In a Vase on Monday: Happy New Year!

I invested so much time fussing with my new lath (shade) house this past weekend, I'd little time for cutting flowers, especially as I'd set myself a goal of packing away all our Christmas decorations prior to the new year.  Of course, that doesn't mean I'd let Monday go by without cutting something!  It just means I didn't go over the top as I'm inclined to do.

Last year, I had pink Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) in my vase in the beginning of January.  No such luck this year but Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' with its flower-like yellow bracts is putting on a good show and so became the centerpiece of this New Year's Day bouquet.

The soft, lacy foliage of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' provided a textural contrast for the Leucadendron

And the bright red-orange berries of Nandina domestica echoed the tinges of red in the Leucadendron's "petals"

I tried to find additional blooms and foliage for the vase shown above but nothing else I cut looked quite right in the arrangement, partly because the stems weren't long enough to stand up to the Leucadendron.  I tucked the leftovers into 2 small vases.

The amber vase on the left contains Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey' and Gaillardia 'Fanfare Citronella'.  The green vase on the right contains another stem of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' and Argyranthemum 'Mega White'.

For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Best wishes for happy, healthy and productive new year to all.  May 2018 find us living in a better, kinder, and more peaceful world.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Contrasting textures

The inspiration for today's "In a Vase on Monday" post came from yesterday's Bloom Day post.  While viewing the photos I'd taken for that post, I was struck by the similarity in the colors of my Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' and Phylica pubescens, as well as their contrasting textures, and wondered how flowers of the two would look together.

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', planted along the driveway in the front garden (left), and Phylica pubescens in a pot on the back patio (right)

Sunday morning, under gray skies, I cut stems from both plants and assembled several possible companions.  When I found I wasn't pleased with the result of squeezing everything into a single vase, I split the contents into two separate vases.

Vase #1:

Simplifying the contents of this vase gave each element a chance to stand out and emphasized the textural contrast of the Leucadendron and the Phylica

I used just a few stems of Abelia to fill in around the base of the Leucadendron stems in the back

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead), yellow and orange forms of Papaver nudicaule, berries of Nandina domestica, and Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'

Vase #2:

Even though the Grevillea I cut had a nice long stem, it got lost in the first vase so I reduced the stem by half and popped it into a smaller vase

Top view

Clockwise from the left, this vase contains: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', G. 'Arizona Red', and more Nandina domestica berries

Unlike many of my weekly creations, these two vases would complement one another.  I separated them in the house but you can view them side-by-side.

The larger vase sits on the dining table and the smaller one sits in the front entry

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


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: New Year's Surprise

So I ventured into the garden on a very cold New Year's morning (below 50F!) to look for flowers and foliage to fill a vase.  And what did I find but 2 stems of pink Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) in bloom!  I thought I'd seen the last of these flowers for several months but perhaps the extraordinary amount of rain we received in December gave my plants an extra boost.  As this was a chance to pair Eustoma with Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl', plants that generally don't bloom at the same time, I couldn't resist cutting them.

The Lisianthus flowers were smaller than those cut during their peak bloom period and a little bedraggled but still pretty

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the top left, the vase contains: Eustoma grandiflorum, Argyranthemum frutescens, Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Persicaria capitata, Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star', and Violas

I also tweaked a vase I created just before guests arrived late Friday afternoon.  I'd thrown it together and, sitting on our dining room table, it bugged me when I breakfasted with it.  So Sunday afternoon, I removed some of the original stems and added others, creating an airier arrangement, which pleased me more.

Stems of Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' were removed and a couple more stems of Tagetes lemmonii were added

The top photo is a close up of the Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy).  From the bottom, left to right, the other plants are: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' and berries of Nandina domestica.

The 2 vases clash horribly with one another but, fortunately, they're not placed close enough for this to be bothersome in situ.

The pink arrangement sits in the front entry, recently cleared of Christmas decorations

The reconfigured vase was returned to the dining room table

For more of this week's contributions to "In a Vase on Monday," visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  If you'd like to see a montage of my favorite 2016 creations for "IaVoM," check out the collages I included in my year-end retrospective, which you can find here.

