Next Week
More deadheading. More harvesting. More late summer mornings with the dog and a basket.
And next week… a long overdue look inside the cottage.
Until next time,
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Oh Kim, I’ve been so remiss this summer reading my favorite blogger posts…so I’m trying to catch up. As you know I just spent 2 days on a garden/farm tour here at our cabin in the mountains of Arizona. I am so inspired to try planting a flower garden up here at this higher elevation and I know I will need your help!
Your photos of your garden are so dreamy; those tomatoes -oh my! And of course, your dogs are darling. It would be fun to sign up for the Dahlia seminar, however, I’m not sure I’m there yet as I’ve never grown them (they don’t survive in Phoenix) but hope to start up here next year. Let me know when YOU have a garden tour and I’ll be on the next plane!
If that’s all it takes to have you visit, I will plan a garden tour right away! Summer is always so hard to keep up with all the blogs we love. I’m going to go catch up on yours. I am so thankful that you shared your garden/farm tour with me. It is so inspiring. I want to go check out these places in person. Have a great week ahead. Hugs.
I look forward to and love seeing your gardens from their time in the greenhouse to your cutting, arranging and placing. May I ask what species of coneflower you have photographed? I like the ones with a big flower head and all I have found here is the annual ones. I’ve been harvesting Aronia berries to make my Elderberry syrup. It’s like walking a tightrope from allowing them to ripen and pick before the birds get them. Oh how I’d love to have a greenhouse to pass the time in🙂♥️. Thank you for sharing your boat excursions and beautiful home and gardens♥️🌹
Hi Cheryl,
I’m so happy to hear you enjoy following the whole cut flower seed-starting process from start to finish. It’s so much fun for me. The basic purple coneflowers are Wildberry, the fuchsia double-cone variety is Raspberry Beret, and I really love the uniqueness of Monrovia’s Sweet Sandia. Hope that helps! I like bringing in as many colors as I can and even started a white coneflower from seed this year. Funny thing, they still haven’t bloomed. Hoping they come back stronger next year. I’ve always wanted to make elderberry syrup, so how fun. Those birds love to cause chaos, don’t they? Thank you again for the kind words. They mean a lot.
Kim
I know I have posted this before in the comments, but your home is one of my all-time favorites. I love how homey it looks and how you “do you” so well. I appreciate the gentle nudge for me to do the same. So, thanks especially for the times you share inside- your-home photos.
Hi Linda,
Thanks so much for reaching out. Feel free to send your kind words anytime. I love them! And thank you for the smile you have put on my face. You are so sweet. Now that fall is so close, I will be sharing the inside of our home quite a bit more. I hope you’ve had the best summer and are looking forward to all things fall. HUgs.
Yard is so beautiful with all the blooming happening. You must look out and feel like you are halfway to heaven.
Can’t wait to see pics of interior. We are like minded on what we want in our homes.
Thank you so much for reaching out, Belinda, and for the kind words about my yard. If you’d asked me 14 years ago, when we first moved into our little cottage, whether I’d have a cut flower garden someday, I would have said no. Back then I didn’t know much beyond planting a container and pulling weeds. It’s been a labor of love, with so much to learn along the way. Now that fall is here, I’ll be sharing a lot more of the inside of our home, so I’m glad you’re looking forward to those pictures. Have a wonderful week ahead.