Usually the flower buds form in the crotch of the Y. Do not mistake a lateral branch from off a main stem to be a Y. The Y forms in the growing tips of the branches and the sum of the diameter of the V in the Y equals the same diameter abs the base of the Y. if one branch is thicker in the Y than the other branch, usually it is a lateral shoot, NOT a Y. This growing tip formed a double Y and each of those are going on to form new Y's as well up above the turquoise lines. You can just see the tiny bud forming in the middle Y. This pic shows both a 'Y' and a lateral branch. B is the crotch of a Y, 3 and 4 are the same diameter and together their circumference equals that of 1 ( the stem below the Y. 5 is a lateral branch, the sum of 5 and 1 together is far greater than of 1 alone. The C is simply the crotch between the stem and the lateral branch and would not produce a bloom bud where there was a bloom but produced at the B position earlier. Also, any subsequent Y's formed above on the stems above the B will result in buds, the lateral branch will have to make a true Y of it's own prior to you getting any blooms on that branch/stalk. On a lot of Brugs, when they are getting ready to 'Y' the leaves will develop unevenness.... one side of the leaf will be lower on the leaf stem than the other. This is called asymmetrical leaves and is a sure sign of the plant soon forming a Y and buds. This is not the prettiest leaf to be showing for asymmetry but you can see how the upper side continues further down the leaf stem than the bottom side does.

I was haunting the forums, looking for pictures of flowers for ideas for wintersowing and saw this string and had to put in my fav! I'm verging on zone 4 at my altitude, listed as zone 5 and last year was the first spring I had Penstemon strictus (Rocky Mountain Blue was the variety) bloom in my garden. It bloomed pretty much the entire time I had peonies. I have around 90 varieties that bloom from early to late and this penstemon bloomed the entire time. It's a larger blooming penstemon but only gets to around 3' high max, spread probably around 18-24". It's still a slightly spiky bloom and the blue looked great with every peony I put it with, made wonderful arrangements. It is one of the easiest seeds to wintersow, also. If started this winter I wouldn't be surprised if it had a small amount of blooms late spring this next season and a large spread the 2nd year.

Ahh, what a sweetheart!! She had better hold to him! Hopefully a room full of flowers will cheer her up too. I didn't realize that you need to seal the end of a poppy after you cut it. How long does it last when you do this? Speaking of sealing cut flowers and with all the peonies starting to bloom, has anyone ever tried cutting a peony bud, just when the colour starts to show, then dip the end in wax and store them in the fridge in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks? When you bring them out, just cut off the end and put in water and they'll open up the next day. I did this last June for my sister's bridal shower. I used 'Smouthi' peony which blooms in May and they made for wonderful table centerpieces.

I used to make bouquets for my mother and never remembered to take a picture:-( These are lovely. Several of us may remember Thedarklady (Marina Parr) posted drop dead gorgeous bouquets 5 yrs. ago. She used interesting containers. Lots of Austins and as these bouquets were for church they did not need to last. Often the roses varied in size as well as petal count. I noticed her fillers were mainly lavender, green or white. Ageratum - lavender tall one Campanula Sarastro - deep deep lavender with mauve roses Caryopteris flowers clematis Comtesse de Bouchard (pastel bluey-pink) Echanacea - white or green single Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' Gladiolus 'Green Star' Heliotrope - purple Hydrangea - 'Limelight' and 'Annabelle' Salvia farinacea - purple single Shasta daisies Statice - white Valerian officinalis - white Thedarklady's photobucket has changed. Here's one I saved. Bouquet by Marina Parr