In preparing my
Bloom Day post, I discovered that the
Cymbidium I'd been watching had finally bloomed, producing 4 flower spikes. In the past, I've moved pots of blooming orchids from the veritable wasteland near the street where they're kept up near the house but this time I decided to cut some of the spikes for the vase prepared in connection with the weekly exercise hosted by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden. I clipped 3 spikes before I could think better of this plan, which I may have done as the question that almost immediately presented itself was: what can hold its own with orchids? Most of the flowers I considered, including yellow
Freesias, succulent
Bulbine, and fragrant
Jasminum polyanthum, were immediately dismissed on the argument that they'd compete with, rather than support, the orchid flowers. I ended up with a very simple arrangement using just 3 elements.
In addition to the
Cymbidium spikes (no ID), I used
Coleonema album and
Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl.'
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| Close-up of Cymbidium flowers - there are a total of 12 flowers on the 3 spikes |
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| Unlike the pink-flowered Coleonema pulchellum I frequently use, which blooms most of the year, C. album blooms only in spring |
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| The pink petals and burgundy centers of the Leptospermum flowers echo the colors of the orchid |
The orchid had belonged to my mother-in-law, although her plant was originally a division of one of mine, now long gone. The vase I used was a gift from my own mother, purchased on her one and only trip to Finland, her parents' homeland. The arrangement sits on our dining room table, where I can appreciate the contributions of both women, both now also gone.
For more vases assembled from materials collected close to home,
visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material
© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
