In a Vase on Monday: The siren call of blue flowers

I recently discovered that my Mexican Abelia, now classified as Vesalea floribunda, had sprung back to life after a hard pruning months ago.  I obtained it many years ago from Annie's Annuals & Perennials as a four-inch plant and placed it on my back slope for reasons I don't recall.  It didn't do much over the years and, although I loved its fragrant flowers, I had no success in propagating it directly from cuttings but it spread well by layering and is currently spilling over its neighbors.  Once I saw how well it was doing, I knew I had to use it in a vase.  While the color is described in the literature on the plant as "cerise," I see it as pinkish lavender and collected other flowers in that color scheme to complement it.

It became another of my "everything but the kitchen sink" creations.  The single stem of Geranium 'Rozanne' I placed in front was probably a mistake, although the faint streaks at the center of the Geranium flower echo the color of the Vesalea blooms.  The Salvia stems were almost lost in the mix.

Back view: The Limonium perezii blooms presented a better match with the Vesalea flowers

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthmum frutescens 'Mount Everest', Hebe 'Grace Kelly', Salvia 'Bee's Bliss', Geranium 'Rozanne', Limonium perezii, Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', and Vesalea floribunda

I'd originally thought I could throw the flowers of Anemone 'Lord Lieutenant' into that first vase but the color difference was too pronounced in my view.  Still, I couldn't dismiss the brilliant blue of those flowers so I created a smaller second arrangement.

I've been very pleased that the 'Lord Lieutenant' Anemone bulbs I purchased in 2025 actually fit their specifications as described this time.  The cream-colored Matthiola incana (aka stock) was added for its delicious scent.

Back view: I used stems of a noID Ceanothus as my filler

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant', noID Ceanothus, Matthiola incana, Prostanthera ovatifolia 'Variegata, and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'

We've had a major reversal in the weather over the past week with temperatures reaching into the mid-70sF (23C).  It could get warmer still over this week.  The Santa Ana winds have been blowing and our humidity levels have dropped dramatically.  However, unlike last January, the winds pose little danger of sparking wildfires because we were so well saturated by the rain we've received since October.  In fact, according to news reports, the State of California is completely drought-free for the first time in twenty-five years.  Those conditions won't last forever but they're appreciated for now.  Hopefully, we'll get more rain before our rainy season ends in April.  At present, there's no significant chance of rain showing until early February.

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

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Go Blue!

The blues have it!

Barleria obtusa, aka bush violet

Barleria obtusa closeup

Another bush violet flowering exuberantly

Eustoma grandiflorum, aka lisianthus, making a comeback

Many of our neighbors are going for the blues too.

Ipomoea, aka morning glory

Plumbago here, there, and everywhere (except my garden)

It's lovely to see blue flowers in my garden at this time of year, as well as in my neighbors' gardens.  Are those the only blues of interest at the moment?  Not at all!  With three games already clinched, the Los Angeles Dodgers could win the World Series in Game 4, set to start as I file this post for publication tomorrow morning - or that could take another game or two.  And next Tuesday is Election Day in the US - a blue wave would be wonderful to see but I'll settle for a win when all the votes are counted.  I'm registered as an independent but I'm acting blue all the way down the ballot this year.

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

I've got the blues

As any regular reader of my blog knows, I have a pronounced affection for flowers.  I'm especially fond of blue flowers.  I'll grow - or at least attempt to grow - any plant known to produce blue blooms.  As spring gets started, the blues have started to accumulate.  Here's a look at what currently has me singing (about) the blues:

After failing with other bugloss species, I tried Anchusa capensis 'Blue Angel' based on a recommendation by blogger Phillip at Dirt Therapy.  I've got just one plant but it's done well enough to encourage me to plant more.

The blue Anemone coronaria are prolific this year.  I ordered 'Lord Lieutenant' bulbs but I'm not sure that's what I got; however, I'm happy with the flowers in any case.

This is Aristea major, which is much brighter when viewed in person.  I've difficulty capturing the true color of most blue flowers with my camera.

