As our rainy season approaches its end, we had an unusually soggy weekend. Rain was projected all day Saturday through Easter Sunday but I took advantage of an unexpected break between showers in the middle of Saturday afternoon to cut flowers for 'In a Vase on Monday'. I didn't dilly-dally (much) as I had the plants I wanted to use in mind when I stepped outside.
The focal point for my first vase (yes, there are two even though I had to dodge downpours) are stems of Leucospermum 'Hybrid Spider', which I refer to as my living Fabergé egg. I love all my Leucospermums but this one is my favorite.
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| It's this stage of bloom that makes me think of Fabergé eggs |
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| The stigmas of the 'Hybrid Spider' flower have a lavender cast, which prompted the color mix |
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| Back view: I used Limonium and Salvia stems to pick up the lavender color |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: noID white Ageratum, Grevillea 'Superb', Limonium perezii, Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', and Leucospermum 'Hybrid Spider' |
With Alstroemeria flowers popping up throughout my back garden, I pinpointed them for a second vase and made things easy on myself by popping in three Leucospermum 'High Gold' stems left over from an arrangement I created two weeks ago.
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| I wouldn't generally combine pink and yellow in an arrangement but there are yellow touches in the Alstroemeria flowers so I let the Leucospermum flowers echo that color. The intact anthers of the hellebore flowers repeated the yellow color. |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', noID Alstroemeria, Argyranthemum 'Grandaisy Dark Pink', Helleborus 'Anna's Red', Heuchera maxima, and Leucospermum 'High Gold' |
Leucospermums have a long vase-life and so do some Hippeastrums. I trimmed down one arrangement I created two weeks ago and another I put together last week and tucked them into spots in the kitchen.
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| The orange Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' in a smaller version of their original vase sit next to the ceramic pig I use as a tea caddy. The pared-down pale yellow Hippeastrum 'Lemon Star' and its companions sit on the kitchen island. |
We got 1.86 inches of rain over the course of the weekend, which is a lot for us. There were flash flood warnings early Saturday morning but we didn't experience any issues here, although I understand there were some downed trees and road closures in nearby areas. We took the warnings seriously and didn't go anywhere while they were in effect. The biggest issue in our neighborhood is a very loud peacock who's made our area his (hopefully temporary) home. The rain didn't send him looking for new digs.
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| Poor phone photo of the peacock squawking while perched on a neighbor's roof |
For more IAVOM posts, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Seattle had a sunny weekend, for a change. Not at all warm but sunny. I'm grateful for those brief gifts of spring.
ReplyDeleteYou have two unusual vases here. Peach I feel is a difficult color to mix with others, but it sure looks good with purple (Limonium).
In the second vase, the shimmering yellow of the 'Cousin Itt' blooms and the touch of yellow in the alstroemeria connect well with the yellow 'punch' of Leucospermum 'High Gold'. Well done.
Peacocks sound so unpleasant. Do they cause garden damage, or is it only to your hearing?
Chavli
Peacocks are both noisy and somewhat destructive. They're known for chomping on garden plants and pooping on cars. However, on the occasions in which they've "toured" my garden, they were utterly silent. I credit following several paces behind them with my camera in tow responsible for their decision to move elsewhere. They're amusing visitors but I'd rather not have them take up residence. One year, 2 peahens visited following the juvenile male's visit and, once again, following them at a respectful distance fortunately led to their departure :) It's illegal to harm or harass them here.
DeleteIllegal? They're not native, so that seems a bit much that you wouldn't be able to encourage a naturalized pest to move on. I'd be setting up motion-activated spray nozzles (but would then forget and get sprayed with water myself!). Good news that it appears to have left the area. We had someone dump a peacock in our yard out in the country many years ago. It disappeared within a few days, probably a meal for a coyote, bobcat, or cougar.
DeleteThere are people here who love the peacocks and people who hate them. I think some people see them as part of the area's history as they've been here 100 or so years. At one time, people posted nasty photos showing things like peacock carcasses on a BBQ spit. I imagine that may have been what triggered the ordinance. It seems "our" neighborhood peacock is still with us - he seems to have holed up at one particular residence.
DeleteThe Acacia really is such a nice background for your lovely arrangement. Peacock! They are beautiful, but so LOUD. Hopefully he moves on.
ReplyDeleteThe neighbors who own the house where he hung out for 4 solid days have returned and the peacock appears to have moved elsewhere. I can still hear him on occasion but his cries are coming from further away.
DeleteHappy Easter Kris. The Leucopospermum's make interesting cut flowers. I especially like the one with the Alstormeria, one of my favourite cut flowers. We have had a beautiful Easter weekend which I having been spending starting seeds and sorting out dahlias. Snow is supposed to hit again mid week so will enjoy it while I can. Ah, Spring!
ReplyDeleteWe're getting a bit of weather whiplash here too with yet another cold front and storm expected later this week but snow won't be in the forecast here at least, Elaine. Enjoy your spring preparations! It'll arrive eventually.
DeleteThat is a lot of rain! We're currently enjoying a sunny streak, but the rain will be back on Wednesday. Love your leucopospermum, in and out of a vase.
