After teasing me with promising buds for well over a month, my lilies are now unfolding one after another. This week, in recognition of Independence Day, I chose to cut one stem of Lilium 'Friso' to start with. The lily's color is described as raspberry-red and white but that was close enough for me. All my lilies are hybrid mixes of Asiatic and Oriental species (aka Orienpets and tree lilies).
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| After viewing my photos, I thought I erred in placing the large disc flower of Daucus carota 'Dara' front and center. The dark burgundy flower creates something of a black hole effect, sucking up the light, but I'd no time or patience to reconstruct the arrangement. |
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| The back view presents a more balanced distribution of light and dark colors, showing off the small white flowers of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'. Holding off on pruning the tree-like shrubs was rewarded with more flowers than they've ever produced this summer season. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: noID white Agapanthus, noID pink Alstroemeria, Daucus carota 'Dara', Digitalis purpurea, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Orienpet Lilium 'Friso' |
You probably noticed that I didn't weave any blue flowers into the first arrangement. I made up for that by creating a second arrangement of blue and white flowers (with touches of yellow).
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| This arrangement strikes me as more balanced than the first one |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', noID blue Agapanthus, noID Leucanthemum x superbum, Sollya heterophylla (aka Australian blue creeper), Tanacetum parthenium (aka feverfew), and Viola 'Sorbet XP Neptune' |
Last week's arrangement with Lilium 'Orange Planet' held up well so I cut it down to size for the kitchen island.
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| I added one stem of Digitalis purpurea 'Peach Dalmatian' and a few short stems of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' to the leftover stems of Lilium 'Orange Planet' and Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' |
Our marine layer is still in place during the early morning hours but it's been lifting early, generally around 8am. It still provides us some insulation from the afternoon heat, although the residual humidity makes it feel hotter than the mercury level suggests. The local television stations keep warning us of a pending heatwave but it isn't reflected in the local projections posted online. I can only hope that it'll be more comfortable here than elsewhere in Southern California.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party