In a Vase on Monday: The blues

It's been an odd spring.  It started off early as usual here in late February.  I posted photos of my first Dutch Iris on March 1st.  Unfortunately, as I ended up in the hospital, most of the Iris were gone by the time I got home later that month.  I only recently got back to doing any gardening.  My dahlia bulbs have gotten started in pots but it'll be a while before I see any flowers from them.  In the meantime, I'm making use of my blue flowers in the form of agapanthus and larkspur.  Here's this week's vase.

Too much?  Most of the noID Agapanthus came with house.  The flowers return reliably each year.

Back view: The larkspur (Consolida ajacis) flowered better this year than last but still not as well as in previous years.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: 'Abelia 'Hopley's Variegated, noID blue and white Agapanthus, Centranthus ruber 'Alba', noID Consolida ajacis, and Echium 'Star of Madeira'

After an extended heatwave in March, April was comfortable but it's been on the cool side for the past week.  I'm hoping for sunnier skies and warmer temperatures in the low 70s (22C) later this week.

For more IAVOM posts, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

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

In a Vase on Monday: The first dahlias

Dahlia buds take their time about opening but 'Mikayla Miranda' came through this week while my others continue to dilly-dally.  Luckily, it's one of my favorites, which makes the slow roll of the rest more tolerable.

This is the 4th year in a row I've grown 'Mikayla Miranda', all from divisions of a single tuber I purchased in 2022

Back view: I used foxglove stems as the primary accent, the majority of which came from a single plant that keeps on giving.  The other 2 fillers, stems of common myrtle and the sweet pea shrub (Polygala myrtifolia), were mostly buried in the mix.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', Digitalis purpurea, Myrtus communis, and Polygala myrtifolia

Dahlia 'Labyrinth' has produced just a single open flower thus far so I elected to hold off on using it until it makes more of an effort.  Three other dahlias are showing color and all but eight of my twenty plants are flaunting buds.  The stragglers look as though they're ready to pop, however.  In the interim, I decided to take advantage of the newest Agapanthus blooms as the blue notes in my garden are rapidly fading under our increasingly warm temperatures.

I used 3 different varieties of Agapanthus

Back view: I struggled to find suitable filler and ended up with a diverse hodge-podge

Overhead view

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Billardiera heterophylla, and Myrtus communis
Middle: Agapanthus 'Elaine', noID, and 'Twister'
Bottom: green Eustoma grandiflorum, Felicia aethiopica, and Globularia x indubia

The afternoon temperatures are relatively comfortable by our standards, running in the low-to-mid 80sF (28-29C) but our air quality is awful.  I can't even see the outlines of the mountains to the east and I'm not inclined to take deep breaths when outside.  While I'd gotten a little tired of our persistent afternoon winds, I'm now wishing they'd kick up again.  Under the circumstances, I'm not sure how much work I'll be putting into the garden until there's some improvement.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, the conductor of our merry band.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: More lilies

The Agapanthus, commonly known as Lily of the Nile and African Lily, are nearing full bloom throughout my garden.  They're not true lilies and, according to Wikipedia, the genus consists of only six to ten species (depending upon the expert consulted). Agapanthus were once classified in the family Liliaceae but was removed in 1985 and has bounced around since then.  If I've read its history correctly, they're currently situated in the expanded Amaryillidaceae family.  

The vast majority of my Agapanthus came with the property.  They're so easy to grow here that you often see them planted in places like gas stations, where they get little to no care.  Because they're so ubiquitous, Californians often dismiss them, although the evergreen plants are attractive year-round in my climate, the flowers are pretty, and they bloom for a relatively long period.  I suspect mine could benefit from dividing and thinning but I can't even bring myself to consider getting around to that anytime soon.  I cut seven stems in varying colors as a start for today's first arrangement.

You can't ignore those beautiful blue flowers.  Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) make perfect companions.  They also remind me of a friend who passed away 6 years ago following a bout with cancer.  She bought the daisy plants for me following the loss of my mother and I think of both of them every year when the ruffled daisies bloom.

