Thursday, June 9, 2011

Garden Herb Bouquet


Sometime friends will call at the last minute and invite us to their house for dinner. Since we don’t like to go to anyone’s home empty handed, I know as soon as my husband hangs up the phone, he’s going to say, “What can we take?”

We always have a bottle of wine on hand, but it’s nice to take a little something along with the wine. That’s when it pays to be resourceful. Unless it’s the dead of winter, I go outside and see what’s in our garden that I can make into a bouquet.

The above herb bouquet is one I put together last summer when the zinnias were blooming. I just added some fresh rosemary and sage from our herb garden, tied a bow, and voila, we were good to go. The inspiration came from the photo below of an herb bouquet in an old Gourmet magazine.

Photo from Gourmet 
Use what herbs you have growing in your garden and add some flowers or salad greens, such as arugula, perhaps from your refrigerator. When your chives are blooming, be sure to add them.


Here are some flowers that blossom in our mountain garden in the springtime. Some such as the pink peonies would be too large to combine with herbs, but make a splendid flower bouquet on their own. The delicate white Dutch Iris would be pretty addition to any arrangement.





I’ll be linking this to Beverly’s How Sweet the Sound Pink Saturday. Be sure to stop by and be inspired to add some pink into your life.

I'm also linking this to Garden Tuesday hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes. Drop by and see what others are featuring in their gardens this week.

51 comments:

  1. A wonderful gift! Your garden must be beautiful and bountiful.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Sam I love your bouquet! I will be really happy with this I love flowers, hierbs and plants! lovely gift, gloria

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  3. I love the idea. We were invited to a friend's home last year. It was a spur of the moment event. I was able to put together a vase of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme--appropriate for the age group of the host and guests--which was quite a hit.

    Your flowers are lovely!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  4. With this crazy weather, I can't seem to get my herbs growing fast enough to supply the kitchen, much less make a bouquet! Lovely idea though.

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  5. I love the special bouquet.
    I love sage and Rosemary..and have just planted my little boatload(truly) of herbs..
    So sweet Sam.

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  6. What a wonderful idea!! My hands smell like rosemary and thyme right now, because I picked some from my potager for my Swiss Chard (also from my garden) Tuscan White Bean soup we are having for dinner.
    Hugs,
    Penny

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  7. What a brilliant idea Sam, I will remember that one. Thanks Diane

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  8. Very creative Sam and your flower shots look like they were made by a professional.

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  9. What a wonderful idea! I will have to remember that. Thanks.

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  10. A delightful herb bouquet Sam and so pretty and special to arrive at your host's home with a bottle of wine and a gorgeous garden tussie mussie.
    Have a wonderful week-end. xx

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  11. Thanks for the reminder. I love adding herbs to flower bouquets and how thoughtful as a hostess gift.

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  12. I would definitely love an herb bouquet that is this gorgeous! Much better than a dozen roses, if you ask me.

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  13. I like this idea. Love your blog any time!

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  14. What a great idea if you have some flowers and herbs in your garden. We live under pine trees and the ground is almost all rock – I declare we live on a mini Stone Mountain, so no flowers here. I usually bring homemade jams. I just finished a batch of Peach jam (with Bourbon and other special ingredients.)

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  15. What a fabulous idea! The bouquet is lovely and so are your photos.

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  16. Sam, what a clever idea! I would love to have that bouquet of herbs too. They look really nice & might come in handy. Who knows! :o)
    Thanks for sharing such wonderful pics. Have a great day!
    Blessings, Kristy

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  17. I am so impressed Sam. Love this idea and will steal from you. I'm thiking this would also be pretty as a centerpiece on my dining room table; when I have company. So creative and I am a huge herbe lover. We just planted our zinnias yesterday.
    Rita

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  18. I have a garden but mine does not look like yours. It is more veggies than herbs and plants. I am loving your bouquet. It is soooooooo pretty!

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  19. Beautiful, Sam. Any hostess would be thrilled to receive such a sweet bouquet.

