Even when I have quite a few flowers in the garden, I struggle with decisions about what to cut for a vase. I don't like to duplicate the prior week's selections or color scheme if I can help it. And some flowers are just poor candidates for life in a vase - either the flowers close up in low light or they don't survive long. This week, the
Primula obconica were calling.
They're pretty enough and may have combined well with the deep blue
Anemone coronaria in my backyard but my skin reacts to the small hairs on their leaves, resulting in a nasty, itchy rash. This problem has been bred out of some
P. obconica but, as I learned after planting these unlabeled varieties, this group isn't rash free.
So I went with Plan B. In my Bloom Day post, I complained that my beautiful
Bauhinia x blakeana tree had been loaded with flowers before our last rainstorm but it was in a sorry state when Bloom Day came around, with its pretty petals all over the ground. It has since recovered some so, even though the blooms don't last long in a vase, I decided they deserved a moment in the spotlight.
![]() |
| Front of vase, featuring Bauhinia flowers |
![]() |
| Back of vase, featuring Pelargoniums |
The vase contains:
- Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree)
- Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' (aka Breath of Heaven)
- Cuphea x ignea 'Starfire Pink'
- Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium), 2 varieties (no IDs)
![]() |
| Close-up of orchid-like Bauhina flowers |
![]() |
| Close-up of the small, light pink Coleonema flowers |
![]() |
| Close-up of the cigar-shaped flowers of the Cuphea (loved by hummingbirds and bees!) |
![]() |
| 2 unknown varieties of Pelargonium, one a double form |
The arrangement ended up on a glass end table in the living room. (Last week's vase with the
Leucadendron stems still occupies the area by the front door, where, with the exception of some of the Narcissus flowers, it looks as fresh as it did last Monday.)
The
Bauhinia flowers are likely to drop within a couple of days and the buds left behind are unlikely to open but, assuming they don't, I can turn the arrangement around and position the
Pelargonium to face outward. Maybe next week, I'll put on surgical gloves and try doing something with the lavender primrose...
Visit Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden to see what she's got in a vase this week and to find links to other gardeners' creations.
All material
© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
