In a Vase on Monday: The garden's gifts

Both of last week's floral arrangements are still in good shape.  I edited them a little, gave them fresh water, and shuffled them into new positions.  I didn't expect to find much I could use this week that wouldn't be a retread of recent arrangements but, once again, my garden delivered.  I created one bouquet and used other cut stems to jazz up a store-bought wreath.

While I did use stems of my old standby, Grevillea 'Superb', I added stems of Metrosideros 'Springfire', which is suddenly covered in flowers, as well as fresh blooms of 2 Alstroemerias

Back view: Despite the lack of rain, the first Narcissus are making an appearance too!

Top view

Top row - Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', A. 'Inca Sundance', and Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash'
Middle - Correa 'Ivory Bells', Grevillea 'Superb', and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush'
Bottom - Leucadendron salignum 'Summer Red', Metrosideros collina 'Springfire', and noID Narcissus

I initially stuck the store-bought wreath on its hook and just added a bow and one small ornament, planning to leave it at that.  However, several stems of Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' stood out when I walked into the garden on Sunday morning.  I initially thought I'd put them in my floral arrangement but the wreath was begging for embellishment.

I decided that the red-tinged stems of both Leucadendron salignum 'Safari Sunset' and Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', originally cut for my vase, were a better fit with the red notes in the wreath

Rain on Christmas Eve is still in the forecast as a possibility.  One weather service gives our chance at thirty-five percent and another fifty-five percent, although they agree that the total precipitation isn't likely to amount to much.  I have my fingers crossed nonetheless.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Best wishes for a happy holiday week!

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

In a Vase on Monday: Gift flowers - and a hand-made wreath

With Christmas a week away, time is short and flowers are few.  A friend stopped by on Saturday for a pre-Christmas get-together and gift exchange.  She brought flowers so those went into a vase for the dining room table.

The vase holds Chrysanthemums, bicolor and red Gerberas, Dianthus, and greenery

 

Among other things, I gave her this:

The seashell is one of many that were left behind by a prior owner.  I recently filled a larger clam shell with succulents (as shown here).  This smaller version was filled with miscellaneous succulents I had on hand.

 

On Sunday, I made another stab at creating a wreath using material in my garden.  This is the third time I've done this and I'm only nominally more pleased with this year's effort.  I used larger bundles of material this time but, in retrospect, I think I should have used shorter stems and more bundles.  As in prior years, I didn't give the project the time and patience it needed.  Here's a run-down:

I used a 14-inch metal ring as a base

I assembled various cuttings from the garden cut in roughly 8-9-inch lengths.  I didn't end up including the Magnolia grandiflora seed cones (mainly because I ran out of time and patience).

This was my first sample bundle, which I decided was too wispy.  I ended up including 3 stems of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', 2-3 stems of Leucadendron 'Chief', and one stem of Cotoneaster berries in each bundle. 

This is what the wreath looked like after the first pass.  I used 22-gauge paddle wire to attach the bundles, overlapping each with the next one in an alternating in-out pattern.

The finished wreath is shown above in place on the gate that separates my cutting garden from the northeast side dry garden.  I wired up the heavy Aeonium rosettes separately and added a small red ribbon as the final touch.  Clockwise from the upper right, the following 4 photos show closeups of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', noID Cotoneaster berries, and Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'.

    

Our annual tree pruning is scheduled to start early this morning.  My husband and I spun around the garden yesterday, moving furniture, pots, and breakable items out of harm's way.  We've used the same tree service, owned by an arborist, for years now.  They always do a good job but there's also always collateral damage and I expect to be spending hours doing cleanup afterwards.  It'll be nice to start the new year with that chore behind us, though.

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

 

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

In a Vase on Monday: Scraps from the garden

Floral pickings are relatively spare right now but I managed to cobble together some scraps from the garden for a small arrangement that doesn't include my year-round bloomers this week.  As Christmas decorations have begun to fill the house, there's less space for vases anyway.

The Osteospermum blooms front and center here are seedlings that came up in the middle of the dirt path that runs behind my backyard border.  They appear to be offspring of Osteospermum '4D Silver', which I haven't been able to find for some time and which I'd never thought would come up true to form from seed.

Back view featuring the globe daisies (Globularia x indubia) that recently reappeared

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'White Butterfly', noID Ceanothus, Globularia x indubia, Osteospermum '4D Silver', Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea', and Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light'

As the arrangement I created two weeks ago is still sitting on the dining room table (minus only the Mangave bloom spikes), the new arrangement landed on the kitchen island.

I attempted another wreath this year but, running out of patience and struggling with a backache, it failed to live up to my expectations.  I erred in failing to hydrate the cut stems overnight after I assembled the materials in small bundles before wiring them to a metal frame the next morning.  My guess is that it won't hold up long even hung outside.

I interspersed bundles of Coleonema 'Sunset Gold', Chondropetalum elephantipes and Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' (shown upper right) with berries of a noID Cotoneaster (middle right) and bundles of Leucadendron 'Chief' and Prunus caroliniana (lower right).  I found ribbon that looked like burlap (if it was wired and infused with a dusting of gold glitter) in my gift wrap stash.

