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| Front view |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| From left to right, the vase contains: the stiff stems of Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', the truly tiny flowers of Ribes viburnifolium (aka Catalina Perfume), and the foliage of Salvia lanceolata (aka Rocky Mountain Sage) |
I overestimated just how much I could cram down the throat of the new vase so out came vase #2 to contain the rest of what I'd cut.
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| This vase contains more of all 3 of the elements contained in the first vase as well as blooms of: a noID Camellia sasanqua, Camellia williamsii 'Taylor's Perfection', and noID Narcissi |
My biggest problem this week was finding spots for 2 fresh vases. Christmas decorations take up a lot of room! Last week's second vase wasn't long-lived but the other one was still in pretty good shape; however, I tossed out its contents anyway. The vase on the dining room table, the one containing the orchid stem I constructed 2 weeks ago, was moved to my office. The new vases ended up on the bedroom mantle and the dining table respectively.
For more vases, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
Enjoy the remainder of your holiday, however long that may be. Our daytime temperatures are expected to warm from the mid-50sF into the mid-to-upper 60s by mid-week so I hope to get outside to do some gardening. We have another good chance of rain on Friday. Last week's storms have already given Los Angeles the wettest December in 6 years so another storm is icing on the cake. Speaking of icing, here's a view of the mountains to the east from our back garden on Christmas morning.
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
When you said it was cold I wondered what counts as cold in southern California. Thanks for letting us know the temps at the end of your post. Hooray for more rain!
ReplyDeleteI usually define "extreme cold" as anything less than 60F, which is only half-joking, Alison. We're major wimps here!
DeleteHi Kris, your new cedalon green colored vase is very beautiful! I think it was a good idea to pair it with pink blooms and I love the blue-green 'Rocky Mountain Sage' as filler green.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to do a few "Vases on Monday" next year as well and I realized that filler green is what is really needed in my garden to accomplish this project satisfactorily. So maybe the sage would be a good option to add to my yard?
The rain has been wonderful, hasn't it? I hope for more, but in the meantime I truly have to get to work in the garden. There are lots roses that need to be deleafed, pruned and fertilized in general the winter clean up needs to be done.
Happy gardening, I hope it becomes a little more warmer in the next couple of days as predicted.
Warm regards,
Christina
The rain has been wonderful, Christina. In fact, I think it accounts for a sudden growth spurt on that Salvia - some branches had gotten so tall they literally fell over during the last storm. The Rocky Mountain Sage is a very nice plant - it produces interesting rust-colored blooms too.
DeleteReassuring to have some snow on your mountains ... for next summer's water.
ReplyDeleteSome pundits are now asserting that ridge of high pressure that has prevented rain from reaching us for years now may finally be breaking down. It's probably too soon to draw a conclusion but I am feeling encouraged.
DeleteKris, the pink and burgundy enhance the color of your new vase. I believe having to find room for more beautiful arrangements is a good problem to have. Glad December has brought you the gift of rain.
ReplyDeleteThe rain stacks up as one of the best Christmas gifts ever, Susie!
DeleteLove the new vase! Those orchids are really something, I think the pinks look great with the vases and each other.Floridians are bigger weather wimps - I see people wearing flannel when it is 75 degrees. Hopefully the drought has broken.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me that it takes about 2 years for a person used to a colder climate to adapt to ours. When I see someone strolling the street in 60F weather in a tank top, I immediately pin them as a visitor.
DeleteAt first those mountains look like clouds! Always hard to decide how much will fit into a vase as well as what you will want to use once you get started. I love the two you did for today and the orchids are amazing. Orchids in a vase always feels like the height of luxury.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's hard to make out the mountains to the east because of the clouds and/or haze, Linda. I almost took another photo early this afternoon as the mountains were even brighter and whiter than they were yesterday, as if they got another dusting of snow. The view is already obscured again.
DeleteBeautiful eastern view of the mountains. Looks like a gorgeous day!
ReplyDeleteNice new vase and leptospermum looks great in it. It's one of my favorite plants with its crinkly flowers. The orchid in the previous vase still looks fresh!
It's been sunny and crisp, if not exactly warm, Eliza. I spent a couple of hours outside mid-day, where it felt good working in the sun. A lot of the garden is already in shade again now and a breeze has picked up so I've ducked back inside again.
DeleteA beautiful selection of pinks and a wonderful new vase - I like the long neck for holding stems up! And your camellias look so elegant... sigh... I've been reliably informed that they grow only in "black shade" in the Phoenix area and "why grow them when there are so many better adapted shrubs?" Well, they are gorgeous, for one thing ;-)
ReplyDeleteReading your comments, maybe I won't feel so much like a wimp for going out in a scarf, hood, and gloves in the evenings! ;-) I've always lived around "I love the cold" kinds of people; give me temps over 75 all the time!
I've joked that I need a reverse greenhouse, a cool-house, for plants that can't handle the heat here, Amy. Years ago, I spent 6 months working in Phoenix half of each week and I can fully appreciate the difficulties to be faced in trying to grow Camellias in your climate.
DeleteI have so enjoyed seeing your leptospermum in vases but have have checked it out and it would not be reliably hardly in the UK, not outside anyway - shame... It is perfect for your new vase, as you knew it would be - and vase no 2 is equally pretty in pink. I am so interested to read about the rainfall and the suggestion that a resistant ridge of high pressure has been preventing rain from reaching you - we touched on climatology in my Geography degree many years ago and the mechanics of weather has always fascinated me. Thanks for sharing today, as always
ReplyDeleteIn the US, where everything seems to be given a name, the troublesome high pressure condition was initially referred to as the "ridiculously resilient ridge." It probably has another name now but high pressure was pointed to as one of the factors in the failure of El Nino to deliver on its wet promise last year. It's too early to say whether the current circumstances represent a true turnaround or only a temporary anomaly but I'm hopeful.
DeleteA great view for Christmas morning, and a lovely vase Kris - nice to have one with a narrow neck too. Your Leptospermum is such a pretty flower. Hope you get a chance to get in the garden this week to blow the Christmas cobwebs away! ;-)
ReplyDeleteOf greater concern than the Christmas cobwebs, Cathy, I need to work off some of the holiday fare before it becomes permanent flab!
DeleteSilver and pink is very nicely together!
ReplyDeleteWe had a very nice Christmas weekend and hope you had a nice Christmas weekend you too.
Mariana
We did! Best wishes for a wonderful new year, Mariana!
DeleteI just tried to leave a comment and it just disappeared so sorry if you get two.
ReplyDeleteI love all the pink and you are lucky to have enough for two vases. Also wonderful view of the mountains.
I hope you find the phlox seeds, I'd be happy to send some if that is permitted, I'm not sure what the regulations are.
How kind of you to offer seed, Alison! Don't worry about it, though. I can purchase them here with far less effort than it would take you to send them across the pond.
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