In a Vase on Monday: From Spare and Simple to Frou-frou

I've been thinking about using stems of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' in a vase since my shrubs began sporting their pretty summer blooms a few weeks ago but I'd no idea what to use with them.  When the ruffled Shasta daisies started to bloom, it struck me that they'd make a good accent for the Leptospermum's deep burgundy foliage but a vase with just two elements seemed too simple to me.  On my first pass through the garden, I cut a few stems of foxglove and considered adding a bronze-edged Calendula too before concluding that spare and simple was the way to go.

I can't remember creating a vase this streamlined since I started participating in "In a Vase on Monday"

Back view

Top view

Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' (left) and Leucanthemum x superbum (right)

In viewing the above photos, you may have noticed that something's off with the kitchen space I use in photographing my vases.  After dealing with almost a year's worth of bureaucratic red tape, we finally kicked off our long-awaited remodel last Wednesday.  The current focus of work is outside as a team creates a new footing to support our five by nine foot kitchen extension but my husband is getting a head-start on taking apart our existing kitchen.

He's built us a temporary kitchen, which our contractor has referred to as the "Taj kitchen" (as in Taj Mahal).  He commandeered one set of upper cabinets from the existing kitchen for the temporary kitchen while I was out to lunch with friends last week.  The oven disappeared yesterday while I was working in the garden.  The refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, and a supply of dishes and utensils will move this week.  And (ugh), two pantry cabinets will be relocated to our bedroom for the duration of the project.

I've yet to determine where I'm going to go to prepare and photograph future vases so I used the kitchen this week while I still could.  We expect the contractor to cut off water to the space later this week so I'll be grappling with that problem head-on next week.  The contractor told me that I was also going to lose some of my Agapanthus this week when they pour a footing for the new HVAC system so I had to rescue those flower stalks for a second vase.

It occurred to me that Agapanthus may look best on their own but one simple vase is all I had in me this week

Back view, featuring the last of the Nigella

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy), Helichrysum petiolare 'Petite Licorice' (another virtual weed here), Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman' (a California native), Nigella papillosa 'Starry Night Mix' (aka love-in-a-mist), and self-seeded Tanacetum parthenium (aka feverfew)

I hadn't planned a third vase but, rather than toss the foxglove stems I'd cut for first vase, I decided to use those in another vase featuring stems of Dahlia 'Enchantress'.  That plant produced nine new blooms this week and ignoring her output seemed a crime.

The vase ended up being a modified version of last week's dahlia arrangement

Back view, featuring the famous Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' and the last of my Arthropodium cirratum

Top view

Clockwise from the left: Dahlia 'Enchantress' (shown with Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey'), Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), and Digitalis purpurea (foxglove) with Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'

For more Monday vases, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party