A Bevy of Dahlias

Five of my dahlias have now produced blooms and 4 others have buds.  Only one, 'Diva', living up to her name, has failed to produce any buds as yet.  Caving to their siren calls, I ended up with 3 vases this week despite limitations on places to put them while living in half a house during our remodel.

The impetus for my first vase wasn't actually one of the dahlia blooms but rather the interesting blooms on a succulent.

It took me awhile to formally identify this succulent as Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce'.  Although I recognized it as a Sedum, I'd listed it in a bed other than the one in which the blooms appeared this weekend.  I planted it from a 6-pack in 2015 but I think this is the first time it's bloomed.  The flowers appear at the top of an 8-inch stem in an interesting  snowflake configuration.

I picked Dahlia 'Citron du Cap' as its companion

I dressed up the back of the vase with ruffled Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) and the fading stems of Sideritis cypria

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Citron du Cap', Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Lonicera japonica, Leucanthemum x superbum, Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce', and Sideritis cypria

Dahlia 'Enchantress' was the first to bloom in my cutting garden this year and she continues to produce a steady series of flowers.

I used a couple new pink-tinged white lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) to bring out the white touches in 'Enchantress'

I used Abelia "Edward Goucher' to dress up the back of the arrangement

Top view

Clockwise from the top: Dahlia 'Enchantress', Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Eustoma grandiflorum, and Tanacetum parthenium

Dahlia 'Bluetiful' produced her first 2 blooms this weekend.  I'd intended to tuck one into my second vase with 'Enchantress' but I decided that wouldn't do justice to either.

While not nearly a true blue, 'Bluetiful' leans further in that direction than 'Enchantress'

Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly' is a near color match for the Dahlia

Top view: I'd ignored Melaleuca thymifolia too long and finding flowers fresh enough to include in this arrangement was a challenge

Clockwise from the left: Dahlia 'Bluetiful', Polygala fruicosa 'Petite Butterfly', and Melaleuca thymifolia

I managed to find spots for all 3 vases.  For more IAVOM arrangements, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

Good light inside the house is hard to find these days! 

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

In a Vase on Monday: Wild in more ways than one

Ever since the Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) produced their first blooms a few weeks ago, I've been thinking of cutting some for a Monday vase.  However, with so many flowers still clamoring for attention, it was easy to ignore the poppies down at the bottom of my back slope for a time.  Sunday morning, I decided their time had come and marched down there to clip a couple of stems.

The poppies are already blooming well above my head.  I knew the plant could spread but I wasn't aware it' could grow 8-10 feet tall.

I've got plenty of white and yellow elements in the garden to accent the crinkled white petals and yellow centers of the poppies

I threw in a couple of the unusual flowers of Sideritis cypria for added drama (and because they'd toppled over into a pathway)

Clockwise from the upper left: Romneya coulteri, Lonicera japonica, Orlaya grandiflora, Achillea 'Moonshine', persimmon buds, and Sideritis cypria.  A critter of some sort broke 2 large branches of one of my persimmon trees over the weekend, resulting in the loss of dozens of the budding fruits.

An unexpected bloom in my back border provided the impetus for a second vase.  I'd almost entirely forgotten about the dozen dwarf Gladioli bulbs I planted there over a year ago.  One lone bulb produced a flower this year and the color wasn't at all what I'd expected.   While pretty on its own, it looked terrible among the surrounding plants so I cut it and went looking for suitable companions.  This year, I've become more confident about my ability to find appropriate color matches somewhere within my garden but this flower's wild colors presented an exceptional challenge.

According to my records, the Gladiola's flowers were supposed to be white and pink.  The coral, pink and magenta flowers were a surprise.

Once I'd assembled my odd mix of flowers, only this vase created in the form of manicured hands seemed right to hold them

I used stems of my 'Pink Meidiland' rose to pick up the coral pink in the Gladiola and stems of a magenta-flowered Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium) to echo the bright spots in the petals.  The gray foliage of Dorycnium hirsutum (aka hairy Canary clover) brings down the voltage a bit.

