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

In a Vase on Monday: Something a little different

Last week, we fast-forwarded into summer without any kind of transition.  On Friday, our temperature peaked at 95F (35C).  All the tender new foliage and recent spring blooms struggled, and some collapsed.  Saturday and Sunday were a little better as temperatures here dropped back into the mid-to-upper 80s.  Fog in the area may have provided natural air conditioning of a sort as it periodically does during our hot summer months.  Although it was clear at our elevation, fog hugged the harbor throughout the weekend.

This is what I saw when I looked at the harbor from our back door on Saturday morning

The fog below us never entirely cleared.  By late afternoon, you could see the shipping cranes again but fog lingered around their footings and the cruise ships (which I can assure you are still sitting out the pandemic there in the bay) remained invisible. 

For my vases this week, I focused on plants I'm afraid may throw in the towel early in response to the heat.  The backbone of my first vase, stems of Leucadendron 'Pisa', is a tough plant but the other two ingredients may be more sensitive to temperature extremes.

Alstroemeria 'Claire' took a starring role, backed up by the luminescent Leucadendron with its silver cones

Back view: I filled in with Nigella 'Transformer', which just began blooming late last week

Top view

Clockwise from the top: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Leucadendron 'Pisa', and Nigella orientalis 'Transformer'

I set myself a challenge with my second vase when I cut several stems of Salvia lanceolata, a South African native.  The colors in the Salvia's flowers is what presented the challenge.

The flowers combine colors I can only describe as a mix of yellowish-green and peachy-mauve

Like the Leucadendron, the Salvia can handle heat but foxgloves and Centranthus are less tolerant.

The peach foxgloves were already singed blown in spots

Back view: The Centranthus looks fine at the moment but I'm concerned about the effects of an extended heatwave

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', noID Alstroemeria, white and pink Centranthus ruber. Pelargonium 'White Lady', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach' and, in the center, Salvia lanceolata

The ingredients in the third arrangement cried out for rescue from the heat.   I kicked this arrangement off with the larkspur (Consolida ajacis), which only just began blooming as the heatwave hit.  I planted the larkspur from seed in November and was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to bloom.

The grayish-purple larkspur was a bit disappointing.  It's outshone here by the purple foxgloves. Like the peach foxgloves, the sweet peas were singed.

As it turned out, I liked this side of the arrangement better

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea, Consolida ajacis 'Earl Grey', Orlaya grandiflora, a mix of Lathyrus odoratus, Pelargonium 'Lady Plymouth, and Oxalis triangularis

So that's this week's collection.  This morning, the fog's enveloped the entire house so it may be cooler today; however, we're expecting another temperature spike mid-week.  My Anemones and Dutch Iris have already bit the dust but I hope the sweet peas, foxgloves, and Nigella can tough it out awhile.  We shall see.  For other 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: Pick me, pick me!

I could never have been a high school drama teacher.  Not only do I have none of the acting or directing skills probably required for the job but I'd also find it impossible to ignore all those eager faces hoping to be chosen for roles in the school play.  I'd be adding bit parts the play didn't call for until the play ran twice as long as was intended or the stage itself broke under the weight of the players.  At this time of year I have a similar problem when I walk into the garden to pick flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the popular meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Unlike late summer when searching for suitable plant material is akin to a scavenger hunt, there's no shortage of prospects in Spring, when one flower after another waves in the wind beckoning me closer.

I initially focused on two of my more unusual flowering plants, Salvia lanceolata and Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', both of which produce flowers in rust-toned shades.  The Salvia is a South African native and the Aeonium is a succulent that's produced an unexpectedly large crop of flowers this year.  Before I was done, they were joined by some unlikely companions.

Fading stems of Helleborus 'Phoebe, ' and the delicate blooms of Alstroemeria 'Claire' grabbed center stage from the Salvia and Aeonium

Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' took over the rear of the arrangement.  Unlike the variegated Aeonium 'Kiwi' which generally produces only a flower here and there, a third or more of the 'Kiwi Verde' I planted over the past 2 years are blooming this Spring.

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Helleborus 'Phoebe', Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Alstroemeria 'Claire' noID self-planted Cotoneaster, and Salvia lanceolata

The pleated vase I used for the first arrangement has a relatively small throat that couldn't swallow all the stems I'd cut so I popped some of the Aeonium's slenderer stems into a small vase.

The waxy succulent flowers seem to fit this cactus-shaped vase

Frothy pink blooms currently fill two areas in my garden so I felt the time was right to use some of those before our temperatures rise and put an end to them.  We've enjoyed an amazingly cool and comfortable Spring thus far but prior experience suggests that we could get hit with a blast of hot weather at any time.  However, weather pundits are currently suggesting that we may continue to benefit from the "Great Puny El Niño of 2018-19" throughout the summer and possibly into the fall.  We actually got drizzle last Monday and little more last night.  That's remarkable for May here.

While Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl' grounds the arrangement, Centranthus ruber in 3 colors plays the starring role

The 2 large shrubs of  Leptospermum in my garden peaked a week or 2 ago and are already beginning to fade, although I can usually expect a second flush of bloom in the fall

The pink variety of Centranthus is by far the most common in my garden but I usually get some red blooms too.  I've been actively encouraging the spread of the white form for a few years now.

Clockwise from the upper left: pink, white and red Centranthus ruber, Dorycnium hirsutum (aka hairy Canary clover), Orlaya grandiflora (aka Minoan lace), variegated Pelargonium hybrid 'Lady Plymouth' and, in the center, Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl'

And who can ignore sweet peas?  Even though the plants in one raised planter are still stubbornly refusing to bloom, those I sowed in a half-barrel in the cutting garden are pumping out blooms faster than I can cut them.

