After a stretch of summer-like temperatures last week, peaking at 96F (35C) in our location but hitting records of 102F (39C) in other local areas, our temperatures dropped back into the 60s yesterday and are expected to remain in the vicinity of 64F (17C) until next weekend. Given the circumstances, the mix of spring and summer blooms in my garden shouldn't be surprising. While the sudden temperature shift fried some of my favorite spring blooms, it prompted others to hustle to get their bloom on.
I'd been watching a giant Delphinium 'Cobalt Dreams' in my cutting garden unfurl ever so slowly over the past several weeks but the heat caused it to explode, seemingly overnight. When an unidentified critter broke two stems, cutting three for a vase was an obvious decision.
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| I used one of my larger crystal vases but still had to cut the Delphinium blooms substantially |
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| Back view: I stuck mostly to a blue and white color scheme as all the other blue flowers in my garden would've been overshadowed by the bright blue of the Delphinium. I cut long sprays of the flowering branches of my peppermint willows (Agonis flexuosa) as a foliage accent. |
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| Top view: This is probably the widest wingspan of any of the arrangements I've photographed from above |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa, Centranthus ruber 'Albus', Iris hollandica 'Oriental Beauty', Delphinium elatum 'Cobalt Dreams', and Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' |
Easter being just around the corner, I couldn't help preparing an arrangement in colors that evoke that holiday for me.
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| So far, at least 5 of the "mixed" foxglove plugs I planted in my cutting garden have turned out to be 'Dalmatian Peach' but it now appears that I've also got 2 pink- and one white-flowered variety as well. This time, I added 2 stems of my favorite Leucospermum and some of the Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' flowers that appeared en masse last week. |
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| Back view: I also used 2 varieties of the snapdragons in my cutting garden, 'Chantilly Bronze' and 'Double Azalea Bronze', but they look so much alike at this stage of bloom, I can't really tell them apart |
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| Top view: I threw in some Aeonium flowers too. They're also blooming all over my garden now. |
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| Clockwise from upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi', Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin', Antirrhinum majus ('Chantilly Bronze' and 'Double Azalea Bronze'), Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmation Peach', Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny' (foliage), and Leucospermum 'Hybrid Spider' |
As I was preparing this post, movement outside my office window attracted my eye. Another reminder of the Easter holiday hopped on by.
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| Pulling a possum maneuver, he froze in place for a time as I crept up to him with my camera until I got within 2 feet, when he took off. We played hide and seek for awhile and I'm still not sure he exited the area before I gave up chasing him. If only they would eat weeds and leave my ornamental plants intact, I'd be a lot more tolerant. |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Lovely vases, and cute bunny. Bunnies ate several of my shrubs down to hard wood this past (I hope it's past!) winter. If the shrubs recover, I'll have to cage them next fall.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have any rabbits here until about 3 years ago - even neighbors who've lived here for decades had never seen them here until then. I've been slower than I should be about caging young plants.
DeleteMy goodness, what a vibrant blue those delphiniums are, Kris! I love the contrast with the white accents too. YOu have such glorious foxgloves as well and make great use of them in your vases - they work really well with the antirrhinum (which I have forgotten to sow this year...)
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled with the Delphinium, Cathy. I've always said they wouldn't grow here but adding them to the raised planters in my cutting garden (which get more water than the rest of my garden) and treating them as annuals is the trick.
DeleteBoth vases are stunning Kris. I just planted a small D. 'Cobalt Dreams' last week and have fingers crossed I'll ever see it bloom. We're heading to 82F today after a cold weekend. Love the foxgloves. I don't want to jinx it but so far new rabbit fencing "might" be working. Hope you have a good week.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes with the rabbit fencing, Susie. Rabbits are still a relatively new nuisance here. The first year they showed up, the coyotes seems to rid the area of them fairly quickly in early spring but now they appear to be year-round residents.
DeleteYour heat wave is beating ours - though the dry wind is dessicating everything, including me. Love the peachy colors but your Delphinium really made me sigh..
