I'd really only planned to make up one vase this week. The appearance of blooms on the Campanula primulifolia I planted in January (featured as my favorite plant of the week last Friday) cinched the decision to focus on blues this week. The blue Eustoma grandiflorum, which have been blooming like crazy, picked up the color of the Campanula and made the perfect focus for today's vase, prepared in connection with the meme hosted each Monday by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. However, it was impossible to ignore that the pink and pale yellow Eustoma were also blooming their hearts out. I resisted but, as the Borg announced in a universe far far away, resistance is futile. So, here you are: three vases this week, all featuring Eustoma.
I have a hard time choosing my own favorite this week but the first one I put together was the blue one, which is probably the most dramatic of the three.
It includes 4 elements:
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| From the left: Eustoma 'Borealis Blue' (these in their second year in my garden!), Campanula primulifolia (making its bloom debut), Tanacetum parthenium (which planted itself) and a taller form of Thymus serpyllum |
The second vase, smaller than the other two, features the pink Eustoma.
It includes:
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| From the left: Eustoma 'Mariachi Pink', Abelia x grandiflora, Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' and one small Zinnia that just happened to pick up the color of the Abelia bracts |
After finishing those two vases, I considered calling it quits (seriously!), but the yellow Eustoma were bending over under the weight of their blooms. How could I let their blooms drag in the dirt?
This vase includes:
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| Clockwise from the left: The pale blooms of Eustoma 'Borealis Yellow', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Achillea 'Summer Pastels', and Grevillea 'Superb' |
The sunflowers were calling from the vegetable garden but I tuned them out. Three vases is more than enough. The remarkable thing is that I generally struggle to find flowers at the height of summer, when the heat usually beats them all into submission. That's the difference a little rain makes, I guess.
Here are the completed vases all in place:
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| The blue vase sits on the dining room table; the pink vase sits on my desk; and the yellow vase sits in the front entry |
For more summer vases, stop by and visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. She'll fix you up.
All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Your arrangements always are impressive. The Campanula is such a pretty color. Eustoma is beautiful in all colors, isn't it? Always partial to blue, I would love to grow that one, but the pale yellow one is amazing too. Is it an annual for you?
ReplyDeleteEven here, the Eustoma (Lisianthus) are sold as annuals; however, they're really short-lived perennials in this climate. I kept some of the 'Borealis Blue' from last year without much confidence that they would bloom again but they have and with as much vigor as those I purchased this year. The foliage does turn a sickly pale yellow-green, although the plants seemed to recover when they got some rain. The foliage needs a feeding of something but I haven't yet figured out what that is.
DeleteOh I have Eustoma envy....the purple is fabulous and then the other 2 you presented took my breath away also....all are beautiful and so varied....I love the foliage and variety of blooms you choose Kris.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna. The double-flowered Eustoma ARE such pretty flowers - so different from the squat, single-flowered forms I used to find in 6-packs.
DeleteYou're so good at this Kris! All three are beautiful but the blue one appeals to me the most especially :)
ReplyDeleteI have to admit a preference for the blue ones too even if yellow is my favorite color and if the pink ones sitting beside me as I type look so pretty.
DeleteVariations on a theme Kris but why not - your eustomas make such fabulous and attractive cut flowers. I've seen them for sale here as pot plants or in floral bouquets but never growing in gardens. It's possible to buy seeds but I imagine that in a 'normal' summer here that they wouldn't thrive as they do with you. I think that the blue vase is my favourite too :)
ReplyDeleteI tried growing them from seeds once but wasn't successful but then my inattentiveness to seeds is criminal. I'll have to try that again.
DeleteAll 3 vases are beautiful, but my favourite is the blue one! Eustoma looks great, I have to plant it in my garden, too. Can you give me a piece of advice, Kris? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI suspect my climate is very different than yours, Anca, so it would be hard to offer advice on growing Eustoma in your location. Some companies sell seeds for Eustoma, also known as Lisianthus, so you may want to try growing the plants from seed if your local nurseries don't offer the plants.
DeleteI do love the dramatic sweep of the blues but that pale yellow is incredibly sweet. Pish tosh I love them all three. And each one is so beautifully suited to the space it graces. You certainly do have an eye for this. Do you have any formal training in floral design or arrangements or is this a case where you do have a good eye but more importantly that green thumb, keeping you so well supplied with gorgeous candidates for inclusion!?
