In a Vase on Monday: Supportive Players

In preparing my Bloom Day post, I discovered that the Cymbidium I'd been watching had finally bloomed, producing 4 flower spikes.  In the past, I've moved pots of blooming orchids from the veritable wasteland near the street where they're kept up near the house but this time I decided to cut some of the spikes for the vase prepared in connection with the weekly exercise hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  I clipped 3 spikes before I could think better of this plan, which I may have done as the question that almost immediately presented itself was: what can hold its own with orchids?  Most of the flowers I considered, including yellow Freesias, succulent Bulbine, and fragrant Jasminum polyanthum, were immediately dismissed on the argument that they'd compete with, rather than support, the orchid flowers.  I ended up with a very simple arrangement using just 3 elements.

In addition to the Cymbidium spikes (no ID), I used  Coleonema album and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl.'

Close-up of Cymbidium flowers - there are a total of 12 flowers on the 3 spikes

Unlike the pink-flowered Coleonema pulchellum I frequently use, which blooms most of the year, C. album blooms only in spring

The pink petals and burgundy centers of the Leptospermum flowers echo the colors of the orchid

The orchid had belonged to my mother-in-law, although her plant was originally a division of one of mine, now long gone.  The vase I used was a gift from my own mother, purchased on her one and only trip to Finland, her parents' homeland.  The arrangement sits on our dining room table, where I can appreciate the contributions of both women, both now also gone.

For more vases assembled from materials collected close to home, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party