In a Vase on Monday: Begging to be picked

I was on my way home from the Washington DC area last Monday after attending the 2017 Garden Bloggers' Fling and, arriving home in the late afternoon at the height of a heatwave, I missed out on "In a Vase on Monday" for what I think was the first time since I began participating.  As much as I missed joining in on the meme, I also lamented the absence of flowers in the house as I've grown used to having them there to greet me every time I walk in the door.  I thought of cutting some flowers "off schedule" but it was a busy week and I never quite got round to it.  The garden was screaming for attention too but I've barely made a dent in that either.

The biggest issue in the garden at the moment is the blanket of pink fuzz from the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) which covers a large area of the back garden.  This tree, inherited with the garden, is a major mess-maker, especially in the summer when it's in full bloom as it is now.

The tree sits just beyond the edge of the back patio, stretching its branches in all directions.  It flowered lightly during the height of our drought but it's over-achieving this year and the floral free-fall is continuous.

I'll save the specifics of my complaints about the mimosa for another post at another time.  On Sunday, I decided to try making lemonade out of lemons and cut a few small branches from the Albizia to use in an arrangement, along with a host of other pink blooms that recently made an appearance.

This mason jar contains the pink ensemble I collected on my pass through the garden.  The fuzzy pink blooms on the right are those cut from the mimosa tree.

I soon became frustrated with the Albizia flowers, as they dropped all over my kitchen and stuck to my clothing.  In the end, I omitted them from my arrangement.  I had plenty of better-behaved plant material to use.

This is the completed arrangement, sans the annoying Albizia blossoms

Back view

Top view, showing off the free noID lily I planted 5 years ago.  It's not flashy and it has no scent but it's returned every year while other lilies disappear after one or two years in the ground here.

Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: Eustoma grandiflorum (from one of my original plants, hanging on for yet another year), Abelia x grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Artemisia ludoviciana, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey with Origanum 'Monterey Bay', and the noID lily

I cleaned up a couple of small stems of the Albizia and plopped them in a tiny vase on the kitchen counter.  I vowed that as soon as the flowers started to drop, I'll toss the lot.

They were jettisoned by dinner time

There were plenty of other flowers begging to be cut.  I forced myself to stop after creating two more vases.  Here's the first:

A simple arrangement consisting of shades of yellow, silver and white with another returning Lisianthus front and center

And Shasta daisies adding interest in the rear

Top view, highlighting the silvery cones of Leucadendron 'Pisa'

Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: pale yellow Eustoma grandiflorum, Abelia 'Hopley's Variegated', Leucadendron 'Pisa', Leucanthemum x superbum, and Tanacetum niveum

And here's the last vase:

This one features a deep blue Lisianthus as well as a white variety showing just the faintest touch of lavender 

Back view, featuring Cupid's Dart 

Top view

Clockwise from the left: blue Eustoma grandiflorum, a white form, Catananche caerulea, Duranta 'Sapphire Showers', and Vitex trifolia

Hopefully, I'll have more Lisianthus to share in future weeks.  I planted plugs of a variety said to produce flowers that are nearly black, as well as a white variety edged in blue.  Neither has bloomed yet.

For more IaVoM posts, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party