In a Vase on Monday: Maroon and Pink

In scouting my garden in advance of Bloom Day, I noticed that the Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl,' featured earlier in my January Bloom Day post, are still blanketed in flowers.  The small pink flowers have burgundy centers, which I thought might provide a nice complement to the maroon red spikes of one of the Antirrhinum majus growing in my vegetable garden.  Despite my reliance on drip irrigation and the great care I've taken to avoid getting the snapdragon foliage wet, they're once again under attack by rust.  They'll probably have to be pulled soon so I'd like to make use of the blooms while I can.  Cathy's meme at Rambling in the Garden provided me the necessary impetus to get to it.

Bouquet photographed outside the front door

A shot showing the arrangement from the top

Close-up of snapdragon and Leptospermum flower

As my husband had taken over the kitchen, my favorite place to take photographs of my bouquets, I had to go outside to take these pictures.   Outside of the kitchen, which is mostly white, either the light or the background tends to present a problem.

With its woody stems, it remains to be seen how well the Leptospermum will hold up in the vase but I cut deeply into the wood to facilitate the stems' ability to take up water.  In addition to the Leptospermum and the Antirrhinum, I added Abelia x grandiflora 'Confetti' as a foliage accent, cream-colored sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus 'Perfume Delight') for scent, and a stem of Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack' for a deeper red element.  I used a painted glass vase my mother gave me many, many years ago because it picked up the colors of the flowers.

Fuzzy close-up of Abelia x grandiflora 'Confetti'

Close-up of Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack,' highlighting just how deep its red color is

I'd cut Alstroemeria and Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' when I was out in the garden but I thought they detracted from the arrangement so the extra flowers went into a separate vase that ended up in the guest bathroom.

This week's floral rejects

These bouquets are my contributions to Cathy's collection of floral constructions this week.  You can view Cathy's own creation - and find links to other floral concoctions - here.  My thanks again to Cathy for getting me back in the habit of cutting flowers for use in the house.

Garden Therapy

At one time, when I was stressed or upset, I'd engage in retail therapy.  These days I can hardly stand to go shopping (unless it's for plants, of course).  Gardening is my preferred therapeutic outlet.  This week I spent most of my free time in the garden, tidying things up, watering, and planting.  My extended fountain border is 80 percent done.  Because I'm buying my plants in the smallest sizes available to give them the best possible chance of developing healthy root systems in the soil I've provided for them, the bed still looks pretty bare; however, my side yard filled in fairly quickly in 6 months and I'm hoping this new bed does as well.

Hazy morning view of the new bed from the backyard door

View of the new border from the north end

View of the same border from the south end

I was going to include a list of plants here but I realized it would be ridiculously long.  The total currently amounts to over 140 individual plants, falling into 40 different genera (and that doesn't include the seeds I've direct sown or the cuttings I'm in the process of rooting).  A few plants were featured in an earlier post.  The majority of the plants were purchased specifically for this bed but a few were moved from other areas of the garden.  Some of the edging materials came in small 6-packs, saving me a bit of money, which is a good thing as I still have empty spaces to fill.  I've been looking for Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift' and Uncina uncinata 'Rubra' but neither are currently available locally.  I know it's early in the year to be looking for the Coreopsis, which the local nurseries usually only offer in flower so I may have to resort to mail order.  I've found a variety of the Uncinia in 3-quart pots but the price is high and it lacks the vibrancy of the variety I used in my other backyard border so I'll wait until Annie's Annuals has more available for mail order.

The feature plants in the new bed are a Japanese maple, a Leucadendron, and a Phormium.

Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa,' which in time should grow to about 6 feet tall

Leucadendron 'Rising Sun,' which should also grow to 6 feet in height at maturity

Phormium 'Amazing Red,' a relatively short variety, growing just 2 feet in height

The Phormium pictured above is actually in the side yard but I bought another of the same variety for the new border to help connect the 2 areas.  Two Carex testacea were moved from the side border to the new border for the same purpose.  Two new pots, both planted with Euphorbia and the same mix of succulents, mark the transition from the flagstone path of the side yard to the grass pathway that runs between the new border and the pre-existing backyard border.

Pot containing Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid,' Graptoveria 'Fred Ives,' Portulacaria afra, Rhipsalis ewaldiana, and unknown Echeveria

Pot containing the same mix of plants on the other side of the pathway

In addition to the long border described above, I've planted the bed formerly occupied by our "snorkel spa," which was dismantled in January with plans to use the wood to make a table for the back patio.  The space went from this:

The snorkel spa before it was taken apart

To this:

The bed after the spa was removed and the gravel was cleared

To this:

The bed after planting

This bed, sitting alongside one of our Arbutus 'Marina' trees, has given me a place to put some red-toned plants that clash with plants elsewhere in my garden.  Four of the plants in this bed were moved from other areas: a Loropetalum chinense, the Driyms lanceolata, the largest of the 3 Argyranthemum, and a purple/red Ranunculus.  The Loropetalum, which had been in danger of being consumed by an overly exuberant gray Helichrysum in the side yard, is no more than twigs with a few leaves but I'm hopeful it will fare better here.  My favorite addition to this bed (other than the still tiny Paeonia cambesseddesii in the middle front) is Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack.'  A perennial Dianthus, this plant is new to me.  It was advertised as "almost black" in color but the flowers are actually burgundy.

Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack'

I feel I've made good progress with my backyard renovation projects, even though there's still a lot to do.  The garden is also a good place to regroup and refocus - and time spent there never results in buyer's remorse.