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy to have discovered Leucospermums. Now if I can just get my 2 Protea nerifolia to bloom!
DeleteI am not surprised you love all your Leucospermums, Kris - they are amazing, and very egg like too! You have some glorious blooms in your vases today - definitely a bountiful spring for you. And some rain as well too boost your reserves!!
ReplyDeleteMy rain tanks are all full and it appears there's a good chance of another storm later this week, Cathy. If only I had a place to store the extra rainwater!
DeleteThat's a gorgeous delicately colored Leucospermum, though to be honest it is somewhat lost in the arrangement with brighter colors distracting the eye. But could be just my eyes. Love the mix of rich pinks in the 2nd.
ReplyDeleteWe got well over 2" here, was not expecting such a wonderful deep soaking just as everything is growing like crazy. More maybe on Friday!
Peacock. Pipig will be watching?
I couldn't bring myself to cut longer stems of the 'Spider Hybrid' at the cost of future blooms, HB, so they're less prominent in the arrangement than I'd have liked.
DeletePipig is either going deaf or has decided that the peacock's business is not hers. If it shows up on our backyard (as they've done before), she may be more attentive. But, in her dotage, her greatest interest at present seems to be her heating pad.
Lovely arrangements, Kris. I love the contrasting colors of the first and the how the various colors in each flower play off each other in the second.
ReplyDeleteGreat rainfall for you this year. Hopefully your rain barrels have been topped off since the leak was repaired. Have a great week.
~ Eliza
DeleteYes, all my rain barrels, including the one got as a replacement for the one that split its side after 20 years, are full - and I have 4 additional plastic trugs full of rainwater too. After a slow start, we are indeed having a good rainy season.
DeleteThose leucospermum 'Hybrid Spiders' look so delicate Kris and what exquisite colours in your completed vase too. I like the combination of the hippeastrum and iris. Glad to hear that you have had a top up of rain. Amazingly we had a mainly dry Easter but back to the default setting of rain today. I don't think that I would want a peacock anywhere in the neighbourhood although they're most striking birds.
ReplyDeletePeacocks are best as temporary visitors, Anna. It's actually odd to have one show up this early in the year. Their mothers generally kick the juvenile males out of the family group in May.
DeleteWe have peacocks around here, I think it is a love/hate situation. I love them because I see one every five years, others not so much. The leucospermums are fantastic, I thought they were Proteas, so cool. The lone hippeastrum in my garden is starting to flower, so I am looking forward to long lasting blooms. Yay for rain. Amelia
ReplyDeleteLeucospermums (and Leucadendrons and Grevilleas) are all part of the larger Protea family. I now have 2 in the Protea species as well but they've yet to grace the garden with flowers.
DeleteOooh, thanks for braving the rain: Your vases are stunning as usual. How fun to see the peacock on the roof. I'm glad you're getting sufficient rain...but hopefully not too much. Happy April!
ReplyDeleteIt's not too much rain here, although more shed off the roof than I can capture. I don't even have a place to store what I saved in plastic trugs so I'll have to distribute the contents before the mosquitoes arrive to lay eggs.
DeleteFabulous Leucospermum in both vases. I think I prefer the second vase just a bit more. Glad to hear you have had rain....and a surprise hopefully temporary visitor.
ReplyDeleteThe peacock hasn't made it to my garden yet but he seems to like the neighborhood!
DeleteYour Leucospermum "Hybrid Spider" more than makes up for its name! I can certainly see why you would think of Faberge with those brilliant yet nuanced colors. And the warm blues in the vase work so well with the whole arrangement. :)
ReplyDeleteWe filled everything we had with rainwater here; my sister put her ingenuity to work and found various large containers that could be pressed into service for some of the overflow.
Luckily we just have native birds here, but I've been keeping a bit of an eye on the quail as they do like to munch seedlings. So far, only rabbits seem to be to blame, and some newly discovered leaf-cutter ants!
When you have a garden, there's always something that wants to munch your plants it seems! I've placed cages around some of my plants as the rabbits are active here. They should out the peacock if he chooses to leave his current sanctuary in a neighbor's garden and head toward mine ;) Luckily for us, the smaller birds that could easily breach the cages don't seem to have an appetite for flowers, although I have seen them pick at succulent foliage.
DeleteWow, a peacock! Hope it doesn't develop a taste for your plants! Do you often see them? Has it escaped from somewhere?
ReplyDeleteLovely vases Kris, and the Heuchera in your second one really caught my eye - very pretty! Good to hear you have had more rain. Your garden must be lapping it up!
There are lots of peacocks on the peninsula where I live, Cathy. They were brought here as novelty pets by rich landowners in the 1920s if I remember the story correctly. However, they congregate in other areas of the peninsula and usually only show up in my area occasionally in late spring when the juvenile males are kicked out of the family group and go wandering (or if someone dumps one here to rid themselves of the creatures, who can be pests). How this one came to roost in our neighborhood so early in the year isn't clear and the fact that he's remained here for nearly a week is VERY unusual.
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