In a Vase on Monday: Seeing purple

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.

It's a very heavy vase but I'm not sure that'd stop a cat prone to pushing her boundaries

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

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acanthus mollis, noID Gladious, noID Leucanthemum superbum, Limonium perezi, Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea'

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

View from my office window

I inevitably spend a fair amount of time sitting at my home office computer over the course of a week.  There are two large windows to my right, which means I often find myself staring at the view of a particular section of my garden.  The activity at the three bird feeders frequently draws my attention, and if their chirping doesn't do that, the cat's chattering at the birds from her seat at the window does.  As I write this, the birds are staring at me, seemingly wondering if I'm going to refill their feeders before they're entirely empty.  However, what's repeatedly had me staring out the window this week hasn't been the birds so much as the mix of colors around the feeder.

This is the view in question.  What grabbed my attention on this occasion was the gladiola at the center of this shot.  Its bold color drew my eye but what really stood out was that it's blooming in early February!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day falls on Sunday which, if forecasters are to be believed, could be the start of several rainy days for us.  I've already been gathering photos for an early Bloom Day post targeted for Friday but, instead of burying the floral display outside my window within that post, I thought I'd share the details with you in this much shorter one.

This was one of a mix of Gladiolus nanus bulbs I planted in March 2025 for early summer blooms.  I hadn't expected a yellow and coral flower in the mix.  Last year it bloomed in late June.  I believe this is a variety called 'Las Vegas'.  Yesterday, I ordered 10 more bulbs of this specific variety as it's perfect for this bed, especially if it makes a habit of flowering in tandem with the plants around it.

The Arbutus 'Marina', pruned hard in late November, is back in bloom with its coral-pink flowers, beloved by hummingbirds

The hummers also appreciate the flowers of Lantana camara 'Irene'

I haven't yet cut back all the colorful bracts of Leucadendron 'Blush'

and I apparently missed trimming back a few of the stems of Leucadendron 'Jester'

Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' is just starting her bloom cycle

Lobelia laxiflora, cut back in December, is also mounting its return

There's a good chance of light rain during the wee hours tonight before the larger rain system in the offing for the coming week moves in.  The cloudy gray skies I see out the window lend some real credibility to that claim.  I don't expect it to be much but, as our last rain fell in early January, whatever we get will be welcome.  I'll end this post with a wider shot of the garden beds in view outside my office window before I take my camera out to capture photos of other parts of my garden in preparation for Bloom Day - and fill up the bird feeders of course.

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

In a Vase on Monday: The first lilies!

The first lilies to bloom and the first to land in one of my vases are different in this case.  The first flower of the first bloom stalk of 'Lilium 'Orange Planet' opened a week ago and yesterday five of those flowers were open but, with seven more still tightly in bud on that same stalk, I couldn't bring myself to cut it yet even though there are two other 'Orange Planet' bloom stalks with buds.  However, another lily variety set behind 'Orange Planet' made a surprise appearance with a stalk containing five flowers, three of which were already open.  As that lily wasn't readily visible anyway, I didn't hesitate to cut it.

I think this lily featured was among the first bulbs I planted here but I've no record of its name.  My best guess based on online comparisons is that it could be 'Royal Sunset'.  I used stems of other orange and yellow flowers in my back garden to accent the lilies.

I filled out the back view with Achillea 'Moonshine' and the foliage of Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'

Overhead view: In addition to 2 varieties of Leucospermums, I found a single yellow and orange gladiola blooming below the bloom stalks of Lilium 'Orange Planet'.  According to my record and my recollection, I planted bulbs of Gladiolus nanus 'Dwarf Mix' in that area in early March but this surprise gladiola flower doesn't match up with photos of those at all.  I won't be sad it they all look like the surprise stem but I'm also not counting on that being the case.

Clockwise from the upper left: Achillea 'Moonshine', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Lobelia laxiflora, noID yellow and orange Gladiolus, Leucospermum 'Brandi Dela Cruz', L. 'Sunset', and mystery Lilium (that might be 'Royal Sunset')

This is the only arrangement I'm including in this week's IAVOM post.  Last week's peony arrangement is still in place, although I've removed two of the spent peonies and shifted that vase in our front entry.  I continue to cut sweet peas every few day for our kitchen island and I've been giving bunches of those flowers away every time there's an opportunity.  The lily arrangement received pride of place on the dining room table.

To find other 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: 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: Lilies & Thistles

This week, my arrangements differ in texture as much as color.  The lilies in my garden have been appearing one after another and, as heat is in the forecast, I thought it best to use at least some of them in vases while I can.

Lilium 'Friso' offered its first blooms this week.  I'd completely forgotten about them and failed to cage them as protection against the hungry rabbits but they weren't touched this year, perhaps because they're partially engulfed by the surrounding plants.

Back view: I added a single Lilium 'Pretty Woman' (which I had caged) and 2 stems of white Agapanthus that were blocking the dirt path I use when cleaning up the back garden border

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, noID Alstroemeria, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Lilium 'Friso', L. 'Pretty Woman', and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

My selection of thistles for my second vase wasn't planned.  As I was cleaning up parts of my garden on Saturday, I discovered that the fancy artichoke in my back garden border had either been knocked to the ground by a critter overnight, or simply fallen over under its own considerable weight.

