At present my cutting garden has nothing to offer other than the occasional bloom from Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles', which still hasn't give up the ghost. The foxgloves I planted don't show signs of flowering anytime soon and while the many of the seeds I've sown have germinated, I don't expect to see them or the Anemone coronaria corms in bloom for months yet. I had a hard time this week coming up with material to fill one vase, much less two, but I persevered.
The inspiration for my first arrangement were the bush violets (Barleria obtusa) in my front garden. I cut several stems but, after a little rain on Friday, the flowers looked bedraggled and I ended up discarding them. They established the color scheme, though.
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| Luckily, I'm getting a Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) bloom every once in awhile and the Osteospermums continue to rally in response to our cooler temperatures |
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| Back view: For the second year in a row I found a noID paperwhite-type Narcissus blooming in the front garden. I'm sure I never planted it deliberately in that area but perhaps those bulbs were mixed in with another bulb I planted there by accident. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum, Osteospermum '4D Violet Ice' and another self-seeded variety, Correa 'Ivory Bells', Lavandula multifida, and noID Narcissus |
I targeted the flowers of the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) for a second arrangement; however, cutting those is a challenge as most of them were far above my head and I hate ladders. (I'm also stubborn about requesting help from my husband, especially when he's busy with his own projects.) I'd planned to make do with one short stem but, when I decided to pull out my loppers to tackle a few of the tree's twiggy stems, I managed to capture two more flowering stems in the process.
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| I used my asymmetrical glass vase, which photographed from this angle looks wonky to me but there it is |
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| Back view: I used ivy geranium flowers (Pelargonium peltatum) in various colors as my main floral filler |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Bauhinia x blakeana, Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Hebe 'Purple Shamrock' (recycled from last week), Pelargonium peltatum in burgundy, lavender and white, and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' foliage |
While we did get rain on Friday, it wasn't much, just 0.17/inch (4.32mm). The heavier rain originally forecast for Sunday failed to materialize - we got 0.02/inch in my area. It looks like La Niña's hold on us remains intact.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party