Thanks to two pretty major road trips, August almost slipped away before I could share my monthly bouquet (a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs). Just like last month’s lush lilies, this month’s blossoms didn’t hail from the grocery store. Again we bucked the normal $3-5 bouquet and headed outside, this time to snip one pretty hot pink branch from the crape myrtle on the side of our house. Here’s my lovely free flowering branch living it up in a blue glass vase on the mantel in the living room:
For those of you who live too far north to enjoy Crape Myrtles (amazing trees that runneth over with pink or white blooms pretty much all summer long), might I recommend moving to the south to enjoy them? They’re planted along almost every road and around virtually every shopping center and they truly make a former northerner like myself feel like I’m in a Disney movie. I practically expected birds to land on my arms and fashion me a dress out of curtains when I moved here back in 2005.
The pop of hot pink really wakes up the entire living room, and the raspberry tone mixed with the soft blue vase is an unexpectedly awesome pairing- especially in our otherwise light and airy home. Gotta love how something so small can make such a big impression.
So what about you guys? Have you snagged any cheerful flowers courtesy of your backyard or your local grocery store? We’d love to know what blooms are tickling your fancy these days and what bouquets your backyard is bearing without breaking the bank.
Wanna see our first grocery store bouquet from last January? Itching to check out February, March, April, May, June, and July too?Just follow the links for some pretty sweet cheap-o (and even free) bouquets.
i snagged branches from the myrtles just a couple weeks ago! i loved how cheerful they were… except they do tend to leave little flower droppings all over the surface they’re sitting on!
These flowers are my all time fave, for just $5.00 at Walmart. :-)
http://mccartyandcompany.blogspot.com/
Very pretty!!! We have a Crape Myrtle in our front yard on Long Island. :-) We love it. But this year, it just started to bloom about a week ago. I think it was all the weird weather this year and it threw it off from it’s bloom time. So hopefully we will get to enjoy it for the next month. We have the same color as you do. Love it. I will have to cut some once more blooms come up.
strawflowers are the newest thing to tickle my floral fancy. bought some seedlings at the farmer’s market this spring and they’ve really done well. they’re excellent as dried flowers too.
http://jenandross.smugmug.com/photos/631263071_yWCyC-L.jpg
So pretty! I’ve always loved the color combination of light blue and cranberry.
So pretty! The color is gorgeous against the blue glass!
I’ve been buying flowers from my local Stop & Shop. They always have small bouquets 3 for $12 and if you dig through, there are some really pretty bunches.
In May, I love to take cuttings from the lilac bush in our back yard. They smell so sweet and are gorgeous, too!
I love Crape Myrtles! We have several planted around our house that we started from just very small plantings (or should I say my husband started :}. They are in their 3rd full year of bloom and are coming along nicely. My father-in-law used to grow them (South GA) and sell them. He has about 50 or so planted on his property. They are so pretty when in full bloom! We go help him prune them around Thanksgiving time.
Very pretty and such a nice gift idea! We just planted a Crape Myrtle in our NJ yard this summer. It’s still getting used to the new lay of the land, so it’s not really blooming yet though. I’ve been mothering it to make sure it survives the hot summer!
really LOVE the juxtaposition of bright pink and light blue. good choice!
I love crepe myrtles! We live in MO and though about planting some in our side yard, but we’re going for privacy and the ones up here just don’t do as well as they do in the South. Seeing them everywhere is one of my favorite parts of our every-other-year trek to Orange Beach.
WOW thats great!! It really is such a beautiful pop of color. Yall rock.
I remember going to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Texas about 11 years ago and my parents loved the Crape Myrtles so much that they bought 2 and checked them for the plane ride home to Michigan. Sadly, they never made it through the winters.
We definitely love our crepe myrtles down here! In our neighborhood we have light pink, magenta, white and deep purple.
Unfortunately ours are struggling this year due to a ball moss infestation, but I’m hoping to get that cleaned up by next season. I never thought of bringing a branch indoors as a bouquet. Great idea!
Any for everyone else with one of these trees, please, please, please do not hack your tree back at the end of the season. They are meant to be trees, not bushes and just look awful when cut all the way back.
Love your pretty pink shot of color! My favorite flowers this summer are snipped from my new Limelight hydrangea. Beautiful! And they dry a pretty green too.
Down here in Florida the crape myrtles are full bloom everywhere!!! My husband and I have been considering planting a white one in our front yard. They are so pretty and bloom for forever! Thanks for sharing!
McStudly and I LOVE us some crepe myrtles! We’re probably replacing our tree with one next spring. Can’t wait!!
