Rain was predicted for Sunday, expected to interfere with red carpet activity at the Oscars, but it arrived earlier here than anticipated and exited earlier than I'd hoped. Thinking I'd get out early to cut flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden, as it turned out I was out scrambling to do that during what proved to be our heaviest downpour (not that we got much rain in total). Suffice it to say, I didn't make my usual leisurely Sunday stroll around the garden to select plant material but simply grabbed what I could and headed back to the house to dry out.
As we celebrate Valentine's Day this week, I immediately fixated on the
Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' now dominating my garden on the northeast side; however, I ran into a bit of a challenge finding suitable companions for it.
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| When the first match I'd thought of for Grevillea fell flat, I picked one of the next plants I saw that I thought might work, the foxgloves in my cutting garden. The foxgloves and the other 2 plants I selected ended up eclipsing the Grevillea stems, at least in this front view. |
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| 'Scarlet Sprite' shows up better in the back view but, in hindsight, I should have cut taller stems to give the plant more prominence in this vase |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: noID Alstroemeria, Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite', and Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White' |
I'd initially thought I'd cut a stem of hellebore or two to pair with the
Grevillea in the first vase but, not only was the hellebore significantly shorter than the
Grevillea, the color was off. Whereas the
Grevillea leans toward rosy-pink, the hellebore's flowers had a definite blue bent. As I got wetter, I quickly regrouped.
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| I used Helleborus 'Blue Lady' in this vase. pairing it with flowers that were blue or leaned in that direction |
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| Back view: I used the blue Echium handiense with pink buds again this week |
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| Top view: This turned out to be my own favorite vase this week. The daisy blooms of hybrid Pericallis 'Magic Salmon' I picked up for a pot by our front door turned out to be the perfect complement for the hellebore. I was perplexed by the name of the Pericallis when I bought it but the centers of the blue flowers shifted after it'd been in place a few days, offering an explanation for its odd cultivar name. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Pericallis 'Magic Salmon', Echium handiense 'Pride of Fuerteventura', Helleborus 'Blue Lady', Grevillea sericea, and Lavandula multifida |
Last week's vases were still in good shape so I gave them fresh water and a few minor touch-ups and found new spots for them.
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| The "sunshine" vase, less sunny now, landed on the kitchen island. A simplified version of the blue and pink vase landed on the mantle my husband built for our living room fireplace, which we installed last week, finally bringing our remodel to a formal conclusion. |
Meanwhile, the new vases assumed the vacated spots.
For more IAVOM creations,
visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Have a happy Valentine's Day!
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