Campanula portenschlagiana is just getting started

Ceanothus arboreus 'Cliff Schmidt' on my back slope is a challenge to photograph because it sits on our property's border and I can't get far enough away on our side of the line to get a good shot.  The tree-sized plant is hidden behind a lemon tree on our side, backed up by a neighbor's fence on the east side, and drops off sharply into another neighbor's property on the south side.

This is a closeup of a noID Ceanothus that came with the garden.  It was grown as a hedge about one foot away from the Xylosma hedge that runs the full length of the back garden.  There were several of these same Ceanothus growing in the front garden (a foot away from another Xylosma hedge).  Those plants died back suddenly a few years after we moved in and we removed them - or thought we did.  After 2 years of good rain, I've seen signs that 2 of the shrubs are attempting a comeback.

This is one of 3 Echium handiense I've grown from cuttings

I grow several Felicia aethiopica sub-shrubs in the back garden

Ipheion uniflorum (aka spring starflower and Mexican star) is a very pale blue

I planted 5 varieties of sweet peas in my cutting garden but only one is blooming so far and I can't say with certainty which one it is.  My best guess is that it's Lathyrus odoratus 'Mermaid's Dream'.

Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender and Egyptian lavender) blooms year round

Not flowers but the berries of Mahonia x media 'Charity' put on a better show than the flowers anyway

Top row: Osteospermum '4D Pink' has a purple-blue center
Middle: O. '4D Silver'
Bottom: O. 'Purple Spoon' and O. '4D Violet Ice'

Pericallis hybrids (aka cineraria), grown as annuals. The true blue varieties on top were included in a mix of plugs, most of which were blue.  The one on the bottom is Pericallis hybrida 'Magic Salmon', a favorite of mine.

I've a lot of prostrate rosemary (now classified as Salvia rosmarinus), all of which is blue even if it looks white in photographs

NoID Scaevola and Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum', both best viewed in closeup

Top: Viola 'Sorbet XP Neptune'
Bottom: Viola cornuta 'Penny Peach'

If my records from prior years can be relied upon, many more blue flowers can be expected to show up by the end of March.  These are likely to include some of the brightest blues: Delphiniums, Iris douglasiana, Iris hollandica 'Sapphire Blue', Limonium perezii, and Scilla pervuviana.

Before I exit for the weekend, I'll share a few of the white flowers that are currently putting on a good show as well:

My ornamental pear tree (Pyrus calleryana) finally bloomed

The white Freesias (left) are well ahead of the blue ones this year,  The Osteospermum '4D White' (right) are off to a very good start.

Have a great weekend!

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

 

Wednesday Vignette: I've got the blues

It's a weird time.  Election day in the US is less than a week away and, although I voted early, I'm anxious to reach the end of the long, tumultuous period of political grandstanding.  Yet, the election itself may prompt another round of ugliness.  I'm sometimes tempted to take shelter as one does in an earthquake, close my eyes, and pray for it to be over without a tragedy of some sort.  In the garden, I've got two large trees, one dead and one nearly so, scheduled for removal tomorrow, and I'm apprehensive about the impact there.  And it didn't help that this week's latest bout with Santa Ana winds triggered two more vicious wildfires in Southern California, neither of which is anywhere near containment.  A flurry of firework displays last night, sparked by the Dodgers' win in the World Series, intensified my fire-related anxiety.

Despite once again contending with poor air quality due to smoke, I've spent time in the garden off and on since the fires started early Monday morning.  What I noticed in the back garden in particular was the prominence of blue color.

The odd light levels when I took this photo of the back garden near mid-day on Monday reflected the early influence of the Silverado Fire

The bush violets, Barleria obtusa, immediately draw attention.  The plants started blooming a couple of weeks earlier than usual this year and appear to be in full bloom now.

At the time of my mid-October Bloom Day report, this Barleria obtusa next to the backyard fountain had only a handful of blooms

These photos show close-ups of the violets, accented in the area next to the fountain by another strong flush of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) blooms

On the other side of the path that runs through the back garden there's a second large clump of bush violets.  As this one was swamping its neighbors earlier this month, I'd cut it back hard but it's flowering well anyway.

The bush violets aren't the only blues present in the back garden.  In addition to the nice flush of dark blue Eustoma grandiflorum, Salvia leucantha, Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic' and Brachyscome 'Brasco Violet' are still blooming but it's the Chihuahuan Sage, Leucophyllum laevigatum, that's giving the bush violets a run for their money.

