In a Vase on Monday: Nose dive

One of the plants in my back border took a nose dive a few days ago.  Although the gardeners trimmed the hedge behind it before we noticed it had toppled, I don't think anyone was responsible for knocking it down.  The plant in question was an artichoke with three very heavy chokes.  I think its sheer weight caused its nose dive.  Dry soil may have been a contributing factor as we've been dealing with our first heatwave of the year since Friday.  In any case, rather than tossing the entire thing in the compost bin, I decided to use part of it in an arrangement.

The 'Purple Romagna' artichoke has exceptionally sharp spines that glint like gold in the sun.  Unfortunately, I couldn't capture their color properly with my camera.

Back view: I added a few stems of the bronzy-colored flowers of the Aeonium haworthii to play off the choke's gold spines and white and purple flowers of Nigella papillosa to echo the choke's flesh.  In retrospect, it may have been better to stick with one or the other.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', Nigella papillosa 'African Bride', and Cynara cadunculus var. scoolymus 'Purple Romagna'

My second arrangement is more conventional.  Many of its components didn't appreciate the sudden surge in our temperatures over the weekend, peaking at 95F (35C) on Saturday, so I treated my selection process as a rescue operation, saving some flowers from a third day of high temperatures.  We're expecting a dramatic drop in temperatures today.

While I started off with a few stems of pink Alstroemeria, Centranthus and 2 varieties of snapdragons took over

I dressed up the back view with stems of 'April in Paris' sweet peas, which have suddenly burst into bloom

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus in dark pink and white, Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mount Everest', noID pink Alstroemeria, Centranthus ruber, Fuchsia 'Dollar Princess', and Lathyrus odoratus 'April in Paris'

I've a lot of work to do in the garden this week (as well as the foreseeable future) so I'm looking forward to temperatures in the pleasant range of the mid-to-upper 60sF (17-20C) at least through next Sunday.

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

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

In a Vase on Monday: Purplish

One of my favorite plants is Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), native to New Zealand.  It has strappy evergreen leaves, tolerates dry shade, and produces sprays of beautiful flowers in early summer.  Much as I love it, I've found it difficult to use in floral arrangements (probably because I'm prone to cramming too much into my vases).  The plants have bloomed heavily this year and I was determined to use them in an arrangement that shows off the small flowers.

Resisting my usual predilection for stuffing vases, I used only 4 elements, 3 of which are tall and wispy

Back view: The small Arthropodium flowers have white petals with fuzzy purple and yellow stamens

Top view: I played off the purple in the Arthropodium's stamens using the flowers of Centaurea 'Silver Feather'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Dahlia 'Vancouver', and Leucanthemum x superbum

Staying with the purplish theme, I cut a flowering artichoke for a second arrangement, although it ended up being the only thing that went into the vase.

The artichoke is Cynara scolymus 'Purple Romagna'.  It's a full 12 inches in diameter and extremely heavy.  It's also more prickly than any of my agaves and I got stabbed repeatedly just cutting its stalk.  I used one of the only vases I had that could hold it without tipping over and it left no room for additions.

Our marine layer is slowly fading.  It was absent entirely at our elevation on Saturday morning and temperatures soared accordingly.  Unfortunately, heat, wind, and dry conditions contributed to a wildfire in north Los Angeles County on Saturday, approximately a hundred miles away.  It's already burned more than 12,000 acres and prompted evacuations, and it's still largely uncontained.  Luckily, here along the coast, our morning marine layer returned yesterday and it looks as though it'll hang around for most of this week, even if it's lighter and likely to clear earlier.

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

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Lilies & Thistles

This week, my arrangements differ in texture as much as color.  The lilies in my garden have been appearing one after another and, as heat is in the forecast, I thought it best to use at least some of them in vases while I can.

Lilium 'Friso' offered its first blooms this week.  I'd completely forgotten about them and failed to cage them as protection against the hungry rabbits but they weren't touched this year, perhaps because they're partially engulfed by the surrounding plants.

