While the heatwave that started last week hasn't been as bad as the prior one, it's held on longer than originally forecast and it's not over yet. Temperatures have come down from our 102F (38.9C) peak but we've been stuck at 92F (33C) here for days now. Our air quality has worsened again too so nothing but the most minimal gardening work is getting done but hopefully the weather and air will be better by the end of this week. In the meantime, I've slogged through all the propositions on California's November ballot (12, not including an LA County measure) so I'm prepared to vote as soon as my ballot arrives. I haven't tackled my ironing backlog yet but that's on the docket next...
The dahlias in my cutting garden went into hyperdrive last week. I don't think it was a response to the heat but the heat had an impact nonetheless. Lots of the top-heavy blooms toppled over and even those that didn't bloomed out quickly. There are still a lot of flowers out there but last week was crazy and I only had the energy for two arrangements yesterday.
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| The sudden appearance of several new Lisianthus blooms after a lengthy hiatus was the inspiration for this arrangement but I think Dahlia 'Iceberg' stole the show |
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Back view: The rose was a last-minute addition. It's the first white rose I've had bloom this year and it seemed smarter to cut it than let it wither in the heat.
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Iceberg', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Salvia leucantha, Pandorea jasminoides, Leucophyllum laevigatum, and noID rose
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Dahlia 'Rip City' is blooming like there's no tomorrow so it won more time in the limelight this week.
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I love 'Rip City' but I haven't found it easy to find appropriate companions for it
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The manicured fingernails of this vase were the inspiration for this pairing, although I managed to largely cover them up when I added the stems of red Penstemon
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Back view
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Top view: I added the pink Lisianthus mainly because the burgundy centers of those flowers echoed the color of dahlias
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Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Rip City', Eustoma grandiflorum, Hebe 'Purple Shamrock', Penstemon mexicali 'Mini Red Bells', and Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star'
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For more IAVOM creations, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden is the one to see.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Oh I simply can't imagine ironing when it so hot Kris! I hope that it soon cools off for you. Beautiful vases as always. The first has to be my favourite. Dahlia 'Iceberg' is indeed a showstopper. I wonder if it is available over here.
ReplyDeleteWe have air conditioning and, if anything, I feel it's a little cold in the house when it's blowing so, except that ironing is the very epitome of drudgery in my view, Anna, at least the heat doesn't make a bad situation worse. The blooms of Dahlia 'Iceberg' live up to the name - they're huge and I marveled at the fact that even the buds scorched by the earlier heatwave (when our temperature reach 108F/42C) bloomed anyway.
DeleteAnd I just imagine living with temperatures like that, and the poor air quality that sometimes accompanies it. The first is my favourite too, with those tall spikes of salvia contrasting with the white, but I also like the effect of the foliage in the second one, a great addition
ReplyDeleteIt's a bad year in more ways than one, Cathy. I'm not sure why the air quality (currently rated as "unhealthy" for all individuals here) is so bad right now unless smoke is blowing from the northern part of the state.
DeleteRip City looks positively delicious alongside it's sidekicks and in that vase! You have nothing to fear on that count. What a velvety and luxurious bloom - just fabulous. And I love the salvia in your first vase. IRONING in that heat? I always equate ironing with the household version of office filing. As soon as you wade through one pile another has built up and so it goes on, and on, and on. Maybe just get a pile of hot stones and lay them on top of your ironing pile and leave it all outside to flatten out nicely in the heat. Just an idea! See you on Instagram - but sadly not in the blogging world just at the moment. Amanda
ReplyDeleteWell, indoor air conditioning (a virtual necessity here) tempers the misery of ironing some, Amanda. I've developed quite a backlog and at least it'd give me a minor sense of accomplishment.
DeleteThey are all pretty but I love those deep dark dahlias.
ReplyDeleteWe are voting day after tomorrow. Can't wait. We are doing the early voting in case they consolidate our voting place thereby losing our registration etc...
Our ballots are supposed to be in the mail today, Lisa, but that doesn't tell us how long they may take to arrive. We've voted by mail for years but this year, due to Covid-19, all registered Californians are supposed to receive ballots to either mail in or take to one of many polling places.
DeleteThose deep burgundy dahlias are so beautiful. They'd make a statement even if all alone. Such a rich, lovely jewel color that is perfect for fall.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a reprieve from the heat soon. It can be wearying when it goes on and on. I was ready for it to be over, but it's gone from hot to cold so quickly, that sometimes I'm wishing it were back. I'm just not ready for the blooming season to end.