This plant seems to produce a new flush of bloom every time the marine layer returns

Duranta repens and Salvia 'Mystic Spires' are also adding light touches of blue color in spots throughout the garden, back and front.

This is one of a number of Duranta I have that sport yellow foliage

This clump of Salvia 'Mystic Spires' has been in this very dry corner of the garden for years, blooming on its own schedule

The front garden has the blues too.

Yet another bush violet, this one backed by Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

The chartreuse color of Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' in the background allows the blue flowers of Lavandula multifida to stand out

This is Hypoestes aristata, aka ribbon bush.  In my former garden it grew into a 4 foot shrub but I've struggled to keep it alive here.  This one is just a foot tall.

Blue in the garden is great.  However, feeling blue isn't.  I'm hoping the change I've been sensing in the country is real and that, once the dust settles, November will mark a positive shift in the national dialogue.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

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

In a Vase on Monday: Sun, Blue Sky & Fluffy White Clouds

We got a teeny tiny amount of rain Saturday night and awoke on Sunday (late due to the start of Daylight Savings Time) to clear blue skies, scrubbed clean of their usual dingy brown layer of smog, a few lingering fluffy white clouds, and bright sunlight.

View looking southeast at the Port of Los Angeles from our back door after we received 0.06/inch of rain overnight.  If you look closely at the left side of the shot you can see the Royal Princess cruise ship sitting in port, probably being scrubbed from stem to stern.  It pulled out past Angel's Gate headed to Mexico just after 5:30pm yesterday.  I belatedly learned that the cruise was cancelled due to a link to the Grand Princess.  The Royal Princess sailed out of port but I'm not sure where it went.

View from our back patio looking northeast.  The Port is disturbingly quiet at the moment as the volume of transport ships has dropped dramatically over the past few weeks.

The sunny scene inspired the contents for my first vase.

Although the blue tips of the Dutch Iris are just beginning to emerge, none were ready to be cut yet so I sought out other flowers in shades of true blue, including the first flowering stem of Portuguese squill (Scilla peruviana) for the front of the vase

and Pericallis, Salvia, lavender and Aristea inaequalis, a South African Iris relative, for the back

Top view: Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa) and Freesias provided the yellow notes and marguerite daisies (Argyranthemum frutescens) provided fresh white

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum frutescens, Aristea inaequalis, Freesia, Lavandula multifida, Pericallis, Phlomis fruticosa, Salvia 'Mystic Spires' and, in the middle, Scilla peruviana

My second vase is very different in terms of color and contains a mix I'm fairly certain I've used before; however, it shares a connection to the first arrangement in that both vases provide examples of nyctinasty.  Nyctinasty describes the natural phenomenon which causes leaves and/or flowers of certain plants to close in response to diminished light levels.  Interesting as that is, it's a bit irritating when it comes to creating flower arrangements.  I usually avoid using flowers with this characteristic but I'd utterly forgotten that the South African Iris relative, Aristea inaequalis, did that when I cut two stems for my first vase.  I remembered it when I found myself struggling to find open flowers to photograph.  In the case of the second vase, it wasn't the flowers that presented an issue but rather the foliage.  

The new red-tinged foliage of the pink powder puff bush (Calliandra haematocephala) folds when the light level is reduced, although the flowers and mature foliage are unaffected

The powder puff flowers don't last long in a vase.  I included a few flowers still tightly in bud to help dress up the back of the vase.

Top view

From left to right: Calliandra haematocephala, Freesia, and Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola'

Finally, as I've grown accustomed to eating breakfast with flowers on the kitchen island, I cut a few florets from the florescent yellow bloom stalks of the succulent Aeonium arboreum to fill a small cactus-shaped vase.  Much as I love flowers, I'm not particularly fond of these flower stalks, which give the succulents a misshapen appearance.  In February, I had a dozen or more of them and, as new ones continue to appear, I've started cutting the older, scruffier stalks down so I decided to use a few of the florets before they all end up in our green waste bin.

Aeonium arboreum bloom stalk in garden and individual florets in the cactus vase

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

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