In a Vase on Monday: Getting ahead of the heat

Our morning marine layer is still in place but it's retreating earlier and earlier each day.  Yesterday, we were socked in at 6am but the sunshine cut through the gloom well before 8am.  I dashed out the door before breakfast (albeit after feeding the cat) to cut flowers.  Our temperature hit 89F (31C) on Saturday but, although Sunday ended up a few degrees cooler, it was still on the toasty side.

I'd already decided to cut a stalk of Lilium 'Friso' and planned to accent it using stems of Daucus carota 'Dara' but I struggled a bit to find plant material that'd help the lily stand straight in its vase.  I settled on Myrtus communis, which is just now producing its first flowers.

'Friso's' flowers tend to point downward and the stalk wants to lean in one direction or another under its own weight

Back view: The Daucus flowers are especially prolific this year, all self-sown

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Grandaisy Dark Pink', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Daucus carota 'Dara', noID ruffled Leucanthemum x superbum, Lilium 'Friso', and Myrtus communis

Much as I love lilies, my second floral arrangement turned out to be my favorite this week.  I still don't have many foxglove stems in bloom but, given the warmer temperatures, I thought it best to cut what I had before they fried.

I used a small piece of plastic-coated hardware cloth to support the flowers I cut, which works well

Back view

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Ageratum corymbosum, Consolida ajacis, Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', Digitalis purpurea, Pelargonium peltatum 'Lavender Blizzard', and Polygala myrtifolia

We're headed into the 4th of July holiday.  The reminders that fireworks are illegal here given the high risk of wildfires and numerous warnings that violators will be prosecuted and fined finally seem to have made a difference.  The fact that Southern California was devastated by a series of wildfires earlier this year may also have had an impact.  We usually hear "practice" fireworks every day and night for a month or more prior to the holiday but there's been far less of that this year.  We've heard a couple of what I assume were authorized public displays (presumably overseen by fire department personnel) but that's it.  We'll see what happens this coming Friday!

For more IAVOM posts, 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: Just one

I usually create more than one floral arrangement for "In a Vase on Monday," the popular meme hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden.  My decision to limit myself this week wasn't due to a shortage of blooms, although many are starting to look scruffy as summer progresses.  It has more to do with the fact that we're in the middle of an unplanned effort to replace all the remaining copper water pipes inside our house.  The plumbers' role in the process was mostly completed last week but there are holes in the walls of four rooms, a hallway, and a closet that need to be repaired and painted before everything currently strewn elsewhere in the house and garage can be moved back into place.  Meanwhile, I'm preparing to head off on a five-day trip, booked six months ago, leaving my husband with a mess.  And, on Saturday, the trauma rippling through the US as the result of an attempted assassination of a presidential candidate increased my tension.  Although the candidate isn't one I support and has himself manipulated political divisions within the country, the action by yet another gun-happy murderer is repulsive and just heightens emotions.  We can only hope that people on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as those commenting on the divide via mainstream and social media, tone down the rhetoric and focus on the substance of their differences.

With my attention jumping from one issue to another, this is what I came up with this week.

The unexpected appearance of a Hippeastrum simplified the selection process

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Grevillea 'Superb', Hippeastrum 'Dancing Queen', Leucanthemum x superbum, Tanacetum parthenium, and Xylosma congestum

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

With the house and most of my usual vase spots a mess until the construction crew can install new drywall and paint, the arrangement ended up on the kitchen island

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

In a Vase on Monday: A change of plans

I'd planned to construct an arrangement around Lilium 'Pretty Woman' but discovered that it was past its sell-date as the saying goes so I had to switch gears.  I noticed that my Leonotis leonurus (lion's tail) had started to bloom and, as its tall stems were camouflaged by both a tree-sized Callistemon and an overly exuberant Daucus carota, they became my new inspiration for an arrangement.

Unsure what to combine with the Leonotis after I cut it, I turned to my ever-dependable Grevillea 'Superb'.  I was initially disappointed with that match but, after adding more flowers, it seemed to come together.

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Bignonia capreolata, Lobelia laxiflora, Tanacetum parthenium, Grevillea 'Superb', Leonotis leonurus, Leucanthemum x superbum, and Rosa 'Golden Celebration'

I recycled elements of last week's first arrangement to fill another vase.

I plucked the stem of Lilium 'Friso' (minus 3 of its spent flowers) and 2 stems of the white Agapanthus used in last week's first arrangement, reducing both to fit into this smaller vase featuring 2 clasped (and well-manicured) hands

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID white Agapanthus, noID pink Alstroemeria (still in bud), Lilium 'Friso', and Monarda hybrid 'Peter's Purple'

I've gotten used to flowers on the kitchen island so I picked a few more to fill the small vase that often sits there.

