21 October 2013

October 2013 Flowers In The House

For this month, a few goodies were picked up from the garden and brought indoors. It was a cool day, -- perfect to be indoors making minestrone soup with fresh carrots from the garden while watching the Redskins entertain. These beauties were the best carrots ever.

I tried growing them again this spring after laying off for a number of years. Year after year of growing stunted balls of carrots was demoralizing. I took to preparing the soil over the years and determined to succeed, I tried again. Looks like the effort paid off as the carrots were long and the soil was soft enough to pull them up. Some remain in the garden, and of course some were proudly offered to the neighbors.

The autumn vase is for the kitchen countertop while chopping the soup's vegetables. This is aroma therapy. The chartreuse leaves of red fall-blooming pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) spices up the kitchen, along with a few sprigs of lavender. The yellow Canary zinnias add autumn to the kitchen. A few of the tricolor ornamental peppers add some bite, and of course, some fern-like carrot tops. Visit more Flowers In The House at Jane's blog Small But Charming.

Garden Calendar:
  • Blooming: mexican zinnia, zinnia, marigolds, pineapple sage, rain lilies
  • Harvested: 2 peppers, 2 tomato, 10 carrots

11 comments:

  1. I think your soup was the magic the redskins needed. They won!!

    I love your garden flowers and am inspired to cut a similar bouquet for my kitchen, tho I'll have to sub disco marigolds for the zinnas and maybe some parsley for the carrot greens.

    Now repeat after me: game day is soup day at Ray's!

    xo J

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  2. Ray,
    Wow, what a wealth of information you offer! I am your new follower.
    Christa

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  3. Watching the 'skins with red and yellow flowers ....? I think there is something going on here. Soup sounds great. Need some today.

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  4. What a fun arrangement you have created, and I love the use of the carrot tops for greenery!

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  5. Jane,
    It's not the soup, as Webb points out, it's the burgundy and gold flowers that won. And there's a frost coming at the end of this week ...

    Cristina,
    Welcome and hope you can stop by from time to time.

    Deb,
    The carrot tops last a while, too.

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  6. Pretty flowers....so... If having color coordinated flowers is the winning key... Will be looking for reds and blacks to give the Falcons and DAWGS a hand! Enjoyed my visit... The carrots look amazing! Smiles..Susan

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  7. It never occurred to me to match my flowers to my food!!! pretty cool.

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  8. Oh! I have to go take cuttings of Pineapple Sage. Put it off and then forgot. Cold is coming!

    Lovely bouquet.

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  9. Bow Steeet,
    The peppers were too much. Be careful what you match.

    Jean,
    My pineapple sage overwintered for the past two years here.
    Ray

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  10. Just lost my comment. :-(
    Congrats on your carrots. Beautiful bouquet!

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