Yellow is one of my favorite colors (along with blue and green) but even so, I find some strong yellows off-putting. Still, the Didelta 'Silver Strand' I planted in November had recently produced so many flowers, I found I couldn't ignore it.
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Unfamiliar with Didelta, a succulent, I planted a single specimen in a 4-inch pot in one of my back garden borders. I selected it for its silver foliage and drought tolerance. The tag said it produced yellow flowers but I didn't expect a display like this.
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The question was: what do you combine with flowers in an intense yellow like that? Rather than attempting to provide a distraction by using other strong colors that would compete with it, I decided to lean in with other yellow flowers, creating a combination of plants which probably would never be found together in nature.
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The Didelta flowers tended to droop when placed in a vase, making them appear less prominent. The 'Golden Celebration' rose easily handled the competition presented by the succulent's flowers. However, as most of those roses fried during our recent heatwave, I only had one presentable bloom to include.
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Back view: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' offered a softer influence and tied in well with the foliage of Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'
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Top view: The flowers of Iris 'Lion King' also tied in well - and I'd previously been perplexed about what to pair with them
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Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis fleuxosa 'Nana', Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Argyranthemum frutescens 'White Butterfly', Didelta 'Silver Strand', Iris hollandica 'Lion King', and Rosa 'Golden Celebration'
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While my first arrangement is vivid, my second consists primarily of softer colors.
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My cutting garden finally produced foxgloves in shades other than peach
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Back view
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left, Digitalis purpurea in pink and white, Orlaya grandiflora, Pelargonium cucullatum 'Flore Pleno', Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink'
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Like last week, my IAVOM preparations were temporarily interrupted by an unexpected visitor, one much rarer than the bunny that stopped by last week.
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As I was cutting flowers for this week's vases, I heard the tell-tale cries of a male peacock nearby but I was still surprised when I looked out the kitchen window and caught him eating blueberries from the pots just outside our back door. He allowed me to follow him for several minutes before flying over the fence into my neighbor's garden. These birds are well known on our peninsula but I haven't seen one in almost 2 years. (You can read more about the birds in a 2020 post here.)
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When finished, my new arrangements assumed their usual positions in the front entry and on the dining room table.
I had flowers left over from last week's arrangements I couldn't bear to toss too.
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The Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' flowers (left) have a very long vase life. The Dephinium elatum 'Cobalt Dreams' flowers don't but I cut the stems down in order to preserve the florets as long as possible, although I see fallen petals every time I glance in the direction of that vase.
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For more IAVOM creations, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All
material © 2012-2022
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
So beautiful! We're surrounded by daffodils at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThere are peacocks at a nearby castle.
Peacocks were introduced here about 100 years ago as a gift to a local landowner and they quickly spread. Some areas of the peninsula have substantial numbers of them. Thus far, those that have visited my neighborhood are mostly young males that were kicked out of the nest so to speak to make their own way in the world. The bird that visited on Sunday was very large if it was a juvenile, though.
DeleteThe rose is beautiful, and the tall vase really sets off the foxgloves.
ReplyDeleteThanks! The rose, a David Austin variety grown from its own root stock, is nicely scented too.
DeleteThe blooms and foliage in your first vase really set off the yellow of the rose, but your glorious foxgloves in the second vase are real stars! It makes me wonder whether to include some n my cutting beds, but here they are grown as a biennial so it probably wouldn't be very practical
ReplyDeleteGiven how different your conditions are, I entirely understand your approach to foxgloves. I buy my foxgloves as small plants (sold in "6-packs" here) because our hot, dry summers present obstacles to their survival in my garden when they're grown from seed.
DeleteBoth arrangements are beautiful. In your 1st arrangement, the Agonis ‘Nana,’ Iris ‘Lion King’ and Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' all bring out the best of the yellows both in Didelta and ‘Golden Celebration.’ Lovely! My self-sowed Foxgloves are just getting started now. Wishing you a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay. I've given up on growing foxgloves from seed, whether sown by me or self-seeded. The summer heat here presents a problem, and the only place that gets enough water to keep the infant plants alive is my cutting garden but I'm not willing to allocate space to them when there's only so much to spare. Buying the plants in 6-packs in the fall allows me to jump-start the bloom cycle on my schedule.
DeleteLuscious, the yellow rose! I am glad you saved it from frying. The foxgloves and friends are so pretty in pink and perfect for that vase.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Golden Celebration' rose was a great buy in a 4-inch pot. It didn't bloom well last year, probably because our rainfall was pitiful but it was doing great until our last heatwave. I was able to cut a few surviving flowers then but this is the only one that's appeared since the heat abated.
DeleteYou are starting to have as many flowers indoors as out! What does Pipig think of that?
ReplyDeleteWell, she hasn't tried to eat any recently but I can't be sure whether that's a signal of acceptance or disavowal.
DeleteYou've done well to create a harmonious vase with the bright yellow didelta. Lovely purples and pinks in the second vase too.
ReplyDeleteI predict that Mr peacock will return to your place more often now that he knows you have blueberries!
Thanks Horticat. The coyotes seem to "discourage" the peacocks from taking up residence in this area for long but why the balance of power between the two groups is different here than elsewhere on this peninsula eludes me.
DeleteWinning color combinations both, Kris! I must say the golden one is brilliant artistry. I love your equally stunning visitor... wish he left your blueberries alone, however. Critters are always a step ahead of us it seems.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I noted from a gnawed tree, we have a new beaver down by the river. They can take down a mature tree in a couple of nights, so we might have to cage our favorites, alas.
Beavers! Now that's a critter I can reasonably be assured we'll never have to contend with here. I hope you can effectively corral the trees, Eliza.
DeleteLove your colorful visitor....those foxgloves bring me joy...and that yellow rose....wow!
ReplyDeleteSpring may rarely deliver everything the gardener has in mind but it always brings delight while it's here :)
DeleteHow nice to see a peacockin yoir garden! Or not? Depends what they eat…. I love the iris and rose/didelta combination. Yellow and peachy colours go well with that unusual iris. Your delphiniums are lovely, even as they fade. I am hoping some of the seedlings appearing in my garden are foxgloves and not weeds! You have a nice selection now.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seeing the peacocks, Cathy - as long as they don't hang around too long or decide to set up housekeeping here ;)
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