The title of this post came to me as I was cutting flowers for the arrangement shown below. My climate can't really be considered "tropical" but the lilies I fixated on have that vibe, as did the gladiola that pulled the composition together.
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| The gladiola surprised me as I thought I'd pulled out all of them at the north end of the back garden last year after the rabbits made a feast of many of the plants in that area. I'd forgotten there were any lilies there at all as they hadn't bloomed last year. Buried under an overgrown Arbutus 'Marina' (strawberry tree), I didn't even see them until I cut some of its foliage back last week. |
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| Back view: I found a second cluster of lilies, also partly hidden by surrounding foliage, on the other end of the back garden |
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| Top view: I hadn't considered adding the "purple" snapdragons until I noticed how well they picked up the edge of that unusual gladiola |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus 'Chantilly Pink', A. m. 'Chantilly Purple', Gladiolus 'Guinea', Lilium 'Montego Bay', Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny', Leucospermum 'Spider Hybrid', Lobelia laxiflora, and Lilium 'Orange Planet' |
My second arrangement might look autumnal but the key components are summer bloomers here.
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| My inspiration was the flowers of Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl', which I'm growing for the first time this year after admiring those featured by Amelia, The Shrub Queen |
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| Back view: I added dried stems of Aristea inaequalis, as well as stems of the restio, Chondropetalum elephantipes, to pick up the brown tones in the sunflowers |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Aristea ineaqualis (dried stems and seedpods), Chrondropetalum elephantipes, Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl', Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Tagetes lemmonii, and a shaggy form of Leucanthemum x superbum |
We've had a lot more sun for the past week and, although the morning marine layer is still hanging on, it's been evaporating earlier with each passing day. The good news is that the marine layer has kept our afternoon temperatures in a comfortable range.
For more IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