Back view, once again using the tall vase my husband recently gave me

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, Agapanthus in dark blue, light blue, and white; Consolida ajacis (larkspur) in dark blue and lavender; Globularia x indubia (globe daisy); and noID Leucanthemum x superbum

The true lilies also continue to roll out in my garden.  I couldn't help myself from cutting a stem of one of the new ones I planted as bulbs this year.

I pre-ordered Orienpet Lilium 'Zelmira' bulbs sometime last fall and completely forgot about them until they arrived like a surprise

Back view: I was initially at a loss for companions for the peachy-pink lily until I noticed the variegated foliage of Leucadendron 'Jester' growing in the shade.  It's softer in color than another 'Jester' I have growing in full sun.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Leucadendron 'Jester', Cenchrus orientalis (formerly classified as Pennisetum orientale, aka oriental fountain grass), Grevillea 'Poorinda Leanne', and Lilium 'Zelmira'

Lilium 'Orange Planet' is still going strong.  The tallest stalk produced twenty buds in total.  I've cut off the spent flowers but there are still eleven open flowers and one bud on that stalk.  The smaller stalk I cut for a vase last week still had five open flowers yesterday, although I had to cut the stem down to four flowers to fit it into a more diminutive vase for the kitchen island.

The Orienpet Lilies have a long vase life!

By my count, there are five more lily varieties to show off in future vases, although I don't know if I'll manage to do that before their season comes to an end.  The bulbs don't last forever in the ground here.  Gophers have consumed some of the bulbs, including three Lilium 'Purple Prince' that disappeared following their first year of bloom.  In most cases, the critters take only one bulb at a time but I guess they really liked 'Purple Prince'.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, our gracious host.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Going big

I've got two larger arrangements this week.  That's unusual for me as I've a limited number of long-stemmed flowers and therefore generally stick to medium sized vases.  However, my husband bought me a tall vase as a birthday present and a good friend brought me a bundle of peonies on Saturday.  The two were made for one another so I had to go big there!  The challenge was to find materials in my garden to support the peonies.

The tallest flower stems I could find to back up the pink peonies were 2 white Agapanthus, neither of which had fully unfurled.  The taller pink Alstroemerias I usually pair with these peonies were gone but I scrounged up a few mid-sized stems that don't contribute much.

Back view: Only one of the peonies has opened thus far and, in the absence of other suitable flowers, I relied on foliage to fill out the vase, including 2 varieties of very feathery Leucadendrons

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', noID Agapanthus, noID Alstroemeria, Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown', L. laxum, and the noID peonies sourced by my friend from a chain store that generally offers them at this time of year

Coincidentally, I discovered two tall gladiola stems in the cutting garden bed holding my sweet peas last week.  I'd plopped several purple gladiola bulbs there years ago and tried to remove them at the end of that season but a few have stubbornly returned year-after-year ever since.  What's odd is that this year a white gladiola popped up with a purple one.  To my recollection, I've never planted a white gladiola anywhere.  In any case, cutting those two stems led me to seek out others of a similar height.

The unseasonably warm temperatures we've experienced on and off over a few weeks are quickly taking out my Renga lilies (Arthropodium cirratum) and my love-in-the-mist flowers (Nigella papillosa) so they were logical choices.  The sweet peas have rapidly picked up production and I cut some of those trailing stems to give them greater weight in the arrangement.

I filled out the back of the vase with the sprawling stems of Centaurea 'Silver Feather' 

A rather awkward overhead view

Top row: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', and Digitalis purpurea
Middle: Gladilolus 'Vuvuzela', noID white gladiola, and Nigella papillosa 'African Queen'
Bottom: Lathyrus odoratus 'April in Paris', 'Lord Nelson', and noID lavender variety

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Ensemble Casts

My garden's floral display is in the process of transitioning from spring to summer.  The spring bloomers are either fading or have been used too often already in my weekly vases.  Most of the summer bloomers are either just getting started, still in bud, or unable to serve starring roles on their own.  So my vases this week consist of ensemble casts, with each element collaborating with the others and no one plant playing a starring role.

