Our ninth storm in a row arrived late yesterday afternoon. The breaks between them have been brief and sometimes all but nonexistent. That may be something many of you are used to but it's unusual here. While there are blooms in my garden, many of them are looking sad. The ground, already saturated last Monday, is wetter still now. Out rain total for the season (counted from October 1, 2022) passed 10 inches last night.
Foliage was a particularly important component in my first arrangement. In my view, it has more impact than the flowers.
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| The 'Neon' Hippeastrum (commonly called Amaryllis) was a last minute addition. The flowers were pummeled by rain before I tucked them under cover over a week ago and they look less than impressive. |
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| This is another occasion in which I like the back side of the arrangement, showing off a 'Red Grandaisy' Argyranthmum, better the the front view with the Hippeastrum |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Red Grandaisy', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Hebe 'Purple Shamrock', Hippeastrum 'Neon', and Prunus ilicifolia |
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| The vase is a new one, a post-christmas present to myself. It was purchased as a pair, identical except in size. This is the larger of the 2. It has a crystalline glaze (described on the right) like a vase I loved and lost years ago. |
The second arrangement wasn't something I planned. I'd had Leucadendrons in mind but that changed when I cut a forlorn Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) bud. I thought it was white but a tinge of blue led me in a different direction. I cut several stems of Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum', which is pretty in the garden but perhaps not a good choice for flower arrangements. I can't say I'm happy with the results of those selections but so it goes.
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| The soggy Lisianthus bud looks worse now than it did in the garden. Its petals are already turning brown and I'm not sure it's going to open at all. |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum (now looking more green and brown than white and blue), Prunus ilicifolia, Salvia leucophylla x clevelandii 'Pozo Blue', Osteospermum '4D Violet Ice', and Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum' |
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| I belatedly realized that this little blue vase I've had for years also appears to have a crystalline-like glaze. It cost me a fraction of what the new vase duo did. |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
For the record, it looks like we'll have an extended break once the current rainstorm comes to an end later today. There's a slim chance of more rain later in the week but, even if that materializes, there doesn't seem to be much more on the horizon. January's rain could be the biggest splash of our relatively short rainy season, which generally comes to an end in late March or early April. Given the depth of our drought, January's rain isn't considered a drought-buster. It's boosted the water levels in many of our reservoirs but most are still expected to be below optimal levels even when the rainy season comes to an end. The snow pack in the Sierra Mountains is good at the moment but warmer temperatures now melt that faster and earlier so it's no longer the reliable a source of water it once was. And our groundwater, severely depleted over the years, will take years of heavy rainstorms to restore without a substantial change in the state's water management practices.
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
That new vase is lovely, and your arrangements are lovely, as always. The color combinations in the little blue vase are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI love that blue-flowered Teucrium but, in retrospect, I think it's shown off to better effect in the garden than in a vase, Beth ;)
DeleteYour new vase is so shiny, it caught your reflection when you photographed it. Although you'll never hear me complain about lots of foliage and less flowers, what caught my eye today was Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl': I love how the blooms are so prominent on the mostly bare branches.
ReplyDeleteChavli
Ha! I was hoping no one would notice my reflection in that vase, Chavli ;) Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl' is a fabulous plant but using its flowers in an arrangement is a prickly experience. The same is true of Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite'. I need to use gloves to clean the stems of both when using them in a vase.
DeleteYay for new vases to add to your collection! That glaze is so cool, I've not seen anything quite like it. Kudos on matching both arrangements to their "holders" so well.
ReplyDeleteAs I've been stuck in a rut in my repeated use of just a handful of my vases, one of your earlier comments had me doing a little online shopping, Loree. I was thrilled to find some with crystalline glazes.
DeleteThat puts it into perspective, Kris - I think we have had a little over two inches of rain in January so far! You have created two beautiful vases today, despite your soggy blooms, and neither of them suggest you have had anything other than sunny days of late!
ReplyDeleteIt should be a rule that rain comes with at least a 3-day break between storms, Cathy! Even my sandy soil can only absorb so much when it all comes at once. With my rain tanks full since the beginning of the month, I've continued to collect some rainwater for later distribution in the garden in plastic trugs but at the moment I have 5 of those filled with rainwater and nowhere to put it. It's not a problem I'd imagined confronting in my climate ;)
DeleteStriking new vase. Love the glaze with all its variations. Foliage in the arrangements looks happily well-watered--it shows!
ReplyDeleteI always wonder if the lastest storm is going to be it until next October or November. Hopefully at least a bit more before May. The meteorologists were predicting a warm dry winter, but the first third of it has been the opposite, so here's hoping we'll get more.
