In a Vase on Monday: Let's get the new year started!

I've already cleared most of the spare decorations I set up to celebrate Christmas this year.  With those tucked away, I was more than ready to cut flowers to add color to the house.  It's been cold and damp for the last few days due to a persistent marine layer, which has made puttering in the garden less comfortable than usual but, as those marine layer conditions have contributed six one-hundredths of an inch of precipitation, I'm not going to complain (much).  However, there aren't many options available to fill a vase so the two arrangements I have to offer today may look a lot like retreads of earlier ones.

The first arrangement was inspired by another Protea flower.  Two more Protea buds remain but I elected to leave them on the shrub to develop, which sent me scrounging for other plants to accent the one I cut.

I balanced the Protea flower with an equally flashy stem of Medinilla myriantha (aka Malaysian orchid)

Back view: I used multiple stems of Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' to fill out the arrangement, along with the ever-useful Leptospermum stems

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum frutescens, Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Medinilla myriantha, Plectranthus scutellariodes 'Florida Sun Rose', and Protea neriifolia 'Claire'

For my second arrangement, I recycled the yellow Alstroemeria I included in last week's vase, as well as several other stems that were still in good shape.  I've been using a "flower food" in my vases for the last several weeks and it seems to be making a big difference in the vase life of many of my flowers.  My Lisianthus looked good for nearly two weeks and the Grevillea stems I used last week, which usually fall apart within four days, held up through yesterday.

The colors in this arrangement just made me happy, which seemed a good way to start the new year

The back view could have used dressing up but so it goes.  The back side of this vase faces the wall anyway.

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash', Correa 'Ivory Bells', noID Narcissus, Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', and L. s. 'Chief'

Yesterday was my twelfth blog anniversary.  Honestly, when I published my first post on a whim in late December 2012, I never expected that I'd still be at it twelve years later.  According to Blogger's statistics, I've recorded 1942 pots, accumulated 44,694 comments (roughly half of which were my own responses to commentators), and racked up 2,011,184 views.  I've appreciated the advice and feedback commentators have provided, the friends I've made over the years, and the general sense of camaraderie the medium provides.  Many people criticize social media and I'd agree that much of that is toxic but I appreciate all the garden bloggers and garden-avid readers out there every day.  Whether you take time to add a comment or just stop by, thank you!

For more of this week's IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Best wishes for a happy new year too!

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

Bloom Day - December 2024 (Early Edition)

For the record, I'm two days ahead of schedule for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  This month the outlook in my garden is very pink.

My Camellia sasanqua came with the garden and I had no IDs for the the 2 cultivars I inherited.  An Instagram commentator suggested a name for this one, which sent me down a rabbit hole.  While the ID that was offered didn't fit based on the specifications I found online, I determined that this one might be 'October Magic Rose'. 

I also think the other 2 Camellia sasanqua could be 'Early Wonder'

Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre' lagged behind my other Australian fuchsias but it's blooming heavily now

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' usually blooms lightly during the fall and more heavily in spring but the 2 tall shrubs are putting on a pretty good show this month

The bracts of Leucospermum salignum 'Blush' are doing a good job of mimicking flowers

I had to use a telescope setting on my camera to capture a photo of the flowers of Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree), all of which can only be found in the upper reaches of its branches

Here are some more pink flowers:
Top row - Argyranthemum 'Aramis Apricot', Cuphea 'Honeybells', and Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy'
Middle - Medinilla myriantha, Pelargonium hortorum, and P. 'Little Pink Splash'
Bottom - Pentas lanceolata, Persicaria capitata, and Protea neriifolia 'Claire'

There were several standouts in the garden that weren't pink.

Aloe vanbalenii x ferox is finally letting its color show

I wasn't able to get the rust-resistant snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) I prefer this year but I picked up a dozen mixed plugs in November when it came time to prepare my cool-season cutting garden 

I found some lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) at my local garden center in November too and scooped up 8 plants, just now getting their bloom on

Meanwhile, Senna bicapsularis is still flaunting cheerful flowers in December

As usual, there were a few blooms I hadn't anticipated.

Haemanthus albiflos (aka paint brush lily), which I often don't catch in flower until it's already bloomed out 

Two daylilies flowering off-season: Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' on the left and a paler than normal H. 'Persian Market' on the right

Mahonia x media 'Charity' didn't flower at all last year for some reason

This is an unusual shrub I picked up somewhere years ago, Ruscus hypoglossum (aka butcher's broom).  It produces tiny flowers in the middle of its leaves.  It creeps out some people who feel the flowers look like insects but I think it's interesting.

I've once again dumped my other floral photos into color-coded collages.

Top row - Barleria obtusa, Evolvulus glomeratus, and Felicia aethiopica
Middle - Lavandula multifida, Osteospermum '3D Silver', and O. 'Violet Ice'
Bottom - Pelargornium peltatum 'Lavender Blizzard', Polygala myrtifolia, and Vitex trifolia

Clockwise from upper left: Argyranthemum frutescens 'Everest', noID Cyclamen, Correa 'Ivory Bells', Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', and noID Impatiens 

Clockwise from upper left: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire, Faucaria tuberculosa, Grevillea 'Superb', Nasturtium 'Alaska', Senecio amaniensis, and Tagetes lemmonii

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Anthurium, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', Metrosideros collina 'Springfire', Pelargonium peltatum, and Primula vulgaris

The holiday season is speeding forward, leaving my head spinning.  Best wishes to all!  For other GBBD posts, check in with Carol at May Dreams Gardens on December 15th.