My first arrangement is all about the blues in my garden.

The Agapanthus throughout the garden, most of which I inherited, already have bloom stalks and the first buds have begun to unfurl.  They started me off with blue flowers joining in from other corners of the garden.

Back view: Other contributors included stems of Ceanothus, Consolida ajacis (aka larkspur), Salvia, Billardiera (aka Australian blue creeper, formerly classified as Sollya heterophylla), and various sweet peas, finally making an appearance 

Overhead view: I added Nigella papillosa to add a touch of white

Top row: noID Agapanthus, Billardiera heterophylla, and noID Ceanothus
Middle: Consolida ajacis, Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'
Bottom: I sowed seeds of 5 varieties of Lathyrus odoratus, including 'April in Paris', 'Lord Nelson', and 'Royal Wedding' but I can't definitively account for the one on the far right

My second arrangement started out as a hodge-podge but, in the end, I found I liked it more than I'd expected to.

I started the second arrangement by harvesting the remaining sturdy stems of a pink Alstroemeria I inherited with the garden and the white snapdragons not yet too blemished by rust, then threw in several stems of ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum)

Back view: I added stems of Nigella and Calendula just because I'll be pulling out both in the near future to free space in my cutting garden

Overhead view: I added 2 stems of immature Daucus carota to see if the flowers would open when cut at this stage.  The Daucus self-seeded once again this year.

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Radiance', Antirrhinum majus, Callendula officianalis, noID Alstroemeria, Daucus carota 'Dara', Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Pelargonium peltatum (which is more dark pink than red as it appears in my photographs)

My sweet peas got a late start this year and, with one significant heatwave already registered, followed by a shorter, more moderate heatwave less than two weeks later, I don't expect them to hold up long so I've been cutting them almost as quickly as the flowers appear.  It also appears that birds are beheading a lot of the blooms even before I can cut them.  For those reasons, I popped a lot of shorter stems into a third vase for the kitchen island.

Their scent is of course wonderful with Lathyrus odoratus 'April in Paris' contributing the strongest note

The past weekend's weather couldn't have been better (except perhaps if we'd received a miraculous overnight rain shower).  It looks as though that trend may continue through next week.  I'm hoping that'll be the case anyway.  For those of you in the US, best wishes for a pleasant Memorial Day!

For more IAVOM creations, visit the leader of our merry band, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Getting back to work

I tested negative for COVID on Tuesday so I figured it was time to get back to work in my garden after nearly a two-week break.  The first task I tackled was cutting back the shaggy Agapanthus flower stalks. They were already looking sad when I left for the Fling but the higher temperatures during my absence left them looking even worse. 

Photo taken the evening of July 22nd

The back border presented a much neater appearance once the Agapanthus stalks were removed

For some reason, I always underestimate the time and effort that goes into their removal, even with the plants spread out throughout my garden.  The expanse in the mid-section of the back border shown above accounts for but a fraction of the total number of Agapanthus in my garden.  They populate other parts of the back garden, as well as numerous areas of the front garden.  I counted well over 150 stalks cut on Tuesday morning alone, only to belatedly realize that I'd missed a few dozen more growing in the shade beneath the large canopy of Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid'.

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a late July flush of blooms so I'm holding off on pruning it.  I've yet to get a clear handle on its bloom schedule.  A quick survey of my blog posts indicates that it's bloomed as early as April and as late as November.  It commonly, albeit not always, produces 2 flushes with an August flush being the most common.

Another pressing task was stripping the seedy stalks of Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) before it spreads ever wider.

The photo on the left was taken in early July and the photo on the right was taken on July 31st.  Thus far I've cleaned up about three-quarters of the feather grass clumps in my garden.

