As I knew I was going to be otherwise occupied most of Sunday, I cut materials and prepared my vases on Saturday. There are very little vase-worthy flowers to cut at the moment and I'm rather stuck in a rut. The inspiration for my primary vase this week was the foliage of Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche'. I planted it last year. It didn't bloom much but the shrub itself has recently exploded in size, especially since the rain we've had the past two months. The foliage is fragrant and attractive but there's some controversy concerning its flammability, which I discovered when I began a deep dive into flame-resistant landscaping earlier this year. Because of the volatile oils in its sticky foliage, some studies suggest that it can self-combust when temperatures soar above 90F (32C) if conditions are right. Frankly, I'm leaning toward removing it as soon as I find another plant suitable to fill its spot less than ten feet from the house. In the meantime, I thought I'd go ahead and make use of stems to include in a vase.
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| As usual, I stuffed my vase more tightly than I'd planned. My intention had been to play off the faint silvery tones in the Cistus foliage with white daisies and stems of Hypoestes aristata (aka purple ribbon bush). I love the Hypoestes but it's not entirely happy here. I grew it in my former garden and it reached 4 feet in height but the plant in my current garden is stuck at about a foot tall after 10 years in the ground! |
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| Back view: The stems of the blue Salvia were a last minute addition just because they were looking good following our recent rain |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Everest', Eustoma grandiflorum, Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche', Hypoestes aristata, Polygala myrtifolia, and Salvia 'Mystic Spires' |
Last week's Protea arrangement looks almost exactly as it did when I presented it so it remains in place on our dining room table but I thought the small vase on our kitchen island could use refreshing. Unbelievably, the zinnias I missed when I cleared out my cutting beds in October have continued to produce the odd bloom now and then. I took advantage of two stems this week.
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| Views of the small vase in place from the front and overhead |
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| From the upper left: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Grevillea 'Superb', noID self-planted vine seedling (possibly Pandorea jasminoidies), and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral' |
Following several days of warm temperatures here last week, they're expected to sink back into the cooler end of our fall range this week. Meanwhile, rain forecasts seem to flit in and out of the near term projections. At present, the chances are low.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