Back view: I added a single Lilium 'Pretty Woman' (which I had caged) and 2 stems of white Agapanthus that were blocking the dirt path I use when cleaning up the back garden border

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, noID Alstroemeria, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Lilium 'Friso', L. 'Pretty Woman', and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

My selection of thistles for my second vase wasn't planned.  As I was cleaning up parts of my garden on Saturday, I discovered that the fancy artichoke in my back garden border had either been knocked to the ground by a critter overnight, or simply fallen over under its own considerable weight.

I only have a few vases heavy enough to hold the weight of the artichoke upright.  I had to cut off the 2 side chokes because the stem of this central choke was greater than an inch in diameter just by itself.  The artichoke was more prickly than many of the agaves in my collection.

Back view:  Even with just a single artichoke stem, I could only squeeze in a few other slender stems 

Top view: The additions included a few stems of Eryngium planum (aka sea holly) and the papery flowers of Limonium perezii (aka sea lavender).  Although the Eryngium was past its prime,  its purply stems and spent brown flowers played off the colors of the artichoke.

Clockwise from the left: Cynara scolymus 'Purple Romagna', Erngium planum 'Blue Glitter', and Limonium perezii

 

I honestly hadn't planned any additional arrangements but ended up with two more anyway.  In one case, I'd cut flowers to be included in the vase containing the artichoke but popped them into a tiny vase when I decided the stems were too short to make an impact in that arrangement.

I used my small cactus-shaped vase to hold a few stems of Melaleuca thymifolia, Polygala myrtifolia, and Scabiosa columbaria 'Deep Blue'.  The unusual flowers of the Melaleuca are particularly difficult to photograph.

 

In the last case, the second of the beautiful Gladiolus 'Guinea' in another back garden border flopped over on its own and I couldn't bear letting it go to waste.

The top row shows the small vase holding the gladiola from the front, back and top.  I used just 2 stems of Grevillea 'Superb' and several stems of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' to accompany Gladiolus 'Guinea'.

 

We managed to avoid the heat that afflicted much of Los Angeles County last week but this week's heat sounds more menacing.  Hopefully, our morning marine layer will stick with us now, when it's really needed and keep those afternoon temperatures within bounds, but with the weather world-wide becoming less predictable, who knows?

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

 

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - June 2022

We're at the juncture between spring and summer.  It's arguable that summer is already well underway in my location, even if our morning marine layer (popularly known as "June gloom") has kept the afternoon temperatures along the Southern California coast within reasonably comfortable bounds, at least thus far.  We recently had a couple of days when temperatures reached the mid 80sF (29C) but we haven't been hit with the 100+F (37-38C) temperatures experienced by our inland valleys.  In fact, on Monday, our marine layer delivered a tenth of an inch of precipitation!  My 50-gallon rainwater tank, empty on Sunday, was full once again on Monday.  I can't say with any certainty what my 160- and 265-gallon tanks accumulated but both collected at least a little to help me water the plants that are struggling the most with our ongoing drought, classified as "severe" in my area.

I'm going to start this Bloom Day post with some of plants that surprised me for one reason or another this month.

The epiphytic orchid cactus Epiphyllum 'King Midas' bloomed for the first time last week after 4 years in my lath house.  I took at least 2 dozen photos of it, beginning the night it opened.

I first saw Pelargonium schizopetalum in an Instagram post a year ago and ordered 3 plants by mail.  A plant with very similar foliage bloomed a few weeks ago and I was afraid I'd been sent the wrong species but it was apparently a hitchhiker.  The true P. schizopetalum made its appearance last weekend.

The earlier blooms of Echinopsis oxygona opened between Bloom Day posts but this month it was right on time for a closeup

These pink and white lilies appeared in a pot of gift lilies labeled Lilium 'Royal Sunset', an orange-flowered Asiatic lily.   Unlike 'Royal Sunset' both were heavily scented but I have no ID for either.

