We celebrated Independence Day in the US on Sunday. Fireworks are a hallmark of the holiday but, over the years, exploding personal fireworks from June well into August has become an obsession in our area. Despite the fact that brush is tinder dry in drought-plagued areas like ours. And despite the fact that personal fireworks are illegal in our city and most of the surrounding cities. As pandemic restrictions have eased dramatically, public displays supervised by fire department personnel are readily available this year and everyone from government officials to newscasters has made pleas to leave firework displays to professionals - to little avail. Fireworks blasted away nearly continuously most of yesterday afternoon and we expect them to continue into the wee hours of Monday morning. We just remain on guard and ride out the holiday, hoping for no serious mishaps nearby.
In spite of my annoyance with clueless neighbors, I had fireworks in mind when I selected flowers for "In a Vase on Monday" yesterday. My first arrangement isn't red, white and blue but many of the flowers evoke images of fireworks.
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| The fuzzy orange flowers of Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) inspired the arrangement. The flowers front and center are Venidium fastuosum 'Orange Prince' (formerly Arctotis fastuosa). I recently obtained 3 of these new-to-me plants by mail order and I love them. They're already unavailable from the grower so I may have to try growing more from seeds. |
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| Back view: I hadn't originally planned to add blue notes to the arrangement but decided I liked the effect |
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| Top view |
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| Top row: noID Agapanthus, Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', and Cuphea hybrid 'Vermillionaire' Middle row: Delphinium 'Pacific Coast Hybrid', Lavandula angustifolia, and Leonotis leonurus Bottom row: Leucanthemum x superbum, Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum', and Venidium fastuosum 'Orange Prince' (Included but not shown in closeup are Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated' and Myrtus communis) |
My second arrangement isn't red, white and blue either but it also contains some elements that may remind you of fireworks.
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| The first stem of pink Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) was the inspiration but the firecracker-like flowers of Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' set the color scheme |
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| Back view: Daucus carota 'Dara' just keeps on giving |
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| Top view |
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| Top row: hybrid Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Daucus carota 'Dara', and Origanum 'Monterey Bay' Middle row: Fuchsia 'Deep Purple', Eustoma grandiflorum, and noID Pelargonium Bottom row: Delphinium 'Pacific Coast Hybrid', Penstemon x gloxinioides 'Midnight', and Trachelium caeruleum |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party