As I collected materials for today's vases yesterday morning I listened to the call of foghorns from the Los Angeles harbor, as well as the flutter of leaves falling from the Magnolia tree in our front garden. Mingled with birdsong and the clucking of chickens up the street, it was very peaceful interlude following yet another difficult news week in a country that seems bound and determined to ignore the realities of life in the twenty-first century in favor of some glorified notion of life 245 years ago.
I still have no dahlia blooms to share. Aphids managed to compromise the first blooms of Dahlia 'Calin', a bush variety that had an early start on the rest of my tubers. I thought I had the aphid problem under control but it's clear I was a little late addressing it. I cut off the disfigured blooms. Hopefully, the remaining buds will bloom soon, along with the other dahlias currently bearing buds. In the meantime, I took advantage of three blooms from a group of lily bulbs I planted last fall.
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Orienpet Lilium 'Friso' (aka 'Silk Road') managed to bloom despite our drought conditions and the appetite the local rabbits have for lily foliage
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The back view is all about Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', my go-to foliage filler when I use flowers with red tones
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Top view: I used Daucus carota 'Dara'again this week but these self-sown flowers came from a different clump in the front garden and have a much deeper color. I also added one stem of the unusual blooms of Pelargonium schizopetalum (best viewed in closeup as shown below).
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Clockwise from the upper left: Daucus carota 'Dara', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White', Salvia lyrata 'Purple Volcano', Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Lilium 'Friso', Pelargonium schizopetalum, and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'
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My second arrangement was inspired by another round of blooms from my peach foxgloves. I hesitate to say these are the last of them as the plants have surprised me this year; however, surging summer temperatures are clearly stressing the plants and their stems are getting shorter and shorter.
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In addition to the foxglove stems, I cut a few of my shaggy Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum, variety unknown). The daisies have made a very poor showing this year, which I'm blaming on the drought.
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Back view: I used stems of Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' to give the arrangement more height
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', Grevillea 'Superb', and noID Leucanthemum x superbum
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Once again, I have a small vase of leftovers.
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In addition to a stem of last week's Lisianthus, I tucked in stems of Corokia 'Sunsplash' and white-flowered foxgloves
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For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
