I still have more flowers than I know what to do with. On Saturday, I received more in the form of an early birthday gift. My friend scored tickets for The Huntington Gardens and treated me to a visit. (More on that later this week.) She also gave me a bouquet of pink peonies. Anyone who reads my posts regularly knows I'm very fond of peonies, although I've had very little luck in growing them. I do have a Majorcan peony, which blooms every now and then but there's no indication that it'll do so this year. The Itoh peony I planted years ago never bloomed and this year even its foliage is a no-show. However, a local grocery chain routinely carries the flowers in May each year and my friend periodically picks up some to mark my birthday.
This year, as before, I've combined the gift peonies with flowers and foliage from my garden.
 |
| The peonies are all pink except for one, which is white on one side |
 |
| Back view: The tall peonies called for tall companions so I added stems of Salvia, Alstroemeria, and Centranthus |
 |
| Top view |
 |
| Clockwise from the upper left are: noID Alstroemeria, Centranthus ruber 'Albus', Grevillea sericea, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', noID gift peony, and Salvia canariensis var candidissima |
My second arrangement also includes a gift flower, albeit one that I received as a bulb from Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden in late November last year. I planted it in my front garden and it emerged last week. As there's a second bloom stalk, I cut the first one.
 |
| The Hippeastrum turned out to be 'Dancing Queen' |
 |
| Back view: I added Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' to dress up the back view |
 |
| Top view |
 |
| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousine Itt', Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Hippeastrum 'Dancing Queen', and noID Pyracantha |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Happy Birthday, Kris. That Hippeastrum is exquisite.
ReplyDeleteSubsequently, ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' will be with me all day today...
Chavli
My bday is still more than a week away but thanks, Chavli! I'm sorry about the ear worm...
DeleteHappy early birthday, Kris!
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise!
DeleteI love you have so many flowers as I can live vicariously through your garden. Especially peonies. In my first garden we had old peonies all along a split-rail fence. The scent was heavenly. These remind me of them. What you added to the vase is nothing less than incredible.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna, although the peonies were store bought by a friend as a gift. I haven't had much success at all with peonies but it's not for lack of trying!
DeleteBeautiful, and early Happy Birthday from another May Birthday gal!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracy. Based on your post earlier this month, I'm guessing you celebrated your birthday by finishing the paint job on your fence?!
DeleteTwo great arrangements, and Happy early Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThanks HB!
DeleteIt must be nice to have a birthday in May! Isn't it curious how ne of the peonies had that white flush? They are beautiful - I just love all those petals! I like your choice of accompaniments - and the circle of Dancing Queens in your second vase is enchanting!
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be a LOT of May birthdays in my orbit, Cathy. I wonder if that's a coincidence or that there is just a higher number of people born in late spring?! The peonies seem especially fluffy this year :)
DeleteAh, happy birthday! Those peonies are gorgeous. Andrew picked up a bouquet of peony blooms at our neighborhood market, sadly they weren't actually peonies but tulips... and they refused to open just kind of rotting on the stem. Very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteWell, as the saying goes, it's the thought that counts, Loree! I don't know if the Trader Joe's chain has markets up your way but they're known for offering florals and other plants of good quality here.
DeleteFirst of all, many happy returns Kris! How lovely to get peonies every year! Mine are in fact flowering, but as is so often the case at this time of year, heavy thundery rainshowers are spoiling them! Your pink ones are gorgeous and I really like the salvia and foliage you used with them. Love the foliage in the second vase too. That green vase you used is one of my favourites and was a good choice to show off the peachy tones in your Hippeastrum. May you have 'too many flowers' for many weeks Kris!
ReplyDeleteAs long as our marine layer holds, my floral count will probably remain high, Cathy. It's when summer sets in and temperatures soar that things will get dicey.
DeleteHow thoughtful of your friend to bring you peonies (Happy Birthday!) and you complemented them well with a supporting cast from your garden. I also love how the cuphea in the second vase picked up the flecks in the hippeastrum. They are both heavenly! Eliza
ReplyDeleteHappy early birthday, Kris! Peonies are fabulous. I saw some at Fresh Market last week, very tempting. Your arrangements are lovely, filled in with flowers from your own garden. Glad you have too many flowers. What a great birthday.
ReplyDeleteWe've had 2 years of significantly heavier rain, which has had a tremendous impact on my garden. I'm wondering how I'm going to feel if the coming water year is a bust by comparison...
DeleteHappy Birthday! Peonies are pretty fabulous plants, sorry to hear they don't do better for you. They are one of the deer-proof (but not weather proof) plants in our colder garden up here in Oregon. I have many fond memories of them, as both my grandmother and father grew them extensively in their home gardens back in Wisconsin. I also have a peony that didn't come up this year. I've poked around, there are still plump, viable, healthy buds down below the soil line. But, for some reason, it never received the right cues to begin growing. Very odd.
ReplyDeleteEven though my Itoh peony never bloomed, the foliage came back year-after-year so I was surprised when there was no sign of it this year, especially after 2 very good rain years (by our standards). I vaguely remember where it should be but haven't dug around in the area as there are a lot of other plants in the same general area - maybe I've just crowded the peony out over the years :(
Delete