For a change, I went into the garden to cut flowers with a plan in mind for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme sponsored by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden. Maybe that was the problem. Usually, while I might identify a focal point ahead of time, I otherwise approach the garden as a blank slate. This time, I began cutting flowers of various kinds I'd identified in advance, only to find that they didn't combine well when I took them in and tried to create an arrangement. I took out a vase to fill with rejects early on and ultimately ended up with 2 reject vases and one larger vase I'm not thrilled with.
The larger vase was constructed of flowers and foliage I hadn't even considered on my first pass through the garden. It's a hodge-podge construction with an emphasis on pinkish-coral tones.
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| Front view |
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| Back view |
The vase includes:
- Aloe flowers (noID, possibly Aloe 'Pink Blush')
- Arbutus 'Marina' flower stems
- Calibrachoa (noID)
- Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' flower stem
- Rose 'Pink Meidiland'
- Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Honey Crisp Coleus'
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| The Aloe flowers pick up the deeper tones in the roses |
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| The flowers of the Arbutus' Marina' trees look like miniature hot-air balloons and are loved by the hummingbirds |
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| The flower buds of the succulent Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' have a coral blush but open with yellow petals |
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| The centers of the 'Pink Meidiland' rose mimic the colors at the center of the Graptoveria flowers |
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| Close-up of the variegated leaves of the coleus |
Reject vase #1 contains
Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl,' a couple of raggedy stems of
Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherry Brandy,' and
Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Fire Fingers Coleus.'![]() |
| Close-up of the small Leptospermum flowers |
Reject vase #2, my favorite of the day due solely to its sweet perfume, contains
Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum,'Lantana (noID), and
Lonicera japonica, a weed that grows on the steep side of the back slope.
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| Close-up of Lonicera japonica, inherited with the house |
The vases all found places to roost.
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| The larger vase sits in the front entryway |
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| Reject vase #1 landed in the guest bathroom |
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| Reject vase #1 sits next to my PC, where I can appreciate its scent |
Please
visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other contributors have rounded up now that the weather has turned cold in many areas.
All material
© 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
