In a Vase on Monday: Slim Pickings

The flush of early summer blooms has waned and the flowers that really love the heat are just getting started, which left me with slim pickings for today's bouquet.  As this is probably my last opportunity to construct a bouquet around my Agapanthus, I selected 2 fresh blooms to be the centerpiece of this week's vase, prepared in connection with Cathy's "In a Vase on Monday" meme at Rambling in the Garden.  I picked pink and purple blooms to accompany them this week.

Front view

Back view

Here's what I included:

2 stems of Agapanthus (no ID)

2 stems of a late blooming Alstroemeria (no ID) and 4 stems of Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'

2 stems of Pelargonium peltatum (no ID) and 1 stem of Cerinthe major

2 stems of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Blue,' which is smaller than the 'Borealis Blue' previously featured

3 small stems of Sollya heterophylla (and one stem of Digitalis purpurea)

I love Sollya heterophylla but I've yet to find an effective way to use it in a vase.  The flowers appear in small clusters here and there along twisting stems.  I haven't grown this shrub in many years because it managed to strangle a young tree planted nearby in my former garden but there's no chance it can strangle the full-grown Ablizia julibrissin soaring above this one.  However, now the stems are twining around themselves, making them difficult to cut and untangle.  Perhaps I'll be better able to make use of the cut stems when the shrub reaches its mature size.

This week's bouquet ended up in the front foyer.

 To see Cathy's composition this week and find other gardeners' arrangements, click here.