I brought home a pre-made pine wreath when we picked up our Christmas tree on Friday.  I always embellish these with cuttings from the garden, although I used a lighter touch than usual this year.

In addition to the ribbon I've reused for years now, I added an angel, more Cotoneaster berries, and Leucadendron 'Blush'.  The last were leftovers from last week's vase.

A garden gnome, released from his confinement in the garage only for a brief interval each December, took his place near the front door to greet visitors.

The gnome came from a favorite nursery on a 50% off sale when it closed many years ago.  He was missing a fishing pole so I give him succulents, berries or other cuttings to hold each year but he never looks less grumpy.  The smaller climbing gnome hanging from his cap usually goes on the pine wreath or the Christmas tree but he earned a new role this year.

For more IAVOM posts, 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: Itsy Bitsy tangles with the queen of flowers

A friend of mine stopped by on Saturday with gifts, including peonies!  The same market that offers peonies in late spring/early summer now has "winter peonies" so of course I had to use them in a vase this Monday.  She brought two sleeves of peonies in different colors but, as one group opened far more quickly than the other, I ended up displaying them in separate vases.

I partnered the peony blooms with Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' and foliage from my garden.  According to legend, peonies are the queen of flowers (or king or empress, depending upon the source). 

Back view: I cut so many of the spindly 'Itsy Bitsy' stems, they repeatedly got tangled with the peonies and themselves, hence the title of this post

Top view

From left to right: Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', noID peonies, and Prunus caroliniana

The peonies in the second vase were still stubbornly curled in tight balls on Sunday afternoon but I'm expecting they'll open overnight.

These peonies were also paired with 'Itsy Bitsy' and the same foliage

Contrary to expectations, my garden produced yet another Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) bloom so, to celebrate its persistence, I constructed another arrangement around it.

I collected a range of blue and purple blooms to accent the dark blue Lisianthus

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Ceanothus, Eustoma grandiflorum, Lavandula multifida, Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

I showed a single photo of a wreath I constructed from scratch (my first ever!) in my Friday post but, thinking that members of the IAVOM community were perhaps most likely to appreciate the process, I saved the details for this post.

From left to right, the main ingredients were cuttings of Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', berries of Nandina domestica paired with stems of Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', and Leucadendron 'Winter Red'.  I tied the cuttings tightly together using fishing line.  In retrospect, I should have made more and smaller bundles of each material to create a denser wreath.

I used a wire frame I'd saved from a store-bought wreath purchased last year.  When I started, I hadn't planned to add the red berries or chartreuse Coleonema.  I placed two Leucadendron 'Chief' bundles for each 'Winter Sun' bundle, wrapping the wire around each bundle hree times before overlapping it with the next one.  I didn't cut the wire until I'd covered the entire frame.

I was fairly pleased with it when I reached this phase but I decided I needed some bright spots of red, which is when I assembled the berry bundles.  I wired these in separately but it would have been better to have wired in everything at the same time, as well as using smaller bundles of materials to create a denser wreath.

Luckily, I had some chartreuse ribbon on hand.  I watched an online video about making a bow with multiple loops.  Stiffer ribbon would have worked better in this instance.

This is the finished wreath.  Knowing what I do now, next time I'll: create smaller bundles of materials (about 4 inches long), alternate bundles facing in and out, and wire all materials as part of one continuous process.  As this wreath has dried out rapidly indoors, I think I'll also place it outdoors if possible.

 

All Christmas decorating is now complete for this year.  With Covid-19 filling our ICUs and stretching local hospitals to the brink, my husband and I will be spending our holiday alone this year.  However you're celebrating I hope you find a safe and pleasant way to enjoy the comforts of the season.  Best wishes!

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

Christmas Wreath

On a recent shopping trip with friends to Roger's Gardens in Orange County, I checked out the wreaths on display.

Wreath with Banksia - I thought the flowers were fake at first

Most years I buy an inexpensive Christmas wreath from the local garden center or tree lot.  Although they may have a few pine cones and a mix of greens, they're pretty plain.

This year's purchase, hung over the flagpole holder that came with the house

But I always add my own touches, usually a bow and Christmas ornament odds and ends.  This year, Sunset magazine featured wreaths with proteas and I thought maybe I'd use natural materials to embellish my wreath too (even if I didn't make the base from scratch).  Loree of danger garden added Leucadendron to her tree and I thought that was a good idea, especially as I have several of these shrubs in my garden.  I tucked in some Aeonium, Pennisetum setaceum and Heteromeles arbutifolia berries too.

My embellished wreath

In addition to a bow I've reused for years, I added succulents, berries and grass plumes cut from my garden as shown in close-up here

This close-up of the wreath's lower portion shows 2 varieties of Aeonium, stems of silvery Leucadendron 'Pisa' and cuttings of L. 'Wilson's Wonder' (I also used a few stems of L. 'Chief')

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' isn't as red as it was in summer or as yellow as it'll be later this winter but I was still pleased with the effect.  And, despite our recent rain (another inch from the storms yesterday and last night!), the wreath has held up well in a largely unsheltered area.  Do you use garden material to decorate for the holidays?


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party