In a Vase on Monday: Some flowers keep on giving...

I had Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) in mind when I selected the title of today's post but the statement applies to other flowers in the arrangements shown below as well.  Our marine layer and cooler temperatures are partially responsible for the resilience of some plants this year but others are just plain tough.

The first arrangement was inspired by two roses, which aren't tough at all.  There was a chance of rain in the early hours of Sunday morning and the irrigation system was also scheduled to run.  Neither does many favors for full blown roses so I cut four stems Saturday evening.  However, the Alstroemeria and Grevillea stems I added are the toughies.

Grevillea 'Superb' is currently flowering so heavily, it demanded to be cut back.  This shrub flowers year-round but I've never seen it flowering as heavily as it has this year.

Back view

Top view

Top row: Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and Alstroemerias 'Third Harmonic' and 'Inca Husky'
Second row: Grevillea 'Superb' and Alstroemerias 'Indian Summer' and 'Inca Sundance'
Third row: Rosa 'Golden Celebration', R. 'Medallion', and Xylosma congestum

 

My second arrangement was inspired by Helleborus 'Anna's Red'.  Hellebores may bloom plentifully in many places but the same can't be said for their performance in my garden.  Only two varieties bloomed this year.  'Anna's Red' surprised me by producing new stems relatively recently.  I added stems of two more vigorous plants, an Alstroemeria and an ivy geranium (Pelargonium peltatum), to complement the hellebore, along with new blooms from Daucus carota 'Dara'.

I stuffed too much into this vase (as usual)

Back view: The Daucus carota shown here may be the biggest one I've ever seen

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Salvia lanceolata, noID Alstroemeria, Daucus carota 'Dara', Helleborus 'Anna's Red', and Pelargonium peltatum 'Dark Burgundy'

 

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: A snappy parade

I've always had trouble growing snapdragons, which is sad because I love the flowers.  But our morning marine layer; the fact that most, if not all, of the rain we get comes in winter when the plants are commonly offered by local garden centers; and the frequency with which moisture-laden mornings are followed by stretches of warm, dry days creates an incubator for rust.  Within a couple of weeks of planting the plugs or four-inch pots I buy, their foliage is covered in rust and I end up pulling them up.  The one upside of the exceptionally dry winter we've had is that my snapdragons look great.   I've used snapdragons in both arrangements I created this week.

While snapdragons set the course for this week's floral parade, it can be argued that Leucospermum 'Brandi' stole the show

Back view: The Freesias are fading fast as our daytime temperature climbed to 87F (30C) yesterday so I threw in some of those too

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Freesia, Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset', orange Anthirrhinum majus, and Leucospermum 'Brandi'

I used two colors of snapdragons in the second arrangement.

Once again, although the snapdragons dictated the color palette, another flower, this time an Anemone, grabbed center stage.  The Anemone coronaria 'Bi-color' may not be the one I ordered but in this case I'm not unhappy with the substitution.

Back view

Top view

Top row: Anemone coronaria 'Bi-color' and Helleborus 'Anna's Red'
Middle row: red and white Antirrhinum majus
Bottom row: Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', white Freesia, and Coleonema 'Album'

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

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: New blooms take the stage

With daytime temperatures now in the 60sF, spring is creeping ever closer.  The gold-toned Freesias that have naturalized to form a thick mass on one side of the fountain suddenly burst into bloom.  With the flowers flopping all over one another, they were a logical choice to cut for "In a Vase on Monday" this week.  The challenge was to find something to complement their strong color without being overwhelmed by it.  A couple of calla lilies from the back slope did the job.

The calla lilies still haven't appeared in large numbers but two stems were enough on this occasion

The Moroccan daisies have short stems but they still do a good job of dressing up the base of an arrangement

The velvety leaves of the peppermint geranium provided the foliage accent

Clockwise from the upper left: Freesia, Abelia grandiflora 'Radiance, Pelargonium tomentosum (aka peppermint geranium), Zantedeschia aethiopica (aka calla lily), and Pyrethropsis hosmariense (aka Moroccan daisy)

My hellebores have also produced their first flowers.  I'd been hoping to combine 'Anna's Red' with the flowers of a Cyclamen in a similar shade so I cut both for a second vase.  Unfortunately, the tiny Cyclamen flowers got lost in the vase I'd selected so I ended up starting the arrangement all over again using a different vase.

I love the color of this vase but it has a narrow and irregular neck that limits how much I can shove down its throat.  I had to jettison some of the stems I'd cut as they were either too fragile or too thick to cram in.

Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy's' thin stems were no problem

Top view

Clockwise from the left: Helleborus 'Anna's Red', Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Hebe (Veronica) 'Wiri Blush', and Westringia 'Morning Light'

The leftovers, including the tiny noID Cyclamen, two fat stems of noID Alstroemeria and extra stems of the Hebe and Gomphrena were popped into a 3-inch vase

Last week's "tulip" vase is still on the dining room table and one of the orchids I received last week is in the front entry so the new vases ended up in areas that don't get flowers as often.