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  20. OMG, you can do simply ANYTHING beautifully. I love you. This is such a great idea & one I would have never thought of. Come see my fantasy wedding in Italy album today if you have time. xx's

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  21. So happy you're doing Pink Saturday! I love doing this little pink linky party. Welcome aboard !

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  22. I feel the same way! I've always got a bottle of wine on hand but I like to bring something else. I just made one of these bouquets for my home. I enjoy how organic they are.

    Have a great weekend!

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  23. If you were coming to my house, I would love any flowers you wanted to share.

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  24. You must have a green thumb. What a lovely idea to bring along a herb bouquet when going to someone's house. Impressive!
    Joyce M

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  25. Sam,
    I would love you to come for dinner, and I think your kitchen garden bouquet is darling... and very useful as well a beautiful.
    I am so glad Masha introduced us. I just delight in your posts!
    Yvonne

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  26. Just discovered your blog....See so many things I want to read. Will add you to my blog roll on my blog!

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  27. Such lovely photos, Sam! I really love the idea of a floral-culinary bouquet.

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  28. Who wouldn't love a bouquet with fresh herbs and garden flowers, just lovely and so thoughtful for a hostess gift;-)

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  29. that's a fabulous idea. I have garden variety mint that runs amok every year. I always pick long stems of it to arrange with my cut flowers in an old ironstone pitcher. :) happy Pink Saturday and it's so nice to meet you.

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  30. As much as I like wine, I will take an herb bouquet any day! What a wonderful idea, and your bouquet is beautiful. Happy Pink Saturday! ~Marti

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  31. Gorgeous!! Link this up to my Garden Tuesday next week, please!

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  32. That is a wonderful idea! Especially for those friends who don't have their own garden. Speaking of gardens, yours is looking beautiful!

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  33. I so enjoyed the photos of your garden and the bouquet. I can smell the herbs!

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  34. What a super idea, Sam. One that any hostess would love to receive. Tied with the pretty raffia is the perfect final touch.

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  35. Sam,
    I love your bouquet. What wonderful ideas to make arrangements. I love your blog. You always post great ideas. Have a wonderful week.

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  36. love this what a great especially for folks who like to cook hugs

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  37. Great idea...adds a personal (and useful) touch.

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  38. We, too, hate going to a friend's house empty-handed. This is a great suggestion! Thanks!

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  39. I like to do this too but mine NEVER looked this nice!!! Really beautiful and such an excellent hostess gift!

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  40. Sam, this is such a sweet and beautiful reminder of why I love this season so much. (And I love the sentiment, "What can we take?" Hardly echoed anymore.)

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  41. That is a fantastic idea!! Thanks for linking up!

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  42. Toward the end of summer last year, we got into the habit of buying a bouquet like this from a local organic farm at the farmers market. Delightful! Now I'm inspired to create my own. Mint is also a good addition to an herbal bouquet.

    Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll definitely be back.

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  43. Sam,
    I just discovered your blog and I'm in love. I love your content. I'm a Carolina girl myself that now lives in South Florida. I love your recipes and look forward to meeting you at our "blogger round up" in Knoxville. Chris from NibbleMeThis invited me because I am in town to teach a grilling class. I very much look forward to meeting you!

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  44. Oh, Sam, I absolutely love the idea of an herb bouquet and would be so pleased if a guest brought me that. Just lovely!

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  45. Hi Sam...you are so lucky being able to make a bouquet from herbs of your garden...this are the best gift :-)
    I still have to try to add flowers in my salad, they sure make them look very pretty. Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures. Hope you are having a great week!

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  46. Sam, this is absolutely inspired! I love the idea of bringing an assortment like this to the hostess! Another idea I use is to tuck fresh herbs into the napkin rings at dinner parties. It's cute and fragrant.

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  47. I am so impressed with your artistic abilities. What a nice idea, one that I'll remember for future invitations.

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  48. gorgeous! The perfect gift to take along......I have done this myself when I had more herbs , but living in Florida in the summer,no can do! Your bouquet is right from the heart~

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