In a Vase on Monday: Christmas cheer

I picked cheerful Christmas-y colors to see in the holiday week, depending heavily on stems of my Grevillea 'Superb', although the initial inspiration for the following arrangement was the zinnia flowers still blooming off and on in my cutting garden.  I pulled up my zinnia "crop" in October but missed two plants by accident.  Now that I've seen that they can produce flowers into December, next year I may purposely leave some tucked in corners to provide color while my cool season flowers are getting started.

Front view with Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Coral' front and center

Back view, showing off a couple of stems of a snapdragon planted as part of a mix of plugs in late October

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', noID Antirrhinum majus, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Grevillea 'Superb', Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral'

A handful of blue flowers called out to me this week too.  As we expect to see another atmospheric river flowing through Southern California beginning Tuesday evening and possibly extending into the weekend, I didn't hesitate to cut them to fill the small vase on our kitchen island.  The butterfly-like flowers of Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense' in particular don't hold up well under pounding rain.  The rain is welcome here, even if a soggy Christmas isn't ideal.  However, I do hope it comes down gently so it doesn't worsen conditions in the burn or landslide areas.

Clockwise from the upper left: arrangement in place, overhead view, and closeups of Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche', noID Cyclamen, Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense', and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'.  In retrospect, I should've used a softer foliage plant as a filler instead of the Cistus stems, but oh well.

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

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: We've been lucky

The Northwest US and Western Canada were hit with record-breaking heat this past weekend and the pattern is expected to continue into Monday before tapering off.  Portland, Oregon could reach 115F (46C) today.  Seattle's forecast is 112F (44C).  Meanwhile, coastal Southern California where I am avoided extreme heat, although the inland valley areas here baked.  Once again, the marine layer helped us out.

This photo was taken at 9am PDT on Sunday.  The Los Angeles harbor below us was invisible.  The marine layer began breaking up at our elevation shortly hereafter but it hung on around the harbor, keeping our daytime high temperatures at a comfortable level around 80F (26.7C).

There's a chance of a surge of monsoonal moisture here later this week.  The thunderstorms created by that condition are usually limited to the mountain and desert areas but occasionally they make their way as far as the coast.  Forecasters still aren't clear whether that will happen this time but, dry as we are, rain would be greatly appreciated, provided of course that lightning strikes don't start any fires.

It was nice to putter in my garden on Sunday, cutting flowers without sweltering.  Once again, I cut more than I'd planned, ending up with three arrangements.

The plentiful blooms of Daucus carota inspired the first arrangement.

I stuck to a red theme, with just touches of white.  The red foliage below the Daucus at the front of the vase is provided by a single stem of Leucadendron 'Ebony', which I don't think I've ever cut for inclusion in a vase before this.

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Allium schaerocephalon (aka drumstick allium), Cosmos bipinnatus, Perlatgonium cucullatum 'Flore Pleno', Daucus carota 'Dara', Leucadendron 'Ebony', Myrtus communis compacta, seedpods of Penstemon digitalis 'Onyx & Pearls', and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

The second arrangement was inspired by the flowers of Rotheca myricoides (formerly known as Clerodendrum ugandense).  It's common name is blue butterfly bush but it's not related to Buddleia.

The flowers of Rotheca myricoides really do look like small blue butterflies.  I grew the shrub without difficulty years ago when we lived in Santa Monica but I failed to make it happy in my current garden until I plopped a plant into a large terracotta pot in partial shade.

Back view: Two Osteospermums contributed flowers to serve as fillers.  As temperatures climb, the Osteospermums will lay low, ceasing to bloom until cooler weather returns in the fall.

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy), noID Agapanthus, Lavandula angustifolia, Osteospermum '4D Silver', O. 'Violet Ice', and Rotheca myrcoides

My discovery of the first Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) blooms required me to create a small arrangement for the kitchen island.

The green-flowered Lisianthus had already been nearly flattened by the winds that have been blowing through here daily

Clockwise from the upper left, the small vase contains: more Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', unripe berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Eustoma grandiflorum, and Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum'

Before I close, I have to share a current shot of last week's vase featuring the artichoke.  It held up very well overall and the artichoke actually bloomed in the vase, which was a big surprise.

For more IAVOM contributions, 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: A mix of spring and summer blooms

There are still a LOT of flowers suitable for cutting here, as anyone who read Friday's Bloom Day post could tell, but yesterday I went looking for something a little different to include in this week's flower arrangements.  The appearance of the first Agapanthus blooms had me thinking of a blue and white arrangement and the deal was sealed when I spotted the first flowers on the Rotheca myricoides (aka butterfly bush) I planted last fall.

Our heatwaves didn't fry the larkspur (Consolida ajacis) as I feared so stems of the 'Summer Skies Mix' I grew from seed provided the perfect filler.  I cut just a single stem of Rotheca, with only two flowers, hoping that the buds will open as the week progresses. 

Back view: Stems of blue and white Nigella 'Starry Nights Mix', also grown from seed, were added to provide more interest 

Top view

Included, top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated' and noID Agapanthus
Middle row: Consolida ajacis in white and dark and light blue and Rotheca myricoides
Bottom row: Blue and white Nigella papillosa 'Starry Nights Mix'

The inspiration for my second arrangement was a new vase, received as an early birthday present from a surrogate family member.  The vase is unusual and I didn't feel I could put just anything in it so I went looking for floral material that would complement its colors.  I selected Salvia lanceolata, a South African native with mauve flowers as my starting point and took off hunting down suitable companions from there.

I used the same Salvia in another arrangement in April but I like this mix better

Back view: The reddish-pink Centranthus ruber used here is far less common in my garden than the  Centranthus with paler pink blooms

Top view

Included, top row: Centranthus ruber and Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey'
Middle row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Lagurus ovatus, and pink Lathyrus odoratus
Bottom row: noID rose and Salvia lanceolata

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

As a side-note, we got a bit of rain overnight!  That's remarkable for May.  Last night's report was a 20-30% chance of 0.02/inch of rain overnight but I've tallied one-tenth of an inch already and it's still raining.  What a wonderful May surprise.  I hope the week brings a pleasant surprise or two your way as well!

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