As expected, the Hippeastrums have finally jumped into gear. I used two of them in my arrangements this week but four have blooms at present. The difficulty now is finding suitable companions to show them off. As California was forecast to take a punch from a second atmospheric river beginning late Saturday or early Sunday, I collected materials for my vases on Saturday afternoon, although I put them together on Sunday as usual.
The first one features Hippeastrum 'Zombie' (which deserves a better name).
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| 'Zombie' has fully double 5-inch blooms |
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| Back view: I added orange snapdragons for another jolt of color |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Leucadendron 'Jester', L. 'Summer Red', L. 'Safari Sunset', noID Antirrhinum majus, Hippeastrum 'Zombie', and Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' |
While I was relatively pleased with how the first arrangement came together, I struggled to find the right materials to fill out the second arrangement featuring Hippeastrum 'Exception'.
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| Hippeastrum 'Exception' has large (6-inch) single-petaled flowers. It's beautiful but I had very limited options to accent its pinkish-red tones or white background. |
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Back view: I made do with the stiff, prickly stems and rosy-red flowers of Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite'
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite', Hippeastrum 'Exception', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucadendron 'Blush', and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' |
I threw together a third small arrangement because the kitchen island needed fresh flowers and there was no point allowing all the anemones in bloom in my cutting garden to be pummeled by rain.
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| Clockwise from the left: Front view, Anemone coronaria, Antirrhinum majus, Felicia aethiopica, and Pyrethropsis hosmariense |
As it turned out, the storm took its time moving into coastal Southern California. We didn't see any measurable rain until early afternoon on Sunday and it didn't pick up force until late afternoon. The current forecast calls for "torrential rain" through Monday, tamping down a bit on Tuesday before slowly petering out by Thursday or Friday. It has the potential to cause more damage than last Thursday's atmospheric river did. On that occasion a rain cell got stuck in place directly over the area I live in, resulting in local flooding and temporary road closures (but no landslides which are a significant issue here). This time concerns are greater for the Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties north of us. It's just after 9pm now and I'm scheduling this post to publish automatically as there's no certainty we won't lose power overnight. At present, we've accumulated just under one-inch of rain in about nine hours and our rain year-to-date total (since October 1st) stands at 8.84 inches.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Those colorful arrangements will brighten your days through this cloudy/rainy spell. Yes, calling such a joyful flower 'Zombie' is...????
ReplyDeleteYour area is far ahead of mine, we are only at around 7" season total--around 1.5" overnight. I think our area is on the edge of the atmospheric river, not in the center. Downtown LA has gotten over 4" from this event so far.
Still...any rain is GREAT!
We got heavier rain than many areas from the first atmospheric river as a rain cell got stuck right above us. That doesn't seem to be the case with this round, although we've had 2.84 inches so far in less than 24 hours. However, a friend who lives in the SF Valley reported 5.7 inches earlier this morning (and flooding in her backyard) and my brother who lives relatively close to her reported 4.4 inches in the prior 24 hours. The rain remains steady here so who knows how it'll shake out in the end. Landslides are the scary part here in PV but those usually happen after the rain's done - sometimes months after.
DeleteListening to the weatherman on radio this morning, I was thinking of you, wondering if you'd post a IAVOM. I'm glad you managed it inspire the wet and somewhat dire predictions.
ReplyDeleteI love everything about the first vase but the travesty of the name "zombie". The snapdragon and Metrosideros 'Springfire' really put the spot light on this gorgeous Hippeastrum!
Chavli
I'm very happy with the 'Zombie' arrangement, Chavli. I potted up 2 of those bulbs. The 2nd is trailing the 1st bulb but, even as I cut the 1st bloom, there's another stalk well under way. 'Zombie', like 'Apricot Parfait' (currently on its 3rd bloom), is a winner!
DeleteNice sparkly arrangements to cheer up the rainy days. So smart to go out early. What a dumb name, zombie? You'd think it would be a dark moody purple with that name.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I can hope that, after "Zombie' finishes blooming and I plant the bulb in the ground, it'll reappear with another bloom later in the year! That happened with Hippeastrum 'Luna' last year. However, the true test with these bulbs is whether they'll bloom in subsequent years in the ground. I had great luck there in my former tiny garden but the bulbs have been far less predictable here.
DeleteGood to see a post from you this morning as I was wondering how the storm was treating you and your garden. I'm seeing a lot of scary images out of the Ventura/Santa Barbara area. You definitely did both hippeastrum proud, they look great with their accompaniments but yet also retain the star factor.
ReplyDeleteThe UCLA climate scientist I follow has expressed serious concerns about Santa Barbara and Ventura, Loree. I noticed that Santa Barbara Botanical Garden posted some scary flood video on Instagram yesterday. Both a close friend and my brother who live 50 miles north of me have also reported heavier rain with this storm than we've gotten. We've had no outright downpours here but it's been steadily relentless.
DeleteThere is always an excitement when I link into your post for a wealth of blooms, and beautiful arrangements. Hope you get rain, gentle rain, and nothing damaging.
ReplyDeleteWe've been lucky with the rain so far, Noelle. I can't say it's been "gentle" and we've discovered a couple of issues but we're better off by far than other areas. I haven't seen any flooding in our immediate area at least.
