It's been spring in all but name here since early February but now it's official! To make things even sweeter, Mother Nature provided us a touch of rain on the last day of astronomical winter, squeaking in with 0.13/inch (3.3mm) on Saturday night between 10pm and midnight. Admittedly, that's not a lot but even that paltry amount was sufficient to fill my 50-gallon rain tank. My larger tanks are no longer entirely empty either. A few weeks ago when rain was expected to arrive in the wee hours of the morning (but never materialized), I said I wasn't crazy enough to get up at 2am to supplement my rainwater collection by filling buckets from my rain chain; however, it seems I am crazy enough to put a raincoat over nightclothes to collect rainwater between 10pm and midnight.
I enjoyed collecting flowers in the fresh air on Sunday morning, thankfully completing that task before gusty winds returned. My first arrangement made use of the last of the pale greenish-yellow Hippeastrum 'Luna' stems to bloom.
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| Back in January, I commented that I'd like to complement the Hippeastrum with the pale yellow flowers of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'. While I can't say the Acacia is anywhere near full bloom, some of the tiny flowers are gradually making an appearance on a small scale. |
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| Back view: I complemented the pale yellow Hippeastrum with the first sweet pea blooms from my cutting garden and stems of a purple-flowered mystery Abelia growing on my back slope. The latter was identified by a Bloom Day commentator as Linnaea floribunda, aka Mexican Abelia. |
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| Top view: I love the Abelia/Linnaea and I plan to take a few cuttings in the hope of propagating it. The grower I bought it from in 2012 doesn't offer it anymore and I've never seen it anywhere else. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia/Linnaea floribunda, Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Freesias in shades of blue and white, Hippeastrum 'Luna', and Lathyrus odoratus 'Navy' |
The huge blooms of Leucospermum 'Brandi' inspired my second arrangement.
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| The Leucospermum set the stage for another sherbet-colored confection |
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| Back view: I grew the salmon-colored Ranunculus from a tuber but have once again been disappointed by their performance. Of the 40 tubers I planted in late October, only a handful have sprouted despite my soaking them before planting as recommended. |
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| Top view |
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| Top: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' and Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Bronze' and 'Chantilly Peach' ('Double Azalea Bronze' was also used) Middle: Grevillea Peaches & Cream', Heuchera maxima, and Leucospermum 'Brandi' Bottom: Narcissi 'Geranium' and 'Sunny Girlfriend' and Ranunculus 'Salmon' |
I threw together a third small arrangement as the kitchen island "needed" fresh flowers to replace the leftovers I'd saved from vases prepared in prior weeks.
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| This vase contains stems of Antirrhinum majus, Coleonema album, a noID dwarf Cymbidium, and Freesia |
There's another small chance of rain next Monday but it's way to early to get excited about that prospect as most early projections tend to fade away. In the meantime, daytime temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-80s (29C) here by Wednesday. Hopefully, spring doesn't plan to prematurely give way to summer.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party