I sacrificed a few of my favorite flowers this week when putting my arrangements together. The first were three stems of Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi'. This year, the majority of the flowers are growing on the back side of the shrub, facing a hedge. As my back garden faces east, I suppose that may account for its annoying behavior as it tries to gain maximum sun exposure - or perhaps it has to do with the way I pruned it last year. In any case, I didn't feel too bad to cut flowers that I can't readily see.
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| The arrangement is a bit heavy on peach tones so I added several stems of Lotus berthelotii to give it a punch |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Peach', Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset', and Xylosma congestum |
I also cut a stem of a bearded Iris, a species that has been relatively rare in my garden for the past several years. I discovered a couple of noID Iris blooming at the bottom of my slope last week but they're relatively ordinary and my bum knee wasn't up for another trip down there yesterday anyway so I cut a recent arrival in a more accessible spot alongside my back patio. That was a little painful too but in a different way. At least I can enjoy seeing it up close this week.
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| Iris germanica 'Autumn Circus' is the star of this arrangement but I threw a lot more into the vase, like the first larkspur blooms from my cutting garden and stems of Psoralea pinnata (aka kool-aid bush for their grape soda scent) |
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| I dressed up what started as the front of the vase and ended up as the back side with stems of Abelia 'Confetti' and Pericallis 'Bi-color Violet' (aka florist's cineraria) |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia 'Confetti', blue and white Consolida ajacis (larkspur), Coriandrum sativum (cilantro), Nigella papillosa, Orlaya grandifloa, Pericallis 'Bi-color Violet', Psoralea pinnata and, in the middle, Iris germanica 'Autumn Circus' (I also included Lagurus ovatus but haven't shown it in a closeup photo) |
I spotted the first two sweet pea blooms yesterday morning. Will I have enough to fill a vase next week? Maybe, but I'm not counting on that yet. Our temperatures are expected to stay below 70F/21C throughout the week and the marine layer is expected to return.
For more IAVOM creations this week, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All
material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Oh gorgeous! I haven't thought of adding lotus berthelotii to a bouquet but it really adds some zing & pulls it all together. I hope your knees are feeling better. The Psoralea pinnata! That is very pretty, I may have to find a spot for it.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the only downside to the Psoralea is that it tends to get spindly over time. It (reportedly) can't be pruned hard and I didn't start my tip pruning early enough. I'm babying the knee in an effort to put off a knee replacement for at least another year but I'm beginning to think I'm fooling myself.
DeleteOh peachy goodness....foxglove and Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi'. And more iris flanked by purple and white! A garden of beauty in 2 vases!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna. Spring is really in hyperdrive this year after all the rain we got.
DeleteSo beautiful! I always love your arrangements :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nikki!
DeletePeachy punch has it going on!
ReplyDeleteI had no doubts which of the 2 arrangements you'd prefer, Loree ;)
DeleteTop view of the Iris arrangement is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty Iris no matter the angle, HB ;)
DeleteSweet peas? Your seasons are definitely different. The overhead views of both arrangements are fantastic. I am feeling peachy from seeing the first one. Amelia. Oh, i forgot look for a named cultivar Firebush some of the seedling ones are a bit weird. Amelia
ReplyDeleteThe sweet peas usually bloom by early April here, Amelia - they're late! Thanks for the advice about the firebush.
DeleteI love them both, Kris, you have an excellent eye for combining colors. I'm intrigued by the Psoralea... pretty and scented, too, how wonderful! Eliza
ReplyDeleteThanks Eliza. My only wish with respect to the Psoralea is that I can somehow prune it to give it a heftier presence in my garden - it's gotten spindly.
DeleteOh wow--you can't go wrong with Snapdragons and Foxgolves...and that peachy/coral color scheme. Stunning! I love Irises and purple/blue combos, too. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. I've come to love foxgloves and snapdragons, particularly snapdragons in the 'Chantilly' series.
DeleteI love monochromatic vase arrangements. I find I tend to put garden areas together with mostly one color of flowers as well.
ReplyDeleteI do a lot of that too when putting together garden beds, although I've mixed blue, yellow and white in one large bed and I'm pretty happy with it thus far.
DeleteOh I like those peachy tones Kris but for me as always the blues and whites steal the show. My September sown orlaya are not far off from flowering but still a way to go before larkspur and nigella join in. We're still waiting to hit 70F/21C mark. It's definitely been a wetter and cooler spring here than that of 2022.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the persistence of wet, cool weather is more common in your part of the world than mine, Anna. I'm mostly annoyed on behalf of my sweet peas, which may fry before they have any real chance to strut their stuff.
DeleteWonderful Kris. That overhead photo of the iris vase looks like a painting! Love the hot orange vase too - adding the fiery Lotus flowers was a great idea as it peps up the whole effect.
ReplyDeleteI thought that overhead shot of the Iris vase was rather fetching too, Cathy ;)
DeleteYou out did yourself this week Kris. Both of the arrangements are absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteThanks Eliza. I didn't have any idea what I was going to pick this week until I bit the bullet and cut stems of some of my favorite flowers.
DeleteUpon first seeing the 'peach' vase, I thought you added Erythrina blooms to punch up the colors. Not to take anything from the Lotus, Erythrina is one of my favorite blooming trees with that amazing vibrant color.
ReplyDeleteThe second vase is splendid: I never thought to put a bearded iris in a vase, but it works so well. Psoralea pinnata, which I don't recall seeing in the past, is a great addition too, in both bloom color as well as rich dense foliage.
Chavli
Erythrina is fairly common here but I expect the flowers are too big to serve as anything other than a centerpiece in a vase. They are attention-grabbers, though! I vividly remember first seeing them at UC Santa Barbara when I moved into my dorm as a freshman MANY years ago.
DeleteKris, sorry to be so late checking out your vases. They are creative and swoon-worthy! I love blues but have to say, the peachy one is a real attention getter. Hope your knee is improving.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susie. A knee brace helps ;)
DeleteI like the back of peachy, a softly trailing triangle.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diana.
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