Thai Basil Flowers in Autumn Bouquet and Lance Hattatt



I love quiet mornings. 

I am decidedly NOT a night owl. I get far more done in the morning... and then have a dramatic drop in energy, motivation and interest come 2:00-ish. Consequently, I have been getting up earlier and earlier to have more morning in which to enjoy the quiet and enhanced productivity, along with the enjoyment of copious amounts of strong coffee. When it turns cold, Husband and I take turns making said coffee...and also making a fire in the kitchen fireplace. I usually come back upstairs to my office, supremely content in the knowledge that he is down in his "dad's" chair, sipping the coffee and soaking up the fire's warmth. THIS is happiness. THIS is contentment (especially if my house is clean...)  I know... a little Oprah-Deepak and goofy...but true nevertheless. Reason enough to love fall. That, and a heating pad in my lap as I sit at my desk, sip my strong coffee, and watch the darkness turn to light.


So it was this morning (because yesterday morning involved a considerably less charming colonoscopy)...as I sat at my desk and pondered what to write about in my next blog post. Like so many things in life, the answer was right in front of me.


 Since I never really feel like my house is clean, unless my cleaning frenzy is topped off with a fresh bouquet of flowers.  (CLEAN HOUSE + FLOWERS = WONDERFUL  The mathematics of which I find irrefutable)...I have a garden fresh cuttings meets grocery store bouquet  on my desk, keeping me company as I write.


So as I was pondering AND enjoying my flowers, I thought you might like to know the composition of the arrangement, because it really is lovely, in both appearance AND fragrance....and in my favorite color combo purple and chartreuse. (If you would like to follow my PURPLE IN THE GARDEN Pinterest Page, or any other categories, go HERE).


As a hard freeze is forecast for this weekend, I couldn't bear the thought of all that lovely basil (Thai, Minette, and Genovese) being nipped in the bud...quite literally, as all of the basil has gone to seed. Like the fall color of 2015, the basil flowers have been especially fresh and vase-worthy this season.


So I put together a pretty little floral recipe of:

*THAI AND MINETTE BASIL FLOWER HEADS

*BRANCHES OF DEUTZIA FOLIAGE (WITH A PURPLE CAST TO THE LEAVES)

*LEGGY DUSTY MILLER

*FRONDS OF BIRD'S NEST FERN

*GROCERY STORE, DEEP PURPLE ALSTROEMERIA AND A TOKEN ORANGE LILY (borrowed from another arrangement) FOR A POP OF COLOR


...very satisfying.



Also on my desk is a collection of small garden books I bought years ago. I am culling out books
I don't need/use to give to others......as my garden library is getting out of control and is in dire need of thinning out. These little books by LANCE HATTATT are oldies but goodies and would make delightful stocking stuffers for the gardeners in your life.


Find them used and for mere pennies (really!) here GARDENING IN A SMALL SPACE by Lance Hattatt on Amazon and here THE GARDENING YEAR by Lance Hattatt. Look at others by this same British gardener (follow his blog here to find out more about him) while you are perusing. You will, of course, need to translate the ideas/colors/combos into an Oklahoma vernacular to successfully replicate them in your garden.


I pulled all of my copies of these little tomes from the shelf and have been looking at them sporadically,


in the quiet of my fall mornings.

If you have time, please join Linda Cavanaugh and me today for 4 YOUR GARDEN on NewsChannel 4 at 4:30.  Let's talk bulb planting tips and tricks. 


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