I hope you enjoyed a glorious New Year's holiday.  It was wonderfully quiet here - almost too quiet.  Perhaps our neighbors imbibed more than my husband and I did on New Year's Eve but I didn't even see children out and about.  It felt a little like an episode of Twilight Zone, where humans have disappeared while everything else seems to be in place.  And then, there were the birds, which I found sitting silent and virtually motionless in the bare branches of the mimosa tree just outside my home office window.

Alfred Hitchcock never directed an episode of Twilight Zone, did he?

The preceding afternoon, I had multiple visits by this guy too...

All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Similar but not the same

After failing in my plan to create a fall-themed vase resplendent with oranges and reds last week, I powered ahead with that image in mind this week.  As appears to have become my habit, I got carried away with my snipping, ending up with material ample enough to fill 2 vases.  The colors are similar and I used some of the same types of plants in each but I think they still have distinct personalities.

Front view with Grevillea 'Superb' and the berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolia fighting for center stage

The lop-sided back view

I had a heck of a time trying to get a top view of this arrangement and the dark tones of the Leucadendron (top of photo) seem to battle with the brighter tones of the vase's other contents

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Grevillea 'Superb'; berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolia, which look like miniature pumpkins; berries of a noID Cotoneaster, which planted itself in my garden; Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' in its somber winter colors; Nandina domestica; and orange Zinnias from a  'Profusion' mix

The first vase was overstuffed.  Eliminating the Leucadendron would have given it an airier feel but, once stems are cut, I'm usually loathe to toss them out and I didn't have the patience to build yet another vase.  The second vase is a bit more balanced but it could probably have done with fewer stems too.

This vase features Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' (aka 'Mason's Hybrid'), which unlike 'Superb'  has tones more red than pink

Maybe I should have skipped the Cuphea tucked into the back of the vase but I'd wanted to trim the shrubs back to make them bushier

Top view: molten lava!

Clockwise from the upper right, this vase contains: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly'; Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'; "flowers" of a noID Leucadendron I planted shortly after we moved in (maybe L. 'Blush'); more Nandina domestica foliage; Nandina berries; and 2 early blooms of Papaver nudicaule (aka Iceland poppy) from one of my cutting beds

Although we don't get much in the way of fall color in my area of Southern California, I'm happy that I was at least able to conjure up some of the season's warm tones this week.  Here are the vases in their places:

The first vase in the front entry

The second vase on the dining room table

For more vases, visit Cathy, the host of this weekly "IaVoM" meme, at Rambling in the Garden.


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

In a Vase on Monday: The Berries Share the Stage

When I pulled up my photos to prepare my post for "In a Vase on Monday," the weekly meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, I was surprised to find pictures of the morning sunrise.  My husband, who gets up earlier than I do most days (i.e. before dawn!), used my camera to capture a particularly pretty sunrise.

View of sunrise over the Port of Los Angeles from our backyard

I included the sunrise photo because it picks up some of the bright colors in this week's vase, if only by coincidence.

My vase selections started with 2 stems of the 'Joseph's Coat' rose that climbs up our bedroom chimney.

However, I was hard-pressed to find materials that complemented the coral/salmon color of the roses, so I ended up including more of the same Nandina domestica berries that dominated last week's vase.  In addition to these elements, I included the foliage of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' and a stem of an almost florescent salmon-colored Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium).

The vase replaced last week's creation on the dining room table.

As usual, I had some leftover blooms blooms, which I crammed into one of my tiny vases.  Weeks ago, Julie of Gardening Jules counseled me that my reference to these creations as "reject vases" was too harsh so I'll refer to it, as she suggested, as this week's experimental creation.

The tiny case includes the white Eustoma grandifora I included in last week's "experimental" vase, now finally open, as well as the yellow daisies of Euryops 'Sonnenschein,' a stem or Narcissus, more Acacia foliage, and Persicaria capitata

I recognized the pink flowers as knotweed, which I don't believe I planted.  I know the plant as Polygonum capitatum, which is often sold here as a groundcover but decried by many people as a rampant weed.  When I couldn't find it under that name in my western garden guide, I discovered that it's currently classified as part of the genus Persicaria, which makes sense when you look at the leaves.

Visit Cathy to see what she's put together this week and find links to the creations of other stalwart participants.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: The Berries Steal the Show

I have to confess that my vases this week were created Saturday night as decoration for a small family gathering on Sunday.  I wandered about in the half-dark collecting flowers to fill two vases, barely able to see what I was cutting.  Still, I'm pleased with how they turned out.

