In a Vase on Monday: Adjusting the color palette

Once again on Sunday my garden worked its magic.  With my cool season flowers now gone and the warm season flowers far from ready to take off, I was at a loss as to what I could put together, other than cutting more Agapanthus.  I had the color orange in mind as Cuphea 'Vermillonaire' is going great guns but instead I decided on the fly to cut some Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) while there's enough available to cut.  Then I saw a bloom on an Alstroemeria I planted two and a half years ago and I was off and running.

I planted the orange Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic' toward the back of one border, expecting it to grow 3 to 4 feet tall but it's stayed small and, when it's bloomed in the past, I've missed it.  I think it wants more water than it gets.

Back view: With the strong orange color of Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic' and Leonotis, I felt I needed to bring the color down a couple of pegs so I cut the soft-toned variegated foliage of Corokia 'Sunsplash' to do just that.  In turn, the 'Corokia' sent me on a search for other flowers in similar soft colors.

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic', A. 'Claire', Leonotis leonurus, Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', and Crassula pubescens ssp radicans

I toned down the first arrangement by adding softer colors but, after cutting stems of Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' as the inspiration for my second vase, I decided I needed to add stronger coral-pink colors to provide contrast.

Two early heatwaves put a quick end to an earlier flush of bloom on Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' by mid-May.  I was surprised to see the shrub produce another flush of peachy-pink blooms again last week.

Back view: I cut several flowers of Grevillea 'Superb' to add the deeper coral-pink I was looking for but the back of this arrangement could've used a couple more stems

Top view: Two unusually tall stems of my 'Pink Meidiland' rose were a last-minute addition

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Grevillea 'Superb', and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

I threw together a third vase mainly because one of the lisianthus stems I cut last week still had some vase-life left in it.  My living room mantle was also calling out for color.

The interesting thing I've discovered about the dark blue-flowered lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) is that larger buds will open in a vase but in a lighter lavender color.  The lisianthus stem on the left was cut last week and the lavender colored buds surrounding the dark blue bloom opened several days later.

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum, Leucadendron 'Pisa', Trachelium caeruleum, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

Amazing myself, I cut, arranged, and photographed these arrangements in record time.  That's fortunate as I'm hosting three friends for a "bring you own lunch" in my garden today.  In the "before time," we usually met at a local restaurant at least once a week but, due to the pandemic, we haven't been together since early March.  My garden allows plenty of space for physical distancing (and a better view than most of our favorite restaurants).  Over the weekend, I scrubbed down all my garden furniture and cushions, tidied up the garden, and gave the interior of the house a once over as well.  With a final sweep of the back garden and a thorough scrub of the guest bathroom this morning, everything will be ready and waiting.  Knock wood, our marine layer will lift mid-day, leaving us to enjoy comfortable temperatures and friendly conversation.

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

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Late Arrivals

This week I was able to cut both foxgloves and sweet peas for my Monday vases.  My impression was that both flowers are late in blooming this year but, after a bit of sleuthing through my records, the reality is less clear cut.  The foxgloves were blooming by mid-March last year but this year the first flowers have only just appeared.  Although the blooms were even later in 2017, I believe this was because I planted my plugs late, as I gradually converted my vegetable and herb garden into a real cutting garden.  A colder winter and cooler-than-usual Spring could be responsible for the delayed blooms this year but, as I also relied almost entirely on rain to water the raised planters until the middle of this month, the beds may also have received less water than they wanted.  Last year, when we received so little rain, I irrigated the beds regularly.

As usual, I crammed more stems than I should have into this vase.  Once I cut flowers, I'm always loathe to toss them directly in the compost heap.

The Orlaya grandiflora grown from seed were meant to have a larger starring role in the arrangement but they're crowded too tight to have the impact I envisioned

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmation White', spent Helleborus 'Anna's Red', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Orlaya grandiflora, Pelargonium 'Orange Fizz', and P. cucullatum 'Flore Plenum'

I've planted sweet peas from seed for at least 3 years now and my records indicate that, while this year's blooms are almost a month behind the 2017 crop, they're just a couple of weeks behind the 2018 crop.  However, in prior years, I've also added a couple of specialty nursery-grown seedlings to my planters in late winter, which I didn't do this year so it may be that my own seed-grown plants are right on target.

Although all my sweet pea seeds were sown on the same date in late October, only those that were part of the 'Pastel Sunset' mix are blooming and, of those, most are coral-pink.  Finding other flowers to complement their color took 2 rounds of my garden.

Although it took awhile to select flowers for this arrangement, I was pleased with the final product

Top view: The surprise element here are the seedpods of Nigella 'Transformer'

Clockwise from the upper left: Lathyrus odoratus in coral-pink (shown with Abelia grandiflora 'Radiance'), white sweet pea (also from the 'Pastel Sunset Mix'), Nigella orientalis 'Transformer' seedpods, Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', and Centranthus ruber 'Albus'

Last week's arrangements held up well.  While I tossed out the contents of one, I held on to a simplified version of the arrangement featuring the "pinwheel" flowers.

The Ranunculus blooms may not last another week but the Leucospermum 'Brandi' flowers should

The new arrangements found their spots.

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


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

In a Vase on Monday: It was better in concept...

For a change, I went into the garden to cut flowers with a plan in mind for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme sponsored by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Maybe that was the problem.  Usually, while I might identify a focal point ahead of time, I otherwise approach the garden as a blank slate.  This time, I began cutting flowers of various kinds I'd identified in advance, only to find that they didn't combine well when I took them in and tried to create an arrangement.  I took out a vase to fill with rejects early on and ultimately ended up with 2 reject vases and one larger vase I'm not thrilled with.

The larger vase was constructed of flowers and foliage I hadn't even considered on my first pass through the garden.  It's a hodge-podge construction with an emphasis on pinkish-coral tones.

Front view

Back view

The vase includes:

• Aloe flowers (noID, possibly Aloe 'Pink Blush')
• Arbutus 'Marina' flower stems
• Calibrachoa (noID)
• Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' flower stem
• Rose 'Pink Meidiland'
• Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Honey Crisp Coleus'

The Aloe flowers pick up the deeper tones in the roses

The flowers of the Arbutus' Marina' trees look like miniature hot-air balloons and are loved by the hummingbirds

The flower buds of the succulent Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' have a coral blush but open with yellow petals

The centers of the 'Pink Meidiland' rose mimic the colors at the center of the Graptoveria flowers

Close-up of the variegated leaves of the coleus

Reject vase #1 contains Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl,' a couple of raggedy stems of Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherry Brandy,' and Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Fire Fingers Coleus.'

Close-up of the small Leptospermum flowers

Reject vase #2, my favorite of the day due solely to its sweet perfume, contains Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum,' Lantana (noID), and Lonicera japonica, a weed that grows on the steep side of the back slope.

Close-up of Lonicera japonica, inherited with the house

The vases all found places to roost.

The larger vase sits in the front entryway

Reject vase #1 landed in the guest bathroom

Reject vase #1 sits next to my PC, where I can appreciate its scent

Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other contributors have rounded up now that the weather has turned cold in many areas.


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