Today, Cathy of Rambling in the Garden is celebrating the eighth anniversary of her popular "In a Vase on Monday" meme. Last week she posed a challenge, encouraging contributors to do something different this week, specifically to create arrangements of dried materials. I've cheated a bit in that the two dried arrangements I have to offer are comprised of materials that have been kicking around my house for months.
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| This arrangement is as much about the green onyx vase as the materials in it. The vase doesn't hold water well and the opening is too small to accept any good-sized glass or plastic insert so I've only used it for dry arrangements. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the left: Closeup of the stone vase, Chrondropetalum elephantinum (aka large cape rush), and Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass) |
The second dry arrangement is a twist on the first.
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| In this case, the bunny tail grass has been combined with dried Allium seed heads |
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| I've only planted a few Alliums in my garden as they don't usually hold up and I'm fairly certain these seed heads came from Allium aflatunense 'Violet Beauty'. The dried material on the right is more bunny tail grass. |
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| These are photos of Allium 'Violet Beauty' and Lagurus ovatus in bloom in my garden in May. I planted 18 of the Alliums in 2017 but I think there were only 3 blooms this year. On the other hand, I sowed Lagurus ovatus seeds in 2017 and they've been spreading to cover a larger area every year since. |
Of course I have a fresh arrangement too. I've been cutting flowers on a weekly basis for years, even before discovering Cathy's meme and it's become a habit. The dahlias may be done for the season and my cool season annual flowers are only a dream as yet but I can almost always scrounge up something.
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| In retrospect, I probably should have tried drying the strawflowers for an arrangement but I didn't consider that early enough to have them dried by Sunday. In addition, I understand strawflowers are best used in a beheaded state as their stems don't hold up well without being wired. |
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| Back view, featuring the last of my Japanese anemones (Eriocapitella hupehensis) |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolia, Eriocapitalla hupehensis, Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Senna bicapsularis, and Xerochrysum bracteatum (aka strawflower) |
For more IAVOM arrangements, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Congrats to Cathy, and all who participate. The dry arrangements are wonderful and a clever idea; I have a few at home and never have to change the water...
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that having to "scrounge up something" may produce the best results, where one digs deeper and the unexpected revealed. I love that arrangement.
I don't know what I'd do without Grevilleas! Or Leucadendrons for that matter.
DeleteYou must have had a great crop of the bunny tail cross for these vases, Kris! It's certainly one of my newer favourites and I hope it might seed itself a little too. They can look a bit bedraggled after our rain, but yours are pristine still �� It didn't surprise me that you couldn't resist a fresh vase too - strangely, I think I like the back view more than the front!
ReplyDeleteWe don't get enough rain to seriously deflate the appearance of the bunny tail grass, Cathy ;) I'm a little surprised at just how far the seeds have spread over the years after just one sowing. I'd be happier if they'd confine themselves to one area but it's my fault for not pulling the seedlings early when they show up in the "wrong" place.
DeleteMost excellent "scrounge"!
ReplyDeleteThe no-chill-winter substitute for Alliums seems to be Agapanthus. Their floral silhouette is pretty similar.
Ha! I tried to dry the Agapanthus stems in place once, carefully cleaning all the dead petals off the lot of them so they'd look presentable. Then one of the gardeners came through and cut down every single one of them, tossing them in the green bin. I suppose I should cut them myself and see if I can dry them in a safe place.
DeleteNicely done Kris. The onyx vase is an attention-getter, but those bunny tails are wonderful too. A friend gave me some seedlings many years ago but they didn't do much. Now I see what they should look like! The fresh arrangement is lovely. The anemones are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe white Japanese anemones did especially well this year, probably due to their proximity to the new Ginkgo tree I've been giving extra water. Sadly, their pink counterparts did very poorly.
Deletelove the Bunny Tails. I have a similar stone vase that is difficult to use but I love the look of the stone. I have lined it with press n seal plastic wrap - it works for a while!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try that one day, Amelia!
DeleteOh I'm now wishing that I has saved some bunny's tails and allium seed heads Kris! A beautiful fresh arrangement too.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many bunny tails this year, I just couldn't bring myself to toss them all, Anna, although they did sit on an outside table for a long time before I decided to plunk them in a vase.
DeleteI love it - that vase is great too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phillip!
DeleteWith year-round fresh flowers available from your garden, I'm happy to see that you still keep a few dried on hand. I dry some over the summer and set them in vases at the end of the season. It's more as a reminder to me that warm days will come again. ;)
ReplyDeleteLove the bright, autumnal colors in your fresh vase– the berries, senna and strawflowers are perfect harvest colors.
Have a great week ahead!
For the most part, the flowers, seed heads and other material most suitable for drying finish up in the late spring/early summer and it doesn't even occur to me to preserve them because, as you said, there's usually something else coming down the pike.
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