One of the plants in my back border took a nose dive a few days ago. Although the gardeners trimmed the hedge behind it before we noticed it had toppled, I don't think anyone was responsible for knocking it down. The plant in question was an artichoke with three very heavy chokes. I think its sheer weight caused its nose dive. Dry soil may have been a contributing factor as we've been dealing with our first heatwave of the year since Friday. In any case, rather than tossing the entire thing in the compost bin, I decided to use part of it in an arrangement.
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| The 'Purple Romagna' artichoke has exceptionally sharp spines that glint like gold in the sun. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture their color properly with my camera. |
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| Back view: I added a few stems of the bronzy-colored flowers of the Aeonium haworthii to play off the choke's gold spines and white and purple flowers of Nigella papillosa to echo the choke's flesh. In retrospect, it may have been better to stick with one or the other. |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Cynara cadunculus var. scoolymus 'Purple Romagna' |
My second arrangement is more conventional. Many of its components didn't appreciate the sudden surge in our temperatures over the weekend, peaking at 95F (35C) on Saturday, so I treated my selection process as a rescue operation, saving some flowers from a third day of high temperatures. We're expecting a dramatic drop in temperatures today.
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| While I started off with a few stems of pink Alstroemeria, Centranthus and 2 varieties of snapdragons took over |
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| I dressed up the back view with stems of 'April in Paris' sweet peas, which have suddenly burst into bloom |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus in dark pink and white, Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mount Everest', noID pink Alstroemeria, Centranthus ruber, Fuchsia 'Dollar Princess', and Lathyrus odoratus 'April in Paris' |
I've a lot of work to do in the garden this week (as well as the foreseeable future) so I'm looking forward to temperatures in the pleasant range of the mid-to-upper 60sF (17-20C) at least through next Sunday.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I love the artichoke and nigella combination, well done! I'm glad your temps are moderating, up here we're actually getting a little rain! (it's been a very dry, warm spring)
ReplyDeleteThe artichokes are struggling in the vase this time so, in the future, I think I need to cut the stems much shorter - but then the plant did spend at least 2 days lying broken in the dirt before I discovered it. The TV weather forecasters are hinting of the possibility of rain here too but my online sources suggest the chances are virtually nil.
DeleteMy goodness Kris - what a wonderful bloom that nigella is! You have chosen brilliantly to pair it with the artichoke, and with the aeonium blooms too - what a great vase! I love the cerise shades in the second vase too. Hope you can enjoy some cooler weather for a time
ReplyDeleteIt is cooler today, although not quite as cool as was predicted. I can only hope that the 3-day heatwave was an anomaly and that we won't see any more until late summer - it's probably too much to hope we don't get any more this year.
DeleteI love the artichokes, wonderful color and texture. 95! wow. I am amazed the snapdragons didn't melt, they look great. Amelia
ReplyDeleteThe heat did stress out the garden, especially as temperatures rose so high so fast and the plants had no opportunity to adjust. It didn't help that I had so many plants that had provided some shade removed last Monday :(
DeleteToo bad you lost the chokes (were you intending to eat them?), but they make a fine centerpiece to your arrangement (despite those scary-looking thorns!). The Nigella goes well with their dark color.
ReplyDeleteI hope the heat doesn't damage your sweet peas just as they are opening. Mine are still taking their sweet time amounting to anything. We have been seeing spikes in temps as well, more yo-yo weather! Eliza
I've used the 'Purple Romagna' artichokes primarily for decorative purposes but, with the more common varieties on my back slope, we alternate between eating them and letting them go to flower. One on the back slope has already crashed under its own weight too but I haven't made the effort to see if the chokes are eatable. I think those plants are getting too large and probably need to be removed as a couple of them collapsed last year too.
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ReplyDeleteIf this repeats I apologise. It looks like my comment didn't register. Wow, gorgeous artichokes. Such a shame they toppled but at least now you can enjoy them. You have such a profusion of flowers many of which also do well in our cooler climes. The Centranthus, Valerian, reminds me of the U.K. where it grows wild in the stone walls. Your arrangements are all beautiful as always.
ReplyDeletehttps://zonethreegardenlife.blog/2025/05/12/in-a-vase-monday-may-12-2025/
I like the unconventional use of the artichoke in your arrangement, I'm sure its size and top-heaviness made it challenging to put together. It's crazy how well it goes with the airy and delicate Nigella papillosa 'African Bride'. I've wanted to grow this Nigella for a while but never got around to it.
ReplyDeleteI love the Fuchisa 'droplets' in the second vase... the entire ensemble make me think of berry sorbet. Yum!
Chavli
I love that Nigella but I was surprised at its appearance as I could have sworn that none of the seed packets I scattered contained that variety! I remember packets said to contain seeds of a blue variety and the yellow Nigella 'Transformer', however, I didn't log anything in my spreadsheet so maybe my memory's at fault ;)
DeleteI think the artichokes look fantastic in the display, do you grow that variety for the color or for eating? Or both?! Enjoy the cooler temps, I've been away - I'm going to search for your post about the plant removals now.
ReplyDeleteI grew 'Purple Romagna' solely for its appearance. I usually eat the chokes of the plain old variety that grow on my back slope (if I get to them before they start to flower). All artichoke plants are spiky but 'Purple Romagna' has especially sharp spines - they're harder to handle than most agaves!
DeleteAll that frothy pink is lovely Kris! I especially like the Fuchsias dangling over the edge and the Centranthus. The first vase was well-mastered too - finding a way to use the artichoke was no doubt a challenge, but it looks fabulous! Wish I could get them to grow for me! Hope it has cooled down a bit - 35°C is a tad too hot!
ReplyDeleteLuckily, it has cooled down this week, Cathy. However, the heatwave was a wake-up call. There's not much time left for planting before summer's heat set in for the long haul.
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