Hydrangeas from my mom’s back yard! I love that even when they dry out they look pretty!
This may seem like a silly question… but I’ve been curious about it for awhile, so I thought it was worth asking. I love how John gave you that beautiful West Elm vase for Christmas with the promise of 12 fresh bouquets for each month of the year. Sooo thoughtful and a great gift that keeps on giving!!
I know we are all on a budget, and finding ways to save extra pennies is a high priority. However, I’m wondering… with so many of your “monthly bouquets” costing zero dollars and zero cents and hailing straight from your yard, how does this still fit in the “gift” category? I’m all for handmade/homemade/low-cost gifts, but was just curious how a clipping from the yard fulfills the original promise of a fresh bouquet each month.
Hey Bethany,
That’s so funny! John does so many sweet things for me on a monthly basis (cooks dinner almost every night, rubs my feet, scratches my back, does all the laundry, watches my silly girl TV shows, etc) that it could easily be argued that he goes above and beyond every month whether he springs for a bouquet or we get one free from the backyard. I think we both figure that purchasing a bouquet during months when we have free ones on hand seems silly- unless the time comes when we’re having a dinner party and want some extra blooms around (at which point I’d have no problem pointing out that my monthly bouquet has yet to have been purchased). The gift was really more about making a commitment to have something fresh and lovely around and to “treat myself” to that eye candy on a regular basis- which happily can be achieved for no dough during the summer months. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sherry- I love the color combo. Gotta love the free flowers!
We always saw crape myrtles on our trips south and thought them the most beautiful bushes/trees. Recently I have seen them here on Long Island-and this year more than ever! They are amazing and I will have to figure out where to find them. Up here, if I did find them, they would probably be sooo expensive. Have you ever bought plants/trees from a catalog? I think I may have to go that route…I love John’s gift and that’s that!
~Nancy
Hey Nancy,
We actually haven’t ever purchased plants/trees from a catalog but we’d love to hear if you’re able to get a Crape Myrtle that way! Keep us posted and good luck…
xo,
s
Oh how I love Crape Myrtles!! Out here in California, just like Virginia, they are everywhere!! They line streets, shopping centers and my very own apartment complex…yay! I just wanted to share with you that we have beautiful light violet ones too :O)
These flowers look so so pretty! I have never seen these before! I wish I had a backyard where I can make a little garden with all the beautiful flowers. Amongst all the flowers I have to admit that roses are still my favorite, but I also loves the smell of lilac :-)
As awesome as crape myrtles are in the spring and summer they are awful in the fall and winter. Just ugly sticks! But sure enough every spring comes back around and BAM they remind you they are one of the best shrubs/trees out there! Little tiny pink flowers have been covering my driveway for months now. love.
Your Disney analogy cracked me up- I’m a big fan of crape myrtles too- Love your site.
Do share where that lovely lotus tea light is from, its stunning!
That’s actually from HomeGoods… snagged for just a few bucks. Two I think! That store is chock full of cheap treasures- you just have to dig around for them!
xo,
s
How do you keep your crepe myrtle blossoms from shattering after they’re cut from the tree?
Even if I take a cutting the day the blossoms open, they’re in pieces by the next morning.
The Mrs,
Hmm, I don’t know why yours fall apart so fast. Maybe it’s a different variety of Crepe Myrtle? Ours has lasted about five days so far with only a few petals fluttering to the ground. Maybe there is something you can add to the water to make them more durable (like a penny or a splash of soda- we’ve heard they stiffen things up)? You also might have them in the sun on a window ledge so they’re wilting faster? Maybe keeping them in a more shaded place might help?
xo,
s
We have two HUGE, lovely, white crepe myrtles in our backyard and I have no idea why I never cut them and bring them indoors. Goodness knows no other blooming thing escapes my clippers!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOo I have 2 purple crape myrtles…and it never even occurred to me to clip them and put them in a vase…………I’m running out the front door right now !
THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
wooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooo
so pretty!
You totally motivated me. I think I’ll go pluck some flowers from my yard right now! :)
Hey Guys! I adore you and your blog! I check it a couple of times a day to see any new posts. :) I was so excited today when I saw the post on crepe myrtles. I have two big ones in my backyard and love using them for flower arrangements. I especially love the fact that they are free! We would love to have you “crash” at our place anytime you are in Austin!!! I have posted a couple of pictures! Check them out and keep up the fabulous work!!!
http://simplyfabulous1.blogspot.com/2009/08/crepe-myrtle-love.html
Those are pretty! I’ve never seen (or heard) of these crepe myrtle before! They really remind me of bougainvillea which are everywhere here in the Southwest and California. I wonder if they are related?