Clockwise from the top: Gladiolus nanus 'Nymph', Rose 'Pink Meidiland', Pelargonium peltatum, and Dorycnium hirsutum

As you may have noticed, our kitchen (where I take most of my photos) remains intact.  We're still awaiting the sign-off from the Air Quality Management District required by our city to issue our construction permit and, even after we have that, it may take 2 weeks before the asbestos removal crew is available to start.  Meanwhile, a huge storage pod is sitting in our driveway waiting to be loaded with our living and dining room furniture.  But at least I still have spots to put flowers!

For more "In a Vase on Monday" posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.


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

New Arrivals

I'm embracing my inner flower floozie and posting an addendum to my lengthy mid-May Bloom Day post with photos of flowers that have made an appearance since that date.  Some of these may still be here when next month's Bloom Day rolls around but not all and I can't deny them the opportunity to strut their stuff.

The parade of Agapanthus blooms has begun!

Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily) has begun producing sprays of flowers in all the dry shade areas of my garden

This Echinopsis oxygona (aka Easter lily cactus and night-blooming hedge-hogs cactus) is looking a little yellowish despite the feeding I gave it last month but it's still producing blooms 

I inherited this noID Knipfofia with the garden.  This is the first and only bloom I can remember it producing in 8 years.

Last July's horrific heatwave sent the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) covering the back slope into retreat but our winter rains have brought it back.  I'm having a hard time keeping it under control. 

Melaleuca thymifolia has an extraordinarily complex flower that's also very difficult to photograph

The Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) believe that summer has arrived whether the temperatures indicate that or not

I won this David Austin rose, 'Lady Emma Hamilton', in the DC Garden Bloggers' Fling in June 2017.  The rose was shipped to me in March 2018 but the plant and its first blooms were incinerated in last summer's heat.  Although the plant's still small and it's only produced a handful of buds, things are looking better this year.

Rosa 'Medallion', inherited with the garden, is currently producing its first flowers of the season too

The unusual flowers of Sideritis cypria are opening.  Last year they appeared in April but didn't hang around long.  The tiny flowers filling the cupped calyces will turn yellow as the buds mature.

And, for the record, here's another collage of flowers I managed to skip over in that earlier photo-dense Bloom Day post.

Top row: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Campanula portenschlagiana with Pelargonium peltatum, and Feijoa sellowiana
Middle row: Geranium 'Tiny Monster', Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and Melinus nerviglumis (aka ruby grass)
Bottom row: Pelargonium 'Tweedle Dee', Salvia 'Mystic Spires', and Trachelospermum jasminoides

Memorial Day is the unofficial kick-off to summer in the US but weather reports for the holiday weekend are decidedly mixed.   In my area of coastal Southern California, we're still cooler than usual for this time of year and there's even yet another chance for a rainstorm over the weekend.  Whatever the weather or your plans, best wishes for an enjoyable weekend!


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

In a Vase on Monday: Wild & Loose

Neither of my vases this week are anything like what I contemplated when I walked into my garden Sunday morning to see what there was to cut.  My Renga Lilies (Arthropodium cirratum) and Agapanthus have produced their first blooms and I had vague plans of using each in an arrangement but I'd no idea what to pair them with.  Then I remembered the multi-flowered stem of Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri, aka California Tree Poppy) I'd seen Saturday while working on the back slope and I headed down there to see if the flowers were suitable for cutting.  The bees tend to scatter pollen all over the ruffled white petals but the cluster of flowers I'd identified was still pristine.

In keeping with the wild look of these Southern California natives, I kept the arrangement loose and simple

I tucked the Sideritis cypria I used in last week's vase into this one.  (Note: I mistakenly labeled this as S. syriaca, a different species, in last week's post.)

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Achillea 'Moonshine', Sideritis cypria, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', and Romneya coulteri

While down on the back slope, I noticed that another stalk of bearded Iris was blooming and, since I spend relatively little time down there, I cut it too.  I threw a lot of other long-stemmed flowers into the mix with it, creating a second vase with a wild look and loose composition.  However, like the first vase, it might have looked better had I simplified the flower palette.

It's a bit of a mish-mash

The stem of Melaleuca thymifolia at the base of the arrangement was a last minute addition.  It has an interesting flower, although the plant itself has a sloppy look in the border and I've contemplated pulling it out.

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Arthropodium cirratum, Coriandrum sativum, noID Delphinium, Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White', Lathyrus odoratus, noID Iris germanica, and, in the middle, Melaleuca thymifolia

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

All material © 2012-2018 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