Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' called to me this week. This Grevillea is another year-round bloomer but it produces nowhere near the number of flowers as its cousin 'Superb' so I don't often cut the flowers for a vase. However, we've woken up to a dense marine layer for a few days now and I needed some sunshine to bring inside.
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| I couldn't bring myself to cut more than 2 stems of 'Peaches & Cream' but I filled in with yellow and white daisies, a few stems of an early blooming Narcissus, and some orange berries to echo the peachy tones in the Grevillea's flowers |
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| Back view |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mount Everest', A. f. 'Beauty Yellow', berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', and Narcissus tazetta 'Geranium' |
I pulled together a few stems for a second smaller vase for the kitchen island too.
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| As there's not much to this one, I'm sharing just this photo of the vase in place, the overhead view shown below, and a collage showing closeups of the flowers. |
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| Overhead view |
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| From the upper left: noID Alstroemeria, Antirrhinum majus, Boronia crenulata 'Shark Bay', and a noID Dianthus barbatus |
The marine layer delivered two-hundreths of an inch of precipitation over the past two days but there's still no prospect of significant rain in the forecast at least until January, and I'm not prepared to bet on that. It's too bad Santa can't deliver rain!
For more IAVOM creations, stop in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Pure joy! I love that everyone is heading into the coldest and darkest months, and you have narcissus blooming. Do you have to give the bulbs a fake winter in the fridge?
ReplyDeleteI've had good luck with Narcissus coming back year after year (without being dug up in between), Tracy. Some varieties appear to be more vigorous than others, though. I inherited the paperwhite Narcissus with the garden, which means they've been coming back reliably for more than 15 years. The Tazetta Narcissus (which includes 'Geranium') I planted several years ago have also been good at naturalizing here. The species tulips have also returned for me, albeit in smaller numbers.
DeleteQuanta disponibilità di fîori hai! Che spettacolo quella grevillea bicolore, non credo di averne mai viste di così belle, di solito le vedo sui toni del rosso. Qui purtroppo posso usarne poche tra le quali la juniperina che regge bene anche il gelo.
ReplyDeleteTi mando un caro saluto e ti auguro un buon inverno mite!
Frost is not something we have to contend with here, Gabriel. One could contend that every winter in coastal Southern California is mild ;)
DeleteThose orange berries are such a lovely colour Kris, and work so well with the blooms. The grevillea is such an intriguing flower, and you have them all the year round...you win some and lose some (like witch hazels!). I was taken aback to see the narcissus! A pretty pink vase too
ReplyDeleteYes, we all need to accept the bad with the good when it comes to our climates, Cathy. I'm just greedy when it comes to plants ;) I was also surprised to see the Tazetta Narcissus making an appearance this early. Perhaps the early rainstorms in October and November followed by the warmer temperatures we've had recently kicked them into gear.
DeleteThat is definitely sunshine in a vase! (I almost wrote face instead of vase...) so I'll add that it put a smile on my face!
ReplyDeleteWith all the rain the PNW has experienced recently, I expect you could use some sunshine, virtual or not, Loree! I'm glad you got your tender plants in when you did and I hope those left in the ground haven't been hurt. I just noticed that a couple of my smaller agaves on our moderate front slope are showing signs of damage and I'm guessing that the heavy rainstorms in October and November may be responsible. I guess it's possible that the tree service used tarps on that end (even though directed not to) but it looks more like water damage than the agave edema previously caused by tarps.
DeleteBoth arrangements are quite lovely. Nice to see something more colourful than the traditional red at this time of year. We have warmed up and our snow is melting fast but it will get cold again in a few days. Thankful the atmospheric rivers are to the west of us.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I wish the atmospheric rivers north of us would flow this way, Elaine. Although too much rain is a bad thing (especially for the areas burned earlier in the year), we do need rain in the southern part of the state. I'd been hopeful that the early rain we'd got in October and November meant we wouldn't have another dry winter but such doesn't seem to be the case.
DeleteYour flowers are a wonderful boost Kris! I can understand how your marine layer can affect you… our foggy grey December has been rather depressing too. Thanks for sharing those lovely sunshiny daisies!
ReplyDeleteWe're socked in by fog again this morning, although it hasn't registered as measurable precipitation today (yet). Rain is so much better than the relentless fog.
DeleteYour golden vase is just so cheerful, my favourite of the two beautiful collection of blooms from your garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks Noelle. I hesitate to cut stems of the Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' but, when I spotted the early Narcissus blooms, I just had to go with it.
DeleteSo pretty Kris. I am always so envious of your grevilleas. I love them. There is not much to pick in our December gardens
ReplyDeleteThe most dependable year-round bloomer is my garden is Grevillea 'Superb'. I could cut flowers from it every week and not make a dent in its display in the garden but that'd get boring fast.
Deletethe grevilleas are the star of the show, I feel. And I'm not saying that just because they come from the land down under!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the Grevillea blooms play a starring role this week, Cath. Off hand, I can't tell you how many Grevilleas I have but my garden wouldn't be without them, that's for sure ;)
DeleteThe orange/yellow looks like a candy assortment, yummy! The Boronia in the second reminds me of the floral wallpaper designs I love. (Complete with cottage style room furniture and eyelet curtains blowing in the breeze!) Eliza
ReplyDeleteI love your figurative comparisons, Eliza!
DeleteI love both vases, Kris. I think those of us who live in sunny climates need some bright color daily, sometimes in a vase! The fruit is fantastic. A.melia.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amelia.
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