We don't have an end to our gardening season, Cindy, so it's hard for me to get my head around facing downtime like that (beyond the shorter-term breaks imposed by heat and awful air quality anyway). This heatwave really isn't as awful as the last one but there's a point at which dealing with it just gets tedious in the extreme and I'm there.
DeleteThe relentless heat must be wearing you down, Kris. It's October, where is the cooler weather, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteI love 'Rip City' - it is such a rich color and I love it with the pink lisianthus, perfect in the hands vase (such a great find that was). The 'Iceberg' dahlias are quite large, but the salvia really works to balance them. Both arrangements are lovely, per usual. :)
October has a history of being hot here, Eliza, not that that makes it any easier to accept. As I recall, we toured our current house with our realtor on October 3, 2010 during a heatwave and my husband initially refused to get out of the car. At the time, we lived in a nearby beach city that benefited from western sea breezes, which kept it a good 10 degrees cooler on average than our current east facing spot on the peninsula.
DeleteHa! Ironing is one of my favorite activities! Really.... I iron all our pillow cases and sheet turn backs and even the cotton dish towels. That said, yes, thank goodness for air conditioning! Those dark red dahlias are stunning; all of mine are doing so well now that our weather has cooled off.
ReplyDeleteOh, I have a local friend like you, Libby! She also irons her sheets. I was incredulous when she told me that. That said, I iron shirts labeled "wrinkle resistant" myself.
DeleteOnly two arrangements... you are too hard on yourself :-D
ReplyDeleteI admire Salvia leucantha. You may have used it before and I just didn't notice: it has the most unusual striking colors. Both vases have incredible Dahlias, impressive both in color and size, so being the stars of the show it could be challenging to add to their presence. Lisianthus seems to do the job in both; how many colors of those do you grow?
The manicured hands vase is perfect for the arrangement!
I've gotten too used to having floral arrangements in different spots around the house but, as I can already see my cutting garden going into its post-summer slump (the heatwave didn't help), I'm going to have to adjust my expectations ;( I've grown more Lisianthus in prior years - yellow, green, blue, lavender, pink, white, picotee and even red - but many didn't make it through our last winter (too much rain maybe?). I'd hope to buy more plugs at local garden centers this spring but the pandemic scaled back my plant shopping and my local store didn't have much to offer.
DeleteHonestly, both vases are absolutely beautiful and I cannot say I prefer one over the other.
ReplyDeleteYour Saliva leucantha appears to not only have the dark purple, but also lavender and white. It is beautiful, particularly in the floral arrangement with the Dahlia ‘Iceberg’ and the dark purple Lisianthus.
I also love the combination of the lime-green Hebe against the very dark burgundy of ‘Rip City’ and the pink Penstemon. The foliage of Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star' “states” all colors blend perfectly! The fingernail vase is tops!
I hope the predictions of the cooler temperatures Wed through Sun come true! This morning’s air quality is the moderate range this morning. It is strange to be grateful for moderate air quality when most days we had good air quality in the not so distant past.
I wish you happy gardening!
Thanks Kay! I need to try cuttings of the Pseuderanthemum as it's gotten tall and woody, and I haven't seen any of these plants at my local garden center this year. My fingers are crossed about the shift in the weather in our forecast for later this week. It's 82F now but that's still better than it has been!
DeleteBeautiful arrangements, very "Kris" in style! Also I finally got a chance to go back and read what you wrote last week in response to my question about 'Rip City'... very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think it's likely that the dahlia was named in honor of Portland and/or the Trailblazers, Loree!
DeleteKris: I'm so sorry to hear about the heat and the poor air quality. But your arrangements, as always, are stunning and expertly done. Thanks so much for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting, Beth!
DeleteKris, your Dahlias are fabulous and so are the vases. I think I like blue and white the best...I had forgotten about Mexican sage and am now wondering if it will grow here...heat in October is just wrong! hope for cool soon for both of us. 87 here today.
ReplyDeleteHeat in October here is actually fairly common, a side effect of our Santa Ana winds, but I'm fed up with it by this time of year regardless, Amelia. It's cooler today and not expected to go above the low 80s. I even got some serious work done in the garden this morning!
DeleteThat intense blue Lisianthus is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI love all Lisianthus and wish I could've planted more earlier this year, Diana. Next year maybe.
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