ReplyDeleteHa! Actually, I took a single class in "floriculture," in high school I think. I remember very little about it and in retrospect can't even fathom why it would have been offered as an elective. (Clearly, the public schools must have had better funding in those days.) My only recollection is that the class was conducted in some area on the outskirts of the school's athletic field and there were only a few students. It might have been a summer class as it was certainly outside my usual school curriculum.
DeleteNormally I'm not one to pick favorites, but I really love the yellow vase with all its soft toning and the wide range of foliage! That said, what a beautiful debut for the campanula :) It seems to blend perfectly with the "Borealis Blue"... And the tiny zinnia "makes" the pink vase for me! I can see why you didn't want to stop at one :D
ReplyDeleteAll I can say, Amy, is that it's a good thing I don't have any more Eustoma to play with. (The white ones seem to have retired for a good rest.)
DeleteI'm about the least qualified person on earth to comment on floral arragements, but yours knock my socks off every Monday. Truly beautiful, and so photogenic!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gerhard! Your compliment means a lot.
DeleteOh, I am extremely partial to the yellow one, it's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAre you sure it's not the Grevillea in the yellow vase speaking to you?
DeleteEvery time you use Eustoma in your vases or show it in the garden I am tormented by the fact that I can't buy them here. I have many favourite flowers in your garden but the Eustoma is the one I am constantly drawn to in any of its colours. I'd be hard pressed to choose a favourite today but perhaps the blue attracts me most as I don't have any more blue flowers in the cutting beds.
ReplyDeleteYou've done so well starting flowers in your greenhouse, Christina, you may want to see if you can grow the Eustoma from seeds. I found it easier to find seed suppliers on-line by searching under "Lisianthus" rather than "Eustoma." I noticed one UK seed supplier, Nicky's Nursery, which offered 25 different varieties (some double, some not), but I didn't check their international shipping policy. At least one US supplier, Swallowtail Garden Seeds, offered international shipping, albeit at a hefty mark-up.
DeleteLove your 3 vases this week, today I have learned the botanical name for Lisianthus. This is just one of the things I love about blogging the sharing and learning of all things gardening.
ReplyDeleteEustoma grandiflorum may be the proper name for Lisianthus according to The Plant List, Jill, but most of the plants in nurseries here and on-line seem to be offered under the Lisianthus name. Sometimes I think the botanists and nurseries conspire to make us crazy...
DeleteBeautiful vases. I've put Eustoma on my plant wish list. I'm hoping I can get them to grow in wet Wales next year
ReplyDeleteWhile I've found that these plants make do fine here with what I'd call "moderate" water, my local garden guide says they like "regular" water so they may do fine in your climate, depending upon the soil pH. I've read that Eustoma/Lisianthus doesn't like acid soil.
DeleteI love all of them! That eustoma is just incredible. But if it's that happy for you, it would be miserable for me. Damn..... :(
ReplyDeleteIs your soil on the acid side, Tammy? I've read that's the one thing they don't tolerate, preferring slightly alkaline conditions. I think they can tolerate more water than they get here.
DeleteThey are all spectacular, but I'm surprising myself here by saying that this time, I'm partial to the pink one. (!!!!) Anyway, saw this and thought of you and all other Californians: http://inhabitat.com/nano-water-chip-could-make-desalination-affordable-for-everyone/
ReplyDeletePink?! Oh my! The pink one is also my cat's favorite - she keeps trying to eat it but that may be mainly because it's more readily accessible than the other 2.
DeleteThanks for the desalination link. That sounds interesting and very, very encouraging. I sent the link to my scientist husband. No doubt he'll pooh-pooh it but I find it exciting.
They are all three so pretty Kris. How I wish that I could grow Eustomas; I love them.
ReplyDeleteI love them too. I may try some of the bi-colors next year.
DeleteI have really struggled to leave a comment on your post and on any BlogSpot blogs so something has changed somewhere. I have tried again using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox and that seems to be OK which is all very odd as I have been using Firefox in preference for a couple of years. What I was trying to say was:
ReplyDelete'I have always loved seeing your blue eustoma and that campanula is such a gorgeous shade so that has to be my my favourite vase, but isn't it amazing how different the others look despite being the same kind of bloom. They are all so effective - thanks for sharing'
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, Cathy. It sounds as though there's a software glitch somewhere. Thanks for your perseverance and, as always, your support as our host.
DeleteBy way of follow-up, Cathy, I discovered today that Google has added a notice to all posts viewed by readers in the EU to meet the EU's privacy notice requirements. Readers must acknowledge and consent to the use of cookies. Could that be the roadblock with Firefox?
DeleteAll three are beautiful but the blue one is my favourite.
ReplyDelete