In a Vase on Monday: Limited Choices

I got an early start on Sunday, planning to take advantage of a break in the rain.

I was rewarded by a pretty sunrise

Unfortunately, that break didn't last as long as I'd expected so I wasn't able to dilly-dally about my selections this week.  There also weren't a lot of flowers that held up under the near constant rain we've had over the last couple of weeks.  I grabbed what I had available.  My Aeonium arboreum succulents (aka tree houseleeks) are in bloom, and they're not bothered by rain at all.  Only a relatively small portion of those succulent rosettes bloom each year; however, my informal count indicates that there are nearly a hundred in bud or bloom at the moment.  I've referred to the tall bloom stalks as "Triffids," a reference to an old science fiction movie that featured carnivorous plants that attempted to take over the earth.  Three of these ended up in a vase this week with just a few other stems.

Almost all the Aeonium arboreum bloom stalks have a dunce-cap shape with small florescent yellow flowers

Back view: I used Acacia cognata as a foliage filler and the colorful bracts of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' as a "floral" accent

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Aeonium arboreum, Argyranthemum 'Mount Everest', and Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'

I filled just the one vase.  Luckily, both of last week's arrangements are still looking good.

Both last week's arrangements were almost fully intact.  The original Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant' in the arrangement fell apart yesterday morning but I'd already rescued another stem of the same anemone as a replacement.

It looks as though the rain may be done for at least awhile beginning today.  I'm looking forward to dry conditions for a change so I can get back to work in my garden.  Hopefully, the plants in my cutting garden won't be flattened next week.

To find other IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

The return of the Triffids

The Triffids do not exist in real life but, whenever my tree houseleeks (Aeonium arboreum) produce their dunce-capped bright yellow flowers, I think of those fictional plants.  I saw the science fiction/horror movie featuring them just once many years ago.  The film was already old at that point but, for some reason, it stuck in my memory - maybe because who thinks of plants turning against people?!  The "Triffids" of the tale (first described in a book and later represented in a movie and a TV series) were giant carnivorous plants of unclear origin that walked the earth, killing people.  Aeoniums don't eat people but they do seem take over landscapes if allowed to do so and, when they bloom, they can't be ignored.  Bloom stalks show up early in the year and suddenly the flowers are everywhere, at a time when my garden is otherwise relatively subdued.

They're impossible to miss.

For the record, yellow is one of my favorite colors but this display is a bit too much for me

And the plants are known to surreptitiously take over my garden beds

I also really hate it when the prettiest of my Aeoniums, like the rosettes of this 'Mardi Gras' cultivar, all bloom at the same time without leaving any offsets behind to replace them

However, I do like the flowerless Aeonium rosettes and I frequently use cuttings to fill in empty spaces as they're virtually indestructible plants in my climate.  Most branch out in time and eventually they get tall.  Although some of the larger cuttings bloom within a year, most take several years to flower.  Periodically, I find they've gotten out of hand, at which point they need to be either replaced, either by new cuttings or different plants altogether.

This small but dense planting of Aeoniums at the base of one of the raised planters in my cutting garden suddenly fell into decline over the past month or so and I decided they had to go

 

The plants aren't hard to pull but there were a lot of them and the mass had grown well over 2 feet tall.  It took a good hour to pull them out; take some cuttings; and clean up the mass of debris left behind.  I filled half of one of our green bins.

I'd planned to simply replant a handful of these cuttings on the spot but, with rain falling earlier than expected, I decided to leave the area alone for a time.  There may be an opportunity to plant something else there.

Last January, I pulled a larger area of Aeoniums out under the citrus tress in the cutting garden.  I ended up sowing California poppy seeds there and planting Gazinias and Lotus bethelotii in that bed.  The 2 Lotus plants alone have covered over half the space.

After receiving 3.83 inches of rain within the last couple of weeks, the soil is saturated and, following a short pause, more rain is expected on Saturday, continuing into early next week.  I've therefore placed the decision about replanting the small bed on a temporary hold.  In the meantime, I've taken down our Christmas tree and tucked all the ornaments away to give the new year a fresh start.  I'm already looking forward to an early spring.

The first 2 blooms of Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' opened literally overnight to make their appearance on New Year's Day

Best wishes for a colorful weekend.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party