ReplyDeleteEven though I saw a photo of that Delphinium before I bought the plant in a 4-inch pot, I never believed it would be quite so stunning!
DeleteI just love those delphinium. I went on a Cotswold tour a few years ago; we went to Highgrove for a tour and lunch. Oh, the delphinium!!! Each one (hundreds?) was staked individually and they were magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine a garden with hundreds of Delphinium, Libby. I've always told local friends not to bother trying to grow them in our climate but treating them as an annual and growing them in my cutting garden seems to do the trick ;)
DeleteOoh, gorgeous delphiniums! Nice complementary flowers to go with them, too. And I love the Easter-y colors of the second, better than candy, IMO. :) Rabbits are cute, but I do not like to see them in the garden!
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time hating rabbits but, in a few more years, I may become Mr. McGregor! They are voracious :(
DeleteYes, we all seem to be coping with dramatic temperature swings these days. For us, it's shifting from the 30s to the 70s and then back to the 40s. Poor plants, animals, and people. :( Your arrangements are stunning, though, and help me to smile. Thank you. Are you joining us for the Fling this year?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but I can't make it to the fling this year, Beth. I know you've done a great job of planning and I'm sure it's going to be a big success.
DeleteAbsolutely gorgeous delphiniums! Maybe you have the rabbit to thank for getting you to cut some for a vase… We have hares nibbling on all the fresh shoots here! The apricot and oarnge tones are lovely and spring-like. Have a great week Kris. Those temperatures sound more bearable and we may even get up to 17°C tomorrow too.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time seeing the rabbits as a positive force in the garden, Cathy, but you could be right ;)
DeleteSuch height with dramatic colouring: both your vases mean that bunny has even less to chose from!
ReplyDeleteSo far, Noelle, the bunnies are mostly focused on the Arctotis and Gazanias but they've surprised me by going after tougher plants like Astelia in the past. Something is currently eating our navel oranges too but I don't think I can blame that on the bunnies.
DeleteThe blue of that delphinium is almost unreal. Beautiful. Your second arrangement is perfection in my book, Kris. And you always manage to slip in a plant I don’t know. Today it is anagallis. Your use of aeonium flowers is clever - hadn’t thought of that - initially I though it might be our native Australian calytrix.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I've ever seen a Delphinium that blue either, Horticat, not that I generally see many of those plants here to begin with. Blue Anagallis is a relatively common annual here but I found this orange hybrid several years ago and it's lightly self-sown here since. Thanks for the introduction to Calytrix - that's not a plant I've ever seen before.
Delete….And I hope your ‘Easter bunny’ leaves chocolate eggs and not nibbled plants!
ReplyDeleteNo chocolate eggs yet :) Maybe he'll at least deposit some fertilizer here and there.
DeleteBoth beautiful as always, but damn... those temperatures so early are just ominous. I really dread to see what summer brings us.
ReplyDeleteI've dreaded summer for years, Anna. Even when I was in high school and summer meant a stretch of free time, I enjoyed it less and less each year as those summers got hotter and hotter. I grew up in an inland valley of Southern California, an area now known for being one of SoCal's most common hot spots.
DeleteLove love love your "easter" bouquet! Best use of an aeonium bloom ever. As for your bunny friend, ugh. His type have been spotted in my garden too.
ReplyDeleteIt was a big surprise (and admittedly a slight thrill) when I saw the first bunny in my garden some 3-4 years ago. Even neighbors who'd lived here decades longer than me said they'd never seen rabbits here. The first years, the bunnies disappeared within a couple of months, probably due to the intervention of the resident coyotes. However, with rabbits now showing up year-round, they're more obviously a garden menace, albeit one I expect I need to learn to live with like the possums and raccoons. I'm counting myself lucky the peacocks haven't moved in...
DeleteI adore both especially those delphs. But the foxglove vase with its amazing color has my heart this week....I just discovered 5 rabbits within a few 100 feet here....oh my!!
ReplyDeleteIf you've seen rabbits within 100 feet, then I expect they'll visit you soon, if they haven't already, Donna ;)
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