I thought I'd have a few lilies in bloom this week but they weren't quite ready to take off yet. So I decided to cut stems of the purple gladiolas I'd been eyeing last week. The trouble was finding other flowers that would show them off. I ended up adding two tall Acanthus mollis stems to balance them out. Combining those and a few other smaller plants were enough to call it an arrangement. I can only hope that the cat won't send the large crystal vase crashing to the floor before the week is over.
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| It's a very heavy vase but I'm not sure that'd stop a cat prone to pushing her boundaries |
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| Back view: I included stems of the purple-leafed Vitex trifolia but unfortunately it takes a good day for the stems to recover after they've been cut, hence the droop in these photos |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acanthus mollis, noID Gladious, noID Leucanthemum superbum, Limonium perezi, Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea' |
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| Arrangement in place in the dining room |
It's getting warmer here and the dahlia tubers that are still in temporary pots could use more space to spread out so I think my sweet peas may half to go soon. It's too bad; however, this year's crop was somewhat disappointing. I can already see signs of mildew on the foliage too.
Thanks, as always, to Cathy at at Rambling in the Garden for hosting IAVOM. Best wishes to all for a colorful week!
All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Meeko! I hope she didn't get curious. :) I love the Nigella in the combination, but the glads steal the show!
ReplyDeleteOh, she's always curious, just less often destructive. Fingers crossed!
DeleteI always look forward to IVOM. It makes a lovely way to start the week. Hopefully, Meeko will be a good kitty this week.
ReplyDeleteOne can only hope!
DeleteThose glads are really stunning.The trick was to find something to match it for scale, and the acanthus was a stoke of genius.
ReplyDeleteNigella papillosa 'African Bride' and Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea' are excellent addition to any vase.
Chavli
I held off on using the Nigella in a vase this year and almost lost the opportunity.
DeleteThe Vitex trifolia is really special, Kris. That color is so unique. And the collage really puts it all into perspective. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteIf only I thought to cut the Vitex ahead of schedule!
DeleteThat purple glad is stunning and I love the purple foliage of Vitex trifolia. So unique. My sweet peas are finally just growing along with dahlias, cosmos and zinnias I started from seed a couple weeks back. But the garden is behind. Our warm up today to 94 is extreme and we will fade back to the 60s the rest of the week. But it looks like warm weather is gearing up for the end of May.
ReplyDelete94 degrees?! That's worse than SoCal but then we had temperatures in the 90s back in March. The weather is certainly getting more and more unpredictable.
DeleteThat is a beautiful gladiola!
ReplyDeleteIt is! I wish I could remember its name.
DeleteBeautiful colour of gladiola. Have never seen such a deep blue. Glad to see you are up to arranging again.
ReplyDeleteThanks Elaine. I'm not doing as much but I'm trying!
DeleteThat's a very striking gladiolus, Kris, and when the vine foliage perks up again it will be such an appropriate accompaniment - as is the acanthus, with its darker hints. Hope you are continuing to improve
ReplyDeleteStill baby steps, Cathy. My garden's struggling too.
DeleteBeautiful colours Kris, and a great idea to add the Acanthus. I would love to grow that again one day, but I seem to remember it is a rather prickly plant… !
ReplyDeleteIt IS a rather prickly plant, Cathy, but less so than most agaves ;)
DeleteMeeko! Here kitty, kitty! Look at the pretty flowers! (JK. Gorgeous vase)
ReplyDeleteShe did no harm on this occasion luckily :)
DeleteOur Linny is obsessed with water. We had a house guest for two weeks who would leave glasses of water around the house and then suddenly we'd all hear a crash! as Linny tried to get a drink. He definitely would not be able to leave that vase alone. I hope Meeko did!
ReplyDeleteShe did! That vase was probably a bit too heavy for her to handle (thankfully).
DeleteFabulous!
DeleteLove the purples.
Thanks HB. I tried giving the Vitex stems a brief scalding with hot water to encourage them to rebound more quickly but that proved to be counterproductive :(
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