Clockwise from the left: the small vase, Agapanthus (also from last week's arrangement), Duranta repens 'Sapphire Showers', Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), and Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman'

For more IAVOM creations, visit 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

In a Vase on Monday: Purplish

One of my favorite plants is Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), native to New Zealand.  It has strappy evergreen leaves, tolerates dry shade, and produces sprays of beautiful flowers in early summer.  Much as I love it, I've found it difficult to use in floral arrangements (probably because I'm prone to cramming too much into my vases).  The plants have bloomed heavily this year and I was determined to use them in an arrangement that shows off the small flowers.

Resisting my usual predilection for stuffing vases, I used only 4 elements, 3 of which are tall and wispy

Back view: The small Arthropodium flowers have white petals with fuzzy purple and yellow stamens

Top view: I played off the purple in the Arthropodium's stamens using the flowers of Centaurea 'Silver Feather'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Dahlia 'Vancouver', and Leucanthemum x superbum

Staying with the purplish theme, I cut a flowering artichoke for a second arrangement, although it ended up being the only thing that went into the vase.

The artichoke is Cynara scolymus 'Purple Romagna'.  It's a full 12 inches in diameter and extremely heavy.  It's also more prickly than any of my agaves and I got stabbed repeatedly just cutting its stalk.  I used one of the only vases I had that could hold it without tipping over and it left no room for additions.

Our marine layer is slowly fading.  It was absent entirely at our elevation on Saturday morning and temperatures soared accordingly.  Unfortunately, heat, wind, and dry conditions contributed to a wildfire in north Los Angeles County on Saturday, approximately a hundred miles away.  It's already burned more than 12,000 acres and prompted evacuations, and it's still largely uncontained.  Luckily, here along the coast, our morning marine layer returned yesterday and it looks as though it'll hang around for most of this week, even if it's lighter and likely to clear earlier.

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

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

In a Vase on Monday: Fireworks of a different kind

Even though the US celebrated Independence Day nearly two weeks ago, we're still hearing fireworks almost nightly.  And those fireworks are just as illegal in our area as they were two weeks ago.  What does it take for people to gain some sense?  Especially when we live in a high fire-risk area and insurers are increasingly refusing to do business in California due to fire risk.  It's maddening!

My fireworks are of a floral nature and pose no risk of igniting an actual fire.  The first arrangement was inspired by the unusual floral display of Sonchus palmensis. 

This is a photo of the plant in situ.  I can only access it from the dirt path that runs behind my backyard borders in front of the hedge that sits atop our back slope.  The plant is a giant relative of the humble dandelion.  It was given to me a couple of years ago by blogger friend, Denise of A Growing Obsession.

Lilium 'Orange Planet' stole the show from the giant dandelion.  I expect the second lily, part of the same stem, will open this morning.

Back view: Once again, I threw a lot of plant material into this vase when it might have benefited from a little restraint

Top view: The flower in the center was cut from Mangave 'Freckles & Speckles'

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', noID Bacopa, and Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia
Middle: Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucanthemum x superbum, and Lilium 'Orange Planet'
Bottom: Mangave 'Freckles & Speckles', Sideritis cypria, and Sonchus palmensis

 

The second arrangement was inspired by one of my own photographs.  A good friend made me a calendar comprised of photos from my blog.  The photo for July was from an IAVOM post that makes me think of fireworks.  When I saw the first blooms of my Leonotis leonurus last week, I decided I should try recreating it while I still have some Agapanthus that aren't overly shaggy. 

I added more of everything to this vase while trying to recreate the original when using fewer stems probably would've had more impact.  Maybe I'll take it apart and reassemble it later today.

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail), Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman', and Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell'

 

I also threw together a small vase for the kitchen island just because I can no longer accept a flower-less surface.

This simple arrangement consists of Grevillea sericea, Monarda 'Peter's Purple', and Pelargonium 'Orange Fizz'

 

Thankfully, last week's heatwave is tapering off.  We never got hotter than the 92F/33C in my area but the inland valleys and many other parts of California (not to mention Arizona, Nevada and Texas) didn't fare as well.  We were in the mid-80sF/29C yesterday and I expect more along those same lines for the rest of this week.  We even have a light marine layer this morning - or maybe it's smoke-related haze attributable to the Rabbit Fire in Riverside county to the east.  Summer has arrived!

 

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