We got more rain! A rainstorm moved in early Saturday and stayed through early morning on Sunday, delivering the best soaking we've had in my location this entire season, two-thirds of an inch of rain. Our seasonal total-to-date is still a pitiful 2.54 inches but both weather services I monitor show the possibility of rain again Tuesday through Friday. It's not exactly the "
March Miracle" we witnessed in 1991 but I'm appreciative that Mother Nature is finally showing us some mercy.
For the first time I can remember, I searched for flowers and foliage for "In a Vase on Monday" in the rain. The flowers and I were both wet when I finished.
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| The harbor below us was completely invisible throughout the morning hours. The effect is even more eerie at night when the ubiquitous lights of the harbor are extinguished. |
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| The only sign of civilization visible from the back garden was the indistinct view of a house across the canyon from us |
The Dutch
Iris visible in the first photo provided the starting point for my vase, another spin on the blue and yellow color combinations I used last week.
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| Both Iris stems showed signs of second blooms emerging below the first blooms. In cutting the stems, I hope I haven't prevented the secondary blooms from making an appearance. |
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| Back view, showing off a couple of blue Eustoma (Lisianthus) blooms, as well as the first blooms of papery Limonium this season |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Limonium perezii, Aristea inaequalis, Coleonema album, Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschien', Eustoma grandiflora, Freesia, and, in the center, Iris x hollandica |
I'd decided to stop at one vase this week but, when the skies cleared mid-afternoon, I ventured out to see how things looked and, perhaps to no one's surprise but mine, I ended up cutting a few more blooms for a second vase to replace the scrappy remnants of last week's vase in my front entry.
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| While clouds and moist are still shrouded the shores of Long Beach in the distance, the harbor itself was clear |
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| When the fog lifted, the harbor even revealed a cruise ship in port |
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| I cut some of the Freesias that annoyed me by blooming in shades of dark pink rather than the blue tones promised on the packages I purchased last October |
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| I once again reused the Coprosma stems I cut for a vase 2 weeks ago |
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| And I tucked in stems of a neighbor's jasmine that hangs down on my side of our common fence |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Freesia, Jasminium polyanthum, and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' |
For more Monday vases,
visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Yipppeee! 2 inches, WOW! I need a break from Mother Nature and winter to get going. I adore both vases...more purple and yellow and pink....loving pink this week! Thanks for the sunny shot of warmth with your vases...we need it as we will be getting more snow this week with our third storm.
ReplyDeleteThat's 2.5 inches since October but at least we're getting closer to reaching the historic minimum of 3.2 inches set in 2007. I hope your new nor'easter is gentler than the prior 2 storms, Donna!
DeleteOh well, I wish you all the rain you might possibly want, Kris!! You have eustoma flowering still/again? Are they this year's plants, or last year's? Your 'seasons' are so different from ours and I can't work it out. Another two beautiful vases, and today prefer the one with the annoyingly dark pink freesias... :)
ReplyDeleteThe blooming blue Eustoma are last year's plants, Cathy. The plants are generally sold as annuals here and aren't usually available in local garden centers until April; however, I did order some pink and "mint mocha" plugs from Burpee. I planted those last week but I expect it'll be a couple of months at least until they bloom.
Deletethe 'off' freesias look good with Pink Pearl.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to have rain! Hoping for dizzle on Wednesday (when we will be raindancing on our fynbos hike?!)
Raindancing or prayers, Diana - do either or both. I'll keep your needs in mind with ours when I start my own raindance.
DeleteMay you be bathed in the gentle rain...and your garden and plants too. Love the colour of the freesias.
ReplyDeleteThe dark pink Freesias are admittedly beautiful, Noelle - I just wish I'd planted them elsewhere!
DeleteThose pink Freesias do provide quite a visual punch in that vase with the other more sedately pink flowers. They'll look good wherever you decide to move them. It's such a bummer that they turned out to be the wrong color. I hate when that happens. So glad you got rain! You can thank me, I sent it.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, Alison!!!
DeleteThese are lovely arrangements. I love those deeply saturated freesias!
ReplyDeleteI like the color too, Ali. I just wish the grower had labeled them correctly.
DeleteLove the irises and lisianthus Kris, but find myself drawn to the gorgeous freesias. Glad you had some rain. I'm watching snow and sleet fill the garden this afternoon after hours and hours of heavy rain.
ReplyDeleteI hope this new storm goes easy on you, Susie. The weather is getting more extreme all over it seems. For us, it's deepening drought and for you cold and snow.
DeleteYour Dutch Iris are so vibrant and the yellow freesia complement them wonderfully. LOVE the fuchsia pink freesias with the pink leptospermum and jasmine. Great colors this week, Kris!