Right now I have been channeling your bouquet a month by purchasing roses at Albertsons. You can get 1 dozen for 6.99 on Fridays..they are 5 dollars off and they have pretty much every available color! They last a long time and I just love how they brighten up our house!
so i have just moved to the south (nashville) from the north (boston) and am infatuated w/ crepe myrtles! i am astounded by how many there are down here and how long they keep their blooms. gorgeous! we just bought a house, and i’m hoping to plant quite a few next spring.
Very pretty, especially with that vase! What a gorgeous hue of blue.
Flowers from the garden are my favorites, and something that I take advantage of all summer long. :)
I love wild flowers. I grow them in pots outside every summer. The wild flowers bloom all summer giving me plenty of flowers. I put a few wild flowers in small vases and have them in rooms through out our house.
brb fainting from wanting that vase so bad ;_;
I miss the lilacs of upstate NY. We have them in VA but not nearly as many and the fragrance is not as potent as there. I would always pick some and have them in my home when they were blooming. I may need to visit the next Lilac Festival they have in my hometown.
Paula Grace ~
http://www.paulagracedesigns.blogspot.com
I’m off to go cut a piece of my crape myrtle now. Never occurred to me. You make it look great.
Hey Youngsters — love the raspberry crape myrtle in the soft light blue vase. Magic.
Crape myrtles ROCK. We have 2 and I LOVE THEM!
Did you know, their nickname is The 100 Days Tree, because typically they bloom for 100 days in the good old summertime.
Happy Friday!! Happy weekend!! Thanks for all you do to help us beautify our little corners of the world.
XOXO Katy
I just want to say what a lucky girl you are, even though I am sure you already know it. John cooks dinner and does the laundry!?! Wow, just wow. Hang on to that one!
Hey Marianne,
I know right? I’m the luckiest girl in the world. I’m super fortunate that John grew up in a house with three sisters so he doesn’t mind helping out (since he shared those sort of responsibilities growing up and his mother never taught him those were “girl chores”). To try to keep things feeling fair around here, I do all of the cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, toilet grossness) and also do my best to always unload the dishwasher and unpack all the groceries once we carry them in from the car. It’s all about equality here at Casa Petersik!
xo,
s
We live in the South and I love these trees, but never knew what they were called! Thanks!
I absolutely love that vase!
I first fell in love with crape myrtles when I worked as a rep in Arkansas about 13-14 years ago. Gorgeous, and their nicely shaped blooms always remind me of lilacs. I was just through Virginia at the end of July and absolutely loved seeing them growing wild everywhere. Most of them were the same deep fuschia ones like yours.. but there were a lot of the white and deep purple ones, too. Love them!
When I lived in CT I loved the fact that Alexander Magnolias and rhododendrons grew wild.. more gorgeous pink colors.
My fave flower to cut and display in the house here in Michigan are my peonies in every color. Nice scent and huge blooms.. perfect.
Oh! I love that hot pink and frosty blue color combo!
Nancy from Long Island. I have ordered from this site before and they have Crape Myrtles.
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/HECMP.html
Well the one that they have on their site is a little different looking then mine.
We live on Long Island as well. Good luck with your purchase Nancy.
I’ve snagged a few blooms from my neighbors Crape Myrtle. Only they didn’t last long…maybe a few days. Did you cut them in a special way or add anything to the water to maintain the blooms?
Hey Barbara,
Hmm, I don’t know why yours fall apart so fast but we didn’t do anything special to maintain the blooms. Maybe it’s a different variety of Crepe Myrtle? Ours has lasted almost a week so far with only a few petals fluttering to the ground. Maybe there is something you can add to the water to make them more durable (like a penny or a splash of soda- we’ve heard they stiffen things up)? You also might have them in the sun on a window ledge so they’re wilting faster? Maybe keeping them in a more shaded place might help?
I love that vase! Where did you get it?
Hey Erin,
The vase was a gift so we’re not sure where it’s from but we’ve seen similar versions at places like TJ Maxx and HomeGoods (on the cheap too). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I live in Texas, and we have 5 crape myrtles planted around our house. They are so beautiful and grow incredibly fast! There’s actually a crape myrtle trail throughout my city that has so many different colors! They range from white, to pale pink, to a beautiful lilac purple, and dark red.
I love the way the crepe myrtle blooms mimic the coral next to the vase…
As for me, I have gardenias that I cut the blooms off and float in a shallow bowl of water..they smell so good in my kitchen!