I didn't take a "before" short of the feather grass on either side of path off the south patio but this one was taken after I cleaned these clumps up.  In addition to raking out the seed, I pull out all or most of the dead grass too.

Did you notice that plant climbing above the clumps of Nassella on the left side of the above photo?  That's a Wisteria floribunda that came with the garden.  I've been trying to remove it since we moved in over twelve years ago.  I even brushed the vine's growing tips with a vine killer earlier this year.  I suspect its roots extend under the house.  In any case, it took advantage of my absence and weaved its way under the rain shields attached to the catio, which I failed to remove after I lost Pipig in June.  I've once again added its removal to my list of garden chores.

Another task added to my list upon my return home was the removal of the large and obviously dead Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike' in the front garden, which I noticed as soon as my husband and I turned into our driveway.

Definitely dead

This is what it looked like at its best in February 2019

It grew taller than expected and by July 2022 when this photo was taken I was already concerned about its placement on the edge of a moderate slope (which isn't readily visible from this angle).  I started trimming it back to control its height but not so hard that I thought it'd damage the plant.

I cut out 2 dead branches in late 2023 but it was evident from this photo under foggy skies in early July that the plant was on its way out so I can't say I was really surprised to find it dead

While I was weathering COVID, my husband removed the dead Leucadendron, which left a surprisingly small footprint given the plant's height and girth.  I'm currently planning to fill the bare space with succulents and more Lantana as the area is very dry.

My garden is in the process of descending into its summer doldrums stage, as it usually does in August; however, there are some bright spots.

Even with the vast majority of my Agapanthus gone, a few late bloomers with particularly deep blue flowers have made an appearance.  The one on the left is 'Elaine' and the one on the right is 'Stevie's Wonder'.

Aloe lukeana was producing a bloom stalk just before I left and I almost missed the show

The dahlias are coming on at last.  Clockwise from the upper left are 2 views of 'Break Out', 'Creme de Cognac', 'Catching Fire', and 'Vancouver'.  'Summer's End', already featured in one floral arrangement, has many more blooms pending.  Other dahlias in bud include: 'Excentric', 'Labyrinth', 'Luna', and 'Mikayla Miranda'.  The slow pokes include 'Brown Sugar', 'Fairway Spur', 'Hometown Hero', 'Iceberg' and 'Lady Darlene'.  I'd virtually given up on 'Belle of Barmera' but she finally sprouted so I've given her space to catch up with the others if she can.

The Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara' plugs I ordered by mail last year are picking up speed (left) and a handful of seed-sown Zinnias are coming on, which off-hand I can't identify as I mixed up my seeds

And these Protea nerifolia buds may not not like much but I'm thrilled to see them!  The one on the left is 'Claire' and the one on the right is 'Pink Ice'.  Although the photos don't reflect it, the 'Pink Ice' buds are quite large already.  I purchased 'Pink Ice' in December 2016 but didn't put it in the ground until December 2018.  Two small buds dried out and failed to bloom last year but I'm feeling better about the 5 buds the plant currently has.  'Claire' was a purchase from Flora Grubb Gardens in December 2023 and has just 2 buds so far.

Absent a Paxlovid rebound, my husband and I are looking forward to returning to our normal routines on Sunday when we should be able to call my COVID episode over and out, eliminating the "his" and "her" divisions of our household we created to protect him from exposure to the virus when I tested positive.  The repiping project that demanded our attention during the two weeks prior to my Fling trip was finished up on July 17th, except that the pipes have been groaning on and off whenever hot water is running in the kitchen or the bathrooms.  That problem has yet to be fully resolved.  The plumbing contractor claimed the problem lay with our weather heater (installed in 2019), which the company's representatives dispute; however, my scientist husband has conducted his own evaluation of the water heater and now believes it has to be replaced even as the company that built it continues to argue the matter.  Work on our chimney has been delayed another week but at least that should be done before we're likely to see rain again.

Best wishes for a healthy and stress-free weekend!

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party