We've had a stretch of warm weather going on since Friday (low-mid 70sF/22-24C). It's expected to continue into Tuesday before an atmospheric river moves in on Wednesday. Four Hippeastrum flowers were slowly unfolding yesterday but none were quite vase-ready so I turned to the Aeonium arboreum flowers that pop up everywhere in my garden at this time of year. I have mixed feelings about them. I love yellow but these flowers are almost florescent in color and they're shaped like dunce caps. As they're succulents and hold a lot of water in their stems, they're also very heavy so any arrangement featuring them needs to be well-balanced to ensure that it doesn't topple over.
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| I used a green Aeonium rosette edged in bronze to accent the Aeonium flower stalks with the yellow-green florets |
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| Back view, fluffed up with stems of Acacia 'Cousin Itt' |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', Narcissus 'Geranium', Aeonium arboreum (foliage rosette), and Aeonium arboreum flowers |
The blue Anemones are still coming up a few at a time in my cutting garden. When I realized that the tree-sized Ceanothus 'Cliff Schmidt' on my back slope was also producing its first flowers, I decided to to try another spin on a blue and white scheme for a second vase this week.
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| I'm happier with this arrangement in person than in photos. The dark green color of the Ceanothus leaves detract from the flowers and obscure some. |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria (bulbs sold as 'Lord Lieutenant'), Ceanothus arboreus 'Cliff Schmidt', noID paperwhite Narcissus, Osteospermum '4D Silver' (maybe), Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Pyrethropsis hosmariense (aka Moroccan daisy) |
An arrangement using a Hippeastrum is almost certainly on the menu for next week unless they drown in the flow of the coming atmospheric river. In the meantime, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for more IAVOM creations.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