DeleteI am always concerned for family and friends when I read about these atmospheric rivers in CA. Mother Natures wrath perhaps or her way to get the land back into balance. The first vase has amazing color just in the physical vase which is then accentuated but the plant material. Those snapdragons are gorgeous and I love that your hippeastrums are finally blooming. The last 2 vases are also beautiful. I wish I had other materials to add to mine right now. I might find some later as the month moves on. Saying we are to get an early spring. Crossing my fingers.
ReplyDeleteAtmospheric rivers look and feel almost like a mystical force. I love the thought of Mother Nature using them to kick things back into balance but, sadly, I'm not sure that ship hasn't already sailed. In the short term, the good news is that my garden is fully hydrated, my rain collection tanks are full again, and spring may be as colorful as I envision it can be. However, dangers do lurk in the form of falling trees (with 2 deaths attributed to that in Northern California thus far) and landslides. Last July, just 10 miles away, the excessive rainfall we got last winter and spring resulted in a landslide that caused 8 houses to collapse and damaged others with virtually no advance warning.
DeleteLove the color palette of the first vase. The Hippeastrums are gorgeous and I love the snapdragons. Stay safe. You've been in my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susie. I'm already climbing the walls but it hasn't stopped raining even for a minute today so, thus far at least, I haven't ventured out for a walk or even to examine my garden. At present, tomorrow looks like more of the same. But I caught up with my backlog of ironing!
DeleteI think your companions and arrangements are perfect--in all three vases. Wow! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. I think Hippeastrum 'Exception' deserved better but perhaps by the time its 2nd bloom stalk opens, I'll have more options to accompany it in a vase ;)
DeleteGorgeous Hippeastrums, Kris. All three arrangements are beautiful, with the first being my favorite.
ReplyDeleteLove the anemones, as always, and Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite', what a beauty that one is.
Hope you weather the storm without mishap! Eliza
So far, so good with the current storm, Eliza. The rain is relentless but we're not experiencing any flooding here or on the neighborhood road. I haven't ventured any further than that up to this point.
DeleteLove the colours of the first arrangement. Soft and warm. Zombie is gorgeous. Need to look for that one. We are following the flooding throughout California on the news here. Glad to hear you haven't been to affected. Ironically we are at a critical drought level here, a 1 in 100 years drought. We had a bit of snow over the weekend but we need a whole lot more before our normal summer drought hits.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your drought conditions, Elaine. I still remember with great dread the year we got 4 inches of precipitation in the course of one entire year. I hope you see a reversal in the near future. Despite the rain California's received via these atmospheric rivers, there's still considerable concern about the "snow drought" in our Sierra Mountains as we depend on that snowpack to provide water during our long, dry summers. Warmer temperatures mean more rain in lieu of snow and faster melts of what snow we get - and we're still not good at capturing what water we do get during rainstorms.
DeleteYou must be very grateful for your rain, Kris, but the risk of flooding or landslides is a big downside. I hope there is not too much damage from the storm. Such a fiery vase from you - those embers really glow! And as always your secondary vases contain much to admire
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. The rain here has been relentless but just steady without any real downpours (yet). While we've received under 3 inches of rain thus far courtesy of this 2nd ongoing "atmospheric river" (on top of the 2.32 inches we got from last Thursday's event), my brother's area 50 miles to the north has already racked up over 11 inches since Sunday and I imagine there are other areas that have seen much worse. As we had a (required) geological survey done before our home renovation in 2019, we understand that our house sits on bedrock so I trust we're in better shape than many homeowners on our peninsula, where the ground moves a lot even without earthquakes.
DeleteWell that was a cruel joke, naming such a beautiful flower 'Zombie'! I think you should rename it, just for your own gardening purposes, with something kinder. ;) All three vases are, as always, simply gorgeous. <3
ReplyDeleteI may have some Hippeastrum growing in my garden - are they bulb plants? I planted a whole lot of bulbs we inherited from my inlaw's garden and last year, some of them grew the most incredibly large blooms.
Yes, Hippeastrums are bulbs. They're commonly called Amaryllis but, although they're in the same family as true Amaryllis (like the Amaryllis belladonna I also grow), they're classified as a separate genus. Breeders seem to be releasing more and more varieties every year.
DeleteBoth Hippeastrums are very pretty, but I especially love the first one with all those gorgeous warm colours accompanying it. The Antirrhinums are lovely too. And blue anemones always make me smile! Thanks for those cheering colours… our drab winter days have almost got the better of me this week but we should see some sun at the weekend if we are lucky so I am crossing my fingers! Hope your rain hasn't been too damaging Kris. It is wet (and muddy!) here too.
ReplyDeleteWe're currently in a pause between rainstorms, Cathy. More rain is expected later today from a separate system but it's not expected to deliver the punch of the atmospheric rivers. We did fine, at least thus far; however, the State of California as a whole experienced some 400 land/mudslides. In my area, the landslides don't usually coincide with rain. We had a serious slide attributed to last year's higher winter-spring rainfall in July which caused 8 houses to collapse into a canyon and several others to be condemned.
DeleteWe had no rain at all in January. Hoping that Monday's rain will happen. (Gentle rain for our burnt mountains please?)
ReplyDeleteI'll keep my fingers crossed for those gentle rains, Diana. Our burn areas are prone to mudslides when the rain comes down hard in burned areas too.
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