The unbroken blooms of Hippeaestrum 'Aphrodite' I used in my first arrangement last week did indeed open gradually over the course of the week. The broken stem I placed in a tiny bowl of water also survived the week in remarkably good shape. As I have two other 'Aphrodites' in the process of maturing, I decided to reuse the original flowers in a new arrangement featuring the triplets I introduced back in early February.
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| The triplets are now celebrating spring |
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| The first triplet paired one of the newer Hippeastrum blooms with 2 Freesia stems while the second triplet is sporting the original broken Hippeastrum bloom, a recycled stem of pink Alstroemeria, and a couple of Narcissus stems. The third triplet, not shown in closeup, is making do with a simple arrangement of 2 of the newer Hippeastrum blooms. |
I created a more conventional arrangement using the first Scilla peruviana (aka Portuguese squill) as my focal point.
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| The blue Anemones are still producing a bounty of fresh flowers |
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| Back view: I used blue and white Freesias to add scent |
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| Top view: Glass marbles added to the vase helped to keep the stems from flopping over on one another |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant', Ceanothus arboreus 'Cliff Schmidt', blue Freesia, Limonium perezii, white Freesia, Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', and Scilla peruviana |
Unable to stop there, I took advantage of new snapdragon blooms to create a third arrangement. I love snapdragons but they generally don't do well here. Within just a few weeks of planting, the foliage is usually covered in rust. Periods of high humidity followed by high temperatures promote rust, conditions that are prevalent as what passes for winter here transitions into early spring. Our abnormally dry winter, as well as my scrupulous attention to avoiding splashing any water on their foliage, seems to have prevented (or at least delayed) the rust problem this year.
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| I selected the only stem of Anemone coronaria 'Bi-color' currently available in my cutting garden as the focal point to play off the velvety red snapdragons and I recycled the stem of Helleborus 'Anna's Red' I used last week. The dainty pink flowers trailing down are Crassula multicava 'Red'. In addition to its pretty flowers, the underside of the succulent's leaves are red. |
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| I clipped a few stems of a pink-flowered Sparaxis tricolor to dress up the back view, after complaining just last Friday that all my Sparaxis were blooming in shades of orange |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Bi-color', Antirrhinum majus, Coleonema 'Album', Crassula multicava 'Red', white Freesia, Helleborus 'Anna's Red', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' and, in the middle, Sparaxis tricolor |
We have a good chance of rain later this week. It's not expected to amount to much but at least it should bring our total rain for the "water year" (counted from October 1st) above the three inch mark at last.
For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