This isn't the best photo but the sight of this Hippeastrum 'Luna' bloom stopped me in my tracks.  I planted these bulbs in one of my backyard borders after they'd finished blooming in pots back in March.  More blooms, even on a very short stalk like this, weren't expected again this year. 

I hadn't decided whether to cut the artichokes (Cynara) on my back slope to eat or let them bloom in place.  They decided the matter before I did.

Up next are the plants making the biggest splash in the garden this month.  Many of these were already commanding the stage back in May.

Achillea 'Moonshine' is still in full flower but slowly leaning into its decline

The Agapanthus were just getting started last month but they're in full bloom now.  All of those shown here came with the garden, although I've divided some of them since we arrived 10 years ago.

Crassula pubescens has burst into bloom all over my garden

After what seemed like a very long wait, Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) are blooming in shades of blue, pink and white

Gaura lindheimeri is continuing its run this month

Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy) continues to delight the bees

I prefer Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles' without flowers but there's little hope of keeping those in check at this time of year

The white-flowered vines (Pandorea jasminoides and Trachelospermum jasminoides) covering the arbor over the gate were in bloom last month but they've now been joined by Lavandula angustifolia

Magnolia grandiflorum is blooming heavily this June

The flowers of Oscularia deltoides resemble those of Delosperma but the former is more of a shrub than a groundcover

Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman' is still dominating my south side garden

Some plants seem to be preparing their exit.

At present I'm having trouble keeping Argyranthemum frutescens 'White Butterfly' tidy even with regular deadheading.  The flowers are still coming but, as temperatures warm, they will slow and eventually stop.

The daylilies have been disappointing this year, probably as they've had to get by on less water than they like.  Clockwise from the upper left are Hemerocallis 'Plum Perfect', anemic 'Indian Giver', 'Russian Rhapsody', 'Spacecoast Behavior Pattern', 'Spanish Harlem', and 'Sammy Russell'.

 

Other flowers are just making their entrance.

Left to right: Daucus carota 'Dara', Monarda 'Peter's Purple', and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

 

I can't ignore the plants that are mainstays through all or a large part of the year either.

Clockwise from the left: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', 'Starfire Pink', and 'Honeybells'

A wide variety of the Gazanias the rabbits haven't yet decapitated

Clockwise from the upper left: Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', G. sericea, and G. 'Superb' shown in closeup and profile

Some of the Leucadendrons have bracts that look like flowers at this time of year.  From left to right: Leucadendron 'Blush', L. 'Summer Red', and L. 'Safari Sunset'.

I'll conclude as I usually do with the best of the rest, organized in collages by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Arbutus 'Marina', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', Digitalis purpurea, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Oenothera speciosa, Osteospermum '4D Pink', and Cistus 'Sunset'

Top: Felicia aethopica, Limonium perezii, and Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense'
Middle: Penstemon heterophyllus, P. 'Rock Candy Blue', and Polygala fruticosa
Bottom: Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Deep Blue', Thymus serpyllum, and Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arthropodium cirratum, Angelonia 'Archangel White', Fuchsia magellanica 'Hawkshead', Nigella papillosa, Orlaya grandiflora, Penstemon 'Onyx & Pearls', mix of Osteospermum, and Salvia 'White Flame'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arctotis 'Large Marge', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Yellow Butterfly', Grindelia camporum, Hymenolepis parviflora, Lantana 'Lucky Yellow', and Tagetes lemmonii

Clockwise from upper left: Aloe 'Crimson Dragon', Gasteria 'Kyaka', Gladiolus 'Guinea', Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic', Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Bronze', Lantana 'Irene', Leonotis leonurus, and Rosa 'Joseph's Coat'

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', Pelargonium peltatum 'Burgundy', P. sidioides, Gaillardia 'Amazon Sunset', Lobelia laxiflora, noID Coreopsis, and Penstemon mexicalli 'Mini-bells Red'

If you got this far, thanks for putting up with another of my long Bloom Day posts.  These are one of the best tools I have to track what's happening in my garden from one year to another.  For a look at what's happening in other gardens around the country and elsewhere in the world, visit our Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

 

 

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party