As "In a Vase on Monday" arrived on the heels of "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day" this week, I hadn't planned to put together more than one vase but I expect you won't be surprised to learn I've got two. Really, the garden dictates these things and I just follow its directions. The title of today's post comes from the fact that the focal flowers in both vases are the last of their kind for the season.
The first vase was inspired by Dahlia 'Rancho', which produced its first and only bloom last week. I've dug up and stored all my other dahlia tubers and in that 'Rancho' gave me just a single bloom during the six month period it occupied space in my cutting garden, I won't be saving this tuber. One bloom wouldn't make an arrangement on its own so I drew on more reliable flowers to flesh this one out.
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| The large-flowered Grevilleas bloom year-round here so Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' with its yellow and pale orange flowers were a natural choice to play off the dahlia's color |
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Back view, featuring more Grevillea flowers, as well as the orange berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolia (aka diamond leaf pittosporum). The berries are plentiful this time of year.
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Top view, showing off the yellow flowers of Senna bicapsularis, another reliable fall bloomer. The warm weather we had in October seems to be hurrying the Senna's bloom season along this year.
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Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Rancho', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Auranticarpa rhombifolia, Senna bicapsularis, Correa 'Sister Dawn', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', and Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown'
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The inspiration for the second vase was actually the flowers of Salvia discolor I didn't manage to photograph for Bloom Day but the arrangement fits the "last dance" theme as it also includes what I think is the last flowering stem of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) I'll have until spring.
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Three stems of Salvia discolor (aka Andean sage) are positioned toward the back of the arrangement with the blue Lisianthus grabbing center stage. The Salvia's flowers are nearly black.
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I dressed up the back of the arrangement with 'Purple Ruffles' basil (Ocimum basilicum var. purpurescens)
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Top view, showing off the still abundant Barleria obtusa (bush violet) used as filler material
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Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum, Barleria obtusa, Salvia discolor, Ocimum basilicum 'Purple Ruffles', and Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light'
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Last week's arrangements held up well. That was perhaps to be expected in the case of the flower-less arrangement featuring succulents and Leucadendron stems but it was surprising in the case of the second vase. I down-sized the contents of that arrangement, tossing out the pink Lisianthus that had already seen better days when I cut the stems last week, but retaining much of the rest.
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The remaining ingredients in the down-sized arrangement include Caladium 'Debutante', Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre', Pentas lanceolata, and Prostanthera ovatifolia 'Variegata'
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For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