Most of the flowers in this Lathyrus odoratus 'Pastel Sunset' mix are shades of pink but there are some cream and lavender-blue blooms too.  According to the seller's on-line information, the mix contains seeds of 'Sylvia More', 'Jilly' and 'Chatsworth'.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to discover what she and other IAVOM contributors have picked this week.

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

In a Vase on Monday: Getting back in the groove

I missed out on "In a Vase on Monday" last week as I was in Texas for the Garden Bloggers' Fling.  I threw together a vase mid-week because I'm now so used to having fresh flowers in the house, it didn't feel like home without them.  Although I'm still trying to catch up on the back-log of items on my "to-do" list, taking time to put together another couple of vases on Sunday was just part of getting back in the groove heading into the new week.

Alstroemeria 'Claire' provided the impetus for the color scheme of my first vase.

The color combination here is a departure from my usual reliance on complementary colors.  The burgundy specks in the Alstroemeria's petals prompted me to include red elements to punctuate the white and yellow flowers.

The tall spires of Sideritis syriaca cypria (aka ironwort or Cretan mountain tea) were a last minute addition

In addition to the Sideritis, the Dr. Seuss-like flowers of Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) and Salvia lanceolata (rocky mountain sage) gave the arrangement a quirky touch I liked

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Antirrhinum majus 'Black Prince', Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Phlomis fruticosa, Salvia lanceolata, and Sideritis syriaca cypria.  The burgundy-flowered snapdragons have lovely dark, almost black, foliage, which unfortunately doesn't show up in the arrangement.

I saw lots of pretty larkspurs during our garden tours in Texas so it was a natural choice for my second vase this week.  My plants were grown in my cutting garden from seed my brother harvested from his garden last year.  I've never grown larkspur before and wasn't sure it would do well here but it germinated and grew without any problem in my well-watered raised planters.  I'll definitely sow it again this coming fall.  (Thanks Eric!)

I'd thought the foxgloves would be the dominant feature in this vase but, when I discovered just how much this new vase could hold, I added a hefty stem of the mid-blue Delphinium to the mix

Back view

This was another hard vase to photograph from above, even standing on a chair

Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: noID Delphinium planted from plugs, Consolida ajacis (aka Delphinium ambiguum) grown from seed, Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmation White', Coleonema album, and Coriandrum sativum (aka cilantro that's bolted) 

I'd intended to place the tall vase on the dining room table but I'm so in love with my first vase this week that I had to have it where I could admire it with my breakfast so I swapped the positions of the two vases.

The vase on the right is a new one, picked up at West Elm when I attended the South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show late last month.  I pulled one of the cat figurines I collected years ago as an accent.

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

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

In a Vase on Monday: Wild or just weird?

Last week I mentioned another plant I wanted to feature in a vase.  This is that plant:

Salvia lanceolata, a South African native aka Rocky Mountain Sage, recently featured in my April plant favorites post

As you can see, it has an unusual flower and, frankly, I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I cut several stems, stuck them in a jar with water, and meandered through the garden looking for suitable partners.  I thought the end result had a wild and romantic air about it but you'll be forgiven if you think it's just weird.

Front view, highlighting a wind-ravaged Rudbeckia stem, from the only one of 12 plugs planted last November that's bloomed thus far

Back view: wispy stems of Gaura have sprung into bloom in throughout the garden as our temperatures soared

Top view (views including grasses always look funky)

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Salvia lanceolata, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Dorycnium hirsutum (aka Hairy Canary Clover), Festuca californica, Gaura lindheimeri, and Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy'

Summer's advance becomes more evident each day.  In addition to rising temperatures, the wind here has been almost relentless for the past 2 weeks, sometimes producing gusts over 30 miles an hour.  Every time I admire a spring bloom in my garden, I fear it may be the last time for the season so, like a junkie in need of a spring floral fix,  I over-compensated this week by creating 2 more vases.  The first of these was inspired by Aquilegia 'Spring Magic', which just produced its first blooms.  I planted 3 clumps of this columbine in 2012 but, after our long drought, only one survives and its blooms generally don't last long.

Front view: the purplish-blue and white color of the columbine set the color scheme

Back view, which shows off the papery flowers of Limonium perezii and the first of the Achillea blooms

Top view, highlighting the white Centranthus

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Aquilegia 'Spring Magic', Achillea 'Moonshine', Centranthus ruber 'Albus', Lathyrus odoratus 'Big Blue', Limonium perezii, and Tanacetum niveum

The last vase was inspired by the bright orange flowers of Ornithogalum dubium.  I picked up this bulbous plant a few years ago and, lacking a good spot for it, stuck it in the corner of one of the raised planters in what is now my cutting garden.  It dies back every summer and I usually forget all about it until it returns following our winter rains.

Front view: I used my ornamental teapot for this arrangement but, in retrospect, it might have been better in a vase with a narrower neck to support the stems

Back view, dominated by the stems of Agonis flexuosa (aka peppermint willow)

Top view, showing how the stems tended to flop to the sides of the pot

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Ornithogalum dubium, Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Bulbine fruticosa 'Hallmark', Jacobaea maritima, and Rosa 'Golden Celebration'

Visit Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, our "In a Vase on Monday" host, to find more vases.  Or join in the fun and post photos of one of your own vases!

Today's vases in their places: the dining table, the coffee table in the living room, and the console table in the front entry

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