Before any discussion of floral bouquets, itsy bitsy or otherwise, I want to report that, this past weekend, we actually got a bit of rain out of the monsoonal moisture that has hung over the area for weeks now. It was by no means a drought-ending deluge but it was certainly a great improvement over the 3-minute drizzle we got several weeks ago. Maybe I could learn to put up with the miserable humidity if we could just get a little rain out of it on occasion - those of you in the sub-tropical areas of the US south and southeast that contend with this humidity year after year have my utmost respect. In any case, the rain felt like a minor miracle and has put me in a much more positive frame of mind. On to the subject of this week's floral arrangement...
Other than tickseed and feverfew, my garden doesn't have much to offer in terms of flowers for cutting right now, at least not for a conventionally sized vase. My response to the challenge to create a vase for Cathy's "In a Vase on Monday" meme at
Rambling in the Garden was to go small. Yes, I could have stopped at one itsy bitsy bouquet but I didn't - I filled all 3 of my tiny colored glass vases (all roughly 4-inches/10 cm tall and 2-inches/5 cm wide).
Here's the first, which is my favorite, although it may have the shortest shelf life:
The centerpiece is
Hemerocallis 'Cordon Rouge,' but the bouquet also includes one of the last stems of
Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame,' flowering stems of
Abelia 'Kaleidoscope,'Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum' (golden feverfew), and 2 varieties of
Zinnia.
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| Hemerocallis 'Cordon Rouge,' a reblooming daylily variety, recently started its 2nd bloom cycle |
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| Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' appears to have bloomed out but it may surprise me yet again |
Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Blue' is the focal point of the second bouquet. The flowers aren't quite as full as those of
Eustoma grandiflorum 'Borealis Blue' but they're still gorgeous.
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| Close-up of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Blue' |
This bouquet also features
Catananche caerulea (aka Cupid's Dart), one stem of
Veronica 'Vernique Dark Blue' (recently purchased to occupy a pot), more feverfew, and a few pieces of flowering thyme.
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| Close-up of Catananche caerulea |
The star of the third bouquet should be the
Echinaceas,
'Magnus' and
'Cheyenne Spirit,' but I think
Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' upstages them. This bouquet also includes
Pentas 'Nova,'Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold,'Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum,' and, again, feverfew.
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| Close-up of Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' photobombed by Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' |
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| The plumes of Pennisetum setaceum Rubrum look almost like fur |
You may have noticed that I usually photograph my vases in the kitchen. I haven't found a better backdrop. The surfaces are white; it has lots of natural light as well as numerous pot lights; and the counters are usually clear (except when my husband is cooking). This week one of my vases found a place to stay in the kitchen while the other 2 migrated to other areas of the house.
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| The pig in the kitchen (which holds tea bags rather than cookies) approves of the Lisianthus |
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| The toad prefers daylilies |
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| The pink vase landed on a living room side table, where I hope those Pennisetum blooms will not prove too tempting for Pipig the cat to ignore |
What have you got in a vase this week?
Go to Cathy's site to see her composition and to find other gardeners' creations.
All material
© 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
