Rain was predicted for Sunday, expected to interfere with red carpet activity at the Oscars, but it arrived earlier here than anticipated and exited earlier than I'd hoped. Thinking I'd get out early to cut flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden, as it turned out I was out scrambling to do that during what proved to be our heaviest downpour (not that we got much rain in total). Suffice it to say, I didn't make my usual leisurely Sunday stroll around the garden to select plant material but simply grabbed what I could and headed back to the house to dry out.
As we celebrate Valentine's Day this week, I immediately fixated on the
Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' now dominating my garden on the northeast side; however, I ran into a bit of a challenge finding suitable companions for it.
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| When the first match I'd thought of for Grevillea fell flat, I picked one of the next plants I saw that I thought might work, the foxgloves in my cutting garden. The foxgloves and the other 2 plants I selected ended up eclipsing the Grevillea stems, at least in this front view. |
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| 'Scarlet Sprite' shows up better in the back view but, in hindsight, I should have cut taller stems to give the plant more prominence in this vase |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: noID Alstroemeria, Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite', and Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White' |
I'd initially thought I'd cut a stem of hellebore or two to pair with the
Grevillea in the first vase but, not only was the hellebore significantly shorter than the
Grevillea, the color was off. Whereas the
Grevillea leans toward rosy-pink, the hellebore's flowers had a definite blue bent. As I got wetter, I quickly regrouped.
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| I used Helleborus 'Blue Lady' in this vase. pairing it with flowers that were blue or leaned in that direction |
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| Back view: I used the blue Echium handiense with pink buds again this week |
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| Top view: This turned out to be my own favorite vase this week. The daisy blooms of hybrid Pericallis 'Magic Salmon' I picked up for a pot by our front door turned out to be the perfect complement for the hellebore. I was perplexed by the name of the Pericallis when I bought it but the centers of the blue flowers shifted after it'd been in place a few days, offering an explanation for its odd cultivar name. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Pericallis 'Magic Salmon', Echium handiense 'Pride of Fuerteventura', Helleborus 'Blue Lady', Grevillea sericea, and Lavandula multifida |
Last week's vases were still in good shape so I gave them fresh water and a few minor touch-ups and found new spots for them.
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| The "sunshine" vase, less sunny now, landed on the kitchen island. A simplified version of the blue and pink vase landed on the mantle my husband built for our living room fireplace, which we installed last week, finally bringing our remodel to a formal conclusion. |
Meanwhile, the new vases assumed the vacated spots.
For more IAVOM creations,
visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Have a happy Valentine's Day!
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Your grevillea is such a beautiful colour Kris, and it does work well with its companions! I do admire your foxgloves too. It seems to strange to be seeing them at this time of year. Ours won't appear until we are well into spring/early summer in the UK. Love the hellebores too and all the treats you have found for Valentine's week! Thank you. Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-romantic-vase-on-monday.html
ReplyDeleteFoxgloves go into hiding in the summer here, Amanda - it's just too hot and too dry for them then. They take advantage of our cooler season to flower.
DeleteYou certainly garden in a very different climate to me! Many of the lovely plants that you feature in your vases each week I am familiar with, because I have seen them so often in Australia, when I visit my son in Melbourne. Rarities in the UK! Love your succulents photo on IG. Have a good week. A
DeleteThanks Amanda. You too!
DeleteYou did very well for a dash through the garden. I love how the red in the foxglove's throat picked up the red of the leucadendron. Congratulations on the final piece of the reno being finished. A long haul.
ReplyDeleteThere are still some outside jobs that need to be done, mostly unplanned byproducts of the remodel activity but the turmoil inside the house is quickly becoming a distant memory. I'm never doing this again, though!
DeleteGood to know you've had a bit of rain though it's never enough. Pinks vary hugely don't they? The foxgloves are just right though. I'm hoping to have good alstroemerias this year, last year I just had orange. Lovely but limited. That echium is beautiful, such a pretty colour.
ReplyDeleteThe pink Alstroemerias came with the house and they reappear on schedule in late winter and spring every year. They're a bit taller than what I've been able to find in the garden centers in recent years.
DeleteYour range of plants never ceases to amaze me. These arrangements are well thought through.
ReplyDeleteThanks Noelle. Sunny Southern California does offer some growing advantages ;)
DeleteOh the foxglove and alstoemeria are great companions for the grevillea - the blend of shades work so well. Your second vase is refreshingly cooler, the pinks lifting it nicely. Thanks for sharing that
ReplyDeleteI love blue color in the garden and try to have some available through every season, Cathy.
DeleteThey turned out nice anyway, rain and stem length notwithstanding. The 'Scarlet Sprite' is pretty. Last I was at Rogers there was a couple of shrubs of them in full flower; quite eye-catching.
ReplyDeleteWe got about .25", everything washed off and refreshed, but now the wind is howling. Sigh.
As I recall, Rogers has a lot of 'Scarlet Sprite' planted on the exterior of the garden center too. It's an attractive shrub even when not in flower but I think mine are going to need a good pruning after their flowering season is over - they get big!
DeleteYou did better than we did in the rain department. Our total tallied at 0.15/inch. I picked up around 150 gallons in my rain tanks at least.
Your vases are beautiful as always. You have more variety to chose from in your garden, than can be found at any store or florist here. You are a very lucky lady to have so much on hand at any given time.
ReplyDeleteLove the mantel! I bet you are so happy to be finally done and getting back to normal. It was a long time coming.
You're right, Cindy - it's so nice that we don't have to eat in our master bedroom or wash dishes in the laundry room anymore!
DeleteVery, very nice--all of them! Valentine's Day is the perfect time to splurge a little with color and blooms. Your remodel looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI seem to splurge nearly year-round, Beth! ;)
DeleteI love the grevillea, what a fabulous colour. And the colours of the second vase are gorgeous. What a wonderful variety of winter blooms you have.Your vases are lovely. I am so glad your building work is finally finished.
ReplyDeleteOur winter isn't a real winter in the way you know it, Chloris, which accounts at least in part for the relative bounty of blooms we have this time of year, along with the fact that our cool season coincides with our rainy season.
DeleteThis group of vases are so different from last week. Light and bright. I am glad you got a little rain. Every little bit counts. Happy Valentines day to you too.
ReplyDeleteWe're having another dicey year in the rain department, Lisa, not as bad as the year before last but not good. There was a chance of more rain this coming weekend but it's already out of the forecast.
DeleteJust love your Valentine's Day offering Kris. It's fantastic. My focal flowers often end up shifting roles too but I think your Grevillea holds its own pretty well. Love those foxgloves too. I'm also smitten with your hellebore--lovely form and great color.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my hellebores are actually blooming at the moment, Susie. They're earlier than usual this year.
DeleteI've read that you got ferocious winds as well. Wind always makes me nervous! Rain is a much more welcome thing I imagine.
ReplyDeleteLove both vases. Grevillea is such a great flower with so many cool varieties and I really like your new Pericallis. It's a winner!
The wind has been persistent here since the weekend but not nearly as strong as it was a week before. I think areas to the east of us saw worse.
DeleteI don't think that I can recall you ever running around in the rain to pick your flowers
ReplyDeleteKris 😂 Beautiful vases as always although for me the first one is the star. The colours complement each other so well and are picked up by the stripes running down the vase. A perfect match.
We have many fewer opportunities to run around in the rain for any reason here than you do in the UK, Anna! We're low on rain again this year so, while it interfered a bit with my IAVOM search, I don't regret getting wet in the process at all.
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