I still have more flowers than I know what to do with. On Saturday, I received more in the form of an early birthday gift. My friend scored tickets for The Huntington Gardens and treated me to a visit. (More on that later this week.) She also gave me a bouquet of pink peonies. Anyone who reads my posts regularly knows I'm very fond of peonies, although I've had very little luck in growing them. I do have a Majorcan peony, which blooms every now and then but there's no indication that it'll do so this year. The Itoh peony I planted years ago never bloomed and this year even its foliage is a no-show. However, a local grocery chain routinely carries the flowers in May each year and my friend periodically picks up some to mark my birthday.
This year, as before, I've combined the gift peonies with flowers and foliage from my garden.
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| The peonies are all pink except for one, which is white on one side |
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| Back view: The tall peonies called for tall companions so I added stems of Salvia, Alstroemeria, and Centranthus |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left are: noID Alstroemeria, Centranthus ruber 'Albus', Grevillea sericea, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', noID gift peony, and Salvia canariensis var candidissima |
My second arrangement also includes a gift flower, albeit one that I received as a bulb from Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden in late November last year. I planted it in my front garden and it emerged last week. As there's a second bloom stalk, I cut the first one.
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| The Hippeastrum turned out to be 'Dancing Queen' |
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| Back view: I added Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' to dress up the back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousine Itt', Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Hippeastrum 'Dancing Queen', and noID Pyracantha |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