There are appears to be movement now towards better water storage for LA County. If you have not read it, see:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/us/california-drought-storms-water-storage.html?
I knew OC had a lot of its own water but according to the article 81% of it is county-based, not imported. There are multiple small settlement basins and dams nearby that send rainwater back into the aquifer and the Santa Ana river channel which has concrete sides but not a concrete bottom also has berms to allow rain to settle back into the aquifer instead of running into the Pacific. Sounds like LAC will finally try to improve their system somewhat like OC.
I share the same concern about what we can expect (or not expect) from the balance of our rainy season, HB. I've heard references to the beginning of an El Nino cycle but the expert who writes the blog weatherwest dot com claims it's too early to contend we're headed in that direction. The NY Times wouldn't let me read the article you identified as I've exhausted my freebies there; however, I've taken a look at where things stand with Measure W, passed by LA County in 2018. It seems that a lot of the work to get moving on rainwater capture and water recycling is still conceptual. I keep hearing that it'll be 3 to 5 decades (!) before the plans become reality. Still, I hope to see at least some progress along the way while I'm present on earth to appreciate it.
DeleteConsidering the amount of rain you've had, your were able to create two beautiful arrangements!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of rain: I'm glad you're finally getting your share. Here in Davis, we're up to 10" in January, 17" for the water year (starting Oct 1).
I don't imagine we'll get anything near 17" for the water year ending in September but who knows? All bets with respect to the weather seem to be off this year.
DeletePretty vases today, Kris. I love the glass and the muted tones. I don't think I have ever seen the words saturated ground on your blog! I hope the plants enjoy. Amelia
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the ground has ever been this saturated, Amelia. We had 24" of rain one year but that was over 12 months. This much in the course of a couple of months is different! Last year our total for 12 months was just over 8" and the year before it barely exceeded 4".
DeleteVery pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lea.
DeleteYour new vase -and the arrangement you have created in it- are both gorgeous, Kris. I love the pops of pink provided by the leptospermum. Pale pink and light green look so pretty together. The delicate whispyness of the second bunch is reminiscent of dancing butterflies.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting some decent rain. That must feel so good!
Thanks Horticat. I'm pleased about the rain and just wish I could've captured and stored more of it. Cracks in the mortar of our chimney caused rain to leak through the roof but that wasn't Mother Nature's fault.
DeleteI like both the vases Kris, and the glaze on the blue one is quite remarkable. I think your Amaryllis looks lovely, despite your worries, and the second vase is lovely and airy and whispy with the tiny blue flowers. Ten inches sounds a lot for your region and I have heard all about the flooding in some areas. Hope you have some drier weather to get the chimney sorted (I read your comment to Cathy!) and I suppose your garden will burst into growth now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. The Amaryllis looks a little better now that it's dried out some ;) As so much rain came all at once, it caused a lot of damage in the form of mudslides, landslides, falling trees, and sinkholes. It's almost cost the loss of at least 20 people. My area was less ravaged as the rain was lighter here. A leaky chimney is a minimal concern by comparison.
DeleteWell whatever the weather gods are throwing at you Kris you have produced two stunning vases. We have been hearing and reading about the dreadful storm damage in California on our television news and in the newspapers. Your new vase is a beauty - we all need to treat ourselves from time to time 😀
ReplyDeleteWe had less rain in my area of coastal Southern California than in many other areas of California, Anna. Mudslides in the areas formerly burned by wildfires are always a risk in heavy rain here and, when it comes down as hard and fast as it did with many of these storms, flooding also becomes a serious issue - the dry soil just can't absorb the water fast enough.
DeleteI have thought about you and your fellow Californians a lot these past couple of weeks. Relieved to see you haven't fallen victim to any of those awful mudslides, and that you still have flowers to pick.The coloration of that hippeastrum is so unusal and pretty! What are those green leaves in the blue bouquet? They remind me of our OR native salal (Gaultheria shallon) which incidentally are also excellent for bouquets.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, California will have an opportunity to dry out a bit, Anna. The mudslides are scary and sometimes deadly but, to my knowledge, there haven't been any in my immediate area. Our area is prone to land erosion, however, although our property seems solid. The large green leaves in the second arrangement are Prunus ilicifolia, a type of cherry laurel, part of a hedge inherited with the garden.
DeleteA different experience for you to rescue flowers from the rain. I like the older deep blue vase.
ReplyDeleteJanuary was a remarkably rainy month here. Diana!
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