ReplyDeleteRain or not, spring is making an appearance, Eliza!
DeleteSo glad you got rain and we've been having sunshine and warmer temperatures. Seems mother nature heard us talking about doing a little exchange. (Don't listen to Alison, I sent the rain!) You can't beat the color intensity of dark purple iris and the pink vase is just as nice.
ReplyDeleteI'll give both you and Alison credit, Peter. THANK YOU!!!
DeleteI'm glad your garden got rain, here things are strangely dry, la niña seems to be acting up already. I love the yellow freesias and blue Eustomas, a gorgeous combination!
ReplyDeleteI hope your temperatures are at least cooling a bit, MDN!
DeleteOh good! I'm glad you got some more rain! Both of your vases are fabulous. I love the Freesia/Jasmine combo, in particular.
ReplyDeleteFor a vase assembled on a momentary whim within minutes, that pink creation seems to be getting the nod this week, Beth. Maybe I need to prepare more of my arrangement on the fly like that!
DeleteWe had sunshine this weekend and you had rain...how perfect! Fingers crossed you get more before the week is done.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I heard this morning, it sounds as though both of us may be getting rain today. For the sake of the burn areas, I hope it isn't going to come down too hard or too fast.
DeleteCut Dutch Irises are one of my favourites flowers in a vase; for me they often don't last very long but secondary buds do usually open. I especially like the deep blue ones you have. I can't even choose to buy single colour packs of Freesias - not even from my good supplier in the UK but I know exactly how you feel about the incorrectly packaged colours.
ReplyDeleteI'm adjusting my expectations about bulb purchases, Christina. I'll just have to plan on moving the bulbs about after they bloom.
DeleteOh Kris, how wonderful! I'm so happy you've got some rain and keep my fingers crossed there'll be more. Our Californian friends have just arrived and will stay until autumn as usual. Your vases are stunning as usual, I especially like the first one. No doubt your garden appreciates the water. Have a good week :)
ReplyDeleteThis was the first rain I can say gave us a good, deep soaking, Annette, so I'm hopeful the garden responds with flowers!
DeleteHow exciting, your garden will be sighing with relief. The pink arrangement is gorgeous and must smell wonderful too with jasmine included. The freesia is certainly very pink, how annoying that it's not the colour you were led to believe.
ReplyDeleteThe jasmine's scent is overpowering the scents of the freesias, Alison, and I didn't think that was possible!
DeleteWhile I like both vases, I really enjoyed seeing the wider views of your foggy garden. Not only is the rain necessary for our plants, but it certainly makes things glow.
ReplyDeleteThe garden is cloaked in mystery again this morning, Linda - a positive sign of more rain to come!
DeleteMagníficas imagens.
ReplyDeleteAmei os vasos, estão lindos!
janicce.
Thanks Janicce!
DeleteYour irises are wonderful Kris - and more rain for you is such good news. Still , I prefer those views with clear skies to the mist earlier on!
ReplyDeleteWe've had a mix of clouds, a touch of rain, and a bit of sun this afternoon, Cathy. Episodes of light rain are still expected off and on through Friday but it looks like the heavier rain once in the forecast has now disappeared. I'd like to see more rain because we're still badly in need of it but that looks unlikely at the moment.
DeleteOh it's good to hear that you have had more rain Kris! I hope that the forecast for more of the wet stuff later this week materialises. It rained all day here yesterday but I imagine our rain was much colder and heavier- so much so that it didn't encourage me to venture out and pick for a vase
ReplyDeleteThe rain seems to be drifting elsewhere at the moment, Anna, but maybe it'll come back as night falls. I heard that the current rainstorm is the product of a tropical weather system (a so-called "Pineapple Express") and it does feel much warmer than last weekend's rain. I hope your weather lightens up soon!
DeleteTwo vases!And both gorgeous. I like the dark pink Freesias - thought they were roses. Glad some water is falling from the sky,we had a bit here.I am mystified by the lack of Iris and Freesia here? Yours are fab.
ReplyDeleteGoing to the walkout march!!
Freesia like summer dry conditions so, if you get rain during that period, that may be the reason you're having trouble finding them.
DeleteI'm scheduled to attend the 3/24 march but whether that'll be in LA or the South Bay remains to be seen. A friend and I've signed up for a crowd-funded bus to downtown LA but it's not yet fully subscribed and driving there for an event like this one is impossible. The South Bay march is our default.
I've always loved the combination of blue/purple with yellow. That's a lovely vase. Actually, they're both gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alys! I'm partial to blue and yellow combinations myself.
Delete