The flowers in my cutting garden are fading faster than I can cut them. Flowers have been dropping from the foxglove stalks in large numbers. The Minoan lace flowers are withering. On the other hand, the sweet peas are trying to catch up with everything else but the majority of the blooms are so far above my head, they're hard to reach. In the meantime, the dahlias in their temporary pots remind me daily that I've got to clear the raised planters (soon!) to give them space.
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I cut almost all the purple foxgloves currently in bloom. Some were immediately deposited in my compost bin. As most have already bloomed to the top of their stem, I'm not sure how long they'll hold up in a vase.
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Clockwise from the upper left: Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple', assorted Lathyrus odoratus, and Orlaya grandiflora (aka Minoan lace)
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My second arrangement was inspired by a gladiola that, like a minor miracle, returns each year albeit in an area where it stands out (in less than a good way) from everything around it. The flower's unusual colors led me to combine it with a companion I'd never choose in any other situation. Sometimes one has to let nature direct one's choices.
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The peachy gladiolas are splashed with magenta and pink so I threw in 2 stems of "purple" snapdragons in to echo those odd dashes of color
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Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi', Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Purple', Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', and Gladiolus nanus 'Nymph'
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I was going to stop at two arrangements but many of the "rust-resistant" snapdragons in my cutting garden are covered with so much rust I can't allow them to remain in place much longer. When I discovered the the 'Golden Celebration' rose in a corner of my garden was blooming, a third arrangement became a fait accompli.
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The 'Chantilly Peach' snapdragons held up well against rust in prior years but then our conditions were far drier in 2021 and 2022
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Peach', Rosa 'Golden Celebration', and Xylosma congestum
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Is that it, you ask? No, it isn't. At least two of the gladiolas I thought I'd pulled from the raised planters in my cutting garden two years ago have produced flower stalks, one of which was already fading. I cut it, thinking to add it to my first arrangement but it just didn't fit. It ended up in a tiny vase with sweet peas that complemented it well.
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The vase contains Gladiolus 'Vuvuzela' and Lathyrus odoratus x belinensis 'Erewhon'
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To find more floral arrangements, check in with our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
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The tiny vase is sitting in the kitchen window but it didn't photograph well in that spot
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
