In a Vase on Monday: Springfire!

Once summer finally loosens its grip on us (which it was slow to do this year), the cooler temperatures deliver a spring-like rebirth to Southern California gardens.  As I was making my rounds of the garden on Saturday, I caught sight of an unexpected flash of coral color and literally gasped when I realized that the Metrosideros 'Springfire' I'd planted in February had blooms.

Although planted from a 3-gallon pot, the shrub is still only 2 feet tall.  At maturity, it should reach 12 feet (or even taller) and offer many more blooms!

There are lots of unopened buds on the Metrosideros so I went ahead and cut 2 stems with flowers as the starting points for this week's first vase.  There was no problem finding companions for those flowers, although I admit I went more than a little matchy-matchy.

I had in mind to add white or pink flowers with a coral bent to the arrangement but gave up those ideas when I realized I couldn't stuff anything more into the vase

Back view: There are actually 2 Grevillea cultivars in this arrangement but my photos don't emphasize their tonal differences

Top view

Top row: Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' flower and leaf.  Most leaves are a medium green but a few show beautiful variegation.
Middle row: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' (reused from last week), and Grevillea 'Ned Kelly'
Bottom row: Grevillea 'Superb' and Nandina domestica foliage and berries

I didn't give much thought to my second vase at all, other than thinking it would be nice to use some of the lavender colored blooms in my garden.  After clipping a little of this and a little of that and dropping it all into the water-filled jar I carried with me, I was so disillusioned about my ability to turn the contents into something that I seriously considered dropping everything in the compost bin and starting all over with Camellias.  But, as I still feel contrite about every flower I remove from the garden, I couldn't bring myself to do that.

In the end, I was glad I persevered as the arrangement turned out better than I'd expected

Back view, highlighting Hypoestes aristata (aka ribbon bush), Polygala myrtifolia (aka sweet pea bush), and the Pyrethropsis hosmariense (aka Moroccan daisy)

The Osteospermum, added to my jar at the last minute after I noticed it was also enjoying our second spring, pulled this arrangement together.  Planted years ago, I wasn't sure whether or not this was 'Berry White' as the petals aren't white so I surfed Google Images and found one photo that looked like a match, only to realize when I pulled up the detail that it was my very own photo from a 2016 post.

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Alternanthera 'Little Ruby', Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Lobularia maritima (Alyssum), Pyrethropsis hosmariense, Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa', Hypoestes aristata, and, in the middle, Osteospermum 'Berry White'

The vases found their places in the usual spots.

I retained one of last week's vases, albeit with some edits.

Last week's vase with Tagetes lemmonii had to come inside after the wind knocked it over on the patio table (thankfully not breaking the vase).  I kept it in my office most of the week but the strong scent of the yellow daisies in close proximity with the windows closed even got to me.  I eventually tossed the daisies and moved the vase to the bedroom.

Visit Cathy, our "In a Vase on Monday" host at Rambling in the Garden, to find more vases.


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