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

In a Vase on Monday: Keeping it simple

I'm prone to stuffing my vases.  Once I cut stems for an arrangement, I'm reluctant to discard any of them.  Restraint isn't one of my strong suits.  However, with the volume of flowers significantly diminished at this time of year and a visit from family scheduled for Sunday, it was time for me to keep things simple when preparing this week's contribution to "In a Vase on Monday."  I have just one arrangement to share and it contains only four elements, one of which was a late addition attributable to pruning an overgrown shrub.

The central features of the arrangement, stems of Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', aren't even flowers.  The red rosebud-like elements are bracts (modified leaves).

Back view, (again) featuring the small flowers of Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl', which is currently one of the most abundant flowering plants in my garden

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', and Leucadendron salignum 'Safari Sunset'

Our daytime temperatures jumped into the low-to-mid 70s (21-23C) late last week.  Our humidity level fell at the same time and forecasters are predicting that our Santa Ana winds will pick up again over the next couple of days, spurring renewed concerns about the possibility of wildfires as conditions are so dry.  Sadly, there is still very little chance of rain showing in the ten-day forecast.

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

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

In a Vase on Monday: Mixing things up

I participated in a lovely Zoom meeting with a half dozen of the IAVOM contributors on Sunday morning Pacific time.  It was great to see everyone, if only virtually.

It was on the cool side on Sunday, in the low-to-upper 50sF (11-14C), so I didn't dilly-dally in the garden when it came time to pick flowers, not that there were all that many options available to me this week.  My first arrangement was inspired by a particularly attractive Protea bloom.  As usual, the challenge was to find something to pair with it.  I ended up combining plants hailing from different parts of the world, rather like our Zoom conference.

The flowers of Protea neriifolia 'Pink Ice' in my north-side garden have dried up but its cousin, Protea 'Claire', had the beautiful bloom, which is shown front and center here.  That plant also has 3 more nice buds. 

I hadn't planned to use more Camellia flowers this week but the back view needed a flourish and I discovered 3 stems bearing multiple flowers

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left, with species origins in parentheses: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna' (South America), Camellia sasanqua (South Asia), Coprosma repens 'Fireburst' (New Zealand), Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' (New Zealand), and Protea neriifolia 'Claire' (South Africa and Australia)

My second arrangement is smaller.  It was inspired by a lavender-tinged lisianthus and provided an opportunity to use the bush violets (Barleria obtusa) that are suddenly fading away.

In retrospect, the lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) looks a little dingy next to the bright white of the snapdragons

I think I like the back view better

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Felicia aethiopica, Eustoma grandiflora, Antirrhinum majus 'Speedy Sonnet White', Salvia discolor, S. 'Mystic Spires', and Barleria obtusa

The bomb cyclone and atmospheric river that hit the Pacific Northwest and Northern California hard Friday and Saturday largely petered out by the time it reached us in coastal Southern California.  Blogger friends in Northern California mentioned getting from two to seven inches of rain.  We got a total of eight one-hundredths of an inch, which doesn't come near to a good soaking.  The storm system was over and gone by Sunday morning when I woke up.  (The cat sounds her personal alarm just after 6am each day.)

View looking southeast toward the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles as the sun stretched above the cloud bank

View looking at the northeast section of the harbor with boats and cranes still half-hidden by clouds

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

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

In a Vase on Monday: More lilies

After teasing me with promising buds for well over a month, my lilies are now unfolding one after another.  This week, in recognition of Independence Day, I chose to cut one stem of Lilium 'Friso' to start with.  The lily's color is described as raspberry-red and white but that was close enough for me.  All my lilies are hybrid mixes of Asiatic and Oriental species (aka Orienpets and tree lilies).

After viewing my photos, I thought I erred in placing the large disc flower of Daucus carota 'Dara' front and center.  The dark burgundy flower creates something of a black hole effect, sucking up the light, but I'd no time or patience to reconstruct the arrangement.

The back view presents a more balanced distribution of light and dark colors, showing off the small white flowers of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'.  Holding off on pruning the tree-like shrubs was rewarded with more flowers than they've ever produced this summer season.

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID white Agapanthus, noID pink Alstroemeria, Daucus carota 'Dara', Digitalis purpurea, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Orienpet Lilium 'Friso' 

You probably noticed that I didn't weave any blue flowers into the first arrangement.  I made up for that by creating a second arrangement of blue and white flowers (with touches of yellow).

This arrangement strikes me as more balanced than the first one

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', noID blue Agapanthus, noID Leucanthemum x superbum, Sollya heterophylla (aka Australian blue creeper), Tanacetum parthenium (aka feverfew), and Viola 'Sorbet XP Neptune' 

Last week's arrangement with Lilium 'Orange Planet' held up well so I cut it down to size for the kitchen island.

I added one stem of Digitalis purpurea 'Peach Dalmatian' and a few short stems of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' to the leftover stems of Lilium 'Orange Planet' and Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi'

Our marine layer is still in place during the early morning hours but it's been lifting early, generally around 8am.  It still provides us some insulation from the afternoon heat, although the residual humidity makes it feel hotter than the mercury level suggests.  The local television stations keep warning us of a pending heatwave but it isn't reflected in the local projections posted online.  I can only hope that it'll be more comfortable here than elsewhere in Southern California.

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

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