This one landed on the dining room table.

This photo, taken in Sunday's early morning light, turned out better than those taken the evening before under artificial lights

Back side of bouquet, photographed in my night-darkened kitchen

It contains:

• Agonis flexuosa
• Alternanthera tenella 
• Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Mesa Peach'
• Gomphrena  haageana
• Nandina domestica (berries)

I used 2 forms of Agonis flexuosa - the thin-leaved stems came from one of our peppermint trees and the lower stems with wider leaves came from the dwarf variety 'Nana'

I used the chartreuse Alternanthera to pick up the similarly-colored centers of the Gaillardia

The Gomphrena are on their last legs - the lower petals (actually bracts) have dried and flaked away like rice husks

The second, smaller vase served as decoration in the guest bathroom.

Photographed without the benefit of any natural light

It contains:

• Aster x frikartii 'Monch' (reused from last week's vase)
• Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo White'
• Hebe speciosa 'Variegata'
• Solanum xantii (also reused from last week's vase)

The Eustoma bud hasn't yet opened

As the sun went down, the flowers of this Hebe seemed to gleam in the twilight but its photos didn't contain the same magic

These vases are my contributions to Cathy's "In a Vase on Monday" meme at Rambling in the Garden.   You can see her vase and find links to other gardeners' creations here.  Most participants are dealing with far colder temperatures than I am.  Our temperatures hovered in the mid-60s Fahrenheit (around 18C) last week but, in response to high winds, they're expected to climb up to 80F (26C) tomorrow before settling back to normal levels before Christmas.  Hopefully, the warmer temperatures following last week's rain will bring more flowers (rather than more weeds).


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: The Old & the New

This week I actually had a floral feature in mind in advance for the vase prepared in connection with the celebration sponsored each Monday by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Mid-month, just after Bloom Day (of course), I noticed that my Senna bicapsularis 'Worley's Butter Cream' had begun blooming.  There are only blooms on a few branches but I was glad to see them.  I initially thought I'd accent them with Tagetes lemmonii but I didn't like the mix so round and round the garden I went, searching for appropriate plants to complement the pale yellow Senna.  Once again, I ended up with more than I'd expected.

Back view

While the Senna makes its first appearance this year, most of the other elements have shown up earlier in one vase or another.  In addition to the Senna, there is:

• Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'
• Asparagus densiflorus 'Spengeri' (at least that's what I think it is)
• Gomphrena haageana
• Grevillea 'Superb'
• Nandina domestica (berries)
• Rusellia equisetiformis

Senna bicapsularis is also know as Christmas Senna for its habit of blooming late in the year

The asparagus fern has suddenly produced zillions of tiny white flowers

The unidentified Gomphrena I picked up a few weeks ago was definitely worth the purchase - the flowers have a long vase life (I briefly considered reusing the blooms I picked for my vase 2 weeks ago but these are freshly cut)

Grevillea 'Superb' has more blooms than ever before - it appears to like our cooler temperatures

The Nandina berries pick up the oranges tones of the variegated Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'

The yellow form of Russelia equisetiformis was a last minute addition - the coral form also would have worked

I think it turned out rather well.  It took its place opposite the front door, where it provides a cheery welcome.

My post was delayed a bit this morning as my husband and I discovered that our cat, Pipig, was missing, throwing me, if not him, into a panic.  She's recently taken to streaking out of the house but she's never stealthy about it so she's quickly collected and tucked back inside but, last night, she apparently managed an undetected escape when I stepped outside around 9pm to water a plant just outside the door.  Much to her surprise - as well as mine - she ended up spending the night outside.  After a frantic search outside early this morning, I finally heard mewing and found her perched on the top of the grape arbor, looking nearly as upset as I was.  It took both my husband and I to get her down.  Luckily for both of us, she managed to avoid being eaten by one of the neighborhood coyotes or squirted by one of the skunks that wandered the garden last night.  After a hearty breakfast and a good wash, she's fast asleep in her own bed.

Pipig having a good rest after her great escape and eventual recapture

Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she's got in her vase this week.  You'll also find links to other gardeners' creations.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party