I pulled 3 stems of Narcissus from last week's vase and added one new stem of the same flower but I was impressed by how well the arrangement held up overall.  The "tulips" are now more green than yellow but the Leucadendron stems are still in good shape.

The Freesia arrangement ended up in the living room and the other two vases landed on the master bedroom mantel

For more Monday vases, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

My favorite plants this January

In contrast to other years, the stars of my winter garden have been relatively slow about showing their stuff this year.  That may be due to the colder temperatures we've experienced since December, the drought, or a combination of the two.  Whatever the case, the situation has changed over the course of the last couple of weeks.  As Loree of danger garden is back from her holiday hiatus with her monthly favorites post, it's a perfect time to show off some of the current stars of my garden.

The first is Helleborus x 'Anna's Red'.  I picked this plant up at the late, great Sperling Nursery last year principally for its pretty foliage.  As I remember, it was the last one they had, my friend having snatched up the only other one on the table.  Frankly, I didn't expect much from it as hellebores don't do particularly well here so, last week when I saw buds on the plant, I was very excited.

I enjoyed the attractive foliage all last year but the appearance of flowers put the plant over the top for me

I love the flowers even if they do insist on pointing their faces toward the ground

And look!  There are more flowers to come!

I've flaunted photos of my Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' in other posts this month but I can't help myself from doing so again.  The plant in the front garden is covered in blooms and buds.  I stopped counting after two dozen.

The buds don't show up well in this sun-saturated photo but, believe me, there are lots of them

The flowers gradually turn peachier as they mature

But that's not the only Grevillea putting on a show at the moment.  Grevillea 'Superb' is also living up to its name.

This Grevillea 'Superb' is loaded with blooms

The mature flowers of 'Superb' are longer but narrower than those of 'Peaches & Cream'

Another plant that's living up to its name is Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'.  Its winter color is showing with the development of its cones and yellow bracts.

This plant moved here with me from our former house, where it lived in a pot.  Once planted in the ground, it exploded in size.

It looks like a flower, doesn't it?

This is my second 'Wilson's Wonder'.  Planted in November 2014, it's still relatively small.

Before I end this post, I also want to give a shout out to Arctotis 'Pink Sugar'.  Its blooms may be late in arriving but it's quickly making up for lost time.

'Pink Sugar' does a good job of complementing Phormium 'Maori Queen' 

If the flowers didn't close in low light, I'd be using them regularly in vases

Despite our drought, I know I'm lucky to be able to enjoy plants like these in the middle of winter when so many other gardeners are shivering in their boots and digging cars out of snowdrifts.  Thank you Mother Nature!  Now, if you could just see your way to deliver up some rain this weekend...

Visit Loree and danger garden to see her favorite January plants and to find links to other gardeners' choices.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up: Touches of Red

It's Foliage Follow-up Day and I'm joining Pam at Digging to recognize the significant role foliage plays in creating a beautiful garden.  For this month's post, I'm focusing on some of the foliage plants that add touches of red to my garden.

Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' is sporting lots of new growth in an orange-red color.  I have 3 of these peppermint-scented plants in the south-side garden bed adjacent to the patio.

The color of the Agonis' new growth is echoed in the foliage of Phormium 'Amazing Red,' Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey' and various succulents

The same Agonis, photographed from the other direction

Close-up of the wavy stems and curly leaves of Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'

I love the Leptospermum polygalifolium 'Copper Glow' I planted in my front garden in November but it always seems to be either too dark or too sunny to get a good photograph.  The best I could do today was this:

A graceful stem of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' hangs above Phormium 'Maori Queen'

Another relatively new plant with red touches is Dianella tasmanica 'Tasred,' which I picked up from the Australian Native Plants Nursery in March.

The base of these Dianellas is red 

During that same shopping trip, at Sperling Nursery, I picked up Helleborus 'Anna's Red.'

I presume that Helleborus 'Anna's Red' gets it's name from the color of its flowers but there's also a touch of red in the stems and the base of the leaf cluster

The biggest splash of red color I'll share today comes from an Aeonium I picked up early last year.  It didn't come with a label but my best guess is that it's Aeonium 'Garnet,' reported to be a hybrid of A. arboreum 'Zwartkop' and A. tabuliforme.

Unlike A. 'Zwartkop,' this Aeonium hasn't developed tall stalks

My last foliage pick this month is Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' (aka coral bark maple).  Planted early in 2011, not long after we moved in, it's the most successful Japanese maple in my garden, possibly because it had a chance to get established before I began ratcheting down the irrigation in my garden.  Its placement beside the garage, where it's protected from the wind and receives only morning sun, probably also helps.

Acer Sango Kaku' has almost fully leafed out

Visit Pam at Digging to see her foliage picks this month and find links to other gardeners' foliage picks.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party