I've got two larger arrangements this week. That's unusual for me as I've a limited number of long-stemmed flowers and therefore generally stick to medium sized vases. However, my husband bought me a tall vase as a birthday present and a good friend brought me a bundle of peonies on Saturday. The two were made for one another so I had to go big there! The challenge was to find materials in my garden to support the peonies.
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| The tallest flower stems I could find to back up the pink peonies were 2 white Agapanthus, neither of which had fully unfurled. The taller pink Alstroemerias I usually pair with these peonies were gone but I scrounged up a few mid-sized stems that don't contribute much. |
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| Back view: Only one of the peonies has opened thus far and, in the absence of other suitable flowers, I relied on foliage to fill out the vase, including 2 varieties of very feathery Leucadendrons |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', noID Agapanthus, noID Alstroemeria, Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown', L. laxum, and the noID peonies sourced by my friend from a chain store that generally offers them at this time of year |
Coincidentally, I discovered two tall gladiola stems in the cutting garden bed holding my sweet peas last week. I'd plopped several purple gladiola bulbs there years ago and tried to remove them at the end of that season but a few have stubbornly returned year-after-year ever since. What's odd is that this year a white gladiola popped up with a purple one. To my recollection, I've never planted a white gladiola anywhere. In any case, cutting those two stems led me to seek out others of a similar height.
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| The unseasonably warm temperatures we've experienced on and off over a few weeks are quickly taking out my Renga lilies (Arthropodium cirratum) and my love-in-the-mist flowers (Nigella papillosa) so they were logical choices. The sweet peas have rapidly picked up production and I cut some of those trailing stems to give them greater weight in the arrangement. |
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| I filled out the back of the vase with the sprawling stems of Centaurea 'Silver Feather' |
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| A rather awkward overhead view |
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Top row: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', and Digitalis purpurea
Middle: Gladilolus 'Vuvuzela', noID white gladiola, and Nigella papillosa 'African Queen'
Bottom: Lathyrus odoratus 'April in Paris', 'Lord Nelson', and noID lavender variety |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Beautiful, I like the Arthropodium cirratum - I don't see that around here. The Nigella is striking, the acacia is always such a great soft green fill.
ReplyDeleteArthropodium cirratum is one of my favorite plants for dry shade, Tracy. My original plants came from Annie's Annuals & Perennials years ago. I've never seen them for sale elsewhere. Luckily, I've been able to divide mine since the company that took over Annie's mail order service doesn't seem to be selling anything from Annie's inventory yet!
DeleteWow, Kris, you are a true artist. And your vases are so gorgeous, too. Love the Digitalis purpurea and the Lathyrus odoratus...all the elements work well together!
ReplyDeleteMy foxglove plants in general haven't done at all well this year but that one plant is prolific! As it's getting steadily hotter, I'm afraid the remaining foxgloves are likely to throw in the towel for the season.
DeleteYay for vase and flower gifts, you put them to great use.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, I'll get additional chances to use that tall vase once the lilies are off and running :)
DeleteIt's curious to think of peonies and agapanthus flowering at the same time, as in the UK the former would be flowering May/June and the latter in August and into September. What lovely gifts you had - was it a special occasion....? 😉Peony buds are almost as attractive as the open blooms and I like the alstroemeria peeking out from the foliage too. Lovely mix in your second vase too
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. My birthday was last week. Although I was inclined to ignore it, apparently my husband and my friend weren't prepared to do so. However, we did keep things low key.
DeleteI love your new vase and happy birthday! Peonies are just the best gift, as your friend knows obviously. :) Time to find some tall plants so you can use that vase more often. 👏🏼 Eliza
ReplyDeleteMy friend knows I covet peonies and the local Trader Joe's outlets always seem to have them in stock as cut flowers at this time of year. I do have some lilies with tall stems getting ready to bloom this month so the vase should get at least 2 or 3 more uses before summer's heat cuts back my floral supply ;)
DeleteGo big or go home! I love the agapanthus with the peonies. And the new vase, well done, hubs. Amelia
ReplyDeleteThe vase is a lovely choice, although it's taller than those I use most often. Apparently, my husband didn't look closely at its dimensions when he submitted his order as he commented that he was surprised by how tall it was ;)
DeleteOoo, Peonies and Foxgloves, both in abundance. I love it. Such fun the watch them gradually open and infuse your house with their fragrance. ...and a new vase. Happy Birthday! I love Agapanthus but alas would not survive here. I remember the masses of wild blue ones in new Zealand . Gorgeous.
ReplyDeletehttps://zonethreegardenlife.blog/2025/06/02/in-a-vase-monday-june-2-2025/
Well, the gift peonies are a bit of a cheat as they didn't come from my own garden (not my friends) but I accept them however they come to me!
DeleteI have a few Bauer vases that are tall , and since I started growing what I guess I would classify as 'flower farm varieties' I have been able to use these vases more often. The snaps have 2 up to 4 ft stems , up to 2' for the sweet william , same with annual Scabiosa and the Benarys Giant Zinnias, among others.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed, Kathy! The older lilies have taller stems, as do the Agapanthus. I sowed seeds of several varieties of Benary's Zinnias and hopefully at least some of the dahlias will have tall stems.
DeleteExcellent vases, Kris. I do hope the white Agapanthus will open (do you think it will?), it would look amazing with the Peonies, particularly in this pretty new vase.
ReplyDeleteChavli
Agapanthus take their time to fully open but, not having much experience with the speed at which peonies open, I can't say whether or not they'll reach the finish line together, Chavli. These peony buds seem to me to be taking an especially long time to unfurl but then the weather has turned cooler again and we've been under clouds most of the day. We even have a thunderstorm going right now, although we've recorded only 0.01/inch of precipitation thus far.
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