I only have a few vases heavy enough to hold the weight of the artichoke upright.  I had to cut off the 2 side chokes because the stem of this central choke was greater than an inch in diameter just by itself.  The artichoke was more prickly than many of the agaves in my collection.

Back view:  Even with just a single artichoke stem, I could only squeeze in a few other slender stems 

Top view: The additions included a few stems of Eryngium planum (aka sea holly) and the papery flowers of Limonium perezii (aka sea lavender).  Although the Eryngium was past its prime,  its purply stems and spent brown flowers played off the colors of the artichoke.

Clockwise from the left: Cynara scolymus 'Purple Romagna', Erngium planum 'Blue Glitter', and Limonium perezii

 

I honestly hadn't planned any additional arrangements but ended up with two more anyway.  In one case, I'd cut flowers to be included in the vase containing the artichoke but popped them into a tiny vase when I decided the stems were too short to make an impact in that arrangement.

I used my small cactus-shaped vase to hold a few stems of Melaleuca thymifolia, Polygala myrtifolia, and Scabiosa columbaria 'Deep Blue'.  The unusual flowers of the Melaleuca are particularly difficult to photograph.

 

In the last case, the second of the beautiful Gladiolus 'Guinea' in another back garden border flopped over on its own and I couldn't bear letting it go to waste.

The top row shows the small vase holding the gladiola from the front, back and top.  I used just 2 stems of Grevillea 'Superb' and several stems of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' to accompany Gladiolus 'Guinea'.

 

We managed to avoid the heat that afflicted much of Los Angeles County last week but this week's heat sounds more menacing.  Hopefully, our morning marine layer will stick with us now, when it's really needed and keep those afternoon temperatures within bounds, but with the weather world-wide becoming less predictable, who knows?

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

 

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Tropical punch

The title of this post came to me as I was cutting flowers for the arrangement shown below.  My climate can't really be considered "tropical" but the lilies I fixated on have that vibe, as did the gladiola that pulled the composition together.

The gladiola surprised me as I thought I'd pulled out all of them at the north end of the back garden last year after the rabbits made a feast of many of the plants in that area.  I'd forgotten there were any lilies there at all as they hadn't bloomed last year.  Buried under an overgrown Arbutus 'Marina' (strawberry tree), I didn't even see them until I cut some of its foliage back last week.

Back view:  I found a second cluster of lilies, also partly hidden by surrounding foliage, on the other end of the back garden

Top view: I hadn't considered adding the "purple" snapdragons until I noticed how well they picked up the edge of that unusual gladiola

Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Pink', A. m. 'Chantilly Purple', Gladiolus 'Guinea', Lilium 'Montego Bay', Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny', Leucospermum 'Spider Hybrid', Lobelia laxiflora, and Lilium 'Orange Planet'

 

My second arrangement might look autumnal but the key components are summer bloomers here.

My inspiration was the flowers of Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl', which I'm growing for the first time this year after admiring those featured by Amelia, The Shrub Queen

Back view:  I added dried stems of Aristea inaequalis, as well as stems of the restio, Chondropetalum elephantipes, to pick up the brown tones in the sunflowers

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Aristea ineaqualis (dried stems and seedpods), Chrondropetalum elephantipes, Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl', Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Tagetes lemmonii, and a shaggy form of Leucanthemum x superbum

 

We've had a lot more sun for the past week and, although the morning marine layer is still hanging on, it's been evaporating earlier with each passing day.  The good news is that the marine layer has kept our afternoon temperatures in a comfortable range.

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

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Kicking off the summer season

Today is Memorial Day in the US.  Officially, it's a day to recognize the people who gave their lives in military service.  Unofficially, it marks the start of summer.  In Southern California gardens, flowering Agapanthus are another sign of summer so it seemed appropriate to use them in an arrangement this week.

 

Along with the blue and white Agapanthus, Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) seems to be taking off at last

Back view: I used the last of the larkspur (Consolida ajacis) and the sweet peas from my cutting garden to fill out the arrangement

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, Eustoma grandiflorum, Consolida ajacis, and Lathyrus odoratus

I cleared out large sections of the raised planters in my cutting garden late last week.  Taking out the sweet pea vines revealed three stems of gladiolas, which provided the contents for my second arrangement.

I thought I'd removed all gladiola bulbs from my raised planters last fall but apparently I missed a few

Back view: I made use of the various pink Alstroemeria varieties as flesh out the arrangement

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Argyranthemum frutescens, White Butterfly', noID Gladiolus, and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'

 

Flags are at half-staff today across the US in observance of Memorial Day.  They were at half-staff at all federal buildings last week from Tuesday through Saturday to acknowledge yet another massacre of innocent children by a gunman.  A cloud is hanging over our country.  Meanwhile, the US Congress is on a weeklong break associated with the Memorial Day holiday and some members of the Senate are probably hoping the American public has a very short attention span.

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

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party