Monday, April 27, 2015

In a Vase: Monday Morning Blues

I've been in a blue mood of late so focusing on blue flowers for this week's "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, struck the right note with me.  I've been impressed by the blue and white arrangements put together by other contributors and I'd planned to stick to those two colors myself but a limited supply of white flowers, as well as a desire to perk myself and the vase up, led me to include a dash of yellow.


Back view


The supply of blue flowers is plentiful at the moment.  My Agapanthus are already starting to bloom and, although I didn't include any of those this week, it means that you're likely to see more blue in the coming weeks.  Here's what I included in this week's vase:
  • Argyranthemum frutescens 'Butterfly'
  • Coleonema album
  • Eustoma grandiflorum 'Borealis Blue'
  • Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain'
  • Lagurus ovato
  • Leucanthemum x superbum
  • Nierembergia linarifolia 'Purple Robe'
  • Prostanthera ovalifolia
  • Salvia hybrid 'Mesa Azure'
  • Senecio stellata 'Giovanna's Select' (this is the name under which plant was sold but it's not found in The Plant List)

Argyranthemum 'Butterfly' brings instant cheer to any bouquet

I'm once again getting blooms here and there from the Eustoma 'Borealis Blue', planted last May, although I've yet to see a new supply of the plants in the garden centers

Lagurus ovato (aka Hare's Tail Grass) does surprisingly well in a vase - last week's stems are still looking great, even though most of the Alstroemeria and Pelargonium are looking sad

The ruffled form of Leucanthemum x superbum has produced only 2 blooms so far but my plants have lots of buds

Nierembergia linarifolia is more purple than blue but its yellow centers help tie in the Argyranthemum

Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' brightens the arrangement almost as much as the yellow Argyranthemum

I didn't realize that my Salvia 'Mesa Azure' included a hitchhiker until I saw this photo on-line (and I haven't found him either)

Sold as Senecio stellata, this is some form of Cineraria, probably correctly classified as a Pericallis


The vase landed on the dining room table, where it can be viewed from front and back.



As I had some leftover stems, I tucked them into into a small vase to go in the guest bathroom.

In addition to short stems of the Cineraria/Pericallis and the Salvia, this 3-inch vase holds stems of Cynoglossum amabile, already past its prime, and a single stem of a succulent form of Senecio (no ID)


Visit Cathy to see what she's cooked up this week and to find links to other gardeners' creations.


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

29 comments:

  1. I'm blue too. The hot arid Santa Anas are howling here, sucking the water out of the garden yet again. Your beautiful arrangements cheered me up. The Lagurus flower heads are very cool, and the blue vase for the smaller arrangement adds to the beauty.

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    1. The weather doesn't help anything, does it? My little weather station said our humidity was down to 1% at mid-day. Everything's parched and I find myself hesitating about watering anything now than my rain barrel is empty.

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  2. I love blue flowers, Kris, and you certainly have some interesting ones. Glad you felt cheery enough to add the yellow flowers also!

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    1. Something always pushes me to look for a brighter angle, Susie.

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  3. Sorry you're blue. Have you considered taking the plastic bag off of your head? You'll be surprised at how fast your color returns to normal. Your arrangements are always wonderful! I especially like the second one which looks like a peacock fanning out his tail feathers.

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    1. Hmmm...Maybe the Santa Ana winds sucking all the moisture out of the atmosphere here function like a plastic bag. Better to blame the weather than my psyche!

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  4. Blue flowers are so beautiful, I love them! And your vase is very creative, I like the blue-yellow combination, thanks for sharing and have a nice Monday and week, Kris!

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  5. Blue it may be, cheerful and bright it still is!

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  6. I'll second outlawgardener, at least with my vote for the second vase. Maybe I'm just into tiny things at the moment, been out chasing bees and butterflies with my camera (again!) but it looks especially sweet and a bit on the subdued side, which in our current blast of sun today feels very soothing.

    Hope your blues get relegated back to only include your blossoms, and pronto!

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    1. It has heated up here too, Deb, but, with the Santa Ana winds blowing at full force today, I'm afraid I can't call it soothing. Maybe the blues will blow away.

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  7. I am sorry to hear you have been feeling down Kris - hopefully your mood will lighten soon. Your flowers are lovely as ever & should help to cheer you up!

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  8. I love your choice of blues here, Kris, but I'm so sorry you're feeling down...! You've sent us all some smiles with this beautiful vase - the Eustoma looks perfect in it. And the small vase with the Cynoglossum is a delight! Hope things brighten up for you soon!

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    1. Thanks Amy. I'm sure my universe will right itself eventually.

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  9. I love blue! It's a shame such a beautiful color and a sad emotional state share the same moniker. Hope those cheerful flowers help brighten your mood. I always knew I was a little backwards. I like the back of the first arrangement better. lol

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    1. I rather like the back of the arrangement too, Evan. It's a good thing I placed it where it can be viewed from both sides.

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  10. May the weather, and your mood, both improve soon. You've put together another lovely arrangement.

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  11. A lovely vase Kris, blues and whites make such an elegant vase but the addition of yellow makes the mix very jolly. I think I understand the 'blue' feeling when the heat begins here I often feel like that.

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  12. My internet speed is still as slow as ever Kris, but I can see your first photo and its gorgeous and made me smile. I have blue days and despite working in lots of beautiful gardens its often walking with my dog that really lifts me back up again. I hope you feel cheerful again soon.

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  13. I'm so glad you added the yellow to cheer up the arrangement - hope the 'blue feeling' is only temporary. ;-) I really like the foliage of Prostanthera that you used this week. Lovely from both sides, Kris!

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  14. these are always winning colour combinations - so pretty. I would love that little vase in my bathroom to cheer me in the mornings!

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  15. Blue and yellow is one of my favourite colour combinations. Such a cheery arrangement and as usual a beautiful selection of flowers.

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  16. Blue is the colour! No matter how blue we are feeling, a shot of colour like this can't help but give us a little lift. Very pretty display.

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  17. That Leucanthemum x superbum caught my eye, first because it's beautiful, secondly because (I know it's silly) I read it as super-bum, not superb-um as I'm sure it's supposed to be.

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  18. I love your blue and yellow combinations. And all your beautiful flowers should help keep me going until I have significant blooms in my garden, in about a month. -Jean

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  19. I love love love your purple and blue flowers. Senecio stellata is outstanding!

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