I've been delighted to find that several of the Hippeastrum bulbs I've transplanted into garden beds here and there have returned and bloomed. Last week, I featured a Hippeastrum 'Aphrodite' in one arrangement and, although that one came from a bulb still in its original pot, two more have surfaced in a bed in my front garden. Late last week, I discovered that Hippeastrum 'Zombie' was blooming in another front garden bed but yesterday I noticed it wasn't looking its best. A closer examination showed that it was in worse shape than I'd imagined so I cut it to see if I could use all or part of it in a vase.
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Tempting as it is to blame the family of rabbits who've moved into my garden, the damage to both the Hippeastrum's bud and stem looks more like something slugs or snails would do. Thanks to the raccoons, I don't usually have much of a problem with mollusks but maybe they've fallen down in the job (their only useful service).
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The remaining 2 blooms of the Hippeastrum are also a little tattered but I did my best to distract attention from their flaws while playing up 'Zombie's' beautiful color
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Back view: I remain awed by the vigor of the snapdragons I planted in early December. The three plants just keep on giving - and there's still no rust!
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', Gladiolus nanus 'Nymph' (in bud), Grevillea 'Superb', Hippeastrum 'Zombie', and Orlaya grandiflora
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My second arrangement was inspired by one of my favorite plants, Arthropodium cirratum, commonly known as Renga Lily. It's one of those all too uncommon plants that thrive in dry shade. Over the years I've divided the plant and spread it around. A New Zealand native, it has lovely evergreen foliage and produces graceful bloom sprays in late spring. Unfortunately, it often doesn't stand out when combined with other flowers.
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The Renga lily was easily eclipsed by the flashy Salvia and foxglove blooms
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The sweet pea shown in this back view has a trace of magenta in it but it looks out of place; however, I'd wedged it into the arrangement and didn't have any more time to dither with it so it remained
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Artemisia californica, Arthropodium cirratum, Lathyrus odoratus, Digitalis purpurea, and Salvia canariensis var candidissima
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Most of the sweet pea stems I'd cut for the second arrangement were too short to work in the vase I chose so they went into the small vase that usually sits on the kitchen island. Last week's lily arrangement was still in good shape so, after a little fluffing, it found a new home in our main bedroom.
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Most of the sweet peas (left) are from mixed packets so I can't identify them by name. Three of the Lilium 'Royal Sunrise' blooms and all the Leucadendron stems (now 3 weeks old) were in still in great shape so I simply added several fresh snapdragons and a peach-colored foxglove to freshen last week's vase (right).
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The two new arrangements ended up in the usual spots on the dining room and front entry tables.
For more IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other contributors have come up with this week.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
