I picked cheerful Christmas-y colors to see in the holiday week, depending heavily on stems of my Grevillea 'Superb', although the initial inspiration for the following arrangement was the zinnia flowers still blooming off and on in my cutting garden. I pulled up my zinnia "crop" in October but missed two plants by accident. Now that I've seen that they can produce flowers into December, next year I may purposely leave some tucked in corners to provide color while my cool season flowers are getting started.
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| Front view with Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Coral' front and center |
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| Back view, showing off a couple of stems of a snapdragon planted as part of a mix of plugs in late October |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', noID Antirrhinum majus, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Grevillea 'Superb', Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral' |
A handful of blue flowers called out to me this week too. As we expect to see another atmospheric river flowing through Southern California beginning Tuesday evening and possibly extending into the weekend, I didn't hesitate to cut them to fill the small vase on our kitchen island. The butterfly-like flowers of Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense' in particular don't hold up well under pounding rain. The rain is welcome here, even if a soggy Christmas isn't ideal. However, I do hope it comes down gently so it doesn't worsen conditions in the burn or landslide areas.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: arrangement in place, overhead view, and closeups of Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche', noID Cyclamen, Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense', and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'. In retrospect, I should've used a softer foliage plant as a filler instead of the Cistus stems, but oh well. |
For more IAVOM creations, visit our band leader, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Perfect for the holidays. Cheers to the rain falling softly!
ReplyDeleteIn articles, the LA Times keeps warning of heavy rain, especially Tuesday night into Wednesday, so we can only hope that the storm arrives on little cat feet...
DeleteZinnia in December, who knew? I hope your wet Christmas isn't too wet.
ReplyDeleteThe zinnias may be a December fluke but it's worth testing it out again next year. So far the rest of my cutting garden is mostly slow-growing foliage with just the occasional short stem of blooms on the snaps and a single anemone bud.
DeleteSo pretty. Your gorgeous grevilleas hardly ever seem to stop blooming. I have always wanted to try Rotheca ' Ugandense' in the greenhouse or conservatory but I have never seen it for sale here. Such a pretty blue. I gather it is no longer a clerodendron. So lovely for you to have non stop flowers in your garden.
ReplyDeleteThat Grevillea 'Superb' literally does bloom year-round, despite several serious midyear pruning exercises. I have a second one in partial shade that hasn't grown nearly as large and blooms far less so the placement of the first may just be serendipitous. The local botanic garden has a massive Rotheca. Mine's in a half-barrel in a protected spot but my guess is that it wants more root space and sun to really thrive.
DeleteHow exciting to have found those zinnias and in a such a bright and cheery colour too - they add a nice festive touch to your grevillea. Your second vase is a lovely surprise, with it pretty blue and white blooms
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