In scouting my garden in advance of Bloom Day, I noticed that the
Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl,' featured earlier in my January Bloom Day post, are still blanketed in flowers. The small pink flowers have burgundy centers, which I thought might provide a nice complement to the maroon red spikes of one of the
Antirrhinum majus growing in my vegetable garden. Despite my reliance on drip irrigation and the great care I've taken to avoid getting the snapdragon foliage wet, they're once again under attack by rust. They'll probably have to be pulled soon so I'd like to make use of the blooms while I can. Cathy's meme at
Rambling in the Garden provided me the necessary impetus to get to it.
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| Bouquet photographed outside the front door |
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| A shot showing the arrangement from the top |
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| Close-up of snapdragon and Leptospermum flower |
As my husband had taken over the kitchen, my favorite place to take photographs of my bouquets, I had to go outside to take these pictures. Outside of the kitchen, which is mostly white, either the light or the background tends to present a problem.
With its woody stems, it remains to be seen how well the
Leptospermum will hold up in the vase but I cut deeply into the wood to facilitate the stems' ability to take up water. In addition to the
Leptospermum and the
Antirrhinum, I added
Abelia x grandiflora 'Confetti' as a foliage accent, cream-colored sweet peas (
Lathyrus odoratus 'Perfume Delight') for scent, and a stem of
Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack' for a deeper red element. I used a painted glass vase my mother gave me many, many years ago because it picked up the colors of the flowers.
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| Fuzzy close-up of Abelia x grandiflora 'Confetti' |
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| Close-up of Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack,' highlighting just how deep its red color is |
I'd cut
Alstroemeria and
Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' when I was out in the garden but I thought they detracted from the arrangement so the extra flowers went into a separate vase that ended up in the guest bathroom.
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| This week's floral rejects |
These bouquets are my contributions to Cathy's collection of floral constructions this week. You can view Cathy's own creation - and find links to other floral concoctions -
here. My thanks again to Cathy for getting me back in the habit of cutting flowers for use in the house.
Oh! Wow! That Dianthus 'Heart Attack' is to die for! It has it all: scent, color; form. Great idea to use the abelia; it picks up the maroon, cream and green and unites the whole bouquet. Like the top looking down shot of the whole bouquet.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty impressed with the Dianthus thus far - I hope it can go the distance and withstand our hot summer temperatures. I'm pleased with that Abelia too - it has a low-key appearance in the garden but the foliage really adds something extra in a vase.
DeleteYou're a natural in flowering arranging and floral colour coordination Kris!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the complement Mark & Gaz!
DeleteTwo arrangements, both lovely. You have a wonderful mix of flowers to work with. I really like the deep maroon colors.
ReplyDeleteThat deep red snapdragon looks like just like velvet!
DeleteHow gorgeous the colours look together. I love the Leptospermum, the flowers remind me of crumpled tissue paper. And those lovely Alstroemerias how could anything so pretty be rejects? For the guest bathroom? What pampered guests you have.
ReplyDeleteThe Alstroemerias are certainly pretty in their own right but they just couldn't stand up and dance next to those velvety red snapdragons, Chloris.
DeleteBeautiful bouquets! Your Confetti abelia is so lovely. I planted one several years ago, and to my dismay it soon reverted almost completely back to solid green! I have tried cutting all the green stems off and one year I even cut it to the ground as another blogger recommended. I am trying to decide if I like it well enough to keep it in its all green state.
ReplyDeleteWell, as I understand that most variegation is produced by a virus, I guess your garden was just to healthy an environment, Deb!
DeleteWhat gorgeous flowers you have available in your garden. I love your Alstroemerias - they look far bigger than anything I have ever grown.I have never grown Leptospermum - it looks beautiful and I am going to look into it. I ended up with two vases today as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie. The Alstroemerias do particularly well in this climate.
DeleteDianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack'?! What sort of name is that for a plant?!! That leptospermum is very pretty although in my head I am thinking of it being something very different - grey and furry? Perhaps my memory is playing tricks ;) It is so exciting seeing all the different materials people use - and if we are all going to feature a 'reject vase' I have a tiny stoneware pot on the kitchen windowsill with various rejects in. Must remember to photograph it for next week! I am thrilled, of course, that the meme is providing pleasure to both the contributors and the readers - thanks so much for your enthusiasm :)
ReplyDeleteT.S. Eliot said that the naming of cats is a difficult matter - maybe the same can be said of plants! I've always thought that plants people need to be more creative with the names they select and I've seen an uptick in creativity (or perhaps I should say marketing) in that regard. 'Heart Attack' was probably selected to appeal to an American audience's appetite for things with shock value.
DeleteThe common name for Leptospermum here is New Zealand tea tree. Some of the foliage has a grayish tinge but it's prickly (rather like a fir) and not at all furry. Cleaning the foliage from the stems below the water line of the vase takes a toll on the fingers.
I love that you're out there cutting from and enjoying your garden, in a vase. It's a perfectly natural thing and I wish more people did it.
ReplyDeleteDespite spending as much time in the garden as I do, Loree, I like having flowers close at hand. Arranging different combinations lets me think about how I could possibly recombine them in the garden as well.
DeleteThe deep colours of your arrangement is lovely, the Alstroemerias are also lovely on their own. If they grow for you, they should do well for me, I must order some. Your dianthus is a wonderful colour, I've bought some seed to sow soon for next year, they are mixed colours so I hope that there is one that is as beautiful as yours.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your recent visit to my blog and your kind comment Kris which is much appreciated. Oh what riches in your Monday vase. Off to investigate forthwith whether dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack' is available this side of the pond :)
ReplyDelete