My garden is bursting at its seams with flowers at the moment, as evident by my recent Bloom Day post. I found it impossible not to go overboard when it came time to pick flowers for "In a Vase on Monday" so I didn't really even try to contain myself.
My first arrangement was inspired by the Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) growing on my back slope. Because the plant got much too large for its spot, I cut it to the ground last fall and asked my husband to dig it up. We thought that was it but, in spite of our pitiful rainfall, it came back with a vengeance this year and it's once again towering well above my head. We'll make another attempt to remove it this fall but for now I chose the enjoy its magnificent flowers.
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| We got one-tenth of an inch of rain in the wee hours of Sunday morning and there's a 24% chance of more drizzle overnight so I decided to cut the second 'Medallion' rose to bloom this year too |
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| Back view: While I was on the back slope, I cut a couple stems of the red trumpet vine that also runs rampant down there. Inherited with the garden, I've always thought it was Bignonia capreolata but it appears it's actually Distictis buccinatoria (syn Bignonia cherere). |
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| The top view provides a good look at the poppy, a Southern California native often called the fried egg poppy |
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| Top row: Achillea 'Moonshine', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', and Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' Middle row: Antirrhimum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', another noID snapdragon, and Distictis buccinatoria Bottom row: Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Romneya coulteri, and Rosa 'Medallion' |
My second arrangement was inspired by the first flowers of the Renga lilies (Arthropodium cirratum). The flowers are exceptionally difficult to photograph so you may have to accept my word for it that they're very pretty. The attractive foliage is evergreen and the plants do well in dry shade, which makes them valuable in my view. The species is native to New Zealand. I added foxgloves again as those chunky flower stems are currently plentiful. I filled in with a lot of the cool season flowers in my cutting garden to take advantage of them while they last.
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| The colors are similar to the second arrangement I created last week and the arrangement contains some of the same cool season flowers, like the foxgloves and sweet peas |
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| Back view: In addition to the Renga lilies, new elements include the first flowers of Centaurea 'Silver Feather' and Nigella 'African Bride'. I sowed seeds of both 'Nigella papillosa 'African Bride' and Nigella hispanica 'Chocolate and Cream' but they seem to be one in the same despite the discrepancy in their species names. |
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| Top view |
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| Top row: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feathers' (with Coriandrum sativum), and Consolida ajacis Middle row: Correa 'Wyn's Wonder', Digitalis purpurea, and Lathyrus odoratus 'High Scent' with 'Sir Jimmy Shand' Bottom row: Lathyrus 'Navy' (and 'Blue Shift', not shown), Nigella 'African Bride', and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink' |
I often have a problem tossing out blooms I've already cut and this week was no exception. I tossed a few of the remaining stems in a small cactus-shaped vase for my home office.
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| The vase contains short stems of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' and Nigella orientalis 'Transformer' and unopened buds of Romneya coulteri |
For more arrangements created from materials on